The treehouse tree after its' cut back yesterday

. . . lot's of wood on the ground to burn -

Wildernest - Featured in the (February 29th, 2012) Mineola Monitor Spring Lawn & Garden Section!

"Master Gardener Wields Light Touch on Natural Masterpiece" - What's not to like about that headline!  This lady knows a lot of adjectives!  After reading the article I had to go walk the trail again to see what she saw!  I'm really happy with the write up - it touches on most all of our favorite outdoor things about our home. Five nice color pictures too.  (If you double click the pictures you can read it.)

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.

November 2011

I like to look through my pictures at the end of a month to see what we've been doing with our time.  Of course there are some posts from November below this one but here are a few more pictures with some captions:  It was a pretty busy month!

Worked on our Wood County Master Gardeners Spring Conference arranging a speaker, acquiring a raffle prize, and worked on poster ideas.

Created the "Scrapbook Song" DVD for Alex

Found a picture of grandson Colby on FB.  He lives with his father. (Starnes)

Spent a morning traveling around Wood County taking pictures of fall color - but this one is in the back yard.

Had tree removal done at the house and tree trimming done at the Treehouse

Did some refinish work in the chapel and we replaced the cross with one more appropriate.

Spent an hour or so one morning taking fog pictures.  This one is almost the same place as the 'fall color' picture above.

Attended the Winnsboro Fine Art Market

Found a picture of granddaughter Haley on FB.  She too lives with her father. (Gattis)

Had the JamFest T-shirts made and have sold most of them now.

The sign for the city of Quitman is going in.  I worked on the project.

Attended two afternoons of music at the Winnsboro Fine Arts Market.

We are adding some stone pathways at the Wood County Master Gardener's Wildscape Garden at the Mineola Nature Preserve.

A cold Christmas season night in downtown Winnsboro!

Attended several music evenings at Brewbaker's Restaurant and Pub.

I completely rebuilt the upper pond - removing the stone, cleaning and repairing the liner, dug  it deeper but made it smaller, and replaced the stone, pump, filter, and waterfall.

And, of course,there was Thanksgiving and the week of prep that goes into it.

Is it time yet?

So the joke was - during the time of building the East Bridge, the Treehouse, the Zipline, the Chapel, the Sky Bridge, the West Bridge and Zip Line - that all we needed now was a Gift Shop. I guess my question is - Is it time yet? We've got Wildernest hiking sticks and canes, Wildernest hiking stick medallions, "I rode the Wildernest Zipline" bumper stickers, Wildernest T-shirts, Wildernest Treehouse Jamfest T-shirts, Wildernest Treehouse Jamfest Photo Books, and assorted Wildernest DVD's ("Building the Treehouse", several Thanksgiving DVD's, several special Treehouse and Zipline events. I guess we could get some coffee mugs made too. So what do you think?

Wish I had a photo for this one

We were walking the trail this morning and Glynda stopped suddenly and pointed ahead.  About 20-30 yards ahead was a big buck (deer) probably an 8-10 pointer.  We stared at each other for a minute or so then he raised his tail and trotted off.

(Shadow was with us but had dropped away at the time.  We'd been at the Treehouse and she'd gained access to it by climbing a small tree beside it and then jumping over to it. When we got back to the house she still had not rejoined us and the last I'd heard of her sounded like distress.  So I hopped on the lawn tractor and drove back to the Treehouse and she came walking down the steps to see me.  I petted her a bit and since she was OK I got on the tractor to go back to the house - and Shadow ran over to the same small tree, climbed it, and jumped over to the Treehouse again. I guess she wanted to stay there awhile?) 

Lindsey Gail at the JamFest

They had to remove the video of Lindsey from Youtube so the link we had here doesn't work anymore - but check out her website.  She was our headliner act.

See her website at Lindsey Gail.com

Wildernest Treehouse JamFest



Gus and the blues band

Jack "Scruffy" Ainsworth

Ty Lenius

Amy Haid

Tami Hix

Kent Gooding

KMG - Kevin, Mia and Gus (with a little help from some friends)

Lindsey Gail

Alex and Kent

Lee Ann Mitchell



It had to be a cool Saturday evening when the moon is full (or close to it) and the hint of Fall is in the air.  The woods can be dark but moonlight makes it inviting.   Place was important because a stage in the woods at a tree house seemed to touch the imagination of audience and performer alike – and they all came. And our listeners were just right in number (about 100) and their appreciation for what they were listening to was there.  Our lineup of talent was still growing just a few days before.

The performers – Jack “Scruffy” Ainsworth, Ty Lenius, Amy Haid, Tami Hix, Kent Gooding, Lee Ann and her group, KMG (Kevin, Mia, and Gus), Lindsey Gayle, Alex and Kent, Gus and the blues band.  That’s ten acts – and they all came just to share music – and thanked us for inviting them.  And there were a bunch of back-up guys too; Jim and Greg on bass, Limbo on mouth harp, Alex O., on guitar, Allen on percussion and the back-up guys with the others.

Gus Gustafson

Several of us worked very hard to try to make this thing come out right but it would have happened anyway without our efforts.  But Gus is the man that pulled it all together organizing equipment, booking the performers, and much more - and we're really thankful to him.  We're proud to say that the Wildernest Treehouse JamFest was a Gus Gustafson Production!!!

WilderNest Treehouse JamFest

I'm getting a little scared - every time I go to town I hear someone talking about the "Wildernest Treehouse JamFest"!!  Looks like it's the hottest ticket in town! Such a little stage for so much notoriety!  There will be Gus Gustafson with a blues band that will be the anchor act with sets from Jack Ainsworth, KMG, Tami Hix, and Kent Gooding of Slightly Tilted.  Folks just seem to really like the idea of music in the woods at the Treehouse.

We really don't know how many are coming but a few businesses in Winnsboro are planning on closing as soon as they can to get out here.  I think the mayor is coming?  AND - It's the second evening of the "Autumn Trails" celebration in Winnsboro.  Folks are already talking about the "Second Annual ---"   Facebook event for Crossroads Music Company and Listening Room.

Two weeks from today is the JamFest!!

Stage in waiting - with some protection from the weather

Looks like a good size group coming so we'll need a little traffic control!

All music stages need a rug - so we've got a rug! (and a little "Wildernest" banner!)

Wildernest Treehouse JamFest

Plans are moving along for the music event in October.  What was initially looking like a modest gathering has been growing.  Right now there are plans for about a dozen musicians and a pretty good size crowd in attendance. The confirmed musicians include the Blues Monday group from Zazuz, Kent Gooding of "Slightly Tilted", KMG (Kevin, Mia, and Gus), and Tami Hix.  Jack "Scruffy" Ainsworth will be there and will hopefully do a few songs.  We've cleared a much larger area around the Treehouse and have added a stage, mowed a good size area in the west meadow for parking, put out a bunch of solar lights for the trail, and there's a generator onsite about 300-400 feet from the treehouse.  I think that Gus is planning on bringing the Crossroads sound system.  Word is getting around town and it seems like everyone wants to come.  It's really hard to know what to expect but - we'll find out.  It's just over a month away!

It's now what you know . . .

The Treehouse tree is stressed and needs water.  I've been thinking about what to do for several days - 700-800 feet of garden hose and water it from the house??  Generator and pump and 200 feet of garden hose and water it from the pond??

Then after a work session there this morning and while having coffee at the Treehouse started talking it with Alex.  He made a phone call while we were there to Cory of  C.Miller Water Well's.  It's about six hours later now and the tree has been REALLY watered.  A gasoline powered water pump from the pond - water hoses the size of fire hoses and a volume of water coming out that could easily put out a big fire.  There's probably an inch or two less water in the pond and were going to do it another 3-4 times before we have to return the equipment.  But I'd rather have the water at the Treehouse than in the pond.  I'll try to post a picture tomorrow!!  

So it's like this . . .

"Blues Monday" at ZAZUZ Pizza in Winnsboro.

A few weeks ago Gus (the guy in the blue shirt) suggested to Alex that, when it gets a little cooler, they get together at the Treehouse for a jam session.  Gus is sorta the go to guy around Winnsboro when it comes to things musical and he's the one that runs Crossroads Music Company.  It then turned into plans for a little gathering and we scheduled it for the first part of October.  Now there's been time for talk to get around and we're now planning for a generator for the music systems, several professional musicians in additions to guys like the group in the picture playing at ZAZUZ, how to get the equipment in, parking for fifty cars or so, food, and a bunch of other stuff - even porta-pottys. Looks like good times are coming!

Zippin' in the heat!

I don't think I've seen anyone enjoy the ride down more then this little girl. She'd ridden it before and she made three trips down this time!

 

 

It was actually pretty nice yesterday morning.  In the shade with a breeze - so everyone had fun.  Daniel brought a family over last fall and when they had more family in town for a wedding and visit they wanted to bring them over to ride the zip line.  So now the guest book has entries from Florida and Washington.