Rod Morley of Concord Township sits next to the replica mill he has built in his yard. Morley's creation includes running water that spins the mill wheel. He hopes to eventually power the display with electricity generated by the mill.

CONCORD TWP — At the Morley residence, a lazy dog lies outside a wooden barn.

Out back, an old windmill towers over the barn, its vanes reaching nearly a foot tall.

The miniaturized scene is just one of many projects built by Rod Morley.

Each room in his home bears some signature of his talent, be it a walking stick whittled to look like a snake or a hunting knife with a shaft made from a deer's antler.

Although not an artist, professional woodworker or trained craftsman, Morley has spent about 20 years honing his skill for recreating old barns, mills and other country scenes in tabletop displays adored by family and friends.

"Ididn't know what Iwas doing until someone told me I was doing the panoramas," he said.

Upon foundations carefully pieced together with pebbles, Morley glues tiny wooden planks, smaller than Popsicle sticks, to construct buildings from photographs he takes in his travels.Although the details of each window, door and outhouse seem proportionate to the size of the main structure, none of the buildings are deliberately constructed to scale. In fact, Morley uses no plans before beginning construction."Ican't draw worth a darn," he said.He noted that since he is not concerned about scale, he can enlarge features such as windows, allowing the viewer to pick up detail that would be otherwise lost."The detail in it's amazing," said Morley's step-daughter Candy Scholl, who keeps several of his works in her home.Adding function to his forms, Morley has placed lamps and night lights on several of his pieces. One such piece, a tiny mill, has a running stream and a hand-carved boat.Taking on several projects at once, a single scene can take months or years to complete."He takes the time to make it right ... the way he wants it to look," said Scholl.With each barn, Morley has cut and recut to attain his desired miniature look. But his most recent project has presented the opposite challenge.

About two months ago, Morley decided to use his skills for recreation on a larger scale, constructing a mill in his front yard.The main building stands about the size of a large doghouse, complete with a flagpole and water wheel, which runs with the help of a pump.Creating the water wheel simply by observing others, Morley went through several prototypes before achieving a working wheel.Even with the water running, Morley is still contemplating ideas for improving his design. He plans to add landscaping, a flag and even a small outhouse.He also hopes to use the mill to generate power for the pump, perpetually running his water feature.Like his mill, Morley plans to continue his projects throughout his retirement years — or as he refers to it "my second childhood.""Ijust like to play," he said.

A watermill creation by Morley is connected to a lamp.

A barn with the infamous Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco advertisement on it was created by Concord Township craftsman Rod Morley.