Thursday, June 21, 2007

Final Stretch…
















We’ve accomplished a lot since the last post. The finish-out is just about done, the ‘Great Wall of Camp Wood’ has been poured and cured, the parking lot base has been dropped, and the stage and kitchen are very close to completion. Next week we plan on bringing in all of the decorating touches. We have to be done by the 30th because I have rented out the building for a wedding reception.

Well, here’s an interesting story. I was cutting some tin to put on the stage roof / porch and the plumber walked by. He heard me complain about my wrist as it was being scorched by the hot fine metal shavings coming from the metal cutting blade. He asked what I was cutting it with and I told him a metal cutting blade…DUH? He said ‘I’ve been cutting that stuff for years with a wood cutting blade turned backwards and it works a lot better.’ Well, I looked at the plumber and he’s 73 years old…and still enjoying life. The metal cutting blade was worn down to the size of a silver dollar and I thought, it’s time to change the blade anyway and since 17 people have already made that suggestion, I’m going to try it. Here’s my tip for the day, a wood cutting (fine toothed) blade turned backwards works very well on tin, probably better because you will still have your eyebrows.

We will very, very likely be open on the weekend following July 4th. By the way, I forgot to mention Tony Romo came by to help. He drove the steamroller to compact the base in the parking lot. He’s a good guy

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Busy as a Bee…









The A/C guys are back again, this time I hope it’s the last time I see them for a while. Not that I don’t like them, they’re good guys, but I’m ready for some A/C. It’s not that hot, but we need to check off a box. Steve, one of the owners of the A/C Company has been up here directing the installation and he has guaranteed we will have A/C this week. The spiral duct is up and they are working late tonight putting in registers, return air, and the plenum.

The dirt guy came back last week and has all of the forms up in the back for the retaining wall. The retaining wall is so that all of the water running toward the building will divert toward the candy shop and run in that building. At least that’s what Frances (Shelli’s Mom) is saying. After the retaining wall is up, the privacy fence will be next.

I have tried out my new smoker twice since I’ve had it and all I can say is “You’ve got to be kidding, this thing is awesome!” I’ve done 2 pork shoulders and 1 brisket and I can’t say enough about this piece of equipment. I wasn’t looking forward to getting up at 4 am and starting a fire. I tested out the overnight cook and hold feature and came back in at 9:30 am and the meat was perfect. We served it at our Sunday school class party we hosted last weekend and received great reviews. For those of you familiar with meat smoking, the brisket had a perfect 3/8” smoke ring and was moist and very flavorful! Sorry about the pic of the pork shoulder, all I had was my camera phone.

We now have all of our windows back from repair as of yesterday. Shelli, Luci and Frances have been busy painting windows. There has been a lot of activity since the last post, you could say we’re as busy as a bee. Speaking of bees, they are busy little fellows. I was tearing out an old window frame this morning and noticed a few bees coming and going from where we pulled some siding off 2 months ago. Then I noticed a few more bees and then some more. Phil showed up and asked him how he felt about bees. He feels the same way I do, we don’t need no bees. I went across the street and purchased some wasp and hornet spray and we (Phil) disposed of as many as we (he) could. I watched, from a short distance. I was amazed at how big their honeycomb was for such a short time. If we had not disposed of them, perhaps we could have hired them for some finish out work. They work fast.

I purchased a neon ‘Open’ sign this week and can’t wait to turn it on. Fourth of July is right around the corner and that is our new target date…everyone needs a goal.