We’ve long had to keep our gates closed to prevent random uninvited visitors from driving into the yard. Yarrow Central Road is a main artery to get to the Lower Mainland’s favourite lake, and in summertime it is often very busy. Many who drive by are intrigued by our unique house and are curious about what we do. Often they believe our place is a tourist attraction. We certainly don’t mind those who stop to get a closer look or even grab a picture from the sidewalk. Security and safety concerns keep our property off-limits except for those whom we invite to our studio. Our new sign was installed on our gate today, giving our visitors a little more information.
Read the sign! Please.
Each year during our slower summer season, we go through the shop and entire property to make an extensive list of what we can improve, repair or finish. The list is often quite long. One of this year’s items is a new sign for our gate. Guests on their way to the Hazelnut Inn often pull into our driveway as they arrive, thinking they are at the Inn. It creates confusion when the keypad doesn’t open the gate with the codes they have been given for the Hazelnut Inn. We’ve added a tiny sign above our keypad, but a second, larger notice on our gate seemed to be necessary as well. For those who missed our award-winning sign on the road, we’ve identified the Imagination Corporation one more time - just to be sure. But as we all know, it may not work, for very few people actually read signs. :)
Dream workspace
We often dreamed of a spacious, well-equipped workshop through the first three decades of our business. In those years, Janis encouraged my work and allowed me to work in a spare bedroom and occasionally even in the living room. Later, our ever-growing projects took over our garage and our driveway. The fumes, dust and smoke from my projects would often waft into the house. Janis was patient and encouraging through it all. In 2003, it was finally time to build my long-awaited workshop and studio on our newly purchased small acreage in Yarrow, British Columbia. I drew up some plans and brought them to Janis for her input and approval. She looked them over carefully and then shook her head. She asked me to tear them up and begin anew, and this time to design the shop BIGGER AND BETTER. There would only be one chance to do this project, and it had to be done right. The building would be constructed using ICF construction. This method uses a Styrofoam form system with steel-reinforced 8” thick concrete fill for maximum insulation for both heating and, more importantly, to minimize sound escape, which might bother our neighbours. The entire exterior of the shop would be made of hand-sculpted concrete, themed to match the house we would build a decade later. The shop has been comfortable and efficient, changing how we worked and allowing us to tackle much larger projects. It was a large and successful part of our long-held dream.
