Tag Archives: painting

Family and Friends, Mondays are for Memories, On the Road, Pictures of the Adventure, The Cabin

Vermont, Round Two

July 23, 2025 steph 3 Comments

Our love for our little red cabin in Vermont is no secret around here. We’d already been at the cabin earlier in May, but we were delighted to be able to work in a second Cabin stay in late June. As always it was just what the doctor ordered! We overlapped the first couple of days with my sister Joie & hubby which was a first for us – and quite the delight from my perspective! We stayed in town with Chris (so thankful for that sweet guestroom!), and took exactly zero photos of the four (or five, depending on the day) of us, but trust me – walks were taken

thrift shops were visited

(all pink tags were 10 cents. Yes. 10 cents.)
and ice cream was eaten!
While we were together we also had our annual Dwinell Cabin Association meeting, with over 15 in attendence.

Zoom has really helped us include more folks in these annual meetings – and it was a great meeting! As our family grows, it becomes more and more important to be organized and official! We love that so many of this next generation are excited about spending time at the cabin. (Excited that they are paying dues too!)
After Joie & Fitz wrapped up their time, Gary started in on what was our big project for this trip – painting the cabin floor!

We got all the furniture moved to one side and Gary began sanding –

As he moved around with the sanding I followed behind vacuuming, mopping and taping. Soon he was into the painting!

Day two was (carefully) moving the furniture to the painted side, and begin the same procedure as the day before. Sanding, cleaning, taping, painting.

Second coat on the high traffic areas –

We let everything dry thoroughly before we tried to put the cabin back together again!

The floor looks great, areas have been cleaned that haven’t been cleaned in a good long while, and I may or many not have gotten all of the fine green dust off of just about everything!
These are the feet of floor painter –

We stayed down at Chris’s during the process which was great. Truth be told, it was a bigger job than we thought it would be. Thankfully it doesn’t need to be done very often (last time was 2017), and we now know that the next generation will be the ones handling the job next time. =)

After we got that floor done, it was a pretty relaxing time for us. There were no treehouses to build, no docks to construct, or giant rocks to dig up. Chris and I worked on our side garden which we are trying to make into a Native Garden. The hope is that eventually it will be mostly self-maintaining and filled with beautiful Vermont-native plants. This is the first summer to really work on it – and I think it’s coming along nicely! (Now if we could just keep the ‘native’ grass under control!)
Starting out –

In process –

And mostly done (well, for this summer at least!)

The bench was donated to the cabin in Elna’s memory, so I’m calling it Elna’s Garden. It’s a work in progress to be sure – but it is quite the lovely spot to sit and watch the sun set over the mountains.

We researched where to hang the new hammock (yard sale find!)

Looks good, but a little too close to the outhouse, especially on a windy day!
Final spot is a keeper!

Even has a view of the pond!
Besides the naps that we took, the books we read, and the ice cream we ate, some of our other highlights were –
-Celebrating Aunt Vesta’s 100th birthday at the Dwinell Homestead

-New custom door on the outhouse –

And of course – my favorite way to wake up

with a crackling fire and fresh brewed coffee!
We finished up our time there with another sweet overlap – this time with those sweet Chambersburg Fitzpatricks. It was just one day – but it was a pretty perfect cabin day!
-Chores

-Swimming and games (no pictures, sorry, but lots of laughing and splashing was heard).
-Trip for ice cream

-and finally a campfire (complete with S’mores!).

What lovely weeks we had at The Cabin! We were reminded (as always) what a family treasure this little spot is – and what a precious gift our grandparents left us those long years ago! This was our final ‘see ya later’ for the cabin this year, but we left with our hearts full of Cabin love.

And then we were off the next part of our adventure…

Details coming soon!

Thanks for coming along on our round two of our Cabin time!

RV Life, SOWER Projects 2024, The Adventure

Group Leader Report

January 26, 2024 steph 1 Comment

Gary and I have been the Group Leaders (GL) this month at our SOWER project (Community Baptist Church/Community Christian School). Aside from being the ‘project facilitator’, there is also a bit of paperwork involved. And in that paperwork is what we affectionately call the “GL Report” – where we try to summarize in 100 words what was accomplished during our three-week project. Here is what I came up with –
There were three primary areas where work was accomplished. The men worked on refreshing the playground (repair, repaint, etc) and fixing any broken concrete in the walkway or playground. The ladies help with playground painting, but mostly concentrated backdrops/props for their summer VBS program (thanks to our SOWER artist Cathy Richmond). We thoroughly enjoyed working with SOA’s Marty & Bobbie Baldwin (3459), and Alumnus volunteer Norm Weener (1198). We shared many meals together and were very welcomed by the staff at the project. Everything we did was greatly appreciated! (Word count – 89!)
But I think some pictures will more accurately tell the story of what was done:
“Refreshing the playground”

Repairing,

painting,

and pressure washing –

Bobbie and I even helped out a bit with the playground painting –

So much tedious sanding and painting – but the kiddos were so pleased to have their ‘looks like new’ playground back!
While Jon was working on playground refresh (with some help from Marty), Gary (with some help from Marty) was tackling the concrete repairs.
He went from the jackhammer

to cleaning and building forms

to pouring and distributing

to smoothing and finishing.

Lots of small areas needed attention – and I think Gary hit them all!

Meanwhile –
The ladies help with playground painting, but mostly concentrated backdrops/props for their summer VBS program (thanks to our SOWER artist Cathy Richmond).
It was pretty amazing watching Cathy turn backdrops from last year’s castle theme and a Christmas starry night

into a jungle swamp theme, complete with alligators, hippos, and birds!

This is the center panel which is an “African Queen” type boat –

but without those old ladies in it!
Here is the small progression example of an addition sheet backdrop that was also transformed!
Bobbie started with the water –

I jumped in with some broad green strokes and stripes

(Sorry about the weird – ‘look at the camera and smile’ pose!)
and then Cathy worked her magic!

It was inspiring to watch her reuse and repurpose these VBS props. And Bobbie and I were honored to be her assistants!
On our last day, she allowed me to use a smaller brush and I helped with painting these birds –

but my real talent was painting the piece of cardboard in the back a nice solid black! Always know your strengths, I say!

So there you have it – the guys worked hard, the gals worked fun – and a great month was had by all! Thank you, Lord, for the work that was accomplished, the encouragement that was spread, and may many children’s lives be touched by your Gospel through the ministry here at Community Baptist Church and School!

Pictures of the Adventure, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2023, The Adventure

Another one

November 15, 2023 steph Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe, but another SOWER project wraps up tomorrow!! It might be that I’m just getting older, but these three weeks go by so fast these days! We were the Group Leaders (project facilitators) this month, so here’s a little summary of what we accomplished!
The guys worked steady and hard on finishing off a storage area that was built around a couple of walk-in boxes.
It started out like this –

and moved to this…

(attic stairs installed)

getting started on the insulation –

then the drywall…

and the ceiling drywall…

and the mudding…

and the sanding…

Let me tell you what, these guys worked hard!! Gary slipped away a couple of times to look as some electrical or plumbing issues, and he also worked on getting their “Rolling Chapel” ready for some new paint. But finishing up that room was highest on the priority list!

By the end of the day tomorrow (Thursday, our last day), those walls should be ready to paint! But that will be for the next batch of volunteers!
We ladies had a little more diversity – mostly due to the weather! The painting chores they had lined up for us were all outdoors,

and some mornings it was just too cold to paint!
So we enjoyed a little kitchen work

and some general housekeeping (no pictures of that – mopping, sweeping, dusting….you know the drill)
One morning we got to help out with their “Release Program”, where they are able to go into the public schools and (with permission from the school and the parents, of course) take the children off campus (in this case across the street)

for a time of Bible teaching!

We were basically crowd control, but what a joy it was to see this wonderful facet of the Children’s Bible Ministry in action.

Of course, it wasn’t all work and no play – but I think I’ll save that for another day! I’m pretty sure I should be getting this girl packed up to move tomorrow after we finish our SOWER day! Time to tidy up and put away all the extraneous Stuff that accumulates during the month!
(But really, I’m just heading to bed! Tomorrow is another (busy!) day!)
Sweet dreams, friends,

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, SOWER Projects, SOWER Projects 2022

Four Day Work Weeks

August 6, 2022 steph 2 Comments

Let’s be honest, there is nothing NOT to like about only working four days a week.Â And let’s remember they are shortened days at that – 6 hours for Gary,Â about 4 for me.Â So every Thursday afternoon we are happy that, for us, the work week is over. This week I must confess we were not only happy, we were H.A.P.P.Y.Â Not that the work was especially hard, but it seemed that the reentry back into ‘real life’ after two weeks at the cabin was just harder than usual.Â Â My body seemed to be constantly calling for a nap, and I was so achy that I actually took a COVID test to make sure that that little gift hadn’t returned! Negative. Phew.Â By Wednesday (and our little styrofoam adventure) I was beginning to come out of my achy fog, and I’m happy to report that things are pretty much back to normal.Â I probably had a touch of ‘something’ – but it seems to have moved on, so for that I am thankful! Sorry for the whining. If that was over-sharing, my apologies!

So – our week. We’re on our own this month – and there is plenty for us to do! Our primary project is the Bethany House – an older home right across the street from us that has been anything from staff housing, snack shop, accommodations for retreats, and who knows what else. It’s getting a major overhaul to turn it back into a single family dwelling in anticipation of the arrival of a new program director.

This is the same house that the guys were concentrating on last month – pulling up the carpeting and other miscellaneous flooring

and getting started on prepping the upstairs for painting.

Two coats of primer, two coats of finish. They got a good start on things last month, but we knew there was still plenty to do! We returned to a small addition to the list – all the closets and all the trim (in all 5 rooms, hallway and bath) needed to be painted white. So – two coats of primer, two coats of semi-gloss. Like I said, plenty to do!

Here’s the hallway – the one area that kept its paneling-

The two of the best parts about this job is that Gary starts earlier than I do and when I arrive, he has my bucket filled with paint and just directs me to the trim in need of some semi-gloss. (In other words, I have a really great boss!) The other plus is that since all of these floors are being resurfaced we don’t have to worry about the getting paint on them. And let me tell you, that is one long line of cutting in that just doesn’t have to happen! We’ll take all the blessings we can when it comes to painting.
Next week – we’ll be painting. When we started out as SOWERs, I really didn’t like painting. But after we did that little reno in Waco a couple of years ago, let’s just say paint and I have come to an understanding. Especially with white semi-gloss! Even with my yucky start, I think we still got a fair bit accomplished by the end of the week. God is good!
By Friday I was more than ready for a couple of ‘no alarm’ mornings. The laundry was wrapped up, the credit card statements were printed and reconciled, I got a good start on the SOWER newsletter, and several naps were logged. Tonight started a new week here at Odosagih Bible Conference where we enjoyed a concert by Sherry Anne. It was quite a concert/inspirational evening, especially given that Sherry Anne was born with a bilateral hearing and speech impairment. We were blessed indeed!
Pretty sure tomorrow will be a ‘no alarm’ morning as well, since church is at 10:30, and it’s across the street. Every week, along with a Saturday night concert, there is also a different guest speaker. And we’ve been fed the Word at each service we’ve been to.Â How kind it is for God to have placed us here!

OK – that’s about it for the week. It had a pretty slow start, but it all ended well! Once again, God has proven faithful!
Have a blessed Lord’s Day, friends!

Pictures of the Adventure, RV Life, The Adventure

Mini Reno

April 17, 2021 steph Leave a comment

Back in 2003 when we purchased Lizzie, our motor home, she came with a TV in the bedroom. I’m sure if I searched through my photo archives I might find an actual photograph of that TV, but since I want to get to bed sometime tonight – here is a picture from the original brochure (that was surprisingly easy to find!) –

We enjoyed that TV for several years, but with the advent of digital TV and the need for a converter (or a new TV) we gradually just stopped using it all together. Eventually, we removed the TV and gained some storage. Ah, new storage space – a treasure indeed in our little 300 sq ft home. Since it was located in my sewing storage corner (and thus belonged to me, right?), I began to slowly but surely fill it up.

And as often is the case (in my world anyway), it soon became quite the collection of stuff. Messy stuff.

Oy. Keeping it tidy was certainly an option (and did happen occasionally), but that big (messy) cavern in the corner really began to bug me and I began to think up ways to cover it, but still have it accessible. A wall hanging, maybe? A curtain? Since it was easiest to just let it be (and avert my eyes if I needed to), it continued ‘as is’ for a good bit.
Meanwhile…..over two years ago I was gifted some original artwork of the cabin done by the talented daughter of one of our project hosts.Â Here’s a screenshot excerpt from a blog entry back in January of 2019 –

As much as I loved that painting, there was absolutely nowhere (as in no wall space) to hang it in Lizzie. I tucked it safely away thinking it would have to wait until the ‘next chapter’ of our life when we would perhapsÂ once again have more walls.
But then…..as I lay in bed one night, eyeing that cavern in the corner, I realized that the opening was not that much bigger than that cabin painting. Maybe, just maybe, we (as in Gary) could figure out some way to incorporate the painting into a panel/door and we could kill two birds with one stone – find a spot for the custom artwork AND disguise a messy storage area.
I can’t tell you it happened overnight (does anything at our age?), but we eventually got a cabinet doorÂ made, Gary stained and sealed it to match the existing cabinets, and after some discussion about types of hinges and which side should it open up, he completed the installation.

I found a simple frame for that lovely cabin painting, and voila! Problem solved!

To say that this girl is one happy camper about this small, but heartwarming, renovation would be quite the understatement!