Peyton - what do you want to be when you grow up?
Once upon a time there was a family named Keck who moved through the generations from Germany to what is now the Ukraine to what is still New York City. They had several sons (none of whom stayed in NYC) and a daughter who married a Grossmann and took her son "against his will" to Boise, Idaho. This son grew up in Boise and eventually moved to upstate NY, telling his wife (me) that, other than his brother, he had no relatives. So the photos you see are of the truly miraculous LIVING Keck family at the family get-together at our house this summer.
The group family photo, related to my husband John and now to lucky me. Moral of the story - don't always believe everything your husband tells you...
As some of you may remember from earlier blogs, there was this table devised by John for Terry's porch that used a Rube Goldberg type arrangement of pool table legs turned upside down as its base. While incredibly "funky" looking, one dared not touch it, let alone lean on it for fear of tipping it over. (Admittedly, it probably was a good training devise for teaching manners, i.e. do NOT put your elbows on the table during dinner, but does one really need that at a summer cottage?) So.... in my ramblings I happened upon an old examining table from a doctor's office with "sturdy" written all over it. If it could hold bodies it certainly could hold a table top plus it was the perfect size. One drawback... it was a bit high for a dining table. Let's just say it provided the dynamic duo of John & Terry with several hours of contemplation about just how high the table should be and thus how much to take off leading to how to take it off... I finished my book.
Support your local library and buy a pie - what could be better?! 
Will the real Tom Sawyer please stand up?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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…
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?
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…
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.
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. 2nd, 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…
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…
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.
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…
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.
For those of you who follow this blog you're probably wondering what we're up to now on the roque croquet court. Is it a weird lawn mower? Is it a rototiller? Is it a line marker? Is it some sort of new exercise machine (after all, we seldom actually PLAY croquet...)?
How do you surprise an "experienced" birthday girl (cousin Judy - photo right) with a birthday party? It ain't easy especially when your husband (cousin John - you guessed it, photo left) says he's taking you out to dinner, then parks at the Emergency Squad/Fire House. Their community room is a GREAT place for a party!
Croquet mallets... Lest you think that John spends all his free time working on boats, that's just not true (even if it sometimes it seems that way...)
Remember the Comet sailboats "Have" and "Have Not"? Ah, such sweet memories!
And then the BIG decision... what to do with two lovely boats that, in spite of the fun had, are just not quite right for Terry's camp? The solution... donate them to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, NY. When John & Terry first approached the museum they thought the museum would sell them at their fundraising boat auction. However, when Dan Miller (shown in the photo with the boats at the museum) took a look at them, the museum decided instead to use them initially to demonstrate and teach boat restoration and to educate visitors about the Comet class. Then they'll be added to their in-water fleet for sailing instruction. The boats were perfect because they were both originally built in NYS, are wooden and antique (1939), and they're a "size larger" than the other boats in their sailing instruction fleet.
Just look at that court! (Admittedly, it's not putting green smooth, and we know it's a poor workman who blames it's tools, but, honestly, Murph really should invest in a better mower for Terry to borrow...)
It looked for a time as though John would be the winner when he became "poison" and was "killing" off balls right and left. With one ball left to go (Cousin John's) he took aim and sent his ball spiraling forward. It looked at first as though Cousin John was done for. Then John's ball veered slightly away, missing Cousin John's ball, and squarely hitting the end stake. (Those of you familiar with poison rules know this is instant death for a poison ball.) Winner of the first croquet game on the new court.... Cousin John!!!
New tables today are mostly made in factories. Occasionally, however, one gets created with a bit more history behind it. Take the table in the photo for example. The table and the story have many parts but hang it there and, just like the table, it will eventually come together.
Here the project may have stalled but, thanks to the boys (Win, Maverick, Dillon & Peyton) who spent last week with us, it found new life. John suddenly "had" to spend many hours in the workshop working on the table. Wonder why? Of course, Oletta was also there and was able to add a bit of design element to the legs deciding on the proper curve to be cut out of stud and where to place the round column bit.
So what's wrong with this year's Olympic games? They forgot to include our croquet team! Or any croquet team for that matter. In fact, if Wicked can be believed, croquet hasn't been played at the Olympics since 1900. (What's with that?!!!) Our team has practiced HARD too!!! Oh well. I can guarantee you the air in Earlville is a lot cleaner and cooler than Beijing at the moment.Team Earlville left to right - Ace in the Hole Dillon; Out of my Way Win; Someone has to be Second Maverick; Move over Boys Oletta; It's my Court (and my Rules) John; Watch Out Kathleen; and Little Boy Peyton. And just in case you're wondering, the US is well represented - NY, NJ & Texas!
Photo right - Ocean City in a heat wave... The photo was taken in early morning which explains the lack of people on the boardwalk that remains historic with businesses like Thrasher's french fries since 1929, Kohr Bros. frozen custard since 1919, Dolle's salt water taffy since 1910, and Dumser's Dairyland since 1939. These days you can also get their treats at other locations as well. Just our luck - there was a Dumser's about half a block from where we were staying (an easy walk even in the heat and well worth every ounce of sweat that was generated!)
The Keck/Grafer clan (brothers married sisters - photo is some of that clan) showed up in force for the softball game against the Berlinicke clan (no photo - they were the opposition after all...). In spite of the temperature and humidity vying for top billing (in the 90's) the game went on for two hours (11 - 1) and was finally called for lunch with the Keck/Grafer clan the winner! (They get to choose the location for the next game four years from now. Needless to say several are already petitioning for a cooler location!)
Rambo was still standing with all 4 tires inflated when we returned to NJ (miracles do happen!). Even more amazing he made it all the way back to NY with nary a complaint and even managed to keep his gas consumption in check (marginally better than an air craft carrier...). John wants the wood to be wet when he steam bends it, so Rambo also did his bit by continuing to leak in the intermittent rain storms. Wouldn't want the wood to get too dried out after all...
Next step? Acquire enough wood to build said boat. It helps if you have a cousin who has white oak in his forest and can somehow be talked into parting with a tree big enough to make a boat. Photo 1 -John & Cousin John selecting the tree and start cutting it down. Photo 2 - Tree does not make a clean break but hangs up on other trees. It helps if cousin in question has a ladder and a tow truck and can convince you the tree won't fall if you climb that ladder and secure a tow rope around the tree. This determines just how badly you want to build said boat. Patty visualizes widowhood. Photo 3 - In spite of the tow rope almost turning over the tow truck with cousin's wife, Judy, the tree remains uncooperative. Photo 4 - If at first you don't succeed, pull from the other direction. Walla - down it goes. No widows this time out. Photo 5 - What are the chances of the tree landing and balancing exactly on the stump? Tree is cut into 12 foot lengths. Photo 6 - Tow truck again proves handy in pulling those logs out of the woods. Photo 7 - Invite Andrew & his sawmill over to make a few passes through the log. Sweat! sweat! sweat! = a 90 degree day with 90% humidity. Photo 8 - It helps if cousin has heavy duty trailer to carry planks to Rambo. When Rambo refuses to accept planks longer than 12 foot, bring out the saw once again and cut them off. Sweat! To say deodorant failed long ago does not have to be verbalized. Photo 9 - Load planks into Rambo. Will he or will he not make it back to New York at the end of the weekend or will he have collapsed in a rusty heap by the time he's asked to roll out on Sunday? Stay tuned...
without a pit stop at Hot Dog Johnny's (born the same year John was which makes it old?...) Where else can you still buy a mug of buttermilk (I knew you wouldn't believe me so just look at the photo) or, in our case, a birch beer (they will also add ice cream to the birch beer if you want - we wanted). If you look on the far left of the second photo you'll see John behind Rambo with a giant hot dog on top. (That shot was purely unintentional - will have to work on it for next time.)
ONE of Cousin John's projects this summer (he can never have just one) was to remove the concrete retaining wall next to their basement door (some folks work out frustrations by pulling weeds, others use jackhammers - think I'll stick with weeds...). At any rate, in its place he built this absolutely beautiful retaining wall with rock from their property. I am sooooooo envious of that beautiful rock! Wonder how Rambo would do as a rock hauler?
