Peter's dream

More than half a decade ago Peter decided he wanted to be a high school math teacher. It meant he would return to university to study, putting his life on hold. As he visualized his dream he told me he would wear a bow tie to teach. At the end of the day he would untie his tie and go home knowing he had done his best to inspire and teach young people.

Peter worked hard. He made the dean's list through university and recently began his teaching career. This evening we had a family dinner to honor Peter and his dream. As part of the celebration there were presents of course. Peter was delighted to unwrap twenty-five shiny new bow ties in every color and pattern imaginable.

Peter looks great in a bow tie.

-grampa dan

Gnarly tree

It was finally my turn to apply the fiberglass-reinforced-concrete and do some carving. I've had my eye on the Wilderness Trail tree since I welded it up last week. I knew exactly how I wanted to handle the gnarly tree. TJ mixed up some fine batches of concrete mud and in a couple of hours it was coated out and two hours after that it was ready to carve. TJ gave me a hand with the rocks at the bottom. He and Hailey also carved the last of the wheels as I worked on the tree.

My favorite part was the large broken branch about half way up.

One more piece is ready for the paint shop. Stay tuned for color...

-grampa dan

Almost to pure magic

Those who look close and watch our projects take shape are always amazed at how labor intensive the projects are. The truth is detail doesn't come easy. It takes time and patience.

Today the wagon was ready for the first of two glazed. While the wagon looked great with it's regualr paint the glazes add depth, bring out the detail and makes things look authentic and aged appropriatly. The first glaze is one we call swamp. Not pretty in the can it looks very cool when brushed on liberally and then carefully wiped off, leaving it in the crevaces and valleys. Lower parts of the wagon are left a little darker to give it weight and the top edges are burnished good to give them highlights. Hailey and Jenessa are very skilled at the task.

The result really looks cool but will be made into pure magic as we add one more glaze and then add the rusty finish to the hardware. When we add the wheels we'll be ready to roll. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan