Lake Huron Retreat Center, Burtchville, MI



Storm over Canada and Lake Huron - view taken
just down a short path from the cabin we worked on

One more day left here at the beautiful Lake Huron Retreat Center in Burtchville Township, MI. Okay, where is Burtchville and what is a “township”. We know where Burtchville is but haven't quite figured out what a “township” is. And we do know where it is. Look for Detroit then follow I-94 to the northeast to Port Huron then follow M-25 (Michigan's state highway system) up the lake for about 20 miles, and here you are – at the retreat center.

When I say this place is beautiful, I'm not kidding. It's located right on the lake and reminds me of looking out at the Gulf of Mexico from the beaches I grew up on in Pensacola (except the sand here is not as pretty as the Pensacola beaches). You look straight out and see nothing but water. But if you look closely to the right, you can barely see Canada. The beach here is gravely and a light brownish color. And the water is cold. Almost as cold as Fires Creek. Needless to say, I did not go swimmiing.



One of the many freighters we saw heading north

We have five Rvs at this NOMADS project and are parked in a nice area across the highway from the retreat center. Secluded off the road, we can hardly hear the traffic going by. Our main job was to rehabilitate an old cabin to make it into a two-bedroom, one-bath with kitchenette cabin. 

The retreat started out years and years ago as a Jewish girl's summer camp. In 1946, the camp ran into financial difficulty and was put on the market. A number of local Methodist churches pooled their resources and bought it. A few years later, the Methodist Conference took it over to make it into what it is today – mostly an adult retreat center. It has done very well hosting many different groups. While we've been here, one week hosted disadvantaged adults, another week a group of we-don't-know-what-they-were (but our main contact Dan called them grown up hippies), and this week is a “License to Preach” session for deacons and lay ministers. Everyone we have met have been super nice so it's made working here a pleasure.

Dan knocking off the side room of the original cabin -
you can see a bit of Lake Huron in the background

But back to the cabin. We started out thinking we were going to replace the roof and take all the old cedar-shake panels off the walls then replace the roof and the panels. But after the building inspector came out, things changed. Yes, the roof was still coming off but we had to tear down three of the original walls and replace them. You wonder why not just tear down all the walls and start over again. Well, that's where local regulations entered the picture. The cagin is located too close to the water for modern set-back laws, but if the cabin was not being completely torn down, it could remain in its current position. So, we had to leave at least one wall and build new walls off of it. What fun!



There goes half of the roof.



But you know what we say about ourselves - “NOMADS are flexible!”

Dan had a company come in to take off the roof. That's was interesting. We all stayed way back out of the way but scrambled like a bunch of busy ants tearing off the roof shingles and tar paper once the roof structure was on the ground. After that, we tore down the old chimney and hauled the bricks across the busy highway to an area behind our Rvs then we got to work tearing down the walls. New walls were built and braced into place, new roof trusses were set in place, and now we are almost done putting the roof sheathing on and should get close to finishing the sheathing on the walls. A lot of work for nine NOMADS and intripid Dan to do in three weeks.



There it goes - flying through the air.  Note how far
back we stayed!

This has been a really nice place for a project. For the most part, the weather here has been great. We've had a few hot days and few rainy and very windy days, but mostly it's been cool. One morning, it was 51 degrees and warmed up to the high 60s by the afternoon. A relief from our hot southern summers and I loved it!

It's been fun driving around this part of Michigan. We even went over to Canada for a day. Let's see, we've been to London, Memphis, Paris, Richmond, Yale, just to name a few of the places we visited. Of course, they were all in a 70 mile radius from Port Huron. And I got to stop in six different quilt shops – one was in an old decommissioned Catholic church, another one was in an old motel (the shop itself took up four or five of the original rooms – fantastic shop), and a couple were in old storefronts in poor downtown areas.



Bill directing the first new roof truss into place

We started packing up this evening; heading out tomorrow evening after we finish working. Need to get to Elkhart, IN by Friday morning to have some problems with the RV resolved. Elkhart is the home for Forest River so we want them to solve our minor problems. Then we head down to Mitchell, IN for another project. That's probably why I'm sitting here composing a blog entry because we packed away the television satellite antenna and don't feel like using the over-the-air antenna (all we can get on it is a couple of Canadian

The cabin starting to take shape with all the new
roof trusses in place and one wall built

channels that we already know we don't like) so it's rather quiet now. Except for Lexi wandering around shaking her dog fur all over everything. Belle is sound asleep in the back on our bed.
And so it goes for another enjoyable NOMADS project.

More later . . .

 

 

p.s. It has taken me forever to get the dumb pictures to download.  For some reason, the "before" pictures I took of the cabin won't download onto this blog.  Frustration personafied!  But I will try to remember to download the pictures I took of the cabin as we finished it at the end of this project then you can really see what we got done. 



My Sewing Room (aka “There is Hope After All”)

This is the saga of my sewing room. For the longest period of time, I have been content to drop things in any open space – floor, shelf, under a table, on the steps, on the back of chairs. You know the drill - anywhere. And I just kept on sewing. If I couldn't find something I needed, I'd fret and fume and waste tons of time (is there such a thing as a “ton” of time – since when did time weigh anything? I found it weighs a lot when you can't find something!) looking, looking, and looking some more.



So easy to pile up your treasures

Another "before" picture

 

Somewhere along the line, I read articles about pristine sewing rooms. How could anyone sew in a place so neat and orderly? It just didn't seem right.

Then I spent a weekend with my sister Jeanie and her husband David in Colleyville, TX, located between Dallas and Fort Worth. My sister is an excellent needleworker and has made the most amazing pieces of needle art. She also is a dynamite seamstress. And she is very organized. Everything is put away in labeled clear boxes and looks so nice.

I admit to excessive drooling.

Then, we arrived home from a couple of NOMADS projects. Of course, I brought home some more fabric and books from our travels. And could not find a clear place anywhere in my sewing room to put them. Nowhere, and I mean, absolutely nowhere. Not even on the floor.

This had gotten out of hand. Plumb beyond ridiculous.

I started researching blog articles on how to organize a sewing room. Sure, many of the ladies who wrote the articles had bank accounts far larger than mine and the companies who promote organization want you to buy their products. You can spend a fortune in rearranging your treasures.

Nope, not me. I insisted on using what I had. Except I did learn about foam board. What a wonderful product. But in my tiny mountain town of Hayesville, where was I going to find foam board? Guess I could order it, but it would never arrive before we left on the next project. 

So back to the computer. Aren't computers great tools? Yeah – I found the Dollar Tree chain sold foam board for $1.00/sheet. Now that was something I could afford. But would the only Dollar Tree I knew of anywhere near home (in Murphy, 15 miles to the west of Hayesville) have foam board? I could not believe my eyes when I walked into the store and there was my prize foam board. And it was even made in the USA. Wow! What a find!

Now, you are probably wondering what I needed foam board for? It's great for wrapping your longer pieces of fabric around. In essence, I made my own bolt boards. How? Oh, that's easy.

If I had thought about it sooner, I'd have taken pictures showing how I cut the board. But I used up every piece I bought so I'll try to explain it. 

You will need:

Foam board 30” x 20”

Razor knife (I used the knife I use for cutting drywall board – with a new blade in it)

Or an Xacto knife should work
24” Quilt ruler

Lay the board on a cutting mat with the 30” side in front of you. Use the 24” quilter ruler and measure 23” from the left side. Cut the board from top to bottom at the 23” mark. That will give you a piece 7” x 20” on the right side. Take that piece and cut it in half to made two 7” x 10” pieces. With the big piece, cut it along the length to get two 6 1/2” x 23” and one 7” x 23” pieces. I used the smaller pieces to wrap fabric that was less than two yards long (lay this fabric out and fold into thirds along the length then wrap on the small foam board). Fabric that was longer than two yards was wrapped on the larger pieces. Pin the ends to keep the fabric in place and, with a pencil, write the yardage on the upper right corner. When you use any of the fabric, you can erase and write the new yardage in the corner. Yeah! No more wondering how long a piece of fabric is!

A "during" picture - many of my containers were
gone through, fabric put aside for donation or
folded on foam board

"During" - looking into the computer
alcove with everything trying to find a new
home. The big containers in the middle hold
my Quilt of Valor fabric - I need lots of that!

 

Then, of course, I went through all the remnants and supposed fat quarters. Amazing how many of what I thought were fat quarters were not fat quarters but some weird size. True fat quarters were all folded the same way and put in a drawer. The weird pieces were either put in a container for “Odd ball cuts” or thrown in the basket for really weird pieces. Where else should they go? Certainly not into the trash! I might need them someday.

And since I love apparel sewing along with quilting, all the many and various projects were put into containers that I already owned and labeled. At one point I became horrified at the number and variety of the things I have bought over the years and put on a shelf with the idea of sewing it up some day. I will have to live to 150 years old in order to have enough time to finish all these projects. 

Then the containers were stacked on top of my bookshelf or on shelves I cleaned off for this purpose. With everything labeled, it's easy to see what project is where.

Wow! Four days of work paid off. As my pictures can attest, I now have a neat, clean, and organized sewing room.

The final result!  I am sooooo happy!

Two of my bookshelves - the large is duly
utilized for books and fabric.  All the
containers are labeled, the small bolts hold
shorter fabric pieces, and the large bolts hold
fabric longer than 2 yards.

 

Another view of the other large bookshelf.  The blank
wall will eventually hold a big bulletin board and pictures,
all of which I already own.

 

The computer alcove and a Quilt of Valor
waiting for binding (on tomorrow's list).
Another blank wall waiting for
who-knows-what.

 

So what did I do today? Stopped at one of my favorite quilt stores, A Stitch in Time in Franklin, NC, to wish Courtney many happy days for her upcoming wedding. And came home with a tunic top pattern and a couple of fabrics I could not live without.

Do I feel guilty? Overwhelmed by it all?

Heck, no!

I tell everyone that before I die, I'm going to leave my sons a big note here in my sewing room that reads: “Remember what mama said about pay-backs?” And laugh all the way to Heaven.

 

 

More later . . .

Here Now, There Then

Four weeks ago we arrived in Wichita Falls, TX to an area like none we had ever worked before. Whispers of Hope Horse Ranch targets children with disabilities and disabled vets by teaching them how to interact with horses. The ranch started over twelve years ago by a lady who had a love for horses and a vision of how her love could be used to help others. Mary Elizabeth Pearce is a small bundle of energy and her vision has grown by leaps and bounds. 

The uncompleted barn - notice all the red dirt.  After all
the dirt that blew around us, I'm surprised there was
any left to be on the ground!



The barn almost finished - you can barely see Barry
on top constructing the copula

The interior office framed out with the wood walls installed.

The reconstructed Wichita Falls waterfall.
The original falls disappeared years ago.
This man-made falls was a gift to the town
from the people of Niagara Falls, NY.

 

We were there to help with a huge new barn. It was a steel building that houses 20 horses and the new offices. We were the second team to work on it and should have been putting up drywall. Unfortunately, weather and numerous changes delayed the construction and it was nowhere near completion when we got there. I have no idea what the previous team did but we spent the first part of the project staining boards that would be installed for the stall walls and painting a fence. Halfway through the second week, we were able to start framing the office walls inside the barn.

By the time we left, the offices were completely framed and all the wood installed on the walls. I also helped stain the framework and deck around an above-ground pool that is used for the disabled children. We were both happy to finish the project and get on the road.

Wichita Falls must be the windiest and sandiest place we have ever been! Everything is covered in dry red dirt and it blows by in huge billows of clouds that gets into everywhere – eyes, ears, mouth, windows, doors, everything! Then one day it poured rain and turned all that red sand to red mud. One afternoon after the rain, we were driving away from the barn and as Bill backed up the Jeep, we started sliding sideways. Four-wheel drive solved that problem.

Me in front of the Gano cabin

 

While in Wichita Falls, I took advantage of being close to Dallas and drove down to spend a weekend with my sister Jeanie and her husband David.  Jeanie took me over to a really neat fabric/quilt shop, Sew It Up.  Jeanie introduced me to this shop's website and I've bought a number of things from there.  The owner is a darling person and, of course, I found some fabric I couldn't live without.  Saturday, David and I went to the Old City Dallas Park and went into the cabin built by Gen. Richard M. Gano, a very distant relation of mine.  Originally, the cabin was located on the grounds of the new Dallas-Ft. Worth Int'l Airport and was moved to the park location for preservation.  Gano descended down a different branch of the Gano family than I did.  Too bad.  His granddaughter was Howard Hughes's mother!  Then David and I went through the 6th Floor Museum, the site from which Oswald shot Kennedy.  Super crowded that day but still bone chilling to look out the windows of the book depository.

Drywalling the bathroom.  Work in progress.
Nancy and I are doing this room.  Not bad
for two beginners!

Now we are in Ripley, MS (about 70 miles southeast of Memphis) and about ready to start

St. Paul's Methodist Church, Ripley, MS.  We are
working in the portion of the building on the right.

our second week of work at St. Paul's Methodist Church. The old original church had been closed years ago and not opened until last year. This is the second year of renovations to make it into a children's education center for the community. Our job was to get the framing done so the stained glass windows can be reinstalled in the sanctuary once the windows are ready. We don't think they will be ready before we leave but at least the framing is done. We are also working on the second floor where the Sunday school classrooms were located. All the old plaster walls were taken out last year and new drywalling and mudding started. We are finishing that part of the project and hope to get the wainscoting and the new walls painted before we leave in two weeks.

We are camped a couple of miles away from the church at the First Monday Trade Park. It is the oldest continuously operating flea market in the country. Started over 105 years ago in

Some of the merchandise available for sale at
the First Monday Trade Park.

the town as a trade fair for the local farmers, it evolved into a huge flea market. Recently, though, the numbers of participants has fallen drastically. It took place this past weekend and, as we wondered through it, we saw all kinds of stuff being sold – chickens, ducks, goats, rifles, dogs, t-shirts, outdoor furniture, tools, all manner of clothing, birds, junk, and more junk. And you saw every kind of person wandering too. We enjoyed just sitting there watching people go by.

This past Saturday, the whole team took a road trip and drove up to Corinth and then onto Shiloh Battlefield. In Corinth, we had lunch at Borrum's Drug Store, famous for their hamburgers and milk shakes. It was founded by a Civil War veteran and is still run by his descendants. I would go back there any day for another cheeseburger. Too good!

Lunch at Borrum's - Nancy, Bill, me, Bill, and Meredith.
Nancy's husband Dennis took the picture.

Corinth has a very good Civil War Interpretative Center. I didn't realize Corinth was a vital railroad center for the South and seeking to capture it was the original intent for Grant landing at Pittsburg Landing that precipitated the battle at Shiloh. What was really neat about this center was the walkway leading up to the building. Inbedded in the concrete sidewalk were all kinds of things a soldier would have carried into battle – rifles, ammo, backpacks, hats, canteens, cups – and other pieces of battle equipment. It was meant to demostrate what a battlefield looked like after the fighting was over. What was heartrendering about it was a replica of a letter a young soldier had written home.

Shiloh is, without a doubt, one of my most favorite battlefields to visit. It is so far off the beaten path that it takes a real effort to get there, but when you do, you are very glad you made the effort. It is so quiet. No airplanes flying over, no super highways with noisy trucks and cars whizzing by, no shopping centers cluttering the roads. It's a privilege to visit. And it is immense. The National Park Service grounds don't encompass the entire battle grounds. We drove by monuments and info markers placed among the few houses built in the area. And, like when I drove along Cemetery Ridge outside Chattanooga with all the houses perched along the battle line, I certainly wouldn't want to walk out of my house early one foggy morning and come face-to-face with the ghost of lost soldier! That could be conceivable at Shiloh – losses amounted to 23,746.

The battle was fought over two days in April 1862 in dense oak thickets and deep ravines where it was hard to distinguish friend from foe. The first day, the South prevailed but with tragic consequences because General Johnston was shot in the leg by a stray bullet and bled to death. He ended up being the highest ranking general from either side that was killed during the war. The next day Grant was reinforced and ended up winning the battle which led to Corinth being taken in October of that year.

We happened to be there while the park was observing the 152^nd Anniversary of the battle. There were some reenactors present and I met Generals Johnston, Beauregard, and Grant

Generals Johnston, Grant, and Beauregard

with their ladies at the Visitors Center. We missed the cannon barrage but arrived in time to see the last showing of the film. It was a very well done film that showed the battle from the viewpoints of two young soldiers, one from the north, one from the south. It brought home the fact that the war was a dirty, tragic affair and that Shiloh opened the eyes of this country to the horrors of a war that was tearing this country apart. Too many died and too many were maimed because a different solution to this country's problems could not have been found. A beautiful place it is and should continue to be remembered for what happened there.

Okay, it's getting far too late and I need to get up in the morning to work on the drywall I started last week. So for now, this is all I have to say.

More later . . .