Hardly any time to write, but just wanted to announce that as of Friday the 26th, we are official home-livers. :) Will post pics soon.
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We've been fortunate to have had several days of perfect weather in a row, with the next rain not forecast til Saturday (very good news!). I am going to have Isaac do a construction update, so check out his blog for the details. Here are a couple pictures of Havi and the love of her life, Theresa's cat Zora:
Here are some pictures taken over the last ten days. We've continued to receive a day or two or heavy rain, followed by a day of impossible muddy mess, followed by 2 days of lovely weather during which we can get quite a bit of work done. The lows still haven't hit below 40, so the nights are quite pleasant. On Sunday we made it down to Sand Mountain in Alabama for a small but wonderful annual singing at Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. Ezra led "Not Made with Hands," the rest of us are content to lay low and watch the "experts" before we attempt to lead anything.
The forecast is rain-less for the next few days. We should be able to start framing this afternoon and are crossing our fingers that things go pretty fast from here so that we'll be officially indoors before the next storm pays a visit. Anytime we've been asked "Why Tennessee?" our number one answer has always been "Water." We take it back. Stupid water. Who needs it?! It has been raining more or less non-stop for the last few days. The campsite is a humongous puddle of mud. And the last couple days have been quite cold as well. Yesterday after service and potluck (oh, my number one reason for moving to TN is now "Southern cooking") at the Nazarene church, I took the kids to Nickajack Lake near Chattanooga where the weather was a good deal more pleasant. Today we're hanging out at the library. It's supposed to be drying out as the day goes on, and according to the weather forecast, should be sunny and back into the 70s during the day. Very little progress gets made during bad weather, so I sure hope the forecast is accurate. If so, we might have a roof over our heads next weekend.
My dad just sent a bunch of pictures he took of packing up, heading out, and our first weekend here: Obviously we've gotten a little behind in blog updates. It's hard to stay on top of them without internet access. I'm at the McDonald's in Kimball 10 miles from our property taking advantage of the free wi-fi.
So after a three-night stay in Kansas City - thanks Aunt Ruth and Uncle Brian! - (Dad had a bit of an incident between the trailer and a guardrail, so Lance decided it would be best to reload the trailer to change the weight distribution which was no small undertaking) and another stop at a skeezy motel just across the TN border, we finally made it to our property the afternoon of Saturday the 22nd. Our first weekend was amazing - the kids had so much fun exploring and investigating all the new-to-us flora and fauna (especially loved were the lizards and baby turtles). We did end up getting a 10x16 tent so that we wouldn't have to worry about "commute time" to the property or having our stuff spread out at various locations. Visited the Jasper Church of the Nazarene on Sunday, where a few of our neighbors go, and were warmly welcomed there. At some point in time on Monday, my body decided to succumb to one of the most violent and long-lasting stomach flues I've ever had the pleasure of acquiring. Most of Tuesday through Friday I spent in miserable delirium while poor Dan, Lance, and Anna were left to tend to our Cretans and trying to get some excavating done as well. During my plague, our friends from the Nazarene and Presbyterian churches were generous enough to provide several meals, laundry services, and even a hotel room on my worst night, which was wonderful. My system is still not quite back to normal, but thankfully the fever and pain finally let up. Now we all seem to have come down with a hacking cough, so all night the tent sounds like a TB ward. We had unbelievably gorgeous weather for the first week but experienced our first taste of fall monsoon this weekend. The rain didn't stop, for probably 40 hours it just rained. Looks like we should have several nice days in a row now, but I don't know if that mud will ever dry out. I have a bunch of pictures to add. I'll run to the van to see if I can find what I need to upload them... |
LyssI plan to use this blog to keep track of ideas and information, to hold myself accountable to my goals, and to give others the opportunity to observe the challenges and triumphs that ensue. Archives
April 2016
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