Out on a limb...again

I’ve finally made the time to catch up on this blog; I apologize, things get pretty hectic. At any rate, I’ve been working at home on the two trees that will go on top of the bank on the right side of the display. Sunday, Bob and I built a platform for them and also for the bank to be adhered to.

This photo shows a closeup of the area that will be used. I didn't get a photo of the platform, but there wouldn't be much to look at yet anyway- it kind of looks like a couple of wooden crates nailed to the wall at this point.

One thing to note about this; as I was trying to decide where and how the trees should fit within the area, I referenced this photo and found that my original striking of lines still visible. Boy, what a nice surprise that was. I could reference height lines and know at exactly what point the tree should bend. I started by stacking and gluing foam chunks (about 2’ x 2’) till I had approximately the height I needed. Then I got to use both of the tools I’ve purchased for this project, my hot wire foam cutter, which I used for the shaping of the tree trunk into a more cylindrical form and the hot knife, which was perfect for adding the grooves to the bark surface. It has certainly been a learning experience with both tools but I’d be lost if I had to carve this all by hand. I did discover however that after filling in gaps with “Great Stuff” that the tools didn’t work on the great stuff as well, so back to my old reliable steak knife! They both stand about 10 feet tall and the pedestal they will be mounted to is 4 feet tall. So my trees will seem to "disappear"thru the ceiling once they are on their pedestals.

Here is a photo of them before we took them to school to fit them to the base. They trees are now mounted to plywood bases that will in turn mount to the plywood tops of the pedestals. I have a few corrections to make and a few branches to add, then I need to give them a coating. This is going to be my favorite part. :)

I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure how the bank will be built. I know what I want it to look like, but I’m not sure how to get there. I want to have several elements: a path for the mother badger to walk to her den, a group of rocks that water can trickle down and a tufty grass overhang. On the flat side of the bank that will butt up against the glass, I will carve out the badger’s den and then I will have to sew another baby badger from the white stuffed teddy bear that lost an arm for the first trial badger baby….who knows, if I can fix the colors of the first cub ( the one I nicknamed Tuck) I will keep him and if time permits, I might sew him a littermate (Nip?) I also want to emphasize the soil layers and create a few interesting fossils, I’d also like to show the stages an acorn goes thru to become a tree.

This is a major portion of the case and once it is out of the way, our project will at least “look” completed since we won’t have a large white area glaring out of the mural.

Good news from our glass installer, they will be by the week after school lets out to build the mullions, or framework for the glass. This will help me visualize where things should go so important views don’t get obstructed by an upright support beam.

A note about the 500 fascinating facts project. Please check out that page of this webpage, as I have posted the actual facts along with their "finders" in a cool searchable spreadsheet. We will continue looking for facts till the deadline and see how many we have at that point. I don't know if we'll reach our 500 mark, but I'm very proud of the facts that everyone has found - they will make the nature case a learning center!