AH! Vacationing in Kansas?

We are taking some time here on the farm to catch up on a couple of things which didn't get done before we pulled out of here in a snow storm in February.  Sitting on the swing under the mulberry tree sipping mint julips?  Wrong!

You see who is in the swing.  Big sister.  She has a honey-doo list two pages long.

This is one of the biggies.  The step to the gazebo had rotted off and it hadn't had a coat of sealer in at least 30 years.  So, it's pull out the tools and get busy.

We must get it good and clean before it can get a new coat of sealer.  Let's see, I think we should use English Chestnut.

Another "minor" project!  The weeds in the flower garden have gotten a little out of hand.

Wheel barrow load after wheel barrow load had to be hauled away.

Another project completed! AR 137 - Woodland Acres Bible Camp

As of today we have completed our stay at Woodland Acres Bible Camp and will be heading out tomorrow morning.  We were able to get a few things done for the camp but are ready to head north where we hope it will be a little cooler. haha. 

Here is the crowning achievement of the stay.  We took a three seat golf cart and transformed it into a marvelous "Woody" truck for use at the camp.  I was able to pull the seats out and replace them with a "bed" and Timothy Reagan (an RVIC) put a great coat of finish on it.

Great isn't it?

This was another project.  We removed a couple of hog panels which were wrapped around these air conditioners and tied to the building and replaced them with this fine wood enclosure.

What do you suppose would happen to this plastic RV drain if someone runs over it?  That is what happened to this one.  After digging it up and cleaning out the pipes, we replaced it with what you see here.

The final project was to repair the gutter on the chapel then level out a pile of dirt which had been dumped there.  After leveling the dirt pile we planted grass seed and put a couple bags of top soil on it to give the seed a chance.

Time to see some of the sights.

To start of the day we decided it was time to lift our house and give her an oil change.  She is heavy and holds 22 quarts of oil.  Whew!

Did you ever try to catch 22 quarts of oil in a 15 quart pan?

Then when we got ready to put the oil back in her we had to deal with an observer.

Finally, the filter was filled and installed, then the rest of the 22 quarts poured in and we were ready to sight see.

We have been here for over two weeks and have not really taken time to see the sights around us.  Friday we took a trip to Eureka Springs and visited the Queen Anne Mansion, built in 1891.  This mansion was built in Carthage, MO, which is 70 torturous miles on narrow twisting roads from Eureka Springs.  In 1984 it was cut into pieces, placed on twenty odd flatbeds, hauled to Eureka Springs and reassembled.  It was run as a B&B for several years and then five years ago (it was getting run down) it was purchased by another individual and refurbished.

The new owners have spared no expense in the renovation and in all of the furnishings which they have purchased from across the country and around the world.

Does anyone recognize these lovely ladies?  They were known as The Pound Sisters. They sang on the road and in Nashville for several years. Look carefully at the sister on the right.

See her in the background playing the keyboard? She is now the proprietor of the Cattleman's Cafe in Green Forest.  Every Friday evening she gets together with a few of her local friends and they perform live music for anyone who comes into the cafe.  And if you show any interest, she will invite you to come up and sing with her.

She is a neat lady and has more energy than 3 people should and boy can she sing and play the keyboard and guitar.  Her day job is helping her husband on the farm and doing a little custom bailing.

Today (Saturday) we made the 45 minute trip north to Branson. 

First stop was a Table Rock Dam.

As you can see, the lake is 12 feet above full, which is better than it was a couple of weeks ago, it was 20 feet over full then.

As we watched the River Queen set sail for it's evening cruise.

Then we visited the most amazing college we have ever seen.  College of the Ozarks.  No one graduates from C of O with a penny of debt.

Here is why!  Everyone who comes to school here is assigned one of eighty jobs and they work for their tuition.  How cool is that.

Where did that minnow go anyway?

One of the jobs may be working in the grist mill grinding one of the many things they grow and sell.  Or, maybe you can work in the dairy or the resturant (which has excellent food by the way).

From their brochure, "All students who are admitted to C of O must demonstrate financial need. academic ability, sound character, and a willingness to work. This produces a student body highly motivated toward education".

Their aim is to produce graduates with a good knowledge of their chosen field, an outstanding work ethic, and a love for God and country.

End of the 2nd work week

I can hardly believe it! We have completed our second week of work at Woodland Acres. The swirl for the week was the GAGA ball court. 

We are in the process of building two courts.  The first one has plywood sides and is eight sided.  When completed it is 20 feet across.

You can see we had plenty of help when it came to putting it together.

And boy do the kids love it.  As soon as it was completed it was full of kids.  The object is to hit the ball with your hands and propel it into some other kid (below the waist only).  When hit one must leave the circle.  The last man standing wins!

The second one is to be six sided and needs 10 foot sides, therefore, it will be made of two pieces of 2 x 12 lumber (since 10 foot plywood is scarce and expensive).  Well, that means there must be a lot of holes drilled and in a precise manner.  So I made a drill fixture (pictured behind my tape measure) and one can clamp it onto the the end of both boards at the same time and drill precisely the same set of holes on every board.

In a matter of 45 minutes all the parts were drilled and ready to assemble.

Of course, while I was building the GAGA courts, Billie wasn't just sitting and eating Bon-Bons.  There is always more organizing to do.  If you have the large boxes of toilet paper setting out in the middle of the floor, the floor gets very crowded. 

 But, if they are neatly stacked in a cabinet, there is space galore.

The camp also offers a correspondence course for the local inmates.  They receive a lesson, fill it out and send it back to the camp where it is graded.  They then get the next lesson in the series.  God always finds ways to make His word available to others.

HOTTTT!!!!

Boy, has it been hot here.  Everyday since last Friday it has topped 95 and there is really no sign of relief in sight.  But the work must go on.  We now have about a hundred kids here along with 25 or 30 parents.  They will be here thru this Thursday and since they are kids, they don't mind the heat.  When afternoon comes they play water games and go to the pool.  Today they have a very large slide set up on the grass down by the pool.

Billie has been up to her usual organizing.  When we got here there were stacks of stuff and a narrow path through the middle of the room.  Man she's good.

There is also a number of buildings which have had a new air conditioner installed and of course the new ones are smaller than the old ones.  So there is a lot of space around them that needs to be filled.  We're gonna screw these on, however, so that when they have to be replaced in the future, all one needs to do is take out a few screws then exchange the boards for another size.

Have any of you heard of Gaga Ball?  We are putting together all of the parts for the "Pit" and I will be sure to include a picture of the kids using the thing.

A little weekend R&R

The work week is completed and the camp is ready to receive campers Sunday afternoon.  It will be interesting to be working around the camp while campers are everywhere.  But before the throng comes we took some time to visit the 16th annual Agri Days in Green Forest and to listen to the Bluegrass Music provided by a number of local groups.  We were also able to watch several herd dogs go through the paces of moving cattle, sheep and even ducks.  Yes, even ducks.  Then we took a drive through Eureka Springs and the beautiful country along the White river.

Woodland Acres has a booth at the Agri Days and are a sponsor for the event.  Pictured is Aaron Mullins and his son who are egar to answer questions about the camp as well as to finish the plate of cookies that they picked up at one of the booths.

Here is the White River.  It is quite high as the area received nearly two feet of rain just before we arrived.  When we stepped out of the car to take the picture you could hear the cicadas singing everywhere. 

Isn't this just a beautiful landscape?

Speaking of beautiful!  Isn't this lady lovely in her new sunscreen hat?

End of week one!

We have come to the end of our first week at Woodland Acres. There was about 3000 more wagon loads of leaves and then a fire. Boy was it a fire. But we did get into several things.

We found a damsel in distress.  The temperatures here have been in the mid 90's and the air conditioner in the Snack Shack was not working.  Bob the builder to the rescue!

Who hung this thing and glued it in with foam anyway.  Boy is this going to be tough to get out of here.  Thankfully, we have Josiah Mullins here to lend a hand.  He's a strong young man.

All the while, we have an onlooker perched on the hose bibb right below the window.

Well, it is repaired and ready to go back into place.  We have a support cut to keep it from hanging at such an angle and to give it support.

Now the old Snack Shack is going to be pressed back into service this weekend and the air conditioner has a BIG gap on both sides between the hole and the conditioner.

A little whittling on a 2 1/2 inch piecce of foan insulation and the holes are closed.