Our trusty mixer decided to throw a main drum bearing yesterday. It has served us well in the toughest conditions for more than six years. We determined that replacing a drum bearing with years of caked concrete is no small task. To complete the repair, we would have needed to disassemble most of the mixer. After thinking things through and considering our options, we decided to take a look at our even older mixer that had been lounging in the bone yard for an equal time. The older mixer had a lunched transmission, but the drum bearings were still in good shape. After determining the usable parts on each mixer, we decided to combine the best of the two mixers to make one serviceable machine. Matt and Tony made short work of the rebuild, and in less than half a day, we were ready to begin mixing our magic mud once again.
A fireplace!
The current push for our hardworking crew is to finish and plant the Copper Crown garden area well before the end of summer. To accomplish this, a fairly long list of projects must be accomplished in a specific order. We also have to be mindful of frequent guests who are enjoying the adjacent suites, which means we can only do noisy tasks when the suites are empty.
The first item to be completed is the sculpting of the lower part of the outdoor fireplace. Having the fireplace fully sculpted made a huge visual difference! Next will be the plaster walls, rockwork and then the decorative pool. Our ambitious goal is to begin wheeling in the topsoil within a week or so. Stay tuned for the progress reports…
Sandstone crest
It was way back in March of 2018 that I designed this crest for the Copper Crown suite of the Hazelnut Inn. Peter had asked me to design it as a stone piece which would be incorporated into the facade of the castle. Ultimately, we went in another direction for that project, but in the last weeks, he decided it would look great over the outdoor fireplace. I routed two pieces with no textures. The first was sculpted as a fully woodgrained piece for over the door inside the suite. This one is sculpted to look like weathered sandstone. It should paint up real nice. Stay tuned…
