I am officially joining the blogging community.  It is my intent to use this blog to keep you update with what is going on at Valley Ridge without sending out a bunch of emails…. so here goes.

Bill and I have officially made Valley Ridge our permanent address.  We built a home behind the pine grove and moved in a week before Christmas…just in time for our adult children and our sweet little Elijah to arrive home for the holidays.  January marked the beginning of  converting our 100 year old farmhouse into a place where students would have the ability to stay on the property during a workshop.  We painted a bedroom, stripped wallpaper and build a wall between the kitchen and the downstairs bedroom (no Bill didn’t build it).   We worked on the house until the last minute….finishing the final touches right before Lisa Cook’s Soldering Success workshop.  We had a full house, both in the farmhouse and for her workshop.

Simultaneously, we were converting my studio (in the red barn adjacent to the studio) into the Community Room.  No more lunches on the porch, sliding in and out of benches.  We now gather in the Community Room for lunch where we have comfortable tables for four, heat when we need it as well as air-conditioning.    The Community Room also affords  Bill and I to host an after the workshop gathering.   Join us for a glass of wine or mineral water and delight in some  famous Wisconsin cheese.   We also have convenient foods in the freezer for you to purchase if you don’t want to go out for dinner.  You are going to just love it!

Lastly…. I am excited to announce that Nina Bagley is offering another  Gatherings workshop.  Her first Gatherings  workshop filled within 4 minutes of opening registration this season.  There are only 9 spaces left in this workshop as it was just posted last night and those on her wait list were first notified.  I expect this workshop will fill rather quickly as well.

Take a peek around our new web site… check out  the photos of the farmhouse as well as the community room.

Bill and I are looking forward to fun filled season and are excited about seeing all who are returning to Valley Ridge and meeting those who are new to Valley Ridge this season.

I’ll end with this quote as it seems to fit where Bill and I started and where we are today ….