I can not believe that it has been almost a month since I last "blogged"! Breathlessly I have been running about in order to get the farm ready for winter, along with shifting the schedule for "Pizza By the Pond" from Thursday nights to Sunday afternoons from 1-8pm. to reflect the change in waning daylight hours. The really tough part of all of the change is that there are only two Sundays in November that we will be open since Wisconsin Gun Deer season is in direct conflict with a crowd of pizza enthusiasts chomping down on great eats in the middle of a wildlife refuge....in short, dead customers just dont make good conversationalists!
So we chose to close for the last two Sundays in November and re-open the first Sunday in December when we will find out if our new funky warming hut is up to par. I am posting a few photos of this "unique" shelter on "Pizza By the Pond's" Facebook page. The "plan" is that the pizza oven will supply the heat to the shrouded grotto, but I am more than willing to concede to a back up heater if needed. As I reviewed the photos that I took yesterday, I discovered that I must be channeling some sort of strangely flowing undercurrent of Catholicism that is doing it's best to resurface through the pizza oven... I swear it resembles more of a pizza "altar" than an oven. Kind of spooky.
We have 200 acres here at LoveTree that we will be adding to our "menu" for our customers; any pizza customer will also be welcome to cross country ski, ice skate, sled, or snow shoe. The warming hut will be a great place to refresh and refuel before continuing an afternoon of winter time fun activities and also as a place to simply kick back and unwind while devouring great pizza.
The "ambiance" is decidely unique, it seems that pizza gourmands that enjoy eating great pizza in the middle of a wild life refuge are also some of the most interesting and enjoyable characters that I have ever met. I am extremely pleased to call these folks friends, and honored that they frequent our little pizzeria in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Dave and I have been a bit perturbed as to how we are going to set about grooming the x country trails for skate skiers and classic skiers, so we asked for input from our customers. What could be a better way to design the trails than to have the folks that will be using them tell us what they want and need? Yes, I thought so too. One of our customers may even help us build a groomer, although it sure would be fantastic if I could just hire someone to do the grooming for us, at least for this year anyhow.
I am tired just thinking about the work that needs to be completed in the next month, but I have to admit that I am also excited about all of the new changes taking place, it's as if God himself is breathing new life into the farm.........hmmm.
