Vala’s Pumpkin Patch’s pumpkin coach looks amazingly more magical each day as the painting crew applies the base and blended coats of colour. The fine blends and glazes will be next and they will instantly bring this mystical ride to life. It won’t be long until we put the wheels back on to finish things off. Stay tuned…
Behind the scenes
Much of our work is done behind the scenes. Our concrete mixing area is such a place. This work area is situated behind our shop. Each summer, as we complete the year’s projects, it is time to freshen up this area. The mixer is moved to the side and our little backhoe is used to break up the built-up concrete surface which forms as we formulate our concrete and from washing out the mixer. This can become as thick as six inches around the mixer over time. In a couple of hours, I dug up and moved about five cubic yards of debris with the tough little machine. This was loaded into our dump trailer and with each trip to the gravel pit I back-hauled fresh gravel to create a new, well-draining surface which would last until we do it all over again. Each year we strive to make improvements to ensure this area is as efficient as possible. Improvements this year included a new, second bin which will be used for our coarse sand. I did the tractor work over the weekend to ensure we can get this area back into production this coming week on the last of the features for Vala’s Pumpkin Patch.
Sign repaint
Almost 30 years ago I took a two-day clay sculpting class. The goal was for each of us to sculpt a head. While everyone else sculpted a realistic human head I took a little different tack. We had created a mascot named Spaz for our company and had a hand-drawn version I loved. The sculpting class was a chance to create a 3D version. Since I was working in clay the sculpture wasn’t permanent. A few days later I pulled a rubber negative mold. That mould languished on a dusty shelf for years before we cast it in concrete. When we built our new shop twenty-one years ago we needed a studio sign to hang off the porch and we sculpted the cast head into the design. It has lived there ever since. After more than twenty years in the weather the sign, like the building needed a repaint. Kendra has now finished the base coats and is working on the blended colours. It won’t be long until the sign is in new condition once again. Stay tuned…
