The Last Sleep

   First, please accept my apologies for not blogging each day.  I've been more worn out than I expected to be so I go to bed usually right after our group meeting.  Yesterday, I left here at 2:30pm with Julie, Jim, Matt, and Emmett and drove then 4 1/2 hours to the Charlotte NC airport so that they could get home early. Julie has a wedding tomorrow and Matt is at Logan right now getting ready to go to Denmark with his school.  I stayed overnight and drove home, arriving back here at 1:30pm today. It was a rainy day on the road so the drive took a little longer than I thought it would. These windy mountain roads are tough in the rain.
     I haven't gotten any picture of us playing yet, but I do have some of the work sites. Here are some of the highlights:

                                                  One of our great work groups, obviously happy!

 Doris Ann and Liz, getting ready to go to the local elementary school with seashells and books from Suzanne Harlow.

                                                            A work group being all porch spindly!

                                                                   Our youngest mission trippers.

                                                      The ladies dorm.  Look at those smiling faces!

                                                         Our common eating, playing, meeting space.

This whole field was dirt. We raked all the rocks out of it, spread seed, fertilizer and straw. We did this "landscaping" to several fields this week. And some after it rained.

Work Day Two!

     Hello all! Day #2 dawned foggy and cool, which we loved. Much remained the same today. The landscraping group finished up at house #1 and were moved on to the same job at another site. Same thing with the folks turning over the rental properties.  The roofing folks will be on that job probably through Thursday and the work on the hill continued with some folks organizing a workshop and some replacing part of a floor.

     Celebrations from last night's group meeting included just being here (me, the cancer patient), having great and personable supervisors from HOMES who share history and their personal stories with us, and seeing college-age youth whom we don't normally get to see throughout the year.

     Dinner tonight was beef stew and Peg's corn souffle....so yummy!  Dessert later will be a surprise for Bryan's birthday as he turns 50 this week! Hopefully that will make up for the wasp sting he suffered earlier.  We had one other injury when Adam mistook his finger for a nail head and got hammered!  Thankfully no blood was shed and all fingernails are intact.

     Tomorrow is our mandatory day off.  A variety of activities are planned including whitewater rafting, a small waterpark, a hike back to Bad Branch Falls, a trip to a coal mine and museum, and shopping for local crafts and quilts.  Some folks will just be hanging out napping or reading.  We aren't used to having a whole day off so this is a real treat for us. Hopefully I'll have some pics to share of us having fun too!

Some of today's pics are a little twisted but they are courtesy of Bill S. so what do you expect?!

What we are paying for gas. Jealous?

You will see in the next pic why the top statement is ridiculous...

A creepy doll head that I thought was a potato, and some folks building stairs.

More tomorrow!

Cindy

Work Day One

     Wow, what a day!  It began in earnest at 7:30am when we gathered together with our work groups to meet our leaders and head off to work sites. We are 4 work groups. Group 1 is working here at our HOMES home, turning the old office building into a dorm for volunteers. Group 2 is working at a HOMES rental house, cleaning it up and turning it over for the new tenants. Group 3 is working in a "holler," what we know as a hollow, putting a metal roof on a home. A holler is a road with a group of homes where, at least at one time, everyone was related. The patriarch of the family would build a home at the top of the holler. As the children had families of their own they would build homes of their own lower down the holler.  The families would take dinner together and when it was ready, someone would "holler" down the hill to the rest of the family.  Group 4 is doing what Doris Ann lovingly refers to as "landscraping," the KY version of landscaping. This involves using metal rakes to scrape a hard patch of dirt to remove the rocks, putting down fertilizer and grass seed and then a layer of hay. It was hard, hot work and they win the day's award for toughest work group.

     I have to mention the food because it has been great, as we have come to expect. Tonight was baked ham, mac and cheese and a great fresh salad. Last night was pulled chicken, beans, and salad. Gerry and John are keeping our energy up, for sure!

     For any Gloucester readers, you can be proud of Christine and Gerry.  They are representing well.  In fact, Christine earned the nickname Christine the Machine today because she wouldn't let those landscrapers give up until the job was done. Woot!

     We would love it if our viewers would sign up to be commenters. I like to share your messages at our nightly meetings and hearing from home really keeps us going.

     Another thing we learned about the area today is that there are 2 major mining companies still operating.  One just laid off 200 workers and the other laid off 1,100 workers two weeks ago. Just a few years ago, a longtime mine employee was making $100,000.  It's really hard for the folks here to make ends meet.

The view from the top of the trail to Bad Branch Falls.  Three folks did this 1 1/2 mile hike yesterday afternoon.

A sign along the hiking trail.

Bad Branch Falls.

Jim G. at the roofing house.

Deb M. moving rocks. To quote her, "Smart like fox, strong like bull, smell like goat."

We Are Here, We Are Here, We Are Here!!!!

     Like the Who's on the clover that Horton hears, we are shouting that we are here!  Some of us, anyway.  About 1/2 the group is still on the road, coming in from various vacation spots. The entire group is due to be together tonight and we will all have an orientation with Harrison from HOMES.  We had 2 REALLY long days in the vans and were so happy to arrive yesterday afternoon. We went out for dinner last night and while we had to wait a long time for everything to get to our tables, the food was good and the one waitress that was serving the 22 of us did a great.

     Today some of attended the Whitesburg United Methodist Church. They were very welcoming to us and prayed for traveling mercies for those who have not yet arrived. We heard stories of the black bears in the area who are apparently aggressive enough to break into homes, trash kitchens, and break dining room tables.  Going out of the building to the bath house in the middle of the night has taken on a whole new meaning!

     Right now, some folks have gone on a scenic drive, some a hike, and others are preparing to go to Walmart. A lazy afternoon in preparation for heading to work tomorrow morning at 7:30am.  Keep sharing this blog on Facebook so that others might join in and follow our adventures.  They'll be more tomorrow but for now, here are a couple of pic from our trip here.

     Blessings,

     Cindy A, scribe.

This was found on the door of the parsonage Friday morning, thanks to Kara!

When we got here, we almost stopped because we had arrived!

Apparently the Hampton Inn has an interesting idea of what constitutes "deluxe"!