Climbing down a mountain

Today the weather was perfect to mud and sculpt much of the middle section of the mountain. We started with the woodgrain posts and supports. With the warm and dry weather it wasn't long until it was time to caarve. Matt started but it wasn't long until TJ and Sarah joined in to complete the task. It sure looked great when they were done! Others on the crew were busy painting up at the peak.

Peter and I moved on to mudding the side wile they worked. By quitting time we had done a sizable portion.

The top of the mountain is now complete. We'll be removing the top portion of scaffold very soon. Our goal tomorrow is to get down to the waterline of the bumper boat pool. Stay tuned...

-grampa dan

Giddyup guncle dan!

I've always been a kid at heart. I enjoy interacting with young kids. One of my life's pleasures has been to give our kids horsey rides. I get down on all fours and wear my knees out prancing around the house (or yard) to the delight of the young riders on my back. My own kids enjoyed it when they were young and it was, until earlier this year one of our grand daughter Phoebe's favorite activities with me. It was only a short time ago (at age nine) she got too big for me to handle. I've missed the activity... until recently.

Mason and his mom live with us. He turned seven months a short time ago and when he was sitting steady enough on his own it was finally his turn for horsey rides with guncle (great-uncle) dan. Now each day when I get in from the job his eyes light up at the suggestion that it is time for a ride. Mason is still pretty little and needs a boost to get on. He hasn't yet figured out the whole holding on thing either but he knows to give me a gentle kick in the ribs and rock back and forth excitedly as we circle the house. His excited laughter is plenty of reward as we go.

My knees are again developing the needed callouses for the endless miles will will accumulate. Giddyup!

-guncle dan

Above and beyond

Those who work for us need to be highly skilled. They also need to be able to work in very unusual and challenging circumstances.

The mountain we are currently constructing (over a real building) is fifty-two feet from bottom to top. Working on the upper reaches means our crew needs to climb very high and work comfortably and efficiently at those heights. We work on scaffolds, on top of roofs and from a man lift as required, sometimes from more than one at once. While we strive to get as much done as possible each day the focus is on safety as a priority. Scaffold work typically takes twice as long as working on the ground for good reason.

Today we were working under the front roofline, near the top of the building. Getting there meant climbing a tall scaffold for the underneath part. To do the facia I worked from the sixty-five foot manlift. Once I had the concrete in place Sarah and Jenessa donned their safety harnesses and climbed up to the top to carve in the woodgrain.

To get a proper perspective of how high we were working today I took this shot when we were done. 

Now we'll let the concrete cure before we head back up to apply the paint. Once that is done we'll take off the top layer of scaffolding, finish welding up the famework around the lower beams and then do the lower levels of the concrete work. It won't be long until the scaffold work is done. I can hardly wait.

-grampa dan