Hard pull!

It's a known fact that trees are most often very hard to pull out of the ground. The treehouse tree proved to be almost as difficult to pull out of the shop. Thankfully our little tractor was handy along with the entire crew in the back pushing and steering. With a whole lot of grunting it did come out. We got jammed up a little as the tree went out of the door but we quickly worked things out.

The shop suddenly got a whole lot emptier and with a quick sweep was ready for the next pieces to move in.

One, two, three, GONE!

It is always exciting to bring in a crane and lift a feature into place. To lift three containers FULL of features all in one day is much more so.

When I came out of the house this morning the massive crane and the trucks were waiting at the gate. It was the long awaited day to load the first loads for Trinidad. Manouvering the crane into position was tricky as the space was very tight with inches of clearance on each side. We had a wonderful operator, calm and professional. The truck drivers were also great to work with as well. We wasted no time in hooking up the first container, lifting it and then backing the truck underneath.

Fortunately we could lift the second container without repositioning the machine. 

The third container was at the front of the property, near the gate which meant we had to pull in the outriggers and repostion the crane. This lift also went very smooth. It was a simple matter of backing the truck under the load and then dropping it into position.

In just under two hours, the first three containers were on their way to Trinidad. The yard looks strangely empty with the containers gone but it won't remain that way for long as there are plenty of features ready to fill the next containers which will soon arrive. Stay tuned for more excitement...

Lights at last

For twelve years during the time we lived in the old house there were never christmas lights on the outside of the house. Although we spent a considerable amount ugrading the electrical system when we moved in to the old place our electrician warned us to not do Christmas lights as it wouldn't take much to overload the system. Our Christmas light display was limited to a small tree inside.

With the new house now complete it was time at last to begin building our Christmas display. As always moderation was paramount. We will add a piece or two each year. This year we would begin with a wreath in the large circular window. It was definitely a team effort. Hailey sourced the many strings of LED lights. Jack got busy welding the pencil rod frame. Marty started the painstaking job of wrapping black tape around the many, many light strings, fastening them to the frame. Others contributed their efforts and it took a bunch to carry it out to the front, lift it up and fasten it in place. As the sky darkened we fired it up to start our celebration of Christmas.

Now it's time to begin thinking about what we are going to add next year...