Des nouvelles!

 Time flies.... I wrote my last post in 2020...

I haven't been sleeping like Sleeping Beauty for a year but I haven't built anything worth posting.

As you may remember, I was diagnosed with a cancer in 2019, I stayed in France for the treatment which was successful. We are lucky to have amazing doctors and great hospitals. Most people realize that, like me, when they live abroad.

Meanwhile, I built carriages and made harnesses. See my last post....

In 2020, another scanner showed some new tumors, so back to France again. 

Luckily, they were benign... Then Covid started and I couldn't come back to Thailand. I had to wait in France for borders to reopen. In the meantime I was teaching my Thai students online. With the time difference, my first class started at 4 a.m. and my working day ended at 11 a.m....

While in France, I bought a 3D printer and started to play with it. It is an amazing tool. Of course, it will never replace the human hand, but it will allow more people to get miniatures at affordable price.

I first started with statues and vases. Don't expect to succeed at once. You have many failures at the beginning. But with Youtube and tutorials, one day, you manage to get something that looks like a miniature bust statue of Marie Antoinette. The details are amazing.

Painting them is another step that requires patience and good eyes but I love it.

I printed dogs, cats, deer antlers, trophies of animals, etc... They now decorate my houses and there's always a dog or a cat hidden in one of the rooms.

I'll show you some. Let's start with greyhounds

sitting...

standing with different positions of the head and the tail

different colors

Then I tried beagles...

I posted my work on Facebook and some people asked me if I would take commissions. I did....

an alsatian:

a bull dog:

bull terriers:

...

then I tried antlers....

to hang in the hall of l'Hotel Mame,

and some trophies,

And a few more coming, a lab, a chihuahua, a dalmatian, a great dane,...

I also had in mind to build an actor's dressing room in a box. I did but it's still under construction. Here is a picture I took to show you. 

It will have gold and red chairs in the future like this.

It reminded me of my 1st job as a prop assistant at the theater in my hometown....Souvenirs, souvenirs.

That's all for now. 

Now, I have a big project. In fact, 2 projects, the 1st is to build this old building called l'Hotel de la Croix Blanche, a late medieval dwelling from Tours, my hometown.

 I have never built anuthing like this, it will be a new challenge.

The 2nd project is to stop teaching and retire in March 2022. I have been teaching English since 1971. I think it is time to stop and let the new generation continue. I'mplanning to retire in Thailand but stay in France for a few months every year with my dad who is 91 now. 

Til then, stay safe.

All the best for Christmas which is coming now...