I’ve long been fascinated with water wheels. We designed and built a small wooden one in a very early project about forty years ago and another 12’ steel version about ten years ago. But I’ve dreamed of building a larger version of a Pelton wheel since then. We’ve designed and proposed a number of these through the years but other more pressing projects took its place each time…. until recently. We now have an eighteen-foot-six-foot diameter wheel under contract. It will be all steel, except for the (sculpted) stone base. The wheel will be fabricated in two halves, plus the center spool and the base as three sections for economical shipping on a step trailer. We will fully assemble it in our yard before shipping to ensure it is perfectly balanced. The steel is on order and the cutting files are ready for the plasma table. Stay tuned for when the sparks begin to fly…
Kitchen like no other
There’s a small kitchenette in the North Star suite. As with all of the other areas of the Hazelnut Inn, it will be fully themed from the peak of the tall ceilings to the tiled floor. The painting crew has now finished the base coats of paint and will move on to the glazes this coming week to finish off this area. The floor tiles have arrived so we can soon begin the floors. Stay tuned…
Crafting one 'page' of a long story
We are storytellers extraordinaire. Our greatest story-telling feat to date will be the Hazelnut Inn. If you explore the Hazelnut Inn’s web page and drill down to the North Star suite you will find its description as follows…
‘Local lore holds that the North Star was once the home of Temperance Longbottom. An eccentric explorer, Ms. Longbottom found herself the caretaker of artifacts and curiosities from mythical lands of fairytale and folklore.
Spend the night in the captain's quarters of an ancient sailing vessel. Relax in a soaker tub for two. Explore the lush private garden, filled with whimsical artifacts. Staying in the North Star is simply a delight.’
Each element and piece of the suite is lovingly designed and crafted with exquisite care to tell this story. The hot tub mentioned in the description is one ‘small’ example. The soaker tub - just big enough for two, is nestled in the middle of a giant stone sculpture. Even more detail is sculpted into the stones. Look close and you will see an octopus carved into the hot tub enclosure. Today Kendra skillfully applied the third to last coat of glaze. Stay tuned for much, much more…
