CHRISTMAS 2015

SCROLL "Christmas Joy" pdf below Up & Down

Merry Christmas

Finishing Touches at 53 Gideon Rd.

We have finally finished the last two projects on our new home. Everything is complete in our Study/Guest Room now that the furniture has been secured and put in place. This room will primarily be a study and office, but it easily converts to a guest room when guests come to visit.

Last week two leaders from EBI, a local missionary publishing ministry, came for an hour and half meeting to try out our new guest chairs. It was a comfortable and practical arrangement for the meeting. We were even able to include Jason Ehmann, president of Positive Action, in our meeting for a short visit via FaceTime on the iPad. Technology can be wonderful! 

Connie bought me a new desk chair (as an early birthday present) that fits the decor and room. I have adequate bookshelf space and storage capabilities for the trimmed down office resources that I brought with me from North Carolina.

But when company comes the room can be quickly and easily transformed into a bed room for our guests. 

Last week we also finished our new storage facility -- and everything has been freshly painted by our awesome Maranatha Village painting crew. Our new (actually a remodeled 2003 model) golf cart has a home in the convenient carport.

The storage facility is jammed packed with Christmas decorating items, a file cabinet, wardrobes with winter clothing, tools, keepsakes and various other things. It is tight -- but organized for maximum use. We have downsized -- and it has been good for us.

Murphy Bed at 53 Gideon Road

On Thursday, June 12th, two brothers, Daniel and Sam, arrived to install our Murphy Bed. They work for More Space Place, the company that manufactures and installs space-saving furnishings. These two guys were outstanding and went to work immediately.

First, they unloaded the components of the project on the deck of our handy carport. This covered area has already become a much appreciated part of our new home. It can be raining profusely and still be high and dry under the carport.

Then they started to carefully haul all of the parts of the unit into the study/guest room. Here is Daniel sizing up the front panels that form the doors for the cabinitery. 

Sam is seen in this shot carefully checking the level during the installation. The entire unit is anchored to the wall at the bottom and the top.

This is the finished product with the doors closed and the book shelves loaded with various books and other items. 

The final product is completed and shown below in the "bed down" position. The mattress is very comfortable and the balancing action of the appartus make it easy to lower and raise. It even has space for a permanent piece of art to hang over the headboard.

Our son Chad came a few days later for a visit and he gave the bed a thumbs up. He spent two restful nights on the mattress and proclaimed it to be the most comfortable bed he had ever slept on. Maybe he was slightly biased after spending two weeks in Haiti before arriving at our place, but he sure did look restful curled up in the blankets.

Our new home in Florida

After four months of remodeling we are finally in our new home at 53 Gideon Rd., Sebring, FL. The Maranatha Village crew has been awesome in all that they have done for us.

We love it here and are so thankful the Lord brought us here to this beautiful place.  

When you walk in the door you come into our wonderful Florida Room that faces the road and the pond.

The room has two comfortable reclining loveseats, and is bright, but warm -- and very inviting.

The room also serves as our primary daily eating place and focus of our living.

Every morning it is a great place for a cup of coffee and a front row view of the Village residents already out for their morning constitution. This picture below and the new masthead at the top of this blog show the sight we see out our front window.

Adjacent to the Florida Room is the kitchen and it has been totally transformed with granite countertops and all new appliances.

It is bright, cheerful and has lots of work space and places to store all of the 
needful things.

From the kitchen the laminate flooring leads to the rest of the house. On the wall there are some special pieces of art that highlight several eras of our life.

The hallway leads to the living room that has quiet, comfortable tones which are accented by Connie's touches of color. It is stunning!

To the right is the dining room and it provides a spacious place for entertaining guests in comfort and style.

Both the Living Room and Dining Room have large windows that look out onto the beautiful "oval". This is a shaded common area shared by our neighbors. 

Opposite the windows is where Connie has placed her antique desk and other attractive accent items.

Down the hall is the Master Bedroom with more soft colors and classy accents.

The Master Bath has a beautiful and spacious built-in vanity with large mirrors and lots of storage. 

The Guest Bath is bright and colorful, and the distinctive Florida travel poster just arrived.

The one room still not finished is the Study/Guest Room.  I have my desk and printer stand in place -- plus a small bookcase. But the room is waiting for a Murphy Bed to be installed in about a month. This unit will include a pull-down queen size bed, with side bookcases. It will allow the room to be used as a study and den most of the time, but as a very accomodating guest room for welcomed visitors. Come and visit.

Another feature not finished is a storage shed that is being constructed at the back of the carport. We love the spacious carport -- that also features the attached laundry room on the right. 

Learning to use YouTube

Recently I received a two hour DVD of video that had been transferred from Don Nelson's old Super 8 film taken in the 50s and 60s. I've been learning how to download the imported DVD into iMovie and then translate into short clips to upload into YouTube so that it can be posted on Facebook or a blog.

Here is an interesting short clip that shows Dr. Clearwaters doing a "pony express" mount on a horse and then showing his incredible horsemanship skills at age -- 64 or 65?

Germany/Austria Trip #5 - Bratislava

On the final day of our tour we had the great privilege to visit Bratislava in the country of Slovakia. This historic city is only 35 miles from Vienna, and it is the capitol of the nation that was created when the former Communist country of Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. 

As we approached the border we did not know what to expect. Actually, it was a rather simple border crossing -- much easier than passing from the USA into Canada. Our bus driver had to purchase a transponder (for about $100) that will allow him to travel back and forth into Slovakia in the future. The only problem is that our bus driver was from Italy and he may never return to Solvakia.

As we were approaching the city our tour director told us to notice the large non-descript apartment buildings and the somewhat modern and impressive bridge crossing the Danube River. She mentioned that the communist governement was pretty proud of the bridge, but the impressive tower rising above the bridge was used for spying on the citizenry. 

Since the fall of communism the city leaders have attempted to spruce up the drab apartment buildings with colorful paint. Still the legacy of communism is evident everywhere, even after more than twenty years since the iron cutain came down.

As we entered the city we could see that the city buildings and infastructure are in various stages of disrepair. Our first destination was the historic castle built in the 10th Century on the high hill overlooking the city. The castle is being rennovated and is not ready for visitors to see the interior, but we were able to tour the exterior and grounds.  

After leaving the castle our bus took us into the heart of the city. It is obvious that the Slovakians are rebuilding and trying to come into the 21st century, but they have much to do.

Here is a typical impressive historic building in disrepair that is representative of what we saw during our morning in this interesting city.

Standing on the doorstep of a building in the town square was this mountain shepherd who was playing his musical instrument that our guide told us is a traditional instrument of the mountains. The instrument is called a Fujara, and is a very large flute that has a mellow and deep sound. He was a very accomplished musician and was also very accomodating for picture taking.

As we were walking through the historic section of the city we encountered a parade that was being led by these characters. We're not sure what was going on, but we know that many children were marching in the parade and they were decked out with green hair and costumes that resembled these personalities.

The parade culminated in a boulevard where a stage was errected and these lumanaries began to entertain the crowd with folk songs and interaction. Evidently the sign "Narodny Festival" means "National Festival" and the celebrations of that Saturday morning were especially designed for families and children. It was a very festive mood, with food vendors and other kinds of street vendors selling all kinds of things.

As we were meeting our bus for the ride back to Vienna I got this good telephoto shot of the "spy tower" on the bridge. It is obviously not a tourist attraction, but a reminder of the oppression that still blights this up and coming country from the former Communist Bloc of Eastern Europe

This final picture was taken on the grounds of the Bratislava Castle and overlooking the city. We truly had a wonderful time, although it was a whirlwind trip, and would recommend this part of the world for travel. It is truly an area where there is a need for the gospel.