Christmas came early to our shop!

Today felt like Christmas at our shop. Santa didn't come, but a big RED truck did back down our long driveway, bearing a big package wrapped securely inder a tarp. Then the tarp was pulled back a giant white wrap still covered an oddly shaped object. Our neighbor handily came rushing over with his trusty forklift to give us a hand taking it down.

The bulky package was squeezed down the narrow alley to the back of our building and then squeezed endwise through a large door. It barely fit.

Thankfully we didn't have to wait until Christmas to unwrap our package! It was our new four axis CNC router of course. Now we wait for the tech to arrive from Texas to set it all up as it should be.

Then, at last the fun will begin - FOR REAL! 

-grampa dan

Pioneer artifacts

Today when I got home from work my 6.9 year old grand daughter Phoebe was waiting anxiously at the door for me. She had an assignment from school and desparately needed my help. She had to bring a 'pioneer artifact with her to school tomorrow and felt I could help her out. 

It turns out I collect stuff and some of these things could very well be considered 'pioneer artifacts'. I went out to my studio and took a look around. There were many things on the shelves. Things I had collected through the many years of my travels. One item caught my eye. It was a spike from the Kettle Valley Railroad - Myra Canyon to be exact. Back in the late 1970's I had driven my Toyota Land Cruiser over the trestles and through some tunnels - just before they took out the rails. It was an amazing trip - an adventure of a lifetime. I had picked up the spike from the historic rail roadbed as a souvenir. 

The second 'pioneer artifact' was an old kerosene lantern. I had snapped it up when my parents had downsized years ago. It reminded me of family camping trips. I showed Phoebe how a handle lifted the glass and how the wick was trimmed and lit. The mechanisms were rusted and stiff now, covered with decades old dirt and rust. Phoebe was amazed with the antique device.

I asked Phoebe to choose betwen the two artifacts. Her choice was predictable... she would take both.

-grampa dan

Hangups

As we finish painting the various sections of the trim and walls of the Fox & Hounds Pub our next task is to hang the eye candy we've been working on in the studio since the start of the project. It is like icing on the cake providing just the right amount of bling. Each sign of course helps tell the story of the pub.

We've declared the washroom to be throne rooms. The crown motif is repeated on the washroom stall dividers and is routed into the mirrors over the sink. The diamond shape is also mirroed through the washrooms.

The first of the beer signs is now in it's final place. The beers of course are fictional, the signs instead tell the pub's story. In this case it is about the British. A English sea captain was blown off course. In the process he discovered the Galapogos Islands. The date was 1593. It makes for a cool beer label and includes a tortoise which is the first thing I think of when I think of the Galapogos Islands.

As we finish off more areas we'll be hanging a bunch more dimensional art. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan