We purchased our property in 2003 and immediately started building a fence. But it was no ordinary fence. We dug a trench and poured a sturdy footing with rebar the entire length of the 400’ property. Then I laid hundreds of concrete blocks to form a retaining wall and filled those with concrete. Steel tubing formed the fence posts. Then we dug out the organic soils and hauled in the gravel to form the driveway, three feet above the original grade. We then turned our attention to building our new shop. The fence languished until we could get back to it years later. In 2017, we finished the first two hundred feet of fence using our construction methods. We welded up the armature and hand-sculpted concrete boards and then painted it as is our style. Over the last ten years, the Hazelnut Inn caught our attention, and the fence sat half-finished once again. With the Inn now complete, we had the time to pick up the project once again. Over the last few weeks, the crew has almost completed the welded armature on the final 100 feet of fence and fabricated the gates to access our neighbour’s property. Next week, they will begin working their way down the wall, sculpting the boards and wiring on more diamond lath. It won’t be long until the 20-year fence project is completed. Stay tuned…
Good enough to eat
The simplest sculpted pieces are often the hardest to paint. We recently sculpted a four-foot apple for Ramseyer Farms in Ohio. The apple, of course, is smooth and round as an apple should be. The client asked that we make it as realistic as possible. When it came to the paint, we assigned Jay to the task. He has a lot of experience as a fine artist, and I knew he would pull it off with perfection. Typically, our work has a lot of texture, which makes blending and glazing much easier to do. Instead, Jay had to rely purely on his skill. Being bright red, there are more coats than normal to ensure the bright colours will last a long time. With each coat, the apple got better as he experimented with the multi coloured blends. By the last coat of paint, the apple looked good enough to eat.
Heading down the road
The loads we transport are quite unlike those of most trucks you see heading down the highway. We find it delightful that travellers who recognize our features often report back to us from various locations as the truck heads across the country. So if you are somewhere between Yarrow, BC and Gretna, Nebraska, over the next few days and see this load, snap a pic and send it to us. I look forward to seeing it again on Monday Morning at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. Stay tuned…
