Being the weekend, Henry was eager to work on the parade float project. We first filled the water tank and took it for a test drive around the neighbourhood. Henry was delighted to test the water cannon on our good sport neighbour, Joel. It worked perfectly! When we returned to the yard, we noticed a low tire on the cannon trailer. Since we had pumped it up earlier, we decided it was time to replace it. We dug out a new tire and got out the tools. Henry knew just what to do. He placed the jack under the axle and used the air wrench to remove the lug bolts skillfully, threw on the new tire and then tightened. Although he had seen the tool in operation previously, this was his first time on the air wrench by himself. These fun projects are teaching Henry many valuable skills!
Painted!
With the entire crew in the shop all week, we accomplished a great deal. One of the projects was painting three coats of paint and two glazes onto the Cap’n Elias’ Pirate Ship Entrance Tower. For this project, the blends were created in a painterly style using a large brush. Then the crew applied and gingerly wiped off a tan glaze, which warmed up the cool base colours. Lastly, a dark purple/grey glaze was applied and wiped off. As with most of our projects, we ‘weighted’ the tower by making it a little darker towards the bottom of each rock and the tower as a whole. The result is pretty cool, including the cannonball hit on one side.
Tim's measuring tree
It is said that the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second-best time to plant a tree is now. Tim Vala, co-founder of Vala’s Pumpkin Patch, did even better. When he and his wife purchased their farm forty years ago, there were few trees. But Tim had a vision, and despite having little money or spare time, he planted some trees that first year. Every year since he insisted on planting many more. His amazing effort changed the landscape in a major way. The four-hundred-acre property now has a forest of trees which line the curving roads and paths and beautifully frame every scene.
This year, we introduced a feature called Tim’s Measuring Tree to honour Tim’s efforts. He is planting three new trees around it. Each year, guests visit they will be able to step inside and measure their growth. Our hope is that it will become a tradition. Those young trees that Tim plants this year will also grow alongside the guests. It is going to be a fitting tribute to Tim and a wonderful photo op.
