Fun Times

Of all the things we are getting to do we're having the most fun being able to create a new display for the Visitor's Center.

Most of the people who visit here are coming from out of town and aren't familiar with the native plants that they will see here.  The refuge is currently undergoing a dramatic wardrobe change as the wildflowers begin to bloom and dormant trees leaf out in the bright green only new leaves can produce.

John and Cathy showed me a picture of a thing called a blooming tree that they had displayed in a refuge where they volunteered in UP Michigan last summer and asked me to build one.

[caption id="attachment_196" align="alignnone" width="300"] Beth Lindquist- fellow Iowan[/caption]

Champ, Beth and I worked on it together. We made the tree and an accompanying pedistal style book stand to hold a binder I began assembling with pictures and descriptions of native flowers, trees  and grasses that can be found along the refuge trails and public areas. Our primary goal was to create the display out of existing resources here at the refuge.

We selected a small Cedar growing behind my camper.  A member of the firecrew agreed it would be ecologically good for the tree stand to cut it down and create light and space for the other trees.  So with chainsaw in hand, ( you have to have a very official US Fish and Wildlife Certificate to operate one) Kathleen cut it down. No easy task since the top was intertwined to the canopy with grapevine the size of my forearm!

[caption id="attachment_115" align="alignnone" width="300"] Getting ready to transform our Cedar Trunk[/caption]

After that adventure Champ and I set to work mounting it to a base and drilling holes that will hold small viles of water to display cuttings of what is currently flourishing on the refuge.

[caption id="attachment_201" align="alignright" width="200"] Blooming Tree[/caption]

The base was the bottom of an old wrought iron hall tree that was no longer being used.  I chose a dead branch from a tree we trimmed along a roadway and made a sign hanger. We got it moved to the Visitors Center but something was still missing. The top looked quite bare.  John looked around and spied a Kestral mount above the water fountain that went largly unnoticed. We attached it on top and everything  came together.

Beth and John harvested a decades old cedar fence post and used it as the support pedistal for the book stand. Some more lumber from the scrap pile, sanding and stain and a beautiful podium was born. A product of Beth's woodworking skills.

[caption id="attachment_202" align="alignright" width="200"] Bookstand[/caption]

The Blooming Tree is a nice center piece in the Visitors Center now and we're all having fun as something  new blooms nearly everyday at Balcones NWR adding things to the display.
The visitors are enjoying it and best of all we got to do something fun, creative, collaberative and satisfy my love of up-cycling in the process.  Just another reason to love this group of people I am with this winter and this little slice of heaven called Texas Hill Country.

Until Next Time...