June 14, 2011 Barb lends a hand

No trip is complete without a day at Covo Hills. Happy to escape the Phoenix heat, Barb was eager to work outdoors. We shoveled and spread wood chips around the pumpkin plants to keep the weeds down.





Uncle Palmer brought lots of cut wood from his house to ours.

 Garlic and pumpkin growing side by side: garlic almost ready to harvest, pumpkins just beginning to spread.

 

Recreating American Gothic by Grant Wood

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Tempe (college joke)

Mississippi fun on the way to Poopy's

May 29, 2011 Painting Day

We choose a soft yellow shade for the walls that is a nice contrast for the wainscotting and white windows. Deena and Jeff have fun painting up on the scaffolding. We've come a long way in two years! Construction on the lodge interior began in June 2009.

 Brian and Janie join us for the day. Still plenty of time to play (golf) after the painting is done.

 

 

May 19, 2011 Color Pallette

The bedroom is done and now it's time to pick a color for the great lodge room from the splashes of color on the wall.

Katie's home from college

Play acting

The loft

May 1, 2011 Draining the pond

The trees are still bare, but the grass has really greened up in a month. Jeff digs a channel to divert the excess water into the main pond. It works.

April 2, 2011 Barn wood reclaimed

Dan did an amazing thing over the winter. He stripped wood off the milking barn, rinsed it clean at a car wash, measured, cut and nailed it to the wall as a natural wainscotting. He also attached the tin roof to both sides of the front door. Both are wonderful accents that add character, interest and history to the new lodge interior. What a wonderful surprise after our winter away!

In early April, spring is still on its way. The trees are bare, the grass is dead












and water is overflowing in the usually dry areas. The island is truly an island!

November 7, 2010 Closing up for the year

We end the year with a pretty nice looking building. The walls are primed and ready for spring painting. Jeff jumped ahead and painted the bedroom.

2010 began with the framing and paneled walls in place. Adding the insulation and drywall to a building of this size and volume was a huge task, but many hands added to the work, including some visitors who never expected to wield a hammer or use a saw.




Who knows what surprises await us in 2011 from the non-snowbird partners?

October 22 - 23, 2010 Welcome to Covo Hills

Anyone entering through the back door of the lodge will know they're in the Cortopassi/Voellinger hills where the trees grow tall and strong and the sun shines (most of the time). The reclaimed barn wood is a nice contrast to the white lettering.

Our tease of a bathroom

October 2 - 3, 2010 Transformation Continues

Jeff handles the roller as I take the more tedious job of painting the window frames. No need to be careful - it's all white with no flooring to worry about!

Garage "canvas" ready for logo artwork

Dan and Jeff surveying the proposed CRP land

September 26, 2010 Priming the walls

White primer transforms the lodge interior from spotty green walls to a pristine white. Now what color for paint?

September 19, 2010 revisited: A real fish tale

The milo food plot is so thick and beautiful this year that Uncle Palmer offered to cut stalks with his pocket knife so Janie and I could take home some natural fall decorations. 

There we were hovering on the edge of the milo when we heard strange noises therein. 

Scratching and yowling like a hurt animal. 

We listened for a minute as the rustling sound drew closer, unsure of what to do. 

Just as we all quickly backed away, Jeff casually came up on the ATV, asking what was up.

We were ready to bolt, fearing the worse, when Cash charged at us laughing.

Our wild animal was Cash!