Happy Anniversary, Dear Ones!

And while we are on the subject of “dear ones’…..

So just what do we do on a “Sower Project”? This project is a little different since we’re here alone, but we’ve had a good and productive week!
Monday -
Since Gary had actually worked on the previous Friday (he pressure washed the Welcome Center deck), he knew his next project was repairing the horse corral. So we headed there first things on Monday. Several of the boards needed to be replaced and the rest just needed to be tightened and reinforced. We (and I use the term loosely) had the job done by the end of the day. (I’m a great board holder and carrier!)

Tuesday -
More fence, but this time it was more “official” fencing along the road, and three sections that actually needed to be replaced. It involved setting the new posts in concrete and then building the three new sections. I continue to be amazed how much Gary knows about this stuff, and I was especially amazed at how patient he was with his helper.
From Start to Finish –

(Thankfully someone else gets to do the painting!)

Wednesday
Gary moved to the basement of the Welcome center – where Libby wanted some sort of storage closet built for all of the “stuff” that was accumulating in the basement. She really didn’t have a plan, but before we knew it the closet had become the entire corner of the basement. The supplies were purchased and by the end of the day Gary had made a good start. (His helper was moved for the day to help in the kitchen – I’m sure he missed me terribly!)
The Beginning -

Thursday
We were both back in the basement. I was moving a palate worth of floor tiles to the new bottom shelf (a lot easier to do it then than after the walls go up) while Gary continued on with construction. One good thing about this basement work – it was in the 90′s outside, so the working conditions were way better where we were!
Friday
Well, Friday is not a Sower work day, but Gary headed back to the basement to try and finish up everything but the outside walls. I popped over to bring him snacks and water, but mostly I stayed home and tried to catch up on cleaning and post-Vermont unpacking/organizing.
By the end of the day….

Can you see Libby is already beginning to fill up the shelves?

But of course our lives here are not all work and no play. We’ve been taking lovely walks in the evenings and then enjoying sitting outside for a spell before darkness settles on the camp. And we have been kept company by this little new friend and his mate….

And so went our week. It was good – and I hope yours was as well. I often think of my friends that I have left at home – each with their own busy lives. And I sometimes miss not being able to share in the excitement of a new baby or an upcoming wedding or being able to just sit down and gab with good friends, but I am content knowing that God has us where He wants us to be. We continue to be amazed at where the Lord had placed us and the work he has enabled us to do!

Oh, and Saturday? Well that was pretty fun too! We hit the tourist road and went to Fall Creek Falls State Park and Cumberland Caverns. Both were very beautiful – and you can see some of our pictures here. (This falls were a little disappointing due to the drought here, but the park has everything from camping to hiking to horseback riding to cabins and a lovely restaurant!.)
I have been so very surprised at the mountains in Tennessee. Who Knew?

…oh right, Davy Crockett…
Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
Greenest state in the land of the free.
Raised in the woods so’s he knew every tree,
Killed him a bear when he was only three.

Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier.

I guess someone did know!

Girls’ Week 2007

So how can I tell you about GW07 without sounding all sappy? Don’t think I can. From the sunrise on the way to the Nashville Airport to teary good-bye hugs at the Manchester (NH) Airport, it was a very special week indeed. We started out with a couple of additional girls – Elna’s daughter Heather and her daughter Rianne (age 9). It was fun to be a three generation cabin for the weekend. They left on Monday, we had an All Cabin Day on Tuesday (oh, I guess we did go down off the mountain for an ice cream cone after dinner!), headed out Wednesday for an overnight to Glens Falls, NY to see our aunt, stopped on our way back Thursday to have dinner with Dewey, Sharon & Sydney and then went to enjoy Syd’s high school concert. The concert was excellent, the visit with Aunt Berta good but poignant (she’s 85 and beginning with Alzheimer’s), and it was great to be able to catch up with Dewey & family. Friday we did breakfast at P&H Truck Stop (a yearly tradition ), caught up on laundry, and then went back to relish our last day at the cabin. Saturday was packing up and off to the airport. Sigh.
We were blessed with great weather (one morning we had such a perfect Vermont morning that we sat outside drinking our coffee until we all had pajama sunburns!), lots of family hugs, laughter around the games in the evenings, reflection as we read through and studied Ephesians, and sweet fellowship as we prayed together for each other and our families. It is such a precious week to me, and I am so very thankful that it’s “come together” even though I’ve been on the road.

Detroit Nightlife

In the strange logic of airline travel, I was returning to Nashville via Detroit. I had a one hour layover in Detroit, so I figured I’d have plenty of time to make my connecting flight. However, I failed to consider (as apparently did Northwest Airlines) a three hour delay (while sitting on the tarmac in Manchester) that had about half of the plane missing their connections. I was rebooked for a Sunday 9AM flight – and offered a discount coupon to stay at a nearby hotel. I had made a friend while waiting for the ONE customer service person to rebook the 25 or so people that were stranded, and she and I decided that it would be just as easy to just crash at the airport (it was already 10:30). Of course (as many of you know) sleeping for any length of time in an airport is quite impossible. Between the stationary arm rests, the cleaning crew, the lights that never go out and the VOICE that continues to tell you that you CANNOT BRING CERTAIN ITEMS ON BOARD, PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR AIRLINE FOR DETAILS every 25 minutes (even though there are no flights leaving and virtually no one in the airport), a “doze” was about all I could do. I left a message for Gary (he had forgotten the phone in the truck while he waited for my flight in Nashville), but there was no way for me to know what was happening on his end. Little did I know that while I slept (and I use the word loosely) in Concourse A of the Detroit Airport, he was sleeping in the Economy Parking Lot at the Nashville Airport. It’s nice to do things together!
Here’s a shot of my new friend Missy trying to catch a few…..

Camp Overton, Rock Island, Tennessee

While I was in VT, Gary moved Lizzie to our June Project – Camp Overton. Since we’re the only couple here, it looks like I’ll be working with him most of the time. Should be an interesting month for him – and might just be our (or at least his) most challenging yet!

Check out my whole set of Girls’ Week Photos here if you’d like!

Girls’ Week was wonderful – but there’s no place like home.