As we drove through the valley today the sun was getting low on the horizon behind us. Ahead, to the south east the snow covered mountains gathered the golden light and provided us with a spectacular show. As we passed Abbotsford, Mount Baker was incredibly beautiful. Becke grabbed this picture on my cell phone at my request as we drove by. While I'm not a huge fan of the snow on the ground I love how it looks in the mountains. We do indeed live in a winter wonder land!
A shaggy dog story
I love shaggy dog stories. By definition 'shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's preconceptions of joke-telling. The audience listens to the lengthy story with certain expectations, which are met in some entirely unexpected manner.'
My SIGN INVITATIONAL entry is a visual shaggy dog story without a doubt. This story began many years ago when I built the first version of this machine. It was a hand cranked IDEAMATIC. The story goes that when I was stuck for an idea I simply went to the machine, turned the handle and out popped a creative inspiration. That's how I managed to always be so creative through the years. This latest version is the most advanced IDEAMATIC yet. It's steam powered of course. Once fired up and with a full head of steam I can simply type in what I'm looking for, pull the leaver to activate the machine and out pops the inspiration. It's never let me down yet. At the ISA show I am confident the IDEAMATIC will print out the best idea ever seen... along with the punch line to my shaggy dog story of course.
Latest version of Hazelnut Inn
In-between all of the other things going on in our busy lives, work continues on the Hazelnut Inn project. The building plans and engineering are now largely complete. The realities of engineering, building codes and plenty more thinking has meant some adjustments to the design along the way. We've made some styling changes and size adjustments as well. The front explorer's suite now has more of a Moroccan feel and the castle leans a little more to French influences. Our goal is to get the last of the drawings done in the next day or two and then submit them to the city for the development permit prior to Christmas. It's exciting!
