Slight detour....

So what else is new?

Marie and Rob will be here tomorrow so I decided to work on the bird cage garden for Lorraine and Gary (although I don't know if they'll be seeing them this weekend).

Have temporarily put away the kitchen roombox and furniture.

I'm using 1" thick builders foam for the base of the garden. The gadget on the right is a foam cutter that BIL Grahame gave me when he gave up his railroading setup. It's great for cutting through foam (the wire across the top heats up and slices through the foam) but the throat of the tool limits how far you can cut. And I don't hold it steadily enough for really straight cuts although the edge will be hidden so that's not a great problem. Between the tool and a serrated knife, I was able to cut a piece to fit in the bottom of the cage.

Grahame had also given me a LOT of railroad landscaping materials, including several different colours of turf. I combined four different colours in a Ziploc bag and mixed it thoroughly.

I covered the top and sides of the builder's foam with Weldbond glue and spread it evenly with a foam brush.

The mixed turf was then spread very thickly on the foam and left overnight so I would be sure the glue was dry.

All the excess was tapped off the foam

 and returned to the Ziploc bag.

Here the 'lawn' is in place.

I printed out a template of the lawn to help plan what I'm going to do.

I took the bird bath vignette from my 'house street and the circular plant holder with the geraniums from the "Petal Pusher Shop" and the furniture from the "Scoop or Two" (both from Little Fair on the Prairie).

I've added a fruit tray, pitcher and glasses to the table and roses in the upper left hand corner and green plants in the lower right hand corner.

I spoke to Marie and they won't be seeing Lorraine and Gary on this trip  so I don't have to have it finished by tomorrow.....but since it's so close, I'll finish it and have one more project completed.

I thought about covering the umbrella over the table but decided not to in order to keep the scene open and everything visible. Think I will put pads on the chairs, however.

In honour of their faith, I've added a statue of the Virgin Mary in one corner as they have one in their own garden.

This is unlike their own award-winning garden but I hope it will give them some pleasure.

I'll finish transferring everything to the cage and post pictures of the final work tomorrow.