The Yarrow Days Parade and Hazelnut Inn Open House are now only ten days away, and preparations are going ahead at full speed. Final decorating of the parade float will happen at the last minute, but in the meantime, we are in the operational test phase. We know the smoke machine works perfectly on house power, but it needs to be fully portable and battery-powered for the parade. Our properly sized inverter arrived this afternoon. We enlisted our neighbour Gord, along with his batteries, for the power. The smoke machine draws a fair amount of power, so today’s test was to see how long one battery would last. We will then do the math to determine how many batteries we will need to last the entire parade route. Next week we’ll do a final test with Henry to make sure we are ready for the big day. Stay tuned…
Painting on the magic
Laura spent her day brushing on the base coat of paint onto multiple features. The first coat is the most difficult as the concrete features are very porous and rough, and suck up a lot of paint. The challenge is to put the paint on as thick as possible without creating runs and drips. The second coat is a little easier, and the third blend coat is much faster. The final glazes go faster yet, and the dry brushing takes but a few minutes. All in all, a feature like this treasure chest will take one person seven or eight days in total. The end result will be pure magic!
Next generation steps up
Each time Henry comes out to help in the shop, he learns something new. This time, he saw me adding texture to the sides and back of a sign panel with a die grinder and immediately wanted to try it himself. He first donned his safety gear, and then we began the work. It was hard to wait, but he did allow me to do a little demo, and then he was off on his own. Juniper wasn’t about to let her brother have all the fun and took a turn as well, of course. As with everything they try, the learning curve was short, and the result was fantastic.
