Blog 4 from Beaumont

Miss Loretta and I

Darcy's house - Project 2

Annette in front of "Landmark" in Beaumont

Cowboy Church




We wished we could have been there every day when Miss Loretta came home from work to see her reaction to the progress.

This week the old flooring was removed right down to the concrete, and new lino installed in the kitchen, livingroom, two hallways and one bedroom. Lois and Agnes and I scraped away for an afternoon, and Jim and Annette did a very fine job of laying the lino.

As a section of the floor by the patio door was wet where we were scraping, we called John and he found there was a leak in one of the water lines to the bathroom which had a common wall with the kitchen. Thankfully he was able to remove one sheet of wallboard in the kitchen to fix it. The bottom of the wallboard was totally separated, so they replaced a half sheet and the wall is far more sturdy now.

Some of our volunteers continued with the siding at the second project, Darcy’s home. John’s project for Thursday was to fix the plumbing there, necessitating two trips into Beaumont for parts.

Lois and I didn’t work on Wednesday, and went to town shopping. The other ladies were busy working on specific jobs alongside their husbands.

When we learned that in order to hire someone to remove the garbage pile, the cost would be over $400.00, we found a suitable alternative. Darcy advised that we could move it over to his “back 40” and he will burn it at a later time, along with his garbage. Lois and I volunteered for that job, as we had prayed for a solution. On Thursday morning, we moved three truck loads of garbage, using our truck. It was just wonderful to see the front yard all nice and cleaned up again. Another cause for joy when Miss Loretta returned home from work.

I am amazed that in Beaumont (and probably other cities in the USA) if you want to mail a letter, you have to go to one of the two Post Offices. This is for a city at least the size of Saskatoon! There are no mail boxes anywhere – at the malls or banks or anything.

As I mentioned in our last blog, the Orange Cowboy Church was where we chose to worship our third Sunday here. What a breath of fresh air! We were greeted at the church gate by two teenage girls holding flags on poles, on horses standing at attention. By the time the service started, the new church, which had been recently dedicated, was plumb full of members of all ages. We were advised that this church had been started two years ago with 9 members. They had previously congregated in an old barn near Bridge City. Their music was led by the Chuckwagon Gang and the preacher told us to feel free to use “Eee-haw” for Amen! We witnessed the first immersion baptism in their new church – a boy about 11 had made his commitment for Christ the week before. Their baptism fount was a new cattle trough. We also noted the 20 or so light fixtures in the ceiling were wash tubs. We went away having been greeted with the love of Christ and a hearty invitation to “Y’all come on back now”.

This week John and I received an invitation to return to Cheek to work after New Years, which was what we were hoping for. There was also a hint that our dear friends, Paul and Mary Stolzfus from Pennsylvania will be at this site, but until that is officially confirmed, we dare not believe it to be true. What a blessing that would be!!!!!

Our Shari at home is counting down the days until her flight leaves (Dec. 22nd). I am sure she is already packed! She is flying to Houston to spend a couple of weeks with us. Thanks to Peggy and Steve, we have a reservation at New Braunfels time share over Christmas and we will be taking Shari down to San Antonio to visit the River Walk which should be beautifully decorated for the season.

Well, I guess I’ll post this now. Nice chatting with y’all.

Beaumont Blog 3

We thought our crew was complete at 8 and got quite a surprise to have another rig roll in on Saturday. We welcomed Carl and Lois Ramer, from Elk Valley, Alberta, into our little group. Now we are 10.

Another 4-day work week has been completed. Again, we are very satisfied with what was accomplished, and some of our crew even started a second renovation job!

Thanks to Annette and Agnes, the whole exterior of the house is painted, complete with window trim and metal decorative pillars painted brown. Bernie scraped the old paint off those old pillars for two days! Bert then spray-painted them to match the trim.

The drywall was second-coated and then John went back to working on the plumbing. He fixed the drain in the kitchen and put a framework under the sink with two shelves. Miss Loretta was totally delighted to see not only one new shelf, but two!

Tuesday, Bernie helped John texture spray the one bedroom and John sprayed the ceilings in the hallways, diningroom and kitchen.

When that was done, his next task was to get the bath tub ready for a tubsurround. The walls around the bathtub were the worst he has ever seen! The termites had eaten out the whole inside of the 2 x 4’s and there was only the outside left – nothing to nail or screw to. After cleaning up the terrific mess of termite-infested old gyproc (which took almost a whole afternoon, he used his best expertise to mickey-mouse something so that there would be backing for the new gyproc. By the time we left on Thursday, the new tubsurround was installed. What a thing of beauty compared to what she had. Of course, we take such a simple convenience for granted at home. The only thing remaining to do in the master bath is replacing the bottom of the cabinet. Under ordinary circumstances, he would be taking out the vanity and putting in a new one. Not here. The plan is to give her a new floor for the cabinet. He also fixed the plumbing in her en suite.

Doreen and I painted the walls of the hallway and then painted the bedroom. I painted the ceiling. Miss Loretta picked a dark beige/yellow colour. We did the walls and ceiling the same colour.

Then Lois cut in while I primed the ceilings in the other rooms. I don’t usually paint the ceilings but John had his work cut out for him in the bathroom and I felt I could do it. He painted the final coat on the ceilings just before we left Thursday. We painted them white rather than the yellow, in to make the rooms brighter. We also painted the bifold doors for little Destiny’s closet (it is her bedroom we renovated) and some trim boards.

Agnes painted the new exterior doors while Lois and I worked on the inside.

Jim and Carl were working at the second job removing siding and getting the house ready to put soffiting and fascia, and new siding on. It was in VERY VERY sad shape as well. Again, termite-infested wood had to be removed and something solid put in its place, which was a real challenge for them. Then Annette helped them start to put the soffiting on when the painting was done at Miss Loretta’s.

Bernie made a new attic hatch in the garage and all the fixtures were put up one final time.

One more week at Miss Loretta’s should complete the flooring in the bedroom, the hallway, kitchen and diningroom. There is also a double garden door to arrive yet.

Unfortunately, we have a very large pile of garbage laying on Miss Loretta’s front lawn and it appears not to be an easy task to get it removed. Soon her lovely grass will be at risk. We are hoping SETIO will get it removed this weekend. Of course then we will have the flooring and some carpet to get rid of next week – maybe they are waiting to complete the load….

The second Sunday here, we decided to attend Miss Loretta’s church in Cheek. We were sorry she was unable to attend. We were the only white people there. They had just dedicated their newly renovated church the Sunday before. We were told the service started at 11:00, so there we all were, parked in our seats, with people wandering back and forth, but no sign of the service actually STARTING until 11:20. It was a very animated service. Their very talented young pastor has been invited to perform at the JDI Record Production Talent Search Finals in Waterloo, Iowa! Man, can he belt it out! He kinda reminded me of Will Smith in a way!! It was an interesting service. The sermon was around 45 minutes, but the service lasted 2 hours. We were out at 1:00. Very spirit filled - as John said - he wasn't disappointed. It was everything he expected it to be. The children's choir of 7 children led the singing. I would like to see the adult choir myself. And there were no hymnals, nor overhead, so I guess everyone has to KNOW the words...

This Sunday we are going to the Beaumont Cowboy Church. We drove by the driveway many times when we were in Johnson Bayou, but never did attend. I am looking forward to it. They have built a new building which looks quite interesting on the website.

We had our weekly supper together in the office trailer on Thursday evening and afterwards shared how each couple had met. It was interesting to hear the stories.

Friday, we drove to Galveston to see the damage from Hurricane Ike. It was substantial, but there is a lot of rebuilding happening. Five of our crew including John took the tour of the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum. They were very excited to also get to see some dolphins frolicking in the bay as the barges rolled by. There were also hundreds of pelicans hanging around waiting for handouts of fish entrails.

I wasn’t interested in offshore drilling rigs, so I walked around the very old tourist area nearby. I was sorry to miss the dolphins though.

Galveston has some beautiful historic buildings with shops of all kinds within walking distance of the Museum. They even had horse and buggy rides for sight-seers, but I imagine they were quite expensive. No cabs in sight.

We stopped at Galveston Beach and dabbled our toes in the water. There were a few shell collectors and some children wading in the surf while their parents watched. I had no idea of the scope of that beach, though, until I purchased a postcard of the beach in summer – it was wall-to-wall people with umbrellas, beach blankets and sunlovers - as many people as there were seagulls when we were there.

A big howdy to y’all out there who are reading our blog. The weather at home is holding by the looks of things, so you will enjoy a shorter winter as well. We have had 80 degrees most of last week and are thoroughly enjoying it.

Unfortunately I cannot find the charge for our camera and the batteries are dead. I am having to rely on the pictures of others and will be posting some pictures in the next few days. Fat Friday is coming up and I think we'll be looking to buy another digital camera...

Beaumont Blog 2

This place is certainly different from the country setting at Marble Falls! We are a quarter of a mile from I-10 parked in a fenced area opposite the Ford Pavilion in the Ford Communiplex area just out of Beaumont. The traffic is a continuous roar, with a slight decrease between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m… It certainly takes some getting used to!

We are parked on concrete which is convenient. We like it that we can also hang our clothes on a line to dry behind our RV’s because of the fence. This is now the home of our four Canadian couples volunteering for November and December, 2009.

Cheek is a small rural area about 3 miles from where we are parked. We have come home for lunch each day this week, but our personal preference would be to take our lunch and eat there.

After several days of rain, the sun has come out and we have been able to do the outside work at Miss Loretta’s house. She would probably have qualified for a complete home replacement, but just wanted to keep her old house and get some things fixed.

Miss Loretta is a beautiful black lady, very young looking to be a grandmother. She has her 15 year old nephew, Willie, living with her, and also two young grandchildren who live with her part time. We have met Willie briefly as he comes into the house after school, diving immediately into the refrigerator and heading for his bedroom, resurfacing in a few minutes to get more food!

Miss Loretta’s exterior doors all showed daylight all around, and allowed insects and critters to move around freely. Not any more! Bert got busy and replaced all three of them with airtight frames and door, displacing a family of geckos from under the sill of the front door. I was there when they tried to scurry into the house and Bert was waiting for the reaction Doreen would have had – a hysterical shriek. Sorry to disappoint him. I probably would have shrieked had it been a snake. He managed to divert them outside instead of inside and then finished his job!

The ceilings in one of the bedrooms, the kitchen, diningroom and hallways were falling down in places. John and Bernie quickly cut down the old ceilings the first day. I am sure it was quite a shock for Miss Loretta to come home from work to find her ceiling gone and bare rafters exposed. Upon further investigation, these rafters also required some work in order to do their job properly.

Jim and Annette, who had arrived on Saturday, set to removing and replacing the damaged bottom row of siding. Then while Jim put on new upright end boards and fixed soffit and fascia, Annette and Agnes, with Linda’s help when she was not taping the ceilings, scraped and prepared the siding for paint. On Thursday, the last day of our work week, Doreen was excited to finally get out of the office and onto the job. The ladies painted the siding and by 3:30 p.m., only the garage wall remained to be painted.

John got a start on fixing the plumbing, and Bernie put the new light fixtures up so that Miss Loretta and her family would have lights for the weekend.

We were very satisfied with what we had accomplished in four short days!

On Friday, the three couples here went to the Golden Corral, my favorite place from last year. They have the widest choice of food we have ever seen and all of it delicious. I simply CANNOT do this very often. It is not a place for a person who cannot resist food to go more than once a year!!

Our first Sunday here, we attended a very large Baptist Church in downtown Beaumont. They had several services going at one time and we were directed to the “conventional” service. It was very high-tech – all kinds of equipment around, almost like it was being televised. They also had a 50 member robed choir. It was a very large congregation.

Afterwards, we had our weekly MDS dinner, again at a Chinese Buffet. This is going to be a tough stretch with all this eating out!

Bert and Doreen showed us the way to Walmart. I think we will take the alternate route instead of going on I-10. No sense getting all stressed out with that traffic just to go for groceries. I went by myself one evening, and only got lost once. Asked for directions and got back to our site safe and sound, although it was already dark.

Our internet is accessible any time, thank heaven. I sure wish we had access to a pay phone at the park here, but the last time I tried to use my SuperStore phone card at a Texas pay phone, it would not accept it. I was sure it worked at pay phones in Texas last year. The Ben J. Rogers Regional Visitors Centre is in the next block across a field and when we went there for information, I inquired about telephones. She said we could feel free to use their phone with our credit card any time we wished. I have taken them up on that offer on several occasions. Unfortunately, they close at 5:00, so I have to come home and shower and change in a hurry to get any phone calls made, or save them for Friday.

First blog from Beaumont, Texas 2009

Well, here we are, in Beaumont, Texas. We could have made it in 3 days, but only went to our trailer storage at Jasper on the third day.

I checked the last blog and will first of all say that as we drove down the highway at Ponca City, the rest of the places were rather run down, so we were glad we stayed where we did.

We came right down Highway 81 and 271 straight south. It was a good trip. When we got into Oklahoma, it was already shorts and sandals weather, too warm to be having long pants in the vehicle.

It was frustrating not to be able to find internet or phone access without going out of our way. When we got to Texas, I tried to use my phone card on a pay phone, and it will not work. I am sure that I used it on the pay phone at Marble Falls, so am not sure what’s going on here.

John and I had worn our “dogs” (foam clogs) all summer while we were working at home, and we have paint all over them. So one of the first things we wanted to do was find us each a new pair at Walmart. What a shock to find out they don’t have them any more, except the leftovers in kids’ sizes. We really liked them! I can’t wear the dollar store kind because the fronts are different and bother my toes...

We got our $5.00 permit to move the R.V. in Newton, Texas, and dropped over to see my cat lady friend, Patty. She was just delighted to see us. She has had problems with the contractor getting her new house finished and is still living in the apartment down the road, with her dog and about 15 cats! Things are not going so well and with Hallowe’en approaching (she was broken into and assaulted a year ago on Hallowe’en) she finds herself very depressed. I was so glad we stopped in to make her day.

We were able to stay in our R.V. for the night after John pulled it up alongside the trailer the owners live in. Everything seemed to fine. However, Texas is having a VERY WET fall. There is much flooding. We had to clean the mould off our window ledges. Everything is damp.

Of course, just because we had to pull the R.V., the weather turned and it was rainy with gusting winds. Fortunately the winds were north/south, so we just drove into them. John said he could feel the gusts while driving, but we made it safely. There was no sense not traveling, as the forecast was the same right into the weekend, and we wanted to get here. While we were traveling though, the rain was very intermittent. For miles we’d drive and not have to have the windshield wipers going; then it would come down hard again for a few minutes, then ease off. Quite weird, actually…

The humidity was very high when we arrived, and the temperature was 80 degrees, so it was like being in a sauna. Everyone was using their air conditions, and then when you stepped outside, you got bowled over by the heat/humidity. However, it poured rain over night, and this morning, Friday, Oct. 30th, it is so chilly it feels like we should have the furnace on. Go figure! Kind of like Saskatchewan – if you don’t like the weather, wait a minute…

Our R.V. parking site is inside Ford Park, a huge complex on I-10 where they hold community events, about 10 times as big as Credit Union Place in Saskatoon. There is lots of grass around, but we are parked on concrete slabs and are in a fenced area with security. So we don’t have to worry about dragging sand into our RV’s or millions of mosquitoes. Of course we do have lots of traffic noise, which we are not used to.

Our homes to be renovated at Cheek, Texas, are about 5 miles down the road. We are advised that the first house we will be working on just required siding and soffit and fascia. There are 6 or 7 homes that are in the works for renovations.

So far we are only 3 couples – Jim and Annette are still on their way.

Today I will go over to the Tourist Information Centre “next door” (across the lot and in the next block). They said I could use their land phone to make my phone calls any time. Also have access to their computers which are for public use. So that’s good.

Have to go shopping for some groceries we need yet. Apparently Beaumont only has one Walmart (a surprise for such a large centre) and it is at the other end of town. I will have to find another place to get groceries that is closer. Will be interesting to get to know the city better.

Hi to all of you at home. I see that the weather is holding so far. Blessings to y’all.

On the way to Texas

We enjoyed a short visit with Mom and Paul at Langenburg and then went to Brandon to spend a couple of days with Jake and Rita. Then headed down across the border, an easy crossing in the scheme of things, and drove through North Dakota. We stayed at Mitchell, South Dakota, the first night. Monday we drove through the rest of South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas, so we made a lot of miles! Tomorrow we will take it easier.

Here at Ponca City, we “shopped” at two motels. We ended up staying at the Quality Inn, the second one we stopped at. The price was higher than I wanted to pay, but when I inquired as to whether there were many more motels down the way, I was not impressed to hear her say, “Yes there are many that way, but you really should stick to this side of town, as those are the type that there could be a mouse in your bed, or blood stains on the walls.” It did work though – we decided to take a room here. And a lovely room it is. We’ll see tomorrow how bad or good the motels look down the road. . .

Just checking in. Will write again later.

Finished addition/Going to Beaumont, Texas end of month

October, 2009 Finishing renovation and getting ready to leave for Texas

Our “sun room” was coming together quickly. Now it was time to paint the walls. We made a feature wall of the common wall to the house. We painted it a “Gold Sunset” color, then sprayed white texture over it, and John trowelled down the texture, allowing some gold to show through. Despite the fact that it initially reminded John of “an old grain elevator where the birds had flown in and crapped on the walls for years”, we have had good comments and are happy with the result. We can always change it if we wish.

Then instead of buying new paint, we threw all the paint we had stored for years together and ended up with a warm beige color and did California walls – sprayed them with the mud and then painted over them. They REALLY look nice.

Next it was time to do the cathedral ceiling. This was a challenge because of the heights (two of them). However, John managed to set up the scaffolding with his ladders and an old conference table we had laying around from Sanderson Balicki. He did one half of the ceiling at a time. We had decided to go with marble ceilings, as we didn’t want regular textured ceilings. First he had to paint the ceiling with oil base paint on top of the primer. Then while it was still wet, he lit a cone of tarpaper on fire and smoked the ceiling. What an awesome sight!! Then he did the other half. It turned out beautifully!

The beam was painted plain white.

The following week, we hired a young man to lay the cobblestone lino and the room was looking great!

As soon as the lino was laid, we brought up John’s A & W table and chairs so we could sit and have our coffee at the window.

He then worked on building the large coat closet at the entrance. We decided to put our leftover laminate in the entrance, as I could not find lino I wanted for a price I was willing to pay.

It was a long deliberation as to exactly how the stairs should be built, but our neighbour John Vansil came up with an idea we hadn’t formerly considered, and we went with his suggestion. The stairs look very nice, and both the kitchen and sun room can be accessed from the landing.

We bought some pantries from Walmart and Jysk and John put them together to store all the things that I had in my former pantry.

Ted came over one evening and said he was here to help John put on the window casings. They didn’t quit until all 6 windows and the door were done. That made quite a difference as well.

That the left the stair railings to be done. We found some spindle rails at Habitat for Humanity for $1.00 a piece (compared to over $6 each at Rona) and painted them white. John built the railing and although it seemed to close off the two parts of the room, we are getting used to it and it looks lovely.

Had our “housewarming” party with a few friends and family over on Saturday night, the 17th, to thank them for all of their help.

Monday morning, we are having our A & W coffee friends over and then we can put our minds to getting ready to leave for Texas on Wednesday morning.

September, 2009

Three brothers and wives - reunion



September crew



Mom even helped me wipe down the siding...

September, 2009

After Jake and Rita left for home, it was time for me to pay some serious attention to my mother in Langenburg. I left Shari in charge of the home front and keeping Dad and his crew stocked for coffee breaks. Mom and I had a wonderful time together for a week. We did a lot of things and enjoyed our one-on-one time.

By the time I got back home, the windows were in and the siding underway. Work continued the last two weeks of August. Our house is a dreadful mess, but the new sun room/entrance is just awesome. I enjoyed shopping for the light fixtures and floor coverings.

We decided to take time off to go to Brandon for a little family reunion with Jake and Rita. George and Mary drove out in their BarbieDoll camper, as John calls it, and we all enjoyed a very special 5 days together.

We had been trying to convince my Mom to take a little holiday too and come to our place, and she finally agreed. We brought her back with us when coming home from Brandon. Our lifestyle is definitely a lot more active than hers! Building going on, grandchildren coming and going, meals to prepare, always dishes to be done… I think she really enjoyed it, but was very happy to be getting on the bus to go home after a week and get some rest!

Saturday, Sept. 12, Darren came over and helped John put the drywall up on the high cathedral ceilings in the addition. Then he had some help from Kevin to do the walls over the next week, and before long I was able to tape the upper level while John and Kevin finished the siding on the long wall outside. It was really nice that Mom was able to be here for Darren’s 34th birthday on September 15th.

We even had a doozy of a hail storm while she was here. The thunder cracked and lightning flashed for about an hour, and then around 4:00 a.m., the rain came down in buckets, and then came the hail. Some of the hailstones were almost the size of golf balls. Our metal roof certainly amplified the sound of hail coming down! I thought I would be able to salvage my beautiful tomatoes, but they ended up rotting before they ripened. What a shame! The cherry tomato plans were loaded.

On the 21st of September, we marked the 10th anniversary of John’s heart attack. How those 10 years have flown by!

On my birthday, Bob and Alice and Ben and Mary came and brought farmer sausage for supper. Later, some of the neighbours came over as well. We had a lovely day.

We heard from MDS that we were assigned to Cheek, Texas for November and December this year. Our RV Park is on I10 at Beaumont. We have become quite familiar with that area so are pleased to be returning, and to learn that our Project Director and Office Manager are friends we have worked with previously. We look forward to working with another couple from last year, and to meet another new couple this year. We have to be in Beaumont by October 31st, so will be leaving home on October 21st, so we can stop in at my Mom’s for one night, and visit Jake and Rita in Brandon for one or two nights before we cross the border.

Finally we got some decent weather. The temperatures were up to 80 for a couple of weeks and we really enjoyed having a taste of summer anyway.

There is still plenty of work to do before the addition is finished, so the push is on to get the painting and ceiling done. Our neighbour, Kevin and his wife are going to Las Vegas for a week so he will not be available to help, and Ted is helping his son do sileage.

It has been a busy summer. Some people enjoy doing renovations and choosing decorating colours and stuff like that, but it is NOT my idea of fun. However, the end product will be worth the aggravation.