Wiring our features (attaching the metal lath) is never a fun or easy job. The mesh is stiff and VERY sharp. But the thing is that the more intricate the feature and the harder they are to wire, the cooler they look when we are done. Detail is great but it never comes easy. The crew continued to wire features today, finishing off the large tree and almost polishing off the trestle. Adison, Sarah, Brando and Kendra spent a lot of today under the large piece tying wire in impossible places. It is critical they get the mesh tight and cover every square inch.
In spite of the difficult task they were doing there was lots of laughter, plenty of joking and a whole lot of silliness - all in the interest of making the job less tedious. It seemed to work well as they did great!
Jenessa spent her day working on the fine details of the Balloon Adventure sign. Today she sculpted the little basket with the friendly owl perched inside. AWESOME! The amazing thing is that Jenessa hadn't sculpted previous to joining our team a few months ago. She's is one talented lady!
Hailey was layering the fancy paint onto the Carousel horse. This sign is looking amazing too. Nice job!
Peter worked a couple of hours this morning with Dimitri laying a thick coat of fiberglass reinforced concrete onto the little rail inspection truck. As always, Peter had a few surprises up his sleeve including the oversize bolts 'holding' the sheet metal together. It is one real industrial looking truck!. He left before the carving began and it was our job to turn his rough vision into a finished sculpt. Since it was concrete we had to work fast and finish the job before it turned to stone. I was joined by Dimitri and Jenessa for the fun task. Dimitri is showing his talent and skill already on day two with us.
We can only imagine the endless fun that young kids will have as they 'drive' this jalopy to all manner of imaginary places. They'll start by turning the front crank to fire it up.
My day was spent bouncing around what seemed like a hundred different tasks. When I wasn't dealing with some other project I spent my time cutting, fitting and welding heavy pipes in place for the water delivery system on the water tower. While I'm not sure what all the valves do they look cool and fun which are their primary functions. :)
Up at the lake Matt and Marty welded up a storm, finishing the dirt banks on the Wave Swinger island. It was too dark to take pictures when I picked up the trailer but I'll take some tomorrow.
It was another busy and productive day in our shop. Thanks to each member of my hard working crew!
-grampa dan