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This arch was fabricated off site specifically to fit the bottom of the waterfall steps. If you look closely, you can see that it has an uneven base. However, the structure of the arch was hardly ornate enough for a wedding arch. You can also see that the garden stairs (and all of the front gardens) are decorated with hanging lanterns on metal hooks.
Now, as you have probably read, Sally is the owner and artist-in-residence at Blue Skies Inn. She is responsible for the handpainted interiors of the suites and the elaborate tile work in the bathrooms, as well as the handpainted tile murals. She also does the wedding flowers and cake decoration and every other chore around our inn that requires a modicum of esthetic sensibility. Her partner Mike is, alas, ungifted with esthetic sensibility and is relegated to manufacturing web pages, yardwork and doing any heavy lifting Sally's many projects may require. He doesn't mind.
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So when the iron-monger delivered the new arch, I was relieved to allow Sally and her minion to set up the arch. (Yes, Sally has a minion -- usually a young person who is game to tackle anything Sally has in mind.)
Imagine my surprise when I came downstairs a few hours later to find that all of my hanging lanterns were sitting on the ground, and someone had taken all my iron lantern hooks. What the...? Who would DO that?
My CSI prowl for evidence of the crime eventually led me out into the Waterfall Garden, where lo and behold, I discovered Sally and her minion wielding a just-out-of-the-box Hobart Welder to attach iron vines to the new arch.
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She had acquired iron flowers, leaves, fleur-de-lis, frogs, lizards, birds and butterflies from some catalogue, and they were all being welded to my lantern hooks, which in turn were being welded onto the new arch. My ornate lantern hooks were truncated, topped with fleur-de-lis and used to decorate the top of the arch.
So believe me when I tell you this arch is one-of-a-kind. And now you know why I personally make it a point to stay in motion -- sit still around here and you either get painted or tiled. Or you get drafted for one of Sally's projects.
Don't worry. I made her get me new lantern hooks. But, y'know, they just sort of sit there. It's just a matter of time, poor things...
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402 Manitou Avenue
Manitou Springs, CO 80829
(719) 685-9012
(800) 398-7949
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