Saturday, December 7, 2013

Is there a 'Myrtle Manor'

I find I have very little to show at the moment. I am so busy with my involvement as Mrs Claus with the dance recital (as well as supporting my husband and daughter with their involvement) that I have little time for anything else in the evenings after I have finished my day job as a law clerk.

The recital is now less than a week away. We have rehearsals from 4-6.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week and then we have an evening performance on Friday at 7.00pm and two shows on Saturday at 2.00pm and 7.00pm. I suggest next Sunday will be a blob out day.

I have in recent weeks also been busy getting Christmas swap gifts off to fellow miniaturists in Italy and Spain. Of course I cannot show these on my blog because it would ruin the surprise for them.

There is something I can share with you though - where the name Myrtle Manor Miniatures comes from and to answer the question, Is there a Myrtle Manor?

Some weeks ago Mijbil did a lovely post on her blog

http://mijbilcreatures.blogspot.com/2013/11/camusfearna.html

about where the name of her blog came from. I then looked at the names of some of the other blogs I follow and wondered how those names came to be or what they translate to in English.

The story of Myrtle Manor Miniatures is a bit of a round about story. It started when I purchased my first house as a single young? lady (I was 32) back in 1995. In 1995 I had done my 'Big OE' (overseas experience - travelling overseas) and had done my time spending too much money at pubs and night clubs in the evenings and decided it was time to settle down a bit. At the same time a friend's father was about to move in with them as he was finding it difficult living on his own. I had a look at his house and loved it. While my father was against me buying an old wooden character home at the time (which was what I yearned for) when he saw this house, a 1929 bungalow, he also saw the potential with its stained glass windows, wooden floors and plastered ceilings. I bought the house, a puppy and a kitten and moved in. I was a home owner and a pet owner all in one go.

I loved the house and also loved a beautiful large tree out the back of the property which I was told was a Myrtle tree. Also at the time I was into making bears, including miniature bears. I decided to sell some and needed a business name. I came up with Myrtle Manor Bears. I did sell a few bears but found I didn't enjoy making to order as it took away my creative choice as to what I wanted to make at any one time. The name 'Myrtle Manor' went into hibernation.

Okay, so 'Manor' was a bit of a stretch of the imagination with my little house at the time but I was very proud of my little house so I felt justified calling it a 'Manor'.

Below are a few photos I have found of 'Myrtle Manor':

 A portion of the stained glass window that is behind
Pete and I in the photo below (we were dressed up for a medieval wedding).
 

 A small portion of one of the (dirty) plaster ceilings.
 

A small glimpse of the right hand edge of the tree.
 

Hopefully I might eventually find a photo of the actual house that I can add to this post.

Later in the 1990s my interest in bear making waned and I turned to dolls house miniatures which I enjoyed until the late 1990s when that too went into hibernation.

My husband and I became a couple in about 1998 (previous to that we had known each other as work mates) and we got married in 2000. Once we got married Pete wanted us to buy a house together that we could call 'ours' and I sold my Myrtle Manor.

Now all these years later I have got back into miniatures and I am really enjoying it this time with the invention of the internet and blogs and with all the wonderful contacts I have made with blog friends around the world. I first started my blog as a tool for myself to motivate me. When I needed a name, I of course immediately thought of 'Myrtle Manor'.

So, is there a Myrtle Manor? - in my mind there was. Maybe one day I will do a miniature of my old 1929 bungalow and there will be again. I still have very fond memories of the house.

The funny thing is that many years later I found out the tree I thought was a Myrtle tree was in fact a Lilly Pilly tree. Still, by then the name Myrtle Manor had stuck. Had it not, my blog may have been called Lilly Pilly Manor Miniatures!

How did the name of your blog come into being? I'd love to hear about it.

22 comments:

  1. That is a very interesting story about your blog name. Mine is rather simple, my blog is about the everyday life of little dolls, hence the name "Days of Our Little Lives!"

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    1. Simple but clever and very appropriate for your blog.

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  2. Hi Sharee! That is a lovely story about your blog name! I hope you do get to build the mini Myrtle Manor someday!
    My blog name came about on the spur of the moment as the blog was being started. I was a very new to the internet and blogs person, with No idea how any of it was done... and had only realized there were blogs a few months prior to starting mine. I was lamenting to my son (who was home on leave from the service) that I couldn't figure out how to leave comments on any blogs because I didn't have a blog identity, and he said that was easy to fix... so he opened up blogger and punched a button and asked me what I wanted my blog to be named...!!! I blurted out the first thing that came to mind... and he typed it in and saved it and my blog was born! I don't think I could have done better if I had thought about it for a long time! Sometimes those spur-of-the-moment ideas are the best ones.

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    1. I agree with you, often the spur of the moment ideas are the best ones. As you were telling your story could picture it happening. It is good that your son put you on the spot as it is the perfect name. I think there is a little bit of a Daydreamer in all of us, especially us miniaturists.

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  3. What a wonderful story, Sharee & a great topic. I hope that you get to create a miniature of that bungalow one day. My blog name is not as creative...it's simply born from my obsession with miniature things. I had tried Lisa's Little Things, but it was already taken. :-)

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    1. Sometimes simple is best and the good thing is we all know your name. Sometimes when I write a comment on a blog I am not sure of the name of the blog owner and only know them by their blog name. On one occasion I had been using a blog name in my comments for some weeks before I realised it wasn't that person's actual name. It is probably good I have put my name in my profile or people might think my name is Myrtle.

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  4. Thanks for sharing! I love getting to know more about mini blog friends where their passions come from and things that inspire them ;)

    I was wondering about the blog title, now I know more ;)

    Mine is pretty straight forward I think, the fanaticus part comes from a few sources..one from the past ....*secrets* ;P

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    1. I agree Jane. It is always good to find out little bits about our blog friends through their blog entries, especially what inspires them, but *secrets* are good too. A little mystery makes people interesting don't you think.

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  5. Most people tell me I'm mad or I've got too much time on my hands when they see my miniature crochet so it wasn't hard to come up with a blog name!

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    1. Susan, I think we are all a bit mad with our miniatures bug, but that is the fun of it! I have just looked at your blog and what exquisite miniature crochet you do. I am totally envious. Crochet is the one skill I don't have that I would dearly love to learn. I often see beautiful crocheted miniatures that I love and your work ranks right up there with the best I have seen. Do you sell any of your work?

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  6. Hi Sharee! I loved it to read about your blogname, it is quite interesting. Well do you have a moment for my blogname? It is quite simple.
    I'll try to explain, but take care: my English is not good, so if I am not clear enough:ask me again ;)!
    Mini: well that's clear, it comes from miniatures. Mum: okay, I am a Mum and Loon: that seems to be an odd word in the English language and it seems to be a part of a saying(?). As you know my name is Ilona, my abbreviated name is Loon (pronounced like lone from the word 'alone' and NOT like 'loon' from the word moon!! ;)). Someone told me that Loon also means something like lunatic :D!! But after all I AM fond of miniatures, like all of us, so.........good story, huh ;)?
    Have a great weekend with all stories here :D!!
    Hugs, Ilona

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    1. Hi Ilona. Your English is great and I had no problem reading your comment. Thank you for sharing your blog name story and for clarifying the pronunciation of Loon. I have to confess that when I read the name I had been sounding it as in 'moon'. I now know better. While Loon can mean a 'mad person', personally when I see the word 'Loon' I think of the wonderful Loon birds with their laugh-like cry.

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  7. Hi Sharee, what a lovely background story! Our first house, especially if bought on our own, always has a special place in our hearts doesn't it? Well my blog is named after the permanent place I wanted to give my ancestors. A place where they are remembered daily and where they are always welcome. When I had the idea to create such a place, I had never heard of the dollhouse/mini scene. So I felt like Alice falling through the rabbit hole. The rest is history (well only 6 months, but it's enough to be totally addicted) :-)
    Hugs,
    Véronique

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    1. It is wonderful that you stumbled across miniatures in your desire to give your ancestors a special place to be remembered. It is a fabulous tool for that purpose. What a lovely gesture of love and respect for your ancestors.

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  8. I sometimes think about people's blog names too. I first saw the phrase Cinderella moment in an article of a Victoria magazine. When I opened my Etsy shop and had to come up with a name it popped back into my mind. It was perfect since I was turning cardboard into little architectural models of houses. You know something out of nothing kind of a concept. Hence a Cinderella Moments worked! Then I got into dollhouses because I received several requests for them. I turned crappy kits into one of a kind dollhouses continuing the Cinderella Moment thing. I think turning your Myrtle Manor into a dollhouse would be incredible. I hope you get the time to do it.
    hugs♥,
    Caroline

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    1. I have to say I had never really heard of the term 'a Cinderella moment', but it is so appropriate for the work you do. It is almost like you are the fairy godmother who waves her magic wand and turns trash to treasure - except you put a lot more effort into your beautiful creations than just waving a magic wand. Many of your creations have that fairy tale magic though.

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  9. it funny that you posted this because in my mind I see Myrtle Manor as a cute little Grandma's house with lovely little nic nak's all over the place and Im happy to see that Im not too far off (even though you are far from a grandma it does sound like a wonderful creative space and I hope to see it in Mini form) My name came from my husbands last name and I added works to it.. I needed something that would cover all the craft bases because I wasn't sure what scale I wanted to work in (well thats not really true I liked dolls but I found I had a talent for 1/6 scale food so I turned them into fridge magnets and now I do 1/12 scenes..I lost my food Mojo when my dog Bella passed away..I might go back to it but I still feel sad when I touch clay.) so that's it..sorry it was a bit long winded

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  10. Thank you for sharing your story. I know how heart-breaking it can be to lose a pet. We currently have three dogs, a cockatiel and a budgie. They are all a big part of our family.

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  11. Hey Sharee, its very nice, you play the game on my blog. But you have misunderstood the game. It's a puzzle ... and the final image shows the first prize for the game. There are on my blog somewhere a picture that shows exactly this Mmniature or mini-scene ofrom me ... and you must guess at which part it is here... or easy... what is on the puzzle-picture!

    Wish you good luck and send many hugs

    PuNo / Monika

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  12. Thank you Monika. Sometimes when using Google Translate things do not always translate that clearly, so thank you for the clarification. I also probably did not read things that well in my rush as I am so far behind with keeping up with blog reading at the moment because I have been so busy. I think the puzzle picture is a great idea.

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  13. Me ha encantado conocer el misterio del nombre de tu blog, muy intereante.
    El mio no lo es tanto.......mis miniaturas jejejeje
    Una fantastica entrada.
    besitos ascension

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  14. Thank you Ascension. Your blog name is great - - simple and clear.

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