Ricki's Spring Projects

Ricki hugging her fabulous creation

It’s a creative frenzy!

The Cheese Queen is at it again. It seems like every year, beginning when the sap starts flowing and the snow has melted, Ricki gets an energy charge and hundreds of new projects are begun at the Royal Palace. OK, maybe not hundreds, but quite a few…

Most of them revolve around the “barn” Ricki and Jamie have been re-building since last Spring. I wish I could show you “before” pictures when it was just a shack used for storage because now it has become a stunning showcase for Ricki’s artistic talent.

The Barn Project (Ongoing)

It’s located a ways behind the house.

Ricki and Jamie put in the 4 large windows on the left and the double doors.

When they raised the roof and re-did the front, they used the old barn boards.

Ricki found old windows she liked and they became a wall of light

The Mirror Mosaic (In Progress)

This is a huge project. Ricki is finding old mirrors at second hand stores, then dropping them and gluing the pieces to the wall. The effect is amazing!

The grout will be black

The Post

Ricki assembled a huge collection of glass beads, old jewelry pieces and miscellaneous geegaws. Then, she applied each one randomly with a hot glue gun. The result is a fabulous example of “controlled chaos.”

How cool is this?!

Those are glass beads on top of little Scrabble tiles. It says, “Art is music for the eyes.”

Note the crown (for the Cheese Queen). There are 4 of them on the post.

The round wooden pieces come from a fence Jamie built several years ago.

The wall “sign”

This will be installed on a wall in the barn. Ricki assembled it from scraps of iron.

The mosaic in the former sauna

This was just a quick little job Ricki did while taking a break from another project (!). It hasn’t been grouted yet.

The shower in the basement

This is primarily Jamie’s project (the man who can do everything!)

The Gardens

Ricki and Jamie do all the gardening themselves. Ricki planted (and maintains) all the flowers, bushes and small trees and Jamie grows a huge supply of vegetables. It’s a BIG job.

Front of the house

These are the early spring pictures before everything is in bloom.

Note Ricki’s license plate!

Sides of the house

This sculpture is new. It’s over 8 feet tall.

Back of the house

Jamie’s vegetable garden

Jamie built this sink and Ricki did the mosaic around it

I’ll have more for you as these projects (and new ones!) get completed. As you can see, the Cheese Queen has a lot going on at the Royal Palace…