Almost ready for mud

It is our goal to transport the large base/sign for the lighthouse up to the site and install it on Friday. It's a tight deadline but I breathed a sigh of relief this morning when I discovered it was only Tuesday and not Wednesday as I thought. We will make it without a doubt - I think. :) But there is not a minute to lose.

TJ and I worked at welding the final pencil rod structure to the upper portions of the feature while the rest of the team applied concrete and carved on four more posts for the fence. When the welding was complete, save for the tree, everyone switched to applying the galvanized lath. I continued to polish off the small welded tree.

By first coffee tomorrow the piece should be wired and ready to be loaded onto the trailer. Then we can begin to apply the mud.

I can hardly wait to install the first feature and officially begin our work on site. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan

Sky scraper

It wasn't long this morning before the workshop tables, chairs and other equipment was all put away and we got busy with our paying projects once more. The crew who had helped so faithfully to ensure a fawless workshop was eager to begin our 'real' work once more. Lots was acomplished today. The largest and most visible project (of many) was the lighthouse feature. As I worked on welding the upper structure I lifted the top section into place and welded the rings, both top and bottom, to make sure everything lined up when it was reassembled onsite. From this point on the pieces would be built separately. As the pieces were fitted together we instantly got a good idea of how big and tall this piece would be when done. The roof of the lighthouse will be about seven feet taller than the frame currently is.

The plan is to have the base section in place on site Friday morning. The clock is ticking fast! Stay tuned for progress...

-grampa dan

Workshop results

Today the group worked hard to finish their projects and an amazing variety of dinosaur and dragons emerged. Doug's dragon had real life and well before it was finished already was amazing!.

Adison chose to model Sid the sloth from the animated movie. It was the first time he had done any modeling and he was justifiably proud of the result.

Phil from Australia really pulled out the stops on his colorful creation. The dino was climbing right out of the background!

All this was on only one side of the table. Equally exciting and creative works also lined the other side, worked on by the rest of the group.

Every dino was incredibly creative, each a true work of art! The whole three days were wonderful, packed end to end with learning, felowship and much laughter. It was a workshop to remember. We paused for a group photo as things wound down.

Thanks so much to all who worked so hard to make this a reality and those who participated and in the process made it so memorable.

-grampa dan