My Dad, George, celebrated his ninety-third birthday today. He’s been a big influence throughout my life. He has often asked me where I learned to do the things we do. I proudly tell him he taught me. He doubts my words but it is very true. My dad was never an artist, nor did he weld and fabricate. He didn’t create fanciful sculptures. But he taught by example from an early age that anything I could imagine was possible if I worked at it hard and long enough. As a kid, I often watched him create a rudimentary plan on a scrap of paper, then break out his hammer, and saw and build a building, He could trowel cement and build anything he imagined. When I was young he decided we needed a swimming pool. We dug the excavation by hand with shovels and picks, built the forms and mixed the concrete in a small portable mixer. I fondly recall the giant toboggan run he fashioned from scrap lumber in our yard one winter. And there were countless other projects through the years. As Janis & I started our business after I left home, he would often help out, offering encouragement, advice and labour as he was able. We made many more great memories in those years as well. My dad has long since hung up his hammer and moves much slower these days but he’s still fiercely proud of what we do and loves to hear of my travels and see pictures of our projects. I hear from those around him that he often tells tall stories of our exploits. Happy Birthday, Dad!!
Ready for pavers
The concrete pour at the Hazelnut Inn went perfectly and it was with pure joy we carefully removed the forms the next day. It took the better part of a full day to remove all of the screws, salvage the good boards and load the scrap pieces into the trailer to take to the bio-recyclers. We then began spreading a thin layer of new gravel onto the driveway to prepare it for the paving stones. With every step we complete, the Inn looks better and more complete. Stay tuned for more progress…
Big things are happening at the Hazelnut Inn
The weather was perfect today for lots of outside work at the Hazelnut Inn. The painting crew pretty much polished off the wall between the parking lot and our house. I managed to put in a couple of loads of bark mulch to lean up the flower beds and along the neighbours’ hedge line. We also filled up the planter beds with soil. Peter and Matt cleaned out the Copper Crown castle in preparation for the spray foam insulation. As soon as the insulation is finished we will be finishing off the theme work in the North Star. Stay tuned…
