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| finished under tree structure |
Today concluded the construction phase of this project! I got the rest of the painting done which finishes my goal for the week. I hope to take some time tomorrow to move ahead on next weeks goal. It is kind of a big milestone to be ready to start putting candy on the structure. So far I’ve enjoyed this project and I’m kind of excited to see how it turns out. I hope it is my best yet.
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| My workspace |
Didn’t get everything done today I had hoped. But I spent some time getting my workspace set up inside because we had a major change in the weather and it was very cold outside. So I’ve moved the tree inside where I finished painting it. The next step was to paint the objects under the tree but then I realized that I needed to decide what color they should be. In order to decide on the color I needed to look at my candy stash and figure out what I had that would work for each object. That takes time and I didn’t get very far. It is an important step in the long run.
I got an email from the candy company to day telling me that they only have 25 lbs of the green candy and did I want them to just send what they had. I said that was fine and I got notification a while later that the candy had been shipped.
Some other exciting but challenging news today. We will be getting a new puppy to raise for Guide Dogs for the Blind next week. We thought we were going to wait until November to get our next puppy but they have one ready for us now and we decided that would be o.k. I hope she is a good puppy and I can find good ways to work on this project while she is still very young.
I shaped the rest of the support structures for under the tree today. Plus I got more green paint and blades for my xacto knife which will come in handy later when I need to cut candy. I also ordered almost 30 lbs of green licorice pastilles. I hope I got enough. I tried to calculate how much I would need but the number I came up with was way more than I can spend and didn’t take into account all the other stuff that will be on the tree. I think I can make it work out. While I was shaping the support for Mary and Jesus I went ahead and did some for the ornaments on the tree too. So I should have the bulk of the really messy Styrofoam work done now. I meant to take a photo at this stage but it didn’t get done. Tomorrow I’m planning to paint all the under-tree stuff so I should be able to get a photo of it than. That will complete my tasks for the week. Next week is kind of exciting because I get to actually start working with the candy!
Nice change of pace today. I worked on structure for the stuff going under the tree. I cut some fabric for the quilted tree skirt, re-sized a cardboard box for the unwrapped gift, made some more gift boxes, decided the size of Mary and Jesus, and shaped a yule log out of Styrofoam. I also shaped the tree stand. This probably won’t show but I think it will help everything to look right. It was good to figure out what is going under the tree. Tomorrow I plan to shape the jacket (with a zipper) that goes into the open box and shape any substructure I need for Mary and Jesus. Then when I get everything painted on Thursday I should be ready to start putting candy on things next week.
Some good news today too. The check came from Jordan River. Yeah! I really didn’t want to have to call and see why it was taking so long. I think I’ll order the green candy for the tree tomorrow too.
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| tree structure with lights and most of the green paint |
My goal this morning was to get the lights on the tree, get the tree painted and pick up some supplies. I did darn close to getting that all done. First I picked up supplies (hot glue, rolled fondant and paint). Then this afternoon a spent 2 hours putting the lights on the tree and then painting it. Painting was much slower than I thought because of the rough texture I put on the surface. The only flaw was that I ran out of green paint! I’m close but I didn’t quite get it all done. But not bad to come so close to my goal. I had to move into the garage soon after I started painting because it started to rain.
I like to plan my coming week on Sundays. So today I sat down to make a real plan for completing this project. First I needed to figure out a real deadline. It is November 15th, just six weeks away. Oh my, I’ve got lots to do. Last week I didn’t get as much done as I’d planned because I got sick. Hopefully I’ve got my cold done and out of the way for the next few months. I hope the check from South Jordan shows up this week, otherwise I think I’ll need to check on it. So here is my plan.
October 3rd to 8th
Add the lights to the tree structure
Make structures for under the tree:
If needed under the tree:
Supplies to buy:
October 10th to 15th
Start on ornaments by making the following:
October 17th to 22nd
Finish Ornaments:
Attach all ornaments
Make sure green candy is ordered.
October 24th to 29th
Cover everything under the tree with candy
Place them all in place and attach down
October 31st to November 5th
Cover the tree with green candy
November 7th to 12th
Final touch-ups and prepare for transport
Make arrangements for a pick-up to transport
Take lots of photos
Novermber 14th or 15th
Transport and set-up
Make sure there is a table with power
This coming week will be a good test if this schedule is possible. I don’t have a bunch of other obligations this week. I need to get as much done as I can in the next few weeks because on November 10th we will be getting our next puppy in training from Guide Dogs for the Blind and new puppies are a real handful and take lots of time.
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| Salt Lake Tech Guide Dog Class |
This morning we handed-off Waffle to Claraliz, a student in the Salt Lake Tech Guide Dog class. At 9:00 this morning there was a meeting for the students and their parents to get their new puppies in training. We learned that the program started just five years ago and that the program is also associated with FFA (Future Farmers of America). The state chapter president came and gave a short speech. There were five puppies given out today; Waffle, Tartan, Shiva, Silver and Rosco. Two more students got their puppies in the spring. So there are 7 puppies in this years school program.
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| Claraliz and Waffle |
After the ceremony the students and their dogs went outside for photos. Then we had a chance to talk to Claraliz. We gave her Waffle’s “Go To Bed” blanket and a cd of Waffle’s book. Waffle was such a good girl. While we were chatting she laid down on Claraliz’s mom’s feet. We are going to miss that sweet little girl. I’m sure she will adapt quickly to her new home, but she has left an empty spot in ours.
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| shaped tree structure |
I got the tree structure all shaped today! I like the new shaping technique I figured out. I think it will work well when the candy is put on. It better because I’m stuck with it now. It was hard work to get the shaping finished and I felt like I was on the verge of getting a blister on my thumb to I did the last bit wearing a leather gardening glove. I hate to admit it but I’m getting a cold so I’m not sure how much more I’ll be getting down in the next few days.
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| Apex using his blanket as a pillow while hanging out at the hospital with Sue’s Dad |
Sue called to day with great news. The pathology came back today and the results were good. They got clean margins. That means that they got all the cancer! They will be watching him closely but everything looks good. They super glued his incision shut now that they know that they don’t have to go back in. The staples will come out on the 30th. I found out that when Apex went in for surgery they had decided that if when they got in there the cancer was into the bone they would take his leg and if it had progress further they would go ahead and put him down. Oh that must have been such a difficult decision to make. I’m sure that it was the right thing to do but it must have been so hard to send me to surgery knowing that she might not see him again.
I’m so grateful and feel so blessed that Apex has made it through this challenge in such a good way. It turned out that his having an ear infection was such a great blessing. If he hadn’t gone into the vet when he did the outcome of this would probably have been much different. Yeah Apex! Heal quickly you strong handsome boy.
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| Partially shape tree structure |
This afternoon and took the tree out in the back yard and started the shaping phase. I though I’d be able to use a saw to take down some of the ridges but it didn’t work very well. The next ridge was getting in the way. So I ended up doing the scrap method, with a chisel. I got the ridges knock down most of the way but there is a lot more work to do to get the shaping right. Towards the end I was experimenting with how to use the chisel and came up with a twisting sort of stroke that leaves an interesting and uneven surface that I think I like. The tree will have a simple cone shape but I don’t want it to look too sterile and I think this method will help.
telling family tales 