The tree is all decorated and waiting for Santa. Merry Christmas to all!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Tree
The Church House that Emmie and G bought in Oak Creek has soaring ceilings that are about 20 feet high! On our first visit to the Church house, after Emmie & G bought the church house, almost immediately, Dan said, "You have to get a HUGE tree for Christmas!" . It didn't happen the first year, but this year with the help of our family from Arizona, we fulfilled his dream of a HUGE tree! It stands over 19 feet high!!!! Monday afternoon we set out towards Chapman Lake near the Flattops to find the tree that Emmie and G had picked out in October when there was no snow and the weather was warm. In choosing the tree, Emmie and G made sure that it was not the home of any birds or animals.
We took 3 cars the Suburban with G, Emmie, Cooper, Tucker, Rick and Mary Jo, the Jeep-Dan, Claire, Hudson, & me: the truck - Scott, Lisa , Hazel, Bryan & Calynn. We also recruited another Rick and his wife Jean to go along. (They had a chain saw and we didn't and they offered to go on the "adventure" with us! Once we arrived at the "spot" we piled out of the vehicles and tromped through the deep snow to see the beautiful tree!
After Rick cut the tree it took 6 men to pull the tree through the snowy forrest and hoist it up on top of the Surburban.
We took 3 cars the Suburban with G, Emmie, Cooper, Tucker, Rick and Mary Jo, the Jeep-Dan, Claire, Hudson, & me: the truck - Scott, Lisa , Hazel, Bryan & Calynn. We also recruited another Rick and his wife Jean to go along. (They had a chain saw and we didn't and they offered to go on the "adventure" with us! Once we arrived at the "spot" we piled out of the vehicles and tromped through the deep snow to see the beautiful tree!
After Rick cut the tree it took 6 men to pull the tree through the snowy forrest and hoist it up on top of the Surburban.
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Windows
After months of waiting on the windows for downstairs to be installed, today is the day!
The windows have been covered with plywood and it just has made it feel a little dreary. Then, today, Gary took off one piece of the plywood and put a window in and it was almost 'an awesome feeling!! The trees with their yellow leaves the mountains with their late fall foliage, grass, blue skies, roads houses, people passing by peering at us. They too are amazed that we have windows.
You know the irony of getting windows where you can see out? We now are in the processing of figuring out what type of drapes or blinds we need to keep people from seeing in!
The windows have been covered with plywood and it just has made it feel a little dreary. Then, today, Gary took off one piece of the plywood and put a window in and it was almost 'an awesome feeling!! The trees with their yellow leaves the mountains with their late fall foliage, grass, blue skies, roads houses, people passing by peering at us. They too are amazed that we have windows.
You know the irony of getting windows where you can see out? We now are in the processing of figuring out what type of drapes or blinds we need to keep people from seeing in!
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Flies
Last year when we purchased the Church House, we noticed all these flies dead on the steps and other places. We were told that it was common when an old building was vacant for awhile; so we vacuumed several times a day and thought next year it will be better.
Well that is not the case. Sometime during the early morning in September, I heard a strange buzzing sound in the upper part of the ceiling. The next few days the sound gained more strength.
Then it happened. We would be sitting on the couch and the flies would make a dive into your hair, or you would just be walking and one would hit you in the cheek or fly into the computer screen. These are totally Kamikaze flies! They hit you and then flop over on their backs and spin around with great energy never to fly again!
There are so many of them that I can't go in to detail. Just believe me-it's almost unbelievable!
So we went down to Phillsburg (locally called Pburg) to the Farm Store and bought some fly strips that adhere to the windows. This morning there were just six that had landed and Gary said that they came out to about 50 cents per fly when you considered the cost of the product.
Anyway, as I write, I count 17 or 18 and one is creeping slowing towards it; so the cost per capita is going down!
Well that is not the case. Sometime during the early morning in September, I heard a strange buzzing sound in the upper part of the ceiling. The next few days the sound gained more strength.
Then it happened. We would be sitting on the couch and the flies would make a dive into your hair, or you would just be walking and one would hit you in the cheek or fly into the computer screen. These are totally Kamikaze flies! They hit you and then flop over on their backs and spin around with great energy never to fly again!
There are so many of them that I can't go in to detail. Just believe me-it's almost unbelievable!
So we went down to Phillsburg (locally called Pburg) to the Farm Store and bought some fly strips that adhere to the windows. This morning there were just six that had landed and Gary said that they came out to about 50 cents per fly when you considered the cost of the product.
Anyway, as I write, I count 17 or 18 and one is creeping slowing towards it; so the cost per capita is going down!
Monday, September 7, 2009
The knock on the bathroom door
The Sanctuary as previously described is one large room with another door that you enter right from the Sanctuary. It has a wood etched sign on the door with the word Restroom written in green with little sprigs of ivy flowing down. When this was officially the United Methodist Church building, there was no secret about the fact that you needed to go to the restroom. You just got up and walked down the aisle and made a right turn and in you go. When finished out the door you came and made a left turn and returned to your seat and the choir kept singing or the pastor kept preaching.
Also through that same door, after you entered the restroom you took a right and you were in the bell tower and then another door out of the bell tower took you outside. So not everyone was sure exactly where you were going when you went through that door, but if the bell didn't ring, then they were pretty sure it was nature calling.
Anyway, since our move into the Church House, we have added a shower where the bell tower was located. (When the building was sold, the members removed the bell and it now rest in the Oak Creek Historical Museum in town along with the communion table, the Bible, the pastors podium and pictures of the inside of the building with the pews.)
The bell tower is still a part of the building , but now there is a shower.
So as you go through the door to the left is the commode and to the right a shower; so what could we do to get to the outside? We added a door. When you enter from the south side you pass the commode on your right and the shower on your left.
In june 2009 we had a leak in our outside water pipe. Ed , a local man from Oak Creek who also was married in the church building, helped us out. He had the machinery and began to dig the holes.
He was outside working and I was inside. Then there was a knock on the bathroom door and I opened the door and Ed said, "Emily , we have a problem." It seems we had to now move the propane fuel lines to get to the water lines; so we called the propane company.
Later, I was inside and Ed was working outside and then, there was a knock on the bathroom door and Ed said,"Emily, we have a problem." We had to move the propane tank so that Ed could maneuver his equipment to get 8 or so feet down to the water line..
VP Propand came to move the tank with a lift, but something was wrong with their machine so they had to drag the tank to a new place.
To Be continued.....
Also through that same door, after you entered the restroom you took a right and you were in the bell tower and then another door out of the bell tower took you outside. So not everyone was sure exactly where you were going when you went through that door, but if the bell didn't ring, then they were pretty sure it was nature calling.
Anyway, since our move into the Church House, we have added a shower where the bell tower was located. (When the building was sold, the members removed the bell and it now rest in the Oak Creek Historical Museum in town along with the communion table, the Bible, the pastors podium and pictures of the inside of the building with the pews.)
The bell tower is still a part of the building , but now there is a shower.
So as you go through the door to the left is the commode and to the right a shower; so what could we do to get to the outside? We added a door. When you enter from the south side you pass the commode on your right and the shower on your left.
In june 2009 we had a leak in our outside water pipe. Ed , a local man from Oak Creek who also was married in the church building, helped us out. He had the machinery and began to dig the holes.
He was outside working and I was inside. Then there was a knock on the bathroom door and I opened the door and Ed said, "Emily , we have a problem." It seems we had to now move the propane fuel lines to get to the water lines; so we called the propane company.
Later, I was inside and Ed was working outside and then, there was a knock on the bathroom door and Ed said,"Emily, we have a problem." We had to move the propane tank so that Ed could maneuver his equipment to get 8 or so feet down to the water line..
VP Propand came to move the tank with a lift, but something was wrong with their machine so they had to drag the tank to a new place.
To Be continued.....
Friday, September 4, 2009
The Sanctuary
The sanctuary of the Church House measures 40 by 27 feet. The ceilings are wood planks and large wood beams soaring to about 25 feet. There are 39 clear windows on the west side.
Basically it is just one large room with a step up to where the choir would stand and the pastor would preach. On the east end is a 20 feet blue cross (apparently not stained glass). On The opposing end , west, another wood cross that makes up the support for the front of the roof and surrounded by 39 clear windows. We have the cross before us and behind us.
I love the 39 windows. We have our bed placed on the stage area of the sanctuary where the pastor would stand. We wake up to a glorious view ,out the 39 windows ,of clouds and blue skies, shadows and treetops that change with the seasons, and sometimes snow and rain and unexpected gusts of wind and birds flying by. (Other things fly by inside the building, but that is another story.)
I call it my "ever-changing canvas".
It is a privilege to live here.
It is a feeling of totally being surrounded by Christ.
Basically it is just one large room with a step up to where the choir would stand and the pastor would preach. On the east end is a 20 feet blue cross (apparently not stained glass). On The opposing end , west, another wood cross that makes up the support for the front of the roof and surrounded by 39 clear windows. We have the cross before us and behind us.
I love the 39 windows. We have our bed placed on the stage area of the sanctuary where the pastor would stand. We wake up to a glorious view ,out the 39 windows ,of clouds and blue skies, shadows and treetops that change with the seasons, and sometimes snow and rain and unexpected gusts of wind and birds flying by. (Other things fly by inside the building, but that is another story.)
I call it my "ever-changing canvas".
It is a privilege to live here.
It is a feeling of totally being surrounded by Christ.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Early Morning in Colorado
To my family-
It is early morning in Colorado. Our Golden Retriever, Maggie, lies near my chair as I write.
There is a gentle chill in the air, and the sun is just sending its first warm rays of pink and orange before it crest the mountains and lights the day.
May today be a good day -a great day filled with hope and promise for all of us.
Love,
Emily
It is early morning in Colorado. Our Golden Retriever, Maggie, lies near my chair as I write.
There is a gentle chill in the air, and the sun is just sending its first warm rays of pink and orange before it crest the mountains and lights the day.
May today be a good day -a great day filled with hope and promise for all of us.
Love,
Emily
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