Rollin' Again...

Yesterday we waved goodbye quietly to all our old and new friends (who were probably still asleep or who should have been -- we left at 5:45 a.m.). We needed to get home to welcome guests the next day and, although Tillie is usually fairly reliable, she can sometimes decide one's vacation needs to be prolonged.

We decided to eat breakfast on the road and stop somewhere at a local restaurant. So we drove through first one town... and the next... and the next... Just as our resolve started to faulter and we thought we'd be forced to eat at a chain (Canadians seem to have this love affair with "Tim Horton's" or as they say, "Timmy's") we passed a general store with lots of cars. Only as we were passing did we see the fine print that it was also a restaurant. Tillie braked admiredly, turned on a something much larger than a dime, and we joined the other local supporters for breakfast. Actually it was so busy because a group of women were having a 40th birthday party for their friend. Who else would think to have a party like that before work? (I know some of you Dillon's out there will think they must have been absolutely nuts!)

Taking the back roads homes at a leisurely pace, we stopped in Petersboro to visit the Canadian Canoe Museum. Seemed like the thing to do since it was Canada's National Canoe Day (does the US have such a day?) and admission was free. They have a LOT of canoes.

Other than that I can't say we found much use for the camera. Although not exactly flat, most of Ontario is not very exciting geographically either. And, either we missed them, or there's not many first's or biggest's or smallest's or whatever around. Or perhaps Canadians just don't feel the necessity to advertise them.

So we arrived home just before dark - our guests arrived about half an hour later. Oops! I got my days confused. Luckily we'd left the house semi-ready before we left... and Tillie hadn't been in one of her moods...

House blessings...

Today, Thursday, was the last day of work for some of us. Others, not wanting to offend the Legion who had signed up to serve lunch on Friday and who were not planning to travel as far on Friday, are working another half day.

In spite of having to sit idle for a hour and a half to wait out a thunder storm, our team did pour the concrete for the second home (trust me, it looks just like the first – it’s just that I keep forgetting to take my camera to that site); the trusses are all up on the first house and several more sections of fence have been built. And it was not quite so HOT, especially if you were one of the lucky women who were building fence in the shade!

One of the traditions of Habitat is the dedication they have for each new homeowner before they move in. Those with the Care-A-Vanner group are seldom there when this dedication takes place. One of our group, Jeff, has taken to doing a “blessing of the home” at the end of each of the builds he and his wife do. The photo is our group giving our blessings to the new homes (both homes are duplexes). Joining us is the next door neighbor, the ladies from the Union Church who provided our lunch today, and a couple of local volunteers. It’s something we hope will become a tradition at other builds we do.

Tonight we pack up, enjoy a very long happy hour with all the left overs from last night’s fish fry (the local fish from the bay is white fish – ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!) There wasn’t any fish left but we still have plenty of salads and snacks. Tomorrow we meander our way back home on the back roads. Who knows what we’ve find on the way…

Meltin'

When it reaches 30C one can officially melt! Supposedly tonight brings a bit of a cool down – we hope! Our Texas folks says it doesn’t even get this hot in Texas.

Photo 1 – John, one of the local regular volunteers, and his wife, Janet, invited us all to dinner at their place last night. Their lupines were gorgeous and I’ve added yellow lupines to my “must have” list.

Photo 2 – John & Janet’s side yard. Not only is their place beautiful but Janet is a first class cook. We all concurred this is adding up to another 10 pound build (10 lbs. on the hips…)

Photo 3 – The ladies fencing crew putting up the brackets so the men could hang the sections we made last week.

Photo 4 – The guy in the blue shirt next to the house on the right is the local rep to Parliament there for a photo shoot. (They got their photos before his tee shirt was soaked through like everyone else’s.) Hopefully the coverage will give Habitat as much good press and it gives him.

Sweatin' on Tuesday...

HOT HOT HOT!!! When they say the high 20’s C it doesn’t do the temperature justice especially when the humidity is approaching 100%. When summer started here, it took on a whole new meaning.

Photo 1 – Yes, some of us really were up at 5:00 a.m.

Photo 2 – The first of the second level floor joists goes up.

Photo 3 – Shortly before 2 and several more are up… The guys look far cooler than they felt!

Photo 4 – Quitting time – 2:00. We heard in the store on the way home they even let the quarry workers leave early because of the heat. By the way the young man coming towards the camera is Cedric. (I never met a real Cedric before – thought that was a name reserved for English novels.) At any rate, he works for the parks department at Niagara Falls. For his vacation this week he decided to spend it in Wiarton helping out with the Habitat House. Said he emailed all the Habitat projects in Ontario and this was the first one to respond. Lucky them, and us!

Back to work...

Photo 1 – House one now bare of the bracing. Folks were amazed that the bracing and scaffolding took three days to set up but came down in about two hours. It was even more amazing that it is all now up at house two in spite of the heat (high 20’s here today – that’s C, not F). Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter…

Photo 2 – The corner where we turn off the main drag in Wiarton. If you can read the signs almost everything is on Willie’s Way from camping to curling.

Photo 3 – I think these are supposed to be groundhog prints…

Photo 4 – Happy hour at the campground (pretty nice setup, eh?). Everyone voted to start work tomorrow at 7 rather than 8 so we don’t have to work as long in the heat of the day.

Exploring the Bruce...

Wiarton is on the Bruce Peninsula, hence the motto above. It is formed mostly by the Niagara Escarpment which runs unbroken for 465 miles from Niagara Falls up through the Bruce Peninsula. It’s basically a “big ridge”. Although not very high, it does have some impressive cliffs. We’re staying in a campground at the base of the escarpment and the houses we’re working on are on top of the escarpment. Although they’re only about 10 blocks apart at the most, the incline (about 2 blocks worth) is so steep that none of us are even tempted to walk.

With the weekend off, sightseeing was definitely in order. So another collection of photos to share from left to right…

1 – Eileen Vollick – who was she? Answer - the first licensed woman pilot in Canada and she was born and raised in Wiarton. At only 5’1” she had to use cushions on the pilots seat so she could see out the cockpit. Apparently she did a lot of stunt flying until she married at which time she gave up flying altogether (guess she thought marriage was exciting enough) and moved to New York where she spent the rest of her life.

2 – John has spent the winter building what definitely looks like a boat. But what does this guy have in mind?!

3 – John and me after he’s worked my fingers to the bone…

4 – I, on the other hand, am always on the lookout for a good name for John’s new boat…

5 – Ontario has 68 different varieties of wild orchids, 44 of which are found on the Bruce Peninsula. And you thought only Hawaii had orchids, didn’t you?

6 – This is “the grotto” - a formation left on the edge of escarpment. Supposedly, if you have really good lungs and don’t mind REALLY COLD water, there’s a passage under it to the other side. None of us tried it. Of course, none of us ventured down the rocks to the water either. Wimps one and all.

7 – This photo is for Phyllis. Jim, our team member from Vermont (on the right), likes to bring his motorcycle to ride. So what does this have to do with you Phyllis? One would never suspect Jim had both his knees replaced in January, even going up and down ladders and hiking over rocky terrain. (Just think what you’ll be up to in 6 months, Phyllis?!)

8 – Some of us on the northern shore which, by the way, is only half way between the equator and the North Pole. BIG world isn’t it?!

9 – One last photo of the rugged coast and beautiful water. Did I mention this area is the scuba diving capital of Canada?

Thursday & Friday...

The real Thursday and the rain was not to be. “Oh woe”, said our bodies; “Yeah!” said our minds. Today’s challenge – completing everything that needed to be done before the concrete could be poured.

Putting up Styrofoam blocks to be filled with concrete sounds like a piece of cake, and it is. However….. there’s all the other stuff that also has to be done. The framing for the

doors and windows has to be secured. Bracing and scaffolding has to be erected on every wall to secure it. The building has to be squared and righted. Holes have to be cut for pipes for dryer vents and air exchangers and the like. Exterior bracing has to be put in place. Brackets to hold the second level floor joists have to be embedded in the foam. Rebar has to be dropped into all the channels – that’s in addition to the rebar that goes horizontally with every layer of block. Foam has to be sprayed in all cracks around openings, both inside and out. I’m exhausted just trying to remember.

The group even worked an extra hour today. Can you believe this fool hardy group actually decided to cut into their happy hour?! One would think when you retire over achieving would be a thing of the past, but somehow it occasionally still has a way of reaching out and grabbing you. Bottom line – the cement truck is coming at 10:30 tomorrow, not Monday as planned.

We ate out……

And finally, it’s actually Friday and the concrete truck arrives. How many supervisors does it take to pour a wall? Actually those guys are just waiting their turn for a try at the nasty job of filling the wall or, worse yet, using the vibrator to make sure no air bubbles are left. They predicted it would take 5 hours to complete the job but the guys were very happy when it was done in three.

Meanwhile, back at the pavilion in the park, the fence crew took it easy enjoying the view of the bay in the shade. Don’t you love this scooter that came by? By the way, we did have an excuse for lounging around - we had to wait for the park manager to return to turn on the power. And someone had to be there to direct folks to the Friday’s farmer’s market…

Thursday, June 18

Another day, another collage. Actually, these are always a day behind because I write them at night and post them the next day on our way back from work. Starting at top left…

Jeff, the inventor of the drain pipe heat exchanger. It replaces a section of your drain pipe and recoups the energy from the hot water going down the drain. Supposedly recoups 70% of the energy lost. His company is donating one for each of the Habitat homes.

Happy hour got happier as Harriet, our yoga teacher, joined us. She tried to teach Juan the goddess pose but don’t think he quite got it (and almost didn’t make it up again!).

There was a classic car “cruise-in” next to the campground. Harriet we insisted we take Tillie over and enter it. As usual, Tillie was a real standout.

For my mother – a photo of the beautiful iris garden that is the front yard of a home a couple of doors down from where we’re working.

The next two photos are of the second duplex our team has also been working on. That house is now on hold until the cement is poured in the first house – which will take place on Monday as there is only enough bracing to do one house at a time. We were all hoping to have one house poured this week but rain is predicted for the next two days.

The fence building crew extraordinaire – Karen, Charmaine & myself. We built 5 today with only 35 sections left to go at this site and the same number at the other site. Of course if it rains the next two days, the fence building project may take a giant leap forward.

Old wagons in front of one of the houses in town. We think the one on the left may be a “low down” wagon like the ones that used to be built in Earlville.

Betty & Leo, our rebar cutting crew. Checking in at age 78, Betty is the oldest member of our team. This is her first build proving it’s never too late to try something new.

Wednesday, June 17

Since I know at least one of you eager beavers out there has googled Wiarton, I thought it was time to include a few pictures to make you all just a wee bit envious.

Top left – a homemade hamburg grill on wheels (hopefully John does NOT get any ideas!). By the way, that was lunch yesterday. They’re feeding us well!

Center top – the old train station that is now the welcome center in the park where we’re camping. It’s as beautiful inside as it is outside (although we haven’t been able to thoroughly check it out as they are never open after happy hour – maybe this weekend…)

Top right – If my camera lens was wider you might also have seen Tillie camped in this photo about 50 feet from shore (to the left, not the right). The “permanent” lady campers in the park have taken on the project of doing flowers along the shoreline path. A wonderful place to take a stroll (that is if you haven’t been wearing lead weight steel toed shoes all day!)

Bottom left – This is Canada’s famous Wiarton Willie who, on Feb. 2^nd, just like a groundhog we know in the states, comes out, searches for his shadow, and decides if Canada can breathe a sign of relief and only have six more weeks of winter. As opposed to Phil, Willie is a white groundhog (camouflage for the snow perhaps). And, while this may not be the best photo, locals tell us most folks never get to see him at all so this photo is a BIG deal.

Bottom center – Willie lives next to the library (just across the street from our campground) where all donations are gladly accepted. Who knew we would one day be sleeping just down the street from a famous groundhog?! How many of you can put that in your resumes?

Bottom right – A stone statue in our park is dedicated to the original Willie. The current Willie, by the way, is really a girl. (Perhaps that’s why there’s a comb – see first photo - next to her groundhog hole…)

By the way, our internet connection comes to us thanks to ReMax, the local realtor. Tillie did her usual slow drive-by of the neighborhoods but couldn’t find a stray, unsecured network. (John always gets nervous when I insist we try this. For some reason he thinks a slow moving yellow VW bus with the passenger holding a computer in her lap might put a Neighborhood Watch program on high alert…) Realtors, on the hand, WANT you to be able to look on line at the properties they have for sale. Keep that in mind when next you’re travelling…

Tuesday, June 16

The build continues with the blocks, bracing and scaffolding nearly all in place for the pouring of the concrete on Thursday or Friday. Half the crew, including Juan from Texas with the genuine Texas hard hat, started work on the second duplex.

It’s the end of the day and we’re all still moving. However, a decision was made early in the day that we would all go out to eat tonight. Yeah! Gives us a chance to find a wireless connection which, in case you haven’t noticed, have been rather hard to find in this community. The locals all say things like driving 30 miles to the nearest internet café…

Monday, June 15

Day 1 on the work site. Everyone up and at ‘em and ready to go. First job – outfitting the “have nots” with steel toed shoes and hard hats. Second job – yoga stretches compliments of Harriette (even the grumpy old men dared not deny Harriette and her stretches). Third job – safety video. Then a short devotional (just in case the video didn’t work). And it was out to the job site.

Allen, our site supervisor, gave us a fairly comprehensive training session on how to put together these Styrofoam blocks just in case some of us had flunked Leggos as kids. These houses are very energy efficient. The houses they’ve built to date using this construction have averaged $57 dollars (Canadian) per month for heating (a good portion of the year this far north) and hot water. As Allen said, the furnace in his 100 year old house costs $57 to even think about starting.

It was a lovely sunny work day in Wiarton. The group has decided 3:30 is quitting time. None too soon if the weight of my steel toes shoes has any bearing in the matter – perhaps there was a mix-up at the factory and they used lead instead of steel. It will be interesting to see if we’re as springy tomorrow as we were this morning.

Sunday, June 15

After spending the night with our friend, Pat, and planning trips (For some reason those trips

never involve Tillie, always planes. Is there a reason for that?!), we headed north to Canada. You will be relieved to know the great Niagara Falls is still there and that we decided NOT to go over in a barrel.

Wiarton (pronounced wire-ar-ton), where we were headed, is north of Niagara Falls on the eastern coast of Georgian Bay. We had never been to this area of Ontario before, but it is relatively flat farm land. Pretty in its own way but nothing in the way of photos to share with you. There are no main roads so there’s a lot of stop and go as you pass through the small towns. We did inhale deeply and Tillie kicked up her tires a bit more as we passed through Mount Forest whose motto on the sign coming into town is “High, Happy, & Healthy”.

Wiarton is a beautiful little town and our campground is right on Colpoys Bay. John already has his eye on the marina just down the bay that is filled with sailboats. But, alas, this is not a sailing trip. We’re here to help Habitat build two duplexes. The construction is to be Styrofoam block & concrete, a new method for most of us on the team. While we’re all excited and ready to get going early, there did seem to be a lot of foot dragging at the meeting last night that we work until 5. (Habitat Care-A-Vanners are more than willing to come early, but dipping into their 4:00 Happy Hour time is entirely another issue!)

Of course the other task is to find a wireless connection to stay in touch with you all…

Off to Wiarton!

At long last – Tillie is on the road again!

With the two of us…

With our tools (for working on the Habitat house we’re headed for)…

With our work clothes…

With our play clothes…

With a few cooking/eating items…

With our bedding for Tillie…

As a friend said to me once, “You’re going to spend two weeks in that?!!! With a man?!!!”. It’s true. Stay tuned.

Heading west to spend the night in Buffalo, Tillie decided once again to jiggle on by the Jello Museum without stopping. Where’s the fun in that? But John had his mind on Buffalo treats including beer battered hot peppers. Am not sure if this is what happens to a person after driving Tillie for four hours or the side effects of starting on one’s fourth hot, hot, hot pepper… Will he able to drive tomorrow? Stay tuned.