"Widow Morley's Bluebird Cafe and Bakery"....

 So I continue on my building spree to work on my Western buildings, and as luck would have it, I have completed another one. 

I actually started the idea for this building back in 2016, and during the 2017 Super bowl halftime show, I had a drawing of names of my female friends that volunteered. My friend Sarah Morley won "the honor" *ahem* of having a café and backstory.

Originally I had called it "The Mockingbird", but I didn't like how the sign looked, so I redid it, and changed it to "The Bluebird". Very little modification was done to the building, (one of the older TCL laser cut buildings that Knuckleduster used to carry back in the day), and just added "window glass", and a wooden frame around the sign. 

Coloring was also done by Apple barrel, and Folk-art Craft Paints, "(Victorian Blue), and weathered with Burnt Sienna and Antique White.

This building adds a bit of color to my town. It makes for two blue buildings, (this one and the barber shop), and now it will be back to the tired worn brown ones that are more common. 

Here are some pics of the completed building, (and some other pics also).

Please click on them for larger pics.

(A frontal view of The Bluebird. Good lunches and suppers, fresh pies, and hot coffee; All served by the charming Widow Morley. This one is showing the weathering and wear on the buildings and boardwalks. These buildings drybrush very nicely.)

(A side shot showing the weathering.)

(Rear Oblique pic showing the weathering and wear on the building. Paint was expensive in the Old West, and painted building were exposed to harsh elements, and weathered quite quickly.)

(A comparison of The Bluebird with the still under construction Newspaper and Printing Shop. Both kits are the same one by TCL. I just modified the windows of the Newspaper Office by making them two BIG glass windows. That way the Newspaper Editor can see what is going on, (just like everyone else), and then write about it in the paper and sell the paper to folks for a nickel each telling them exactly what it was they saw...)

(Playing around with some figures and stuff. Henry Plunkitt, Ollie Olaffson And Winston Sinclair, (with his hands behind his back), hold a casual conversation outside of The Bluebird Café before it opens for lunch...)

(The conversation continues and meanders between "What kind of pie will Widow Morley be serving today?" and "Do you think she is looking for a suitor?" )

(A comparison shot of The Bluebird, and Wun Hung Lo's Chinese Laundry. The laundry and boardwalks are from the Arnica Montana line, the fence, barrels, and barricade items are from Acheson. The figures are a mixture of Pulp Figures and Dixons.)

And now for the "Backstory"....

As promised....

For your viewing enjoyment is "Mrs. Morley's Bluebird Café and Bakery", also known simply as "The Bluebird".

It is owned by Mrs. Sarah Morley also known in quieter circles as "The Widow Morley".  

The story around these parts is that she came out west and opened it up to make a living after losing four husbands during the war.  

Husband #1 was Alvin and he died of fever right before First Manassas (Bull Run to you Yankees).

Husband #2 was James, and he was run over by a runaway supply wagon during the frenzied, chaotic, Union retreat from Second Manassas, and was mashed into a pulp in the Virginia mud. 

Husband #3: was named Robert and died of diarrhea during the battle of Gettysburg. 

The fourth (and final) Husband was Thomas, and he used the top of his skull to catch the business end of a double canister round, courtesy of R.E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia during The Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864.

After the war, Sarah didn't marry again, although she had various suitors and gentleman callers and at least three of them also mysteriously disappeared...

After the sudden disappearance of the last one, a series of ugly rumors started going around the town back East where she lived, and people were whispering that "foul things were going on", etc.. So in order to prevent a scandal, and/or arrest and trial for "murder most foul" (even though there was no direct proof, but rumors are nasty things aren't they?), and to protect her good name, she quickly headed out west and settled in Rimfire.

She is quite the accomplished cook, and along with her cook/helper ( a fellow named "John Smith", that is real quiet and keeps to himself), her small café provides delicious lunches, and suppers as well as fresh pies, and hot coffee for hungry paying cowboys and townsfolk alike. She is well known for her fresh, delicious pies and freshly made powdered sugar almond cookies that she cheerfully bakes for special customers.

The Bluebird is always clean, bright and cozy, and is freshly painted. It is closed on Sundays and Saturday nights supper is always beefsteak, beans, bacon, and biscuits night.  Buttermilk and fresh milk, as well as coffee is an option, and occasionally she will have fresh lemonade.  No smoking, liquor, or tobacco chewing (or spitting), is allowed in The Bluebird.

Rumor is out that "The Widow Morley" may be looking for a feller, sometime in the near future, so all available and eager bachelors should apply.... The lucky guy could be "Husband #5"!!!!