Leaving Marble Falls Dec 1, 2010

Minx


Miss Kaki in her new kitchen


The month end for MDS projects was November 26th . As our flight home was not until December 3rd, and there were still finishing touches required to Miss Kaki’s cottage, we worked an extra 3 days. At the last minute, the plumbing was not working and required further attention.

John had just learned “the rest of the story” regarding Miss Kaki. He and Mel had been visiting up at the concrete pad, and Mel told him that she really deserved this blessing of a special place to live. During the time she had been at the camp part time as a volunteer co-ordinator and commuting from Fort Worth, her daughter and son-in-law together with their grandson had ended up needing a place to live. Kaki moved into the basement suite in her house and sold the house to them for a low price, on the understanding that she would be able to live in the suite when she was back in Fort Worth, and would have a place to live in retirement. Since then, her daughter and her husband had marriage difficulties and divorced, requiring the house to be sold. This would be the first actual home Kaki had since this all happened, so everyone was very excited for her, and we were blessed to be a part of her excitement!

As our “project” was still not ready to begin, Mel said he had another job for the other ladies – I was still assisting with the cabin. His wife noted that the doors in their home were in dreadful shape and could use a paint job. The wife does not live with him full time, as they have two children they are putting through college and his job with the camp does not pay that well. She works for the University in a nearby city and they get together when they can. The ladies took all 15 doors off, including closet doors, removed the hinges and knobs, etc., and gave each door two coats of paint. They had been wood doors and were being painted white. When they were just about finished, they found another 4 doors in another wing of the house! The first two days, they were able to paint on Mel’s back patio, overlooking the lake and the meadow where our RV’s were parked. When it turned cold and windy, they were forced to take the rest of the doors to the large shop in the yard to be finished. Putting them back together again proved a bigger challenge than removing the hardware and required some assistance from the men.

Our tour at Marble Falls ended, we drove to Austin to catch our flight home on Friday, December 3rd. We could not have wished for a better flight. Everything was on time and went smoothly. We changed planes in Denver, where there was no snow yet. The first snow we saw was when we landed in Saskatoon. When we left Austin, the weather had been 75F degrees and we were happy to see it was only -8C in Saskatoon and the roads were clear.

So, don’t be surprised to see us in Prince Albert, from now until we fly back to Austin on December 29th. We will be spending Christmas with our family and traveling to Brandon to visit with Jake and Rita. Last word from there was that the radiation did not help the pain in his shoulder and he had had to double up on his medication. Unfortunately Rita has had a fall and injured her shoulder as well, so they will be happy for a visit. My Mom is also looking forward to having us home for at least over night.

Our daughter has adopted a cat from the SPCA in Prince Albert since we left, and he is a handsome fellow. Minx is a 9 year old neutered tabby/manx cross and has made himself quite at home with his mistress and the dog. However, with two new people in the house, he is having to adjust further. Probably by the time he has warmed up to us, we will be leaving again…

It was great to be back with our church family again. If you are looking for a church to attend over Christmas or at any time, we would love to invite you to Grace Mennonite across from the South Hill Mall. It is a small congregation with a fine young pastor and friendly welcoming people.