​The Coronation Day finally arrived. 

Several months had gone by since the old King had passed away and Lawrence had ascended the throne. But a coronation was considered a joyous occasion that would be inappropriate during the period of mourning for the previous monarch, and it also gave time for any elaborate preparations, so several months had passed.  But now the Coronation Day was finally here. 

Baron joined close family at the front of the Great Hall...

...along with other royal guests and dignitaries....

'We are ready to begin..."

The King and Queen were in the vestibule waiting for the procession to begin. She had sewn the King's traditional white coronation shirt, and embroidered it in gold, all with her own hand.... 

Lawrence and Monica embraced. "It's time..."

The fanfare sounded as the procession made their way to the front of the Great Hall. The Archbishop ascended the dias in front of the throne. The Queen took her seat at the very front.
​The King knelt before the Archbishop...

The Archbishop spoke to the audience..
"Sirs and Madams, I present to you Lawrence, your true undoubted King. Wherefore I ask all you who are come this day to pay your homage and service, are you willing to accept him as such?"
The audience responded in unison.."We are willing!!  God save the King!"

"I am willing."

"Will you solemnly promise and swear...."

"I do so solemnly promise and swear."

"Does your Majesty promise and swear to rule according to law,
​and to exercise justice with mercy in all your judgements?"

"I do so promise and swear."

Then the Fairy Queen, and the Lady Biancea, who had been given the honour to robe the King...

..stepped forward and placed the Imperial Robe of purple velvet....

...on their sovereign's shoulders...

I wanted to photograph Lawrence's coronation, but needed a real throne.  In the past I'd used the fancy chair with the green velvet upholstery, but I wanted Lawrence to have something more appropriate.  So I looked up some images of Medieval thrones that I liked.....

I asked Jan if he could make me a throne something like that, and he was a bit reluctant at first, knowing the details of the throne on the left would be pretty much impossible. But he was willing to try. So he drew up some plans and started by cutting the corner posts out of 3/4 x 3/4" pine, and cutting channels in them for the 1/4" thick panels....

The basic throne, ready for embellishment.....

We had gone to Michaels for a 1/8" thick birch paneling for the decorative panels in the back of the seat, and to Home Depot for some fine mouldings to mimic the fine carvings.

I drew the back panel designs on the birch, and Jan cut out them out and glued them in place, along with 1/8" and 1/4" thick strips to create the look of the panelled sections.

​My two 'Little Workers' were standing on the kitchen table while he was pondering how to attach the trims I'd chosen for the top, and I just had to take a photo.....

The finished throne with all the trims in place....

Jan stained the throne, and I added shading to highlight the trims, and make it look more realistic. And I sewed a cushion seat...

I took the first photos of Lawrence on his new throne....

While the throne was under construction, I had made the coronation robes, orb and sceptre, and had embellished an existing crown.....

Then it was finally time to tackle Lawrence's coronation. I had been struggling with how to do it for weeks already. I wanted a suitably regal interior, and had been eyeing the bottom of the dining room china cabinet, which I'd used once before.  But I needed wide shots and from several different angles, and couldn't figure out how to possibly do that. Plus it would be way too difficult to try shooting it all down on the floor. So, after weeks of trying to figure out how to create a suitable interior, I finally decided to just 'go with the flow' and see what I could put together on top of the dining room table. 

I figured if I couldn't use the bottom, I'd use the top. The table was pushed width-wise right up against the china cabinet. I needed the table width-wise so the space would be wide enough to accommodate guests on both sides without interfering with what was happening in the middle.

The cabinet door frames would make nice architectural details, but the glass was too shiny. So I cut two panels out of bristol board and painted them with 'stonework', then taped them over the glass.   My two bi-fold 'stone' foam core walls were way too warped to use for this setting, so I used the 'cottage' interior walls instead. I figured they'd be mostly hidden by tapestries anyways. The dias and steps were made by layering some old wooden shelving. And my trusty fireplace served as architectural backing for the throne.

​I added decorations and seating, and the guests started arriving.....seven fun size dolls, three JIDs, and three MSDs....

I took a few photos and decided the tops of the wallhangings were all too low, so raised them all.
I was finally ready for the ceremony to begin....

For 'the Death of the Old King' I needed a royal bedroom.  There had been another bedroom earlier in the story - Naomi's room in Miho's castle....

For the scenes with the Old King, I needed to set up a totally different looking bedroom, using pretty much the same props and furniture. So I started by switching the window wall to the other side of the dining room table to replace the wardrobe that usually stands there......

I hung the fine gray carpet over the window, just like in the previous bedroom, then chose some wall hangings. They could be the generic ones every noble family owned, as well as the Royal Eagle and Griffin wallhangings that would later be passed down to Lawrence and Miho....

For Naomi's bed I had used three prop storage boxes laid side by side. When I had made her bed I tried covering the boxes with the fabric 'bedding' but it looked way too angular, so I covered the boxes with some quilt batting to soften the edges.  I did the same here, then covered the batting with some white cotton. I also changed some wall hangings....

I decided that I needed more space on the far side of the bed - enough room for something to support a candelabra, and a chair for someone to sit on - so changed the walls yet again.

I made the bed with the lace-edged sheet and pillowcase set that was made two years ago for the Victorian story about Baby Sena's arrival. Then I chose a different coloured velour, and a darker rabbit fur than the ones I'd used for Naomi's room, for the covers. Finally, I put in another bedside table with some food, drink, and meds for the King.  I was ready to add the dolls....

One of the final set ups with the characters in place....

Then, with the candles lit, the room took on the proper atmosphere....

One of my costume projects the past few months - when not working on props and accessories for my ongoing story - was to make some eighteenth century outfits for Bonnie and Jamie.

​Back when Jude arrived in late December, the only thing I had to put on him was Rex's Outlander outfit (with the Phantom's vest).  I thought he looked amazing in it....

But, I had always envisioned him as Braveheart, so made that outfit for him, and along the way he picked up a partner and two kids....

A few months back I decided that the whole family would look great in eighteenth century costumes for a change.  I had Rex and Bianca's 'Outlander' outfits for Jude and Grace, but nothing for Bonnie and Jamie.  So In July, between other stuff, I made an outfit for Bonnie. 

I still need to change their parents, but had to wait until after I no longer needed Grace in her green, Medieval Fantasy gown, for one last scene in a flashback in Baron and Naomi's story. Those photos have been taken now, so I can finally change Grace and Jude, and then Bonnie and Jamie's whole family can be together again - in a whole new time period.

 In addition to photographing scenes for Baron and Naomi's story, I have also had several other projects on the go. One of which, still ongoing, is chronicling Steve and Owen as they help out with the repaving of our section of subdivision road. The town has been repaving sections of our subdivision the past few years, and this year it's our turn.  The work was expected to go through August and September, into October. So I made a second safety vest, so both Owen and Steve could 'help out' periodicly.  

I even found a map of our subdivision online so ​Steve and Owen could discuss what needed to be done..

...and then all the curbs needed to be replaced....

Owen helped dig the trenches for the new curbs....

The guides for the curbs were in place, so extra traffic cones were needed to protect them....

The next morning the curbs were extruded....

Up until then I had been very careful to only go out to take photos in the evenings or when the workers were taking a break down the street. I'm rather self conscious taking doll photos in 'public' , and it's hard enough out somewhere where no-one knows who we are, but this was right in front of our house.  But some of the men must have seen us the day before, since that morning when Jan was out front, one of them asked to see "the little workers". So Jan took Owen out, along with a printout of some of the photos I'd taken. He said they were very impressed.

But instead of making it easier, I only felt even more self conscious - even though I would have loved to have taken more photos with my guys.....

...especially the day they chewed up the old asphalt....

Steve did go out to check on the progress....

...and to see that the equipment was parked safely out of the way that evening....

But then early yesterday morning, on the hottest day of the entire summer so far, they were out there laying the first layer of asphalt in front of our house, and I HAD to take some photos. Who cares who was watching.   So Owen went out to help direct traffic.....

By nine they were done. I guess they knew it was going to be an extremely hot day.

The roadwork is nowhere near done, so I'm sure Steve and Owen will get plenty more opportunities to help out some more. Hopefully when it's not quite so hot.

I'm calling a short time out from Baron and Naomi's story.  I've been very busy the past three months shooting scenes for their story, but have hit a temporary road block. I was shooting the various scenes in no particular order, pretty much as I was inspired to do them, and so far the photos from over fifty individual photo shoots have been posted. However, even though I'd already photographed around half of the remaining scenes to their story, there was one really big scene that was hanging over my head for weeks - Lawrence's coronation. How in the world to do that justice?  I finally came up with an idea, and addressed it yesterday. It took me the entire day, and now there's dozens of photos to process. So I'm calling a short intermission so I can catch up.

​I thought this might also be the perfect time to share some of the Behind the Scenes shots from the story so far.

So I put a bench in front for Miho to stand on, hid her stand with some driftwood and stones, and placed the chest with the baby in the 'wreckage'.....

I had already taken a photo of Baron as a little boy picking flowers in his Mother's garden....

But I wanted something better, where it looked more like he was IN the flowers. I didn't feel like setting up the 'palace garden' on the patio table again, so thought of another way.  I used an old wooden stepladder, placed it in the middle of the back lawn, put a pot of million bells on top, and posed Eric (little Baron) in it - with the help of one of my 'poke-in-the- ground' wire supports...

Then I took the photo so that my garden was in the background....

It was a very hot day when we went down to the lake early one morning for some photos of young Baron and Lawrence with their horses. Once I'm down on the ground, I need Jan to make any fine adjustments. And while I'm waiting, I'll sometimes take a photo.....

One of the final photos, with the tower removed in the background .....

Leaving the lake, I thought the grove of trees outside the water treatment plant would make a decent 'shady wooded meadow', so we parked and I set up there under one of the trees.  Since I was down flat on the ground, I needed Jan to adjust the horses a bit....

"Baron found Lawrence alone in the throne room..."

'Your Majesty...'

"Lawrence was a little taken aback..."

'This is going to take a little getting used to.'

'But I'd prefer if we could dispense with the official titles...especially when it's just the two of us.'

'As you wish....Sire....'

'All titles.  We are still the same two men we were yesterday.....'

'Well then,..... I think we need to go for a ride. It's been a very difficult night, and there's nothing you can do right now, so I think a ride would do you good.  Clear your head and prepare you for everything that needs to be done later today....'

'Excellent idea!'

'Let's go....'

"And they rode out into the silence of the freshly fallen snow...."

"The new King, and his good friend...."

"That is so sad. It's so hard to lose a parent, and having to say good-bye...forever..."

'Yes it is...and Grace couldn't take it any more, so left the room..."

"Lawrence stayed with his Father all night. Baron stayed as well, to support him...."

'You have been such a wonderful Father, and I was proud to be your son.      I love you Father.
     I hope I can be half the King you were.....'

'I'm so proud of you, son.'

"I know you will be a great, wise, and kind King..."

"Lawrence felt overwhelmed, with both the grief of loosing his beloved Father, and the weight of all the new responsibilities awaiting him....."

"The King was dead......
​Long live the King!!"

"Grace and Lawrence sat with their Father, who was not expected to last the night." 

"Baron was there as well. The King had been like a Father to him.
​And he wanted to be there for his friends" 

"Grace was heart broken...."

"Her Father was the only parent she had even known."

"Her Father took her hand.....
​'You have been the joy of my life' "

"She leaned in close.."

'I don't know what I'm going to do without you....'

"...and she kissed him..."

'I love you Papa...'

"But things were about to change. That winter the King fell ill."

"He was very old. He and his first Queen had been childless. He loved her very much, but several years after she died he found love again, and took a new wife....a much younger new Queen..... and she bore him a son...Lawrence.

​The King was already well passed middle age, and had given up all hope of ever becoming a father, so was thrilled to have a son. A few years later the Queen became with child again, but that time there were complications, and she died giving birth to a little Princess .....Grace.

The King was heartbroken, but knew his children needed him, so he was determined to raise them as best he could."

"He spent a lot of time with his son...."

" ...teaching and guiding him...."

" and he absolutely doted on his daughter....."

"...She reminded him so much of her mother...."

"No matter how busy he was, the King always tried to spend some time with his children."

"He never expected to live long enough to see either of them marry..."

"...or that he'd become a grandfather.   So he was thankful for every moment."

"But that following winter he became very ill...."