The new stage after five days work

I like this shot!  It says that we are getting where we're trying to go.

Gonna look a lot better after we get the skirting on it.  Will probably happen today.

And this one really shows where we need to stain the new wood. The darker wood is the old stage (old like in October)

We'll probably finish the construction work today or tomorrow and then do some more clearing of the area.  Unfortunately the oak tree in the center will have to come down.  There are more trees too to cut down but most are dead, small, or redundant.  The stage is looking good!

Progress on multiple fronts

A dam at the West Bridge

After many months of drought the pond is full again

First day's work on the new stage

The upper picture shows the little dam at the West Bridge that I finished yesterday.  From previous measurements this looked to be about the correct height to keep the pond full.  Now after all of the rain, the pond is full but there is about 3-4 inches of water going over the dam.  So I'll add one more row of bags of concrete mix and that will keep the pond at about the level it is in the second picture.  Before the dam, water would back up like this but after the rain it would quickly drain away.  Maybe we can keep more of it now - and this should keep water in the creek too.  The last picture is the stage after one day's work.  We've moved it back and added to it.  It was 96 square feet and will now be 240 square feet.

JamFest Photo Book

So we're sitting at the bar at Brewbaker's Pub this evening having dinner (all the tables were taken) and there on the shelf behind the bar is a copy of the Wildernest Treehouse JamFest photo book.  This one's is special though - Jeff is getting each performer to autograph their page.

Phone camera photo

When I went into the living room this morning the sun was just coming up and the only direct sun in the room was on the G. Harvey (Dallas, The Early Years) and, even that, was through the lace curtains.  Visually, it just had a mystical look about it.  So I took a picture or two and then decided to play on the feel of it a bit by changing the setting to sepia.  Of course the light was very low so the picture is blurred a bit but I think it all came together to make a very interesting image!

Going home from Brewbakers on a rainy Blue Monday night . . .

The fourth of four posters

This is the fourth of four posters that I did in December.  I started this primarily as a learning project in Photo Elements 9 and it's a natural extension of the Master Gardener project at the Wildscape and the Shutterfly photo book I made about it.  The MG's have a state meeting in March and there are competitions in several areas (write-ups of things that took place the previous year) and one of them is a poster competition.  From what I know about it, it looks like this one will give us a decent chance to place. We've brought home six or more awards the last two years!