Thank you! and some other things...

I want to thank some very special people for their work in raising money to pay for our Nature Case. Jean Stenberg and her husband, Brian have been instrumental in pursuing some impressive corporate donations. They have pulled in donations from the surrounding businesses and continue to work hard for this project. I can not thank you enough for the great work! I've added a lot of names to the updated Thank you page of the blog and that plaque is growing in size every day!

We also had a very special donation that will be the star of the show once the animals go in and here he is!

I have a special place of honor already picked out for this fella. In fact, the cliff was already designed to have a ledge for a "wildcat". I wasn't sure if we would find a taxidermy mount of a bobcat or if I would have to create a replica of one, but we lucked out. Thanks to Kari Lejcher and her parents, Fred and Linda Morley for the generous donation of this beautiful cat.

We also had a wonderful, generous donation that came from the Clover 4-H Club. Thank you Clovers! It will go a long way towards meeting our goal. Another step closer and I'm so proud of the community I live in and how our friends and neighbors pull together for a good cause.

Now for the other stuff....

I've nearly finished carving the foam panels that will make up the bank of earth under the 2 large trees. Here is a shot of the sections pinned together. I need to carve a few special areas out for burrows, anthills, etc. and paint the panels.

Installing this major portion of the landscape will be tricky for several reasons: First, I will have to transport and fit these in the space one at a time, since the space is so tight. Yet, I want them to read as a whole continuous section of earth bank, so I'll create edges sort of like a jigsaw puzzle that will overlap and disguise the true seam.

Another issue to keep in mind is this bank will be where a lot of our "fascinating facts" will go, so I need to find a good permanent, non-fading, label supply that will not curl off and fall after time. My original idea was to affix the labels to the inside of the glass, but I realized that would pose more problems than solve, so before the bank gets installed, the facts appropriate for that area will have to be printed and adhered to the foam structure.

Perhaps the most daunting issue of all is the glass itself. I have to create a structure that will support the weight of someone who will be periodically cleaning the inside of the glass. My idea is to disguise areas where it will be safe to step to get high enough and in the right position to use a long handled squeegee to clean all the areas without risk of injury to either the person cleaning or the delicate parts of the display.

The Sumac Trees:

Good news on this side project. A couple of small trees are, for the most part, done and in the case. I say for the most part because there was some branch damage on the transport in and they are for the time being just stuck in some scrap styrofoam and tucked in the corner where they will eventually go. I need to have that groundscape mapped out before they go in permanently and of course, I need to repair or replace the branches that broke off. The trees themselves are real, the leaves were a learning experience for me, but fairly successful.

I hope to add a couple of small birch trees and a larger sumac. When we have that corner populated with the small brush and the large birch it will start to feel more like the edge of a forest. My husband had a great thought about the birch tree - instead of using just the cut half to face the glass, we are now thinking of using both halves so the beautiful bark can also be displayed. It will take a little pondering to make sure that two large trees will fit on the left side without crowding out an already crowded area, but it would also feel really balanced...2 trees on the right, 2 on the left... Here is a shot of one of the half tree, ready to be sealed:

We shall see how it works out.