RV There Yet?

First Up

steph — Thu, 17 May 2012 01:10:07 +0000

Spring at the Cabin

The grass is high with tiny wild flowers sprinkled throughout.

The pear trees are in bloom

and the Cabin Bunny is peeking past the dandelions.

The cattails haven’t taken over the far side of the pond yet

and the view up to the cabin is unobstructed by the summer foliage.

A walk to the well brings a whole new view of the cabin

hidden by the trees later in the season,
and a small stream trickles by on its way to the pond.

And Gary is on the mower.

Spring at the Cabin.

Trying to remember

steph — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:18:49 +0000

Sorry it’s been so quiet over here in this corner of the internet! I was under the weather earlier this week – you know, one of those 24 hr. stomach things that turned out to actually be one of those 72hr stomach things that pretty much distracted me for the early part of the week. Gary got one good day of work out of me and then we headed off for our last weekend “holiday” before we settle into a stay-at-home mode for a bit. So, before I forget, I guess I better start where I left of last time -
Our weekend in Lancaster!
We spent the first weekend in May in Lancaster with the kids again. So sweet! Not only do I really love visiting my kids (and sweet grandson) but I also really enjoy Lancaster in general. I mean, what’s not to like?

Of course, Lancaster is not just beautiful farms and country roads. It’s a great little city too! We were able to enjoy “First Friday”, checking out the downtown shops along with lots of other folks!

Where else but Lancaster would you find the police “presence” on bikes and horses? Love it!
And another “only in Lancaster” shot -

We are amazed at how many Amish we see at our different trips to Costco!
But of course, the main attraction of Lancaster to us are the kids!

This will be our last trip to Lancaster until the end of July (at the earliest!), so it was especially precious!
The renovations have slowed significantly, due to that thing called LIFE that keeps getting in the way (with new and unexpected expenses cropping up all the time!). But Gary did get a little bit of trim on the Built-In-In-Progress

and after two months of being overwhelmed with construction left-overs, we were finally able to reclaim the front porch for human enjoyment!

But of course what was the most fun was continuing to get to know Weston!

One thing for sure we learned was Do Not Get Between Me and My Spoon!

Sure was a wonderful weekend!
But TODAY, it is an absolutely perfect day at my absolutely favorite spot on this earth.

And rest assured, you’ll hear more about that later!

Just a little help from our friends

steph — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:45:19 +0000

Gary and I have been working together pretty well on this project. We’ve just about perfected the duct-work making chore to where we have actually run out of material (next delivery is on Monday!). And don’t forget I know how to read those blueprints with that fun triangle ruler. I can lug duct work, cut tape and hold things steady with the best of them. But there are some things that I really just cannot do. And for those chores, we need just a little help from our friends. For the guys that helped get those units up to the attic -

and then up to their platforms -

Whoot Whooot!
And for the guys that helped lace the (20) twenty foot lengths of copper through the louvers at the end of the attic -

You’re the BEST!
Wayne and Bruce and Wayne and Larry and Jim – we surely could not be doing this without you!

On a slightly different note, today was a tough day in the attic for me. Gary needed help in strapping down the duct work and the plan was for him to screw down the back side, while I screwed down the front side. (In other words, he had to be standing in the insulation, balancing on the beams (the hard side) while I got to stand on the floor (the easy side).) The problem is that the screw gun and I are not exactly best friends. In fact, we’re hardly acquainted. So what goes zip, zip, zip for Gary (and probably most of you out there) goes grind, gasp, glunk for me. We finally decided that he would finish up the strapping while I just took some time to practice.

Just me, the screws, the drill and a 2×3. Quality time.
OK, so it did help some, but when Gary put me to work doing some floor repair I really only had one of those zip, zip, zip moments about every third screw. It was a very frustrating morning, but I suppose the good news is that I really can ONLY get better at this. The other “tough” part of the day was when a sheet of OSB plywood fell over and slid down my shins. YEEEOUCH! Thank goodness for long pants, but I don’t think I’ll be hurrying into shorts anytime soon! So, at the end of that morning, I did what any self respecting girl would do – I took a long hot shower (really wanted a hot Jacuzzi, but that wasn’t an option) and crawled under the covers for a nice nap (I would have eaten ice cream out of the carton, but there was none in the freezer). And Gary did what I don’t think he’s ever done before – he came home with Chocolates.

Dark Chocolates.

Whatta boss!

So, Montrose

steph — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 03:08:31 +0000

It’s been unseasonably cold here in Montrose, Pennsylvania this week. As in it’s going down into the twenties tonight cold. But all that being said, the last couple of days have at least been sunny and bright and while we’ve had our jackets close at hand, we’ve had a lovely weekend. I hope you have also! Instead of doing an update that includes words like ductboard and returns and supplies, I thought I’d share just a bit about the town of Montrose, the little corner of PA that we’re calling “home” for the next couple of months.
So. Montrose.

Montrose is located between Scranton and Binghampton, NY in what is considered the Endless Mountains. I love the way this town, which has stayed at roughly at the same population from when it was “laid out” in 1812 to today (between 1500 and 2000), has kept its charm while moving into the the 21st century.

A little of the 1860′s and a little of the 1960′s!
I just love the downtown, with its blend of architecture as it climbs the hill to the town square.

There are lots of interesting shops and businesses along Main Street and it even boasts a movie theater that is playing current movies! And – it’s only $5.00 on Thursdays! (Plus a refillable popcorn for $5.00 which makes Gary pretty happy!)

See the building with the big pillars – that the county courthouse. You see, Montrose is the county seat of Susquehanna County. Pretty impressive, eh?

There is the Civil War Memorial on the village square

and it also has its very own traffic light. (The town, not the monument!)

Only one though. Let’s not get crazy here!

I love the details on those old store fronts, but even more, I love the houses in this town!

Since it was such a pretty day today, we took a little drive to see if we could locate the OTHER thing that this area is becoming known for – Fraking. Or, in more technical term, Marcellus shale drilling. We weren’t terribly successful in finding an actual drilling operation, but we did see a staging area -

and the evidence of a pipeline being put in-

We ventured back one dirt road that looked like it might lead to a drilling operation, but when we came to this

it seemed pretty obvious that they didn’t want any visitors.
Oh well.
Mostly we enjoyed the beautiful countryside, dotted with farms

and occasionally alpaca!

Yes, Montrose is a sweet little town. We might have to drive to Binghamton for a Lowes or a Wal*Mart fix, but I’m happy to report that not 2 miles outside of town is this -

The Ice Cream Stand.
With a $5 movie house (with refillable popcorn) and a nearby Ice Cream Stand, this is a summer that holds great promise!

Side Note:
Saturday was Gary’s 62nd birthday – let’s hear it for the Golden Age Pass for the National Parks ($10/lifetime) and the first SS check that will arrive by the end of June! Happy Birthday, honey!

Yes, this IS how he spent his birthday. What’s a girl to do!

Better thoughts

steph — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:09:38 +0000

Since this is how the day started -

And it pretty much stayed cold and rainy/snowy all day, I thought I’d just do a simple post of what I THINK Spring should look like.

There. Take that snowy morning.

Life in the Attic

steph — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:44:18 +0000

We’ve had a productive week in the old attic. (You’re getting used to my liberal use of the word “we” , right?)
The attic is HUGE, and it’s a good thing since it will be holding 7 A/C units and duct work for 22 rooms. Trust me, that’s a lot of Stuff. But first it had to be made safe to walk on, so Gary put a floor down the center.

So much better than walking on the 2 1×6′s that constituted the previous walkway.

The other tricky part of the attic is the loose insulation (paper, not fiberglass thankfully!) that also covers the floor of the attic. That would be the mountains of loose insulation.
Once the floor was down, he was on to building the shelves for the duct work.

(Remember that loose insulation? Sometimes it has a very hard time staying on the floor!)

Here they are – just waiting for the duct work!

And here’s the first batch of duct work, just waiting to be hauled up the ladder.

Speaking of the ladder – this is, in my opinion one of the best innovations regarding our attic work -

Ok, so you can’t really see what I’m so excited about here, but the top of the ladder is actually attached to the framing, making it totally secure. Totally. And since Gary (and I, some days)makes any number of trips up and down that ladder, having it nice and secure makes a world of difference. A. World. of. Difference.
So – back to the duct work.
Before we could start with the duct work runs we had to figure out where the rooms start and stop and where the returns and supplies would need to be. And believe me, with all that insulation piled between the joists, it wasn’t all that easy! Once we had a located a doorway center, Gary taught me how to use this architect’s ruler and read the blueprint and he set about marking where he needed to cut holes in ceilings and duct work. He was incredibly patient with me – after all, it involved math.

Here it is – our first run!

I don’t think I’ve felt such ownership in duct work.
And for those of you who might be interested – this is the Return duct work. (I need to keep practicing my A/C words and understanding)
And for those of you who are frightened that the next three months will be filled with only views from the attic – fear not!

See – I am using my camera for other things!
Have a safe week, all!

Back to Lancaster

steph — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:00:16 +0000

One of the best parts of being at Montrose this summer is that we are not too far away from lots of folks that we love. We figure anything under 400 miles is “not too far away”. And one of the trips I know we’ll make several times is back to Lancaster, where the renovations on Pine Street continue. Indeed, that’s where we were on Friday and Saturday this week.
As usual (with old house renovations at least) the unfortunate “twice as long-twice as much” adage has reared its ugly head. The boys this weekend were starting on the built-ins around the front double window.

Although they have an inspiration photo, it’s pretty much a design as you go type of project. Not just to see how it’s all going to come together, but also to keep the drain on the budget a little less.
This weekend’s goal – getting the lower bench area built, and figuring out just what the storage under it would look like.

and finally – rough though it is -

The bench. Opening in center will be a large toy drawer, on both sides of that basket storage, closed storage next to those. Got it? Going up the walls will be shelving – probably corner cupboards (right side will accommodate the TV) or maybe straight. By getting the bench done and marking out their different choices, I think they’ll come up with a great final design. Everything in due time! I think our next trip will be to work on the baseboard and window trim. Won’t be too soon, though. Gotta let the budget recover from THIS trip!
But while the boys were busy working, we girls were tasked with keeping out of their way. Ah, sounds like a good excuse to head to Central Market –

There is so much to see and buy there – it’s truly a delight!

We concentrated mostly on veggies, but my goodness what a wonderful market! I highly recommend it to anyone heading to Lancaster, PA!
And of course, the rest of the time was mostly spent just hanging out with our little Weston.

I don’t want to say he’s the best part about coming to Lancaster, but, well, yes, he’s pretty much the best part! At nine months, he’s interested in everything around him, waving at all his new friends, and is just plain a love all around! Such a fun age!!!!

I confess I’m pretty frustrated with my lack of ability in taking pictures of my grandbabies. Let’s face it, they just move too fast! Here’s one of Gary with Weston that turned out OK -

But trust me, the face he was making seconds earlier was cuter! Oh well, I’ll just keep clicking away! Practice, practice, practice! And I’m happy to do it!

Next up – Progress in the attic!
Have a great week, friends!

And so it begins

steph — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:24:32 +0000

The work, that is.

OK – so while Gary’s been working pretty hard ever since we arrived last week, I’ve been busy catching up on bookkeeping, email, and general housekeeping. Oh, and a little fun fabric stuff too. But today all that changed. Today Gary started training me to be his A/C installation helper. Had I mentioned that we’re here at Montrose for the express purpose of installing A/C in the 2nd floor hotel rooms and lobby of Dreyer Hall?

(Jim, the director, had talked to Gary last summer about the possibility of putting A/C in this building, so Gary got the blueprints for the building and over the winter worked out a plan, figured out what he would need and submitted the information to Jim. Jim talked to the board, the board approved it, and the fund raising began! And that’s the story of why we’re at Montrose!)

We arrived last Tuesday afternoon, and the first load of equipment arrived Thursday morning.

Some of it went into the barn

but most of it needed to get to the second floor (and eventually into the attic!).

In order to keep it out of the hall (after all, they will be having guests this summer!), we took over one of the guest rooms and stuffed it full of stuff.

And more stuff.

Gary worked over the weekend, getting things started in the lobby and starting to figure out just how the whole attic thing was going to work, so today was the first chance he had to start my training.
So, duct building.
(You do want to know about this, right?)
Here’s what you do -
Take one of those 10 ft. boards out of those big boxes in the barn and set it up on a piece of plywood on a couple of sawhorses.

Get out the special tools -

And figure out where you needed to cut those special “V” cuts (uh-oh, math required here!).

Keep it straight, Steph. These boards are $38.00/ea.

No pressure here.

So this is our trial box (I know it wasted some product, but we both really needed to work through the best way to do it!)
Make your four cuts

“Roll” it up to make the box

And then of course you have to do a special cut at the end so you have enough of the backing to wrap around to secure the box together.

And there you have it – our prototype ductboard ductwork.

Did you notice all the boxes piled up behind that first sheet of ductboard?

Let’s just say that I have a bit of job security!

And many days of itching ahead of me!

The Pine Street Reno

steph — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:00:50 +0000

It’s hard to know where to start when it comes to Josiah and Abigail’s renovation. So I guess I’d better start at the beginning!
They have a sweet row house in downtown Lancaster (yes, Lancaster is not all Amish farms and quilt shops ).

That’s their house – the gray one on the right. With the lumber on the porch.
It has a classic layout – stairs on the left, living room, dining room and kitchen front to back. And when they bought it, it was freshly painted and had a relatively new kitchen. It also had paneled walls and a dropped ceiling.

Clean and neat, but not really what they wanted in the long run.
The renovation plan was simple.
Tear out the dividing wall and the hall wall, remove the dropped ceiling, re-wire the area so it actually made sense, drywall the remaining walls and (now 9 ft) ceiling, and then lay a new wood laminate floor. And do a built-in cabinet around the front windows.
Oh, and do it in a week.
Oh.
Well, we got started right away – first the ceiling and then that paneling!

We discovered that whomever installed the paneling/dropped ceiling put it right over the original woodwork. That was good news/bad news – good news in that it would be great to re-use it,(though it will be a lot of work to get it ready to re-install), and the bad news in that it was just another layer to remove to get to the rebuilding part.

Yeah, there was some pretty ugly stuff underneath that paneling!

Pretty much the wall on the left, from where the stairs end (painted wall) to the tiled entryway needed to come down.

Whoohooo – an intact transom window!
Ok – so we’re starting to get down to the studs….

And then they started with the Really Big Hammers!
Soon we were down to the studs – looking into the kitchen

and looking toward the front.

and before you knew it

they were discussing whether or not that last beam was just maybe holding up the second floor.
Happy to report, it was not.
Before the drywall could start

the electric had to be run.
(So, do you like the truncated wallpaper scraping? Since they were going to be gluing the drywall up on that wall they needed me to remove the wallpaper. I was having trouble commandeering a ladder to finish up the job!)
Here it is -

the first sheet of drywall! Since Josiah works for a drywall company he was using pieces that had been damaged (and therefore free!), so it was quite the puzzle putting it all up.

But with a little bit of team work, it was soon up and the drywall “mudders” were getting to work!

(I was away playing with my girlfriends and Weston while the drywall was going up. I can guarantee you I was having more fun than they were!)

At last – time to paint!

Once the painting was done, Josiah and buddies laid the new flooring, and then Monday was spent cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Nothing was untouched by the construction dirt and dust it seemed. After a busy, busy week, Josiah was back at work, and Gary was finishing up the electrical. And by Monday night, you could tell that even though there was still plenty to do (trim work, built-in cabinets around the front windows, and lots of odds and ends to wrap up) there was some definite light at the end of the tunnel!

I must say that Gary was exhausted at the end of every day (well, except maybe the day the drywall finishers were there). But I believe that Josiah was right behind him on the exhaustion scale. We left before those final three pictures were taken, so it was delight for us to see that their lives would have a bit of normalcy as they work through the remaining portions of this renovation. I know they love the new look (we do too!), and it was a great excuse to wash every dish in the kitchen, right, Abigail?

First the fun stuff!

steph — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:40:14 +0000

Our week between SOWER projects (you know, the take-it-easy rest-up before your next project week) has been full, full, full! So full, in fact, that it spilled into the next week! Of course, the renovation at Josiah’s house was the primary focus of our week “off”, but before I get into the “reno saga”, let me share some of the fun stuff that we enjoyed!
First and foremost -
WESTON!!!!

We hadn’t seen the little guy since Thanksgiving and we were delighted to get reacquainted! Although Gary was stuck back in Lancaster with the renovation, I was able to spend a lovely day in Philadelphia with Weston and his Momma, Abigail (who were staying far, far away from the construction dirt!). What a delight!
First of all – he’s crawling!

Check out the teeth!
It was a very special day, filled with grins and giggles and hugs and kisses!

(Love this one of Weston and Abigail!)
Of course, while I was in the Philadelphia area I also enjoyed a great dinner with my quilting ladies (so good to see them – but sadly, no pictures!), a fun lunch with my co-workers, a long over-due hair-cut, and a great morning checking out the sale racks at Kohl’s and Marshall’s with my good buddy Janet. It was a wonderful couple of days away from the rubble!
Another highlight of our week in Lancaster was being able to worship with and visit with our dear friend Bill, who lost his beautiful wife (and our beautiful friend) just two months ago. Sunday was Dolly’s birthday, and we were honored to spend it with Bill.

This beautiful overlook was just outside of Harper’s Ferry, WV and it’s where the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers come together.

It was a very beautiful and special day all around!

So this morning we pulled out of our neighborhood parking spot (thanks again, Martha and Greg, for your “ministry of the flat driveway” )

and we have arrived safely at our April-May-June SOWER project at Montrose Bible Conference.

We’re the first ones in the campground this season (they were just turning on the water when we arrived!), but I know the neighborhood will fill up as the weather warms up. We’re looking forward to a great spring and early summer as we serve here!

Oh, the renovation? Next post, I promise!