Camping at Little Buffalo State Park

This weekend we were camping at Little Buffalo State Park. There were about 15 people coming and going all weekend. Most of us went on Friday evening and set up camp in the rain. We were thoroughly soaked by the time the tents were set up and we were moved in for the weekend. Fortunately, we had also rented a cottage for those who are not tenters. After we were set up, we had supper and played a few games in the cottage before the rest of us headed back to our wet tents.

On the left is the Hilton Hotel and on the right is the LaQuinta. The Ramada Inn isn't visible on this picture.

Saturday morning we were delighted to see the blue sky and sunshine. It was still very wet, but we at least had some sunshine. We did a little hiking in the morning. Visited the covered bridge, the mill, and the butterfly garden.

I missed out on Saturday afternoon and evening while I attended a 20-year reunion of the first classes at school. When I returned I took another lady with me; several others had come while I was gone too. They had had rain off and on all day and it was still wet but not too bad.

Sunday morning we were responsible for breakfast. We fried our eggs; Norma reminded us we had hashbrowns; we fried those. Norma reminded us we had sausages and ham; we fried those. Eventually, we got breakfast together.

After breakfast we had a devotional and then packed up. It was so hot and humid that we were not eager to do any hiking today so we all headed home much earlier than we thought we would.

Renovation Progress Report #8 -- The LAST One

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!!

All I can say is "Thank You" to everyone who contributed to the renovation of our office. It is the area where we spend most of our time when we are home. We use it for the print shop and my school work. Most of what we do here on a regular basis is in the office. I say "thank you" because of the generosity of family and friends who made the renovation possible. For the last two or three years, we have been saving all the money we received as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, graduation, and any other occasion. That money made possible the purchase of all the supplies we needed for the walls, floor, and ceiling, electrical wiring we added, and the new cabinet to house the phaser and xante printers. Again, I say "thank you" to all of you who gave us any money gifts in the last two or three years.

This last update on the renovation has four photos--one of each wall of the office. The project is almost finished. There is a little trim work to be done. One wall we have to decide if we are going to paint or paper. Other than that, it is finished and we are moved in. We really like it and will enjoy many hours in here this winter.

Our desk area is much more organized.

I already have papers to grade spread out on my desk. The cabinet houses the phaser and xante printers and lots of supplies that we stashed on the table before the renovation.

We didn't do much to this little wall. It was done before we moved here.

The wall on the left of the photo is the one that needs to be either painted or papered. It is bare drywall at this point.

Renovation Progress Report #7 -- Hanna Moves Over/We Move In

As Tropical Storm Hanna passes through the area, we were continuing the process of moving back into the office. Mary is modifying a new cabinet we bought to keep the phaser printer and xante film maker clean. I have gone through all the little "stuff" scattered around the rest of the basement deciding what goes back into the office and what shall be disposed of promptly.

2 weeks ago . . .

2 days ago . . .

Now . . .

It is good I posted photos of the room without furniture. Most of the walls are hidden now.

Renovation Progress Report #6 -- Moving In--Ready or Not

Progress was slow Tuesday and Wednesday. We did a little each evening, but it was not anything significant. Thursday Mary was sent home from work so she had more time to do some of the finish work.

Last evening we started moving back into the office. She went off to see if they have work for her today at the other place where she works sometimes. She will find out when she gets there if they have work for her today. If not, she will go back home and continue moving into the new office.

Renovation Progress Report #5 -- Hanging the Sky

We quit for the weekend! Hanging the ceiling has been quite a challenge, and we are tired. We will work at the project in the evenings this week and maybe by next Monday we will be able to move back into the office. We are satisfied with what we got done this weekend. I think we both knew we had set our goals too high to move back in tonight.

Fastening the first sheet of the ceiling

This is what the ceiling looks like when you look straight up.

Mary's Dad and Elma stopped in for a while. They didn't know they were going to have to work if they came this weekend. Mary had built a frame to hold each sheet of ceiling up and flat while we fastened it. Her Dad helped to hold the sheet up while we aligned it and fastened it.

We have one more big sheet of ceiling to put up and then one foot pieces along the one side. After that is finished, we will put the trim on the top of the walls, put the carpet in and add the trim to the bottom of the walls. Then, I think, it will be ready to move back into again.

Renovation Progress Report #4 -- Finishing the Wall and Preparing to Hang the Sky

It doesn't look like much has happened, but it has. The room is completely empty now. We are just about ready to hang the ceiling. Mary has started on the trim.

Mary places the last piece of t&g on the wall.

Carol fastens 2x4s in preparation for hanging the ceiling.

Two walls of the office

The other office wall and the short wall to the dark room

Renovation Progress Report #3 --More Walls, Measuring the Sky, and Soup

Did I say at 8 PM last night that we would wind down in an hour or so? It was more like three hours or so.


It is almost 8 PM and Mary is putting the last few boards on the last wall. We had enough wood to finish and a few boards left over. Today we bought a new carpet for the office and I put scotch guard on it. I have done the beginning preparation for the unconventional ceiling we are planning to use. Photos of the ceiling will be in a later update. I cut 2x4s to hang the ceiling from until we ran out. Another trip to Lowes...




The wall is not as bowed as it looks on this photo. It must have been the angle I took it that made it look like that.



Also the 21 pints and 14 quarts of tomato soup are canned. I did some in pints and some in quarts because Jan has yet to decide if she likes our tomato soup. If we continue making it when she is not here, a pint is enough, but if she is going to eat some of it, we need a bit more than a pint.

Renovation Progress Report #2 -- Bare Walls to Non-bare Walls

It is after 8 PM and we will be winding down in another hour or so. Mary has been diligently working on the office. I picked two 5-gallon buckets of tomatoes and am making tomato soup.







The wall in the photo above now looks like the wall in the photo below. She has started on the second wall--a shorter one. There are two more walls for tomorrow.

There are electrical boxes and phone jacks to be covered and other little details to finish on that wall, but it is basically finished.

Renovation Progress Report #1 -- Beginnings

Mary took a day of PTO (paid time off) today and started the "project." When I got home from school at 1:30, this is how it looked at the moment.

I have been carrying wood from the print shop where we have been storing it for the last few months to the garage where she is cutting it the right length. She has boards of different lengths lying out on the floor so she can find the best one to make the most efficient use of the wood we have. We only hope we have enough for the project. I have about half of it carried to the garage, but it is raining quite a bit at the moment, and I decided to wait until after it slows down a bit to finish the job.

They are all t&g boards that we got from tearing down a shed for her cousin. We sanded them but decided to keep the white paint in the grooves. We had seen that done in another house and decided it added to the rustic look. Of course, it also saved us a lot of work.

I'll keep you posted as we progress over the weekend.

Office Renovation in Progress - Displaced Stuff

We spent about two years planning and dreaming of the office renovation. Over the last year we collected materials (thanks to the money gifts we received for birthdays and Christmas). Now, we have begun the renovation project that has been only a dream.



Last evening we moved most of the things out of the office. The three big pieces we moved into the center of the room.




Friday Mary is planning to take a vacation day and begin working on putting t&g boards on the walls. We have a ceiling to put in and new carpet for the floor. We hope to be moving back in on Monday, Labor Day. If we are not too worn out by then.

Fragments from the First Three Days Into the Year

2008-09 school year, that is
year number 24 for me on this side of the teacher's desk
drop/add period ends today
routine will develop quickly--I hope
learned the names of about half the freshmen, all the new sophomores, and one new senior
creative writing class is being creative -- makes for interesting reading
speech 2 class determined the "correct" order of importance of 15 items if they were lost on the moon
speech 1 class has to soon give speeches if they are to be called speech students
freshmen -- still lost and confused
sophomores -- scared by all the horror stories they heard about being sophomores
juniors -- exploring new elective classses available to them
seniors -- ready for the last year and more serious about life
haven't taken any photos this year

Burkholder Reunions

I grew up always having two Burkholder reunions every summer. One was always referred to as the "Little" Burkholder reunion, and the other was always the "BIG" Burkholder reunion. Those designations always made a lot of sense to me. The Little Burkholder reunion was never very many people since my Mom came from a family of 4 and we only had 10 cousins on that side--some of whom lived in Arizona and were seldom at the reunion anyway. In addition, they were smaller people. The BIG Burkholder reunion was lots of people since my Dad come from a family of 15 children and we had lots and lots of cousins on that side--most of them 10-30 years older than I am. Not only were there more people, but they were bigger people. My sister's dream was once to "be as fat as Aunt . . . . " (Should I add that it is no longer her dream?)

Yesterday was the Big Burkholder reunion. We have one remaining aunt, Aunt Nora, who is 94 and our aunt on both sides of the family.

Attendance is now more like 125 instead of the 400 as Aunt Nora reminded us yesterday. We had a candy drop from an airplane and neighbor boys brought their horses and were giving rides to the other children (not a planned activity).

There were many people at the reunion yesterday that I didn't even recognize as relatives (mostly cousins' grandchildren, I think). There were others there that I recognized as relatives (mostly cousins' children). There were others that I recognized as cousins and could generally place in the correct family, but being at the tail end of the cousins has kept me struggling to know my first cousins. My embarrassing moment yesterday was asking one of my cousins about her brother's daughter. I should have known, but I messed up again. She kindly got me straightened out.

Friends from Afar

We are blessed with friends from around the world. Tuesday evening we visited with Gerlof & Machteld Born from the Netherlands.

He is secretary of the Dutch Mennonite Mission and shared pictures and stories of the work they are doing in many different countries. She is a geography teacher in the secondary school.



Friday evening we visited with Hannes & Barbara Wittwer and their three children: Luis, Sarah and Jeane. They are from Switzerland. We had met his parents when we were in Switzerland in 1997. Last year he brought his parents and aunt to America for a visit. This year he brought his wife and children.

Pocket Factory

Stocks dropped 236 points yesterday. The future of the pocket factory looked shaky. Workers had been without a contract and management announced they may have to close the doors. This morning disgruntled workers walked off the job when they were required to replace worn out elastic in sleeves rather insert pockets. The floor will be swept and the door closed.

Mary and I both like pockets in our dresses. However, over the last few years, we have been given a number of dresses from people who do not put pockets in their dresses. Finally, all those dresses have pockets. The job is finished. I am glad!!!!!

Overheard at the Vet's Office

Little boy: Does that cat live here?

Receptionist: Yes, she does.

Little boy: What's his name?

Rep.: Her name's Jackie.

Little boy: Does he listen to you?

Rep.: Most of the time.

Little boy walks up to the cat and says: "Simon says 'Blink your eyes!'"

Cabins & Hummingbirds

Wednesday morning breakfast

Israel pictures

Merle, Elaine & Dallas playing basketball

Here we are

The late night Phase 10 game that lasted until 12:37

We have been enjoying frequent visits to our feeder by a pair of hummingbirds.

First Month of Summer Vacation

So, what have I been doing since school is over for another year?

The first week I worked outside all week. I weeded flower beds and garden, painted the rail fence, mulched everything that needed mulched, and went to an outdoor wedding.

The second week I took it a bit calmer because it was too hot to be working outside. I made a dress for Mary and read two books--just for the fun of it. Sunday we had a picnic with people from church. The candy man had a candy scramble when he came walking in on stilts.

The third week I attempted to make a second dress for Mary and it turned out to be a disaster. We also had Bible school every evening. At the end of bible school, we had the annual train rides for the children and soft ice cream for everyone.

This week I bought a house for a friend on Monday (She's paying for it. I just did the bidding at the auction). We took two other friends to JFK early Wednesday morning. Today we were at the CWS picnic at Hersheypark.

I've been to two weddings, a picnic and a tea party in the last month.

That is a summary of the summer so far.