Waterproof roof

Well, my Christmas present was permission to hire a carpenter to get the 'tin' on my building roof, and it's done now. I'll try to put up a picture soon. I'm really excited to have the building 'done'--now I only lack these things... (all upgrades! So I don't have to 'permit' the building)
*finish the floor over the subfloor
*put in insulation in the walls
*build shelves for the Christmas decorations
*put screens in the vents at the top of the walls
*put in overhead insulation and some kind of ceiling
*rip 4" boards down to 2" boards and install on the outside to simulate 'board & batten'
*spray paint the outside
*run power to the building
*install a breaker box
*run interior lights and other wiring
*put in two more treated posts
*build the deck on the back under the porch
*reinforce a beam, install Debbie's 'ancestral' swing under the porch
*put in some kind of walls inside--including lots of perf-board
*paint the interior if needed
*install the woodburning stove as heat, run all the venting for it
So it looks like a full spring. But I can at least do it in the dry!

Skype rocks!

I think of myself as being somewhat "up" on technology. I write this blog, I use Facebook, and of course I use e-mail daily and do my sermons with PowerPoint notes...but I'd never got around to using something called Skype.

The other night, we finally got around to installing the software on Debbie's laptop computer. Our son Nathan in TX helped us get everything configured right. It was wonderfully strange to be talking to him, and see him and the background of his living room in Karnes City.

The next night, we called early enough to 'visit' with our granddaughter Brenna. We carried the computer into the living room so she could see our Christmas tree...she kept asking her Dad where we were...I guess she doesn't get the concept completely quite yet.

Lots of people ask "Where's my George Jetson flying car?" but I'm glad to finally have this version of a videophone!

For those of you with Skype already installed, I will publish our 'address' in the future. Don't remember it right now! (One of the disadvantages of the new technology--remembering your various electronic identities and passwords.)

Blue Ridge TubaChristmas 2009

Well, this year's TubaChristmas has come and gone. I've just received many pictures of the event, and will try to post them on my FaceBook account. In the meantime, here are a few images to enjoy... and here is the link to the full photo album on FaceBook (I don't think you have to be a FaceBook member to view them): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41267&id=1454783473&l=8069b784f1

Traumatized...

Here's a list of those in my household who are traumatized by today's visit to the Ocoee Animal Hospital:
· Sweetie the smallest cat—who hissed, growled, and spat at and tried to bite Dr. Beleu.
· Bruiser the alpha-male wannabe—who did his share of growling, too
· Little Lily, the normally subdued—who hid under the bed so that I couldn’t find her, then tried to keep me from taking her OUT of the carrier at the vet, and is throwing off fur like nobody's business
· Tiger—who also hid under the bed and put up a big fight about going in (and coming out) of the carrier, and who got off the vet table and hid under it behind 3 boxes of puppy starter food and a case of assorted cat treats, then had to be dragged out
· Patty Puppy—who was scared of all the other dogs at the vet’s and is now getting a bath, which she hates...
And last but not least…
· Yours truly

Any volunteers to take Sweetie, Tiger, and Patty to the Vet during pet dental health month to get their teeth cleaned?

Fun with Brenna

We're in TX a few days for a visit with Brenna and her folks. Good day at FBC Karnes City yesterday. Lots of fun with Brenna. She's growing up so fast! Seems ready for kindergarten even though she's still 3. Rain, so no outdoor fun today. Back to GA late Wednesday.

Somewhat new picture in the header

I just love this picture of my granddaughter Brenna and me in the swing. She's definitely a talker when she wants to be! (Wonder where she gets it???)

By the way, in case you've forgotten, my wife Debbie is the "Gabby" that "Gabby's Guy" refers to...long story involving a hilarious mis-hearing. The swing that Brenna-bear and I are in goes back a long way in Debbie's family. I first encountered it on her G'Momma's screened-in front porch in Fairfax (now Valley) Alabama. We actually 'courted' on that swing! But it was either made by or purchased by G'Momma's grandfather or great-grandfather. So Brenna is the 7th or 8th generation of family members to sit in that swing!

A Rare Dry Day--Painting!

Can't believe I'm still trying to get the final parts of the roof on my workshop! But at least today we had a break from the constant rain...I managed to get a coat of paint on all the other metal for the roof! So I'm not too far from having all the "Sanford and Son" (Debbie's term) out from under the carport.

We also had to do some involuntary remodeling in my bathroom...Debbie was cleaning last week and found cracks in the blue toilet. So it was off to Home Depot to get an AlGore toilet (you know, the kind that supposedly flushes with a cup of tears from blathering treehuggers?) So far, so good...but I don't know if the good flush carries through with the "stuff" getting all the way out to the septic tank. We'll see.

Now if I could only get the new kitchen exterior door up, finish installing the shed roof, insulate the building, dig a trench for wiring (and find the $$ for the heavy-duty wiring needed to run power to the shed), get my friend from church to help me wire the building, install the lights, etc. etc. etc.

And this doesn't include the "honey-do" list!

The roof...a light at the end of the tunnel?

I've been trying to get the final parts of the roof on my almost-completed building for quite some time...weeks in fact. I was going to put shingles on it, and even have several squares of shingles purchased (seconds/discounted from Ace hardware). But then I actually climbed onto the roof, and decided that a metal roof would be better.

Luckily, my youngest aunt, Janice Lance, is married to a very generous guy, Bobby Lance, who just happened to have some excess galvanized steel 5-v roofing. So a couple of weeks ago, I went and picked it up. It's not quite the right length, but that's OK, the price was right...free!

In the meantime, on days it was dry, I was busy with work, and when I could get some free time, it's been raining! That's just the way it goes.

Today I finally rigged a spray paint stand in the yard, and painted the first 6 long sheets. It took more paint than I expected, but it turned out great. Of course I have a few 'runs' in the paint, since I've never worked with a compressed air gravity-fed spray gun before. I think I'll get the hang of it before I'm through. The roof's going to be a great hunter green color, and I'll paint the building in a couple of shades of brown...fairly dark for the background, and a lighter brown for the 'battens' that will hide the seams. That should make the building fit in well with its surroundings down in the woods.

As I write this, I've realized I'll need to paint the outside of the building before putting on the roof metal, to avoid overspray. Now if I can just get some dry days to do all this!

The big compressor and tank are really useful. I've used all the tools that came with it, and even purchased a 'jitterbug' sander. I have a similar electric sander, but the air-powered one just seems to work better. It really knocked the rust down on the 'tin' roofing. Then I spray painted with Ace's brand of rust-inhibiting paint. I hope I'll never have to roof the building again. With shingles, I'd have been facing a reroof job at a time (if I live that long) when I definitely couldn't get up on a roof. I may even be looking at a metal roof for the house here. That's one of the maintenance things that will have to be done before many years go by.

Electronic de-evolution

Have you noticed that all the new electronic forms of communication seem to be 'pushing out' the older forms?

The telephone call started the trend of fewer personal letters, but E-mail put an end to almost all personally written mail. I don't know the last time I got a really long handwritten letter from someone, but this used to be a really important form of communication.

Blogs seem to have replaced diaries/journals.

Now facebook and other social sites have comments that seem to be pushing out e-mail and blogging.

There's not any real point to this, just an observation.

MissionFuge survival

I first went to Centrifuge about 20 years ago. Can't believe that at 57 I'm still trying to keep up with teenagers...but I love it!

We had 4 guys get saved at camp, and the other 3 I think really got serious about their faith at camp.

MissionFuge is like Centrifuge, but with a longer missions component...roughly 5 hours a day are devoted to a mission project. In our case, we had 2 hours of travel to get to/from the site each day, so we had to pack a lot into the 3 hours we spent there.

All this got me thinking about some 'rules' for going to youth camp--some serious, some not.

1. Pray ahead of time, and recruit folks to pray for specific youth while they're gone.

2. Do NOT, under any circumstances, let the youth learn the song named, "This is the song that never ends..."

3. Pick a camp with a staff and a very full schedule, so that you don't have to supervise the kids every second.

4. Go far enough away to be 'away' but near enough to send kids home in an emergency. (Of course, next summer I'm violating this rule by going out west!)

5. Recruit a good person to lead fundraising

6. Jump in to the action, even if it's sliding around on a dark, wet field and getting flour dumped on you. The bruises are worth it.

7. Take LOTS of photos.

8. Don't forget to pray yourself and let God speak to you, too.

9. Help kids put perspective on 'camp romance'

10. Be sure to give a report to the folks back home who helped you go!

Things you call your Dad for...

Strange, isn't it, that adult kids still need their folks?

Today I got a call at the office from Nathan, who'd arrived home in HOT Texas last night...this morning when they let Annie the Jack Russell terrier out into the back yard, she promptly went under the house. They heard her barking for awhile, then...silence.

This is the kind of thing that gets folks who love their pets in a panic, so Kayla naturally wants Nathan to check on her (Political Correctness and Feminism aside, crawling under an old house with the spiders and potential rattlesnakes is definitely a 'husband' thing to have to do.) Nathan called me for advice...

The first thing I learned was that Nathan's flashlight batteries were dead, so I suggested checking around the house skirting to make sure there were no other places Annie could have escaped, then taking more of the house skirting loose in the area enclosed by the fence, and finally putting out some tempting food while he left to get batteries.

I got a call a little later...while Nathan was gone to the store, having followed all my suggestions, Kayla was surprised to see a 'strange' cat streaking across the backyard, with Annie in hot pursuit! Nathan remembered having seen a cat of the same description (I'm sure smaller--without its fur fluffed out!) that morning, near their front porch--with kittens in tow. So I'm hoping they don't have a new family living in the 8" high 'basement.'

Still, it's good to be needed, if only for advice on dealing with errant pets!

Chalk on the carport

Our granddaughter Brenna (3) has been visiting with us the last few days (with her Mom Kayla and Dad Nathan, our middle son.) We've had lots of fun, with a traditional 4th of July celebration, church with K/N singing a special, going to the GA aquarium, but one of the best times was just taking Brenna out under the carport yesterday, messing around with her new chalk. It's supposed to be "3-D" somehow, but I never got the little glasses to work for me. Still, it was fun tracing the animal stencils, coloring in the outlines to make them look more real, and listening to her chatter.
Today they leave, going to see friends in Athens. Sad that we live so far away. We've been trying to set up video on the computer so we can call back and forth. It's really not good when you only get to see your granddaughter once or twice a year.
More later, with maybe some pictures...

Virginia trip

We've been out of town this week visiting Debbie's Dad and (step)Mom in Waynesboro, VA. Tasha and Matt came up, too. Dick and Ingrid treated us to tix to Williamsburg, so Wednesday we went there, then went back on Thursday and went to Jamestown, Yorktown, and back to Williamsburg. Lots and lots of history...of course, you can't be in VA at all without running all over something historic.
Yesterday (Friday) was mostly 'down time' resting up from going across the state the previous two days, but we managed to do a little work in Ingrid's flower gardens. Today was another mostly rest day, except we took Tasha and Matt to see "UP" which I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't yet seen it. I caught a lot more of the inside jokes this time--first time they just went by too fast. It's a really sweet movie. One example of the jokes I missed first time I saw the flick...near the end of the movie, the old man who's the main focus of the story, the 'wilderness explorer' (boy scout) who's his companion, and the talking dog they rescue are all sitting on the curb outside an ice cream stand, playing a game the boy used to play with his Dad...counting cars. When the boy and his Dad used to do it, the boy would count red cars, the Dad counted blue cars, and whoever got the most won. This time the boy counts the red cars, the old man counts the blue cars, but the dog butts in with "Gray one!" (In fairness to Matt, he was the one who caught and explained this joke...if you didn't get it, look up 'dog vision' on Wikipedia or Google).
Tomorrow we'll celebrate Father's Day with Dick, and head on to the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville on Monday. The actual meeting is Tues/Wed, and we head home Thursday.

Progress on the building

I haven't said anything about my building lately...with the help of some volunteers from my church, I got the roof on (and tar paper, but not shingles yet).

The front and back doors are on, and I'm pretty much set now on building a porch on the back.

I'll post some pix as I finish the last few details.

Vacation? What vacation?

Man, the time just flew by this week. We went down Tuesday to New Smyrna Beach, FL. We'd gone there many years ago when the boys were small...
The old house we stayed in first was still there...still as run-down looking as ever. I'm sure they had to have repaired it some in the meantime, but to me it looked just the same.
We had thought about staying at Coastal Waters Inn, another place we'd stayed with the boys, but online bad reviews scared us off...however, those reviews often stay online a long time even after problems are fixed, so we may give them another shot sometime.
The Bahamian Club is across the street from the beachside condos. It's a condo association where some owners also rent out by the week. We were lucky enough to find an owner who'd rent for the 3-night minimum. It was a really nice condo, and would be large enough for our entire family to visit together. One upstairs bedroom has a double bed and single bed...could work for Nathan/Kayla & Brenna. The other upstairs bedroom has a king bed. Two full baths upstairs, one with a tub, the other with a large shower. Downstairs is a great room, kitchen/dining, and a half bath that also holds the washer/dryer unit. Downstairs also has a 'Florida room' that has an upstairs deck on top. Sliding doors from both upstairs bedrooms also open onto the deck, and a set opens from the kitchen to the sun porch (which due to palms, bushes, etc. is really a 'shade porch' most of the time.)
We got one good day on the beach Wednesday, plus a great meal on the 'backwater' at JB's Fish Camp. Thursday it POURED rain...and workmen showed up to replace the A/C unit between downpours. Then as we arrived at Norwood's (a longtime favorite restaurant) the power went out all over beachside. Stayed off, too! We ended up lunching at Blackbeard's and going to a movie...I highly recommend "UP". The main character is voiced by Ed Asner but looks like Spencer Tracy, and the 'bad guy' looks like a caricature of Kirk Douglas.
Friday was 'leaving day' and we went back to Norwoods. Food was great...have their salmon salad with goat cheese. Definitely NOT the menu I remember from when I first went there 30+ years ago! Then it was simply an 'old Florida' fried fish house. They still do that, and do it well, but they now have more 'upscale' offerings. If you go at lunch, the prices are still pretty good.
Anyway, we arrived home this morning about 5 past midnight, after driving all afternoon and evening, and listening to the Braves be incompetent at the plate and (unusual for them) on defense. Today was a quick dermatologist appointment for Debbie and for me. She had her usual dozen or so precancerous growths removed, and I had two 'frozen.' The doctor thought from my skin that I might be Italian...
Tonight's our spring storytelling event. I enjoy these, because I love telling stories, but it's not like the storytelling I grew up with. Most of these storytellers have their stories memorized. They tell them well, but comparing them to the way I grew up telling stories (i.e. partly 'made up as you go along') to them is like comparing jazz improvisation to someone playing from sheet music.
Next week...VBS and the first of our mission groups.

...and I helped!

Debbie's changing from teaching 5th grade language arts at West Fannin (now Elementary, but formerly the High School for this end of the county...where I graduated in 1970) to teaching 6th grade reading at Fannin Middle next fall.
This means packing up all her personal stuff from her large room and moving it--not to her new room, where they will put any and all items from the room out in the hall over the summer while they wax the floors--but to our LIVING ROOM. I hope to get the storage building fixed in the next few days...I know now what will go into storage first!
I've been lifting boxes of 'light' reading books and other stuff today, so I'm sore. Tomorrow the copy machine, shelves, desk, chair, other chair, file cabinet. old desk, oak runners from the old desk, etc. etc. etc. And also I have to pick up our new refrigerator and get it installed, plus meet with some folks coming from Mississippi about a mission trip this summer.
Just how did my life get so complicated?
And in a strange coincidence, the lady whose room Debbie will move to this fall is one of my former youth from FBC Ellijay 35 years ago. And she married a guy I went to High School and couple of years of college with!

Busy Week/35th anniversary

Last week Matthew finally got graduated from college, I got the roof decking and felt paper on the roof of my building (YAY!) with the help of Kevin and Jan O'Quinn, we had the annual meeting of the Fannin County Historical Foundation (on the excursion train, no less!) and also did all the usual stuff of work, Debbie's school, etc. I'm looking forward to our trip Wednesday night to see the Braves and spend Thursday hanging around Atlanta celebrating our 35th anniversary.

Spring flowers

Our red honeysuckle that's moved with us for the last 5 moves has just begun its annual display--we expect lots of hummingbirds any day. And the new yellow honeysuckle on the other side of the trellis is also starting. Not only that, the old-fashioned snowball bush didn't get 'nipped' by frost this year and is putting on a spectacular display. Enjoy!

Freaky things on my birthday...

I went to the History Channel today and looked at 'this day in history'--some strange stuff happened on April 29th:
>Hitler and Eva Braun married in 1945 (and killed themselves the next day). US soldiers liberated Dachau the same day--one of my old Sunday School teachers was with the 101st Airborne who liberated one of the camps, and who invaded Bertesgarden, Bavaria--Hitler's 'Eagle's nest'
>>Joan of Arc came to the relief of Orleans
>>>New Orleans fell to Union forces during 'the late unpleasantness'
>>>>1951, Dale Earnhart was born. Different years, Emperor Hirohito and poet Rod McKuen were born
>>>>>1974 Nixon released the tapes that brought him down
>>>>>>First joint US/Russia spacewalk (1990s I think)
Found out that on the day I was born, some congressman in Washington dropped dead in his office.
Like I said, freaky stuff!

Easter and family

We had a great Easter morning at church. At first it looked like there would be a tiny crowd, but they poured in at the last minute to enjoy the music of the Watkins family (acoustic gospel bluegrass).
Jim and Bonnie (our daughter-in-law Tasha's folks, and our good friends) hosted us for lunch and a birthday celebration for Debbie. I won't double-post the photo albums, but if you're on Facebook you can go to my facebook page and look at them...also some cool shots we took on a trip to the Atlanta History Center last week.

More Old Family Information

Wow, when you finally get a breakthrough on your family ancestry search, you can jump to a lot of new information quickly...
Just found out today that William Jones, my distant ancestor who emigrated from Shropshire, England to Virginia before eventually moving to South Carolina, also served in the Patriot forces during the Revolution.
I suspected that a Thomas Jones who fought in the Revolution was a son of William's, and that Thomas was an older brother of Solomon Jones, my ancestor born in 1774. Another ancestor, Nimrod Cross, gave a deposition about Thomas Jones' Revolutionary service so Thomas' ancient widow could get a congressional pension in the 1830s.
Anyway, I'm now eagerly trying to get in touch with a distant, distant cousin who's written a book about our Jones family. Of course I doubt that she has many of the Georgia Joneses in the book, but what I want is information about the ones 'way back there.'
And it looks as if we'll have a Jones family reunion this September or October in Forsyth County at Harmony Grove Baptist.
More when I learn more...

Parts of the chart...

These are jpg files taken from a scan of printouts of the pdf file of a MS Publisher file of my family chart I've been working on! In the last few days, I've jumped back over 200 years in tracing my family...pretty good for a guy that was stuck for roughly 20 years on "John Jones!"

If you click on each image, blogger opens the file in some kind of image deal that will let you see them in more detail. I have pages 1, 2, and 17-19 of the total of 20 pages in the big file. This was more or less an experiment!

Snow day on spring break!

Yesterday it spit snow all day, but didn't stick to anything. Overnight, it began to stick, and this morning the trees and grass were covered! It's still snowing now, even though the ground's still warm, and most of what was on the grass has melted. There's still a lot on the trees. These are some pix Debbie took this morning. They're dark because it was early and the sky was very overcast still.

The Jones Family Chart

Back in the mid-1980s I did some research on my Jones ancestors...those of you who've researched family roots can appreciate that when I hit my great-grandfather, John Leonard Jones, Jr, I was done. The problem is not finding John Jones, it's that there are so many John Joneses that you don't know which one is the right one!
Anyway, I recently did an update of the family chart. I don't have it complete by any means, since some of my cousins now have great-grandchildren. But I'm working on it. If I can figure out how to post a multi-page pdf on my blog, I'll put up my results.
In the meantime, there are at least 114 direct descendants of my grandfather M.D. Jones, of whom an even 100 are still living. My Dad is the only one of his generation still living, and one brother-in-law, Wade Martin, plus my Mom, are the only spouses of his generation still living.
I know that there are more family members for whom I don't have names, birthdates, etc. so watch for an update!

April Fool's roof

Some of you know that I'm trying to finish building a combination woodworking shop/storage building down in the woods behind my house. It all started about a year ago when I got a real deal on some 3/4" plywood from Matthew's neighbor.
After quite a bit of work, I now have the four walls completed all but the plywood on the framing over the door openings, and some other minor small plywood 'patches' where walls join, so I'm hoping to get some help from some friends and get the roof trusses that are now stacked in the yard installed, the roof decking bought and installed, and shingles in place. My target date is to get the trusses up by April Fools' Day and the decking/shingles in by the next weekend.
The building is 12'x20' with 10' high walls inside, so it's going to give me a good bit of room. Hopefully enough storage that I can dispense with one of the storage units I have rented right now. That saved monthly rent will pay for the cost of my materials for the building in a year or so!
I've been trying to download pix from my new phone, but haven't managed to do so yet. When I do, I'll have an album of pictures of the building to show everyone.

Haven't stopped blogging, I've just had...

ISSUES!
Namely, my home computer and blogspot have been having an ongoing feud, and I can only post from work. I don't have time at work to blog, so there you go...since January.
One thing I'm trying to finally get done is to finish the combo storage building/shop out behind my house. The floor was done last fall, and over the winter, the walls have gone up. To be done with the outside walls, I have only 2 more 8-foot wall panels to nail in place (they're odd widths, or they'd have gone up with the framing like the complete 4'x8' panels. Then there are a couple of areas over doorways to finish, and a couple of narrow strips where walls join.
Then of course, we have to raise and place the 11 roof trusses I built (and the 2 end ones have to get their 'skins' of plywood. After that, just getting 4'x8' panels of roof decking up in place, nailed on, covered with tarpaper, and the shingles done...not much left to do, right?
So later I'll post photos of the process. Listen out for hammering!

2,547 miles

We went to Texas immediately after Christmas, and drove because we had so many presents to take.
Friday, Dec. 26th, we (Deb, BJ and I) left home at 6:15 EST, stopped briefly in Alabama at Debbie's Mom's, and continued on toward Texas, arriving north of Houston at about 10:30 PM CST. LOOONG day! We stayed that night with Dave & Sharon Collins, parents of our daughter-in-law Kayla.
On Saturday, we went on to Karnes City to Nathan and Kayla's (they were also traveling back from Houston that day). That evening was almost another Christmas as Brenna opened a lot of gifts not only from us, but from Uncles, great-grandparents, etc. Sunday morning, I preached at FBC there, which is across the street and three doors down from Nathan's. In the evening, we did a concert for them, with Debbie playing (a Steinway!--if a bit out of tune), Nathan and I both singing and playing our horns, and some congregational singing, too.
Monday was mostly a day to rest, enjoy Brenna, and help with some upkeep around Nathan/Kayla's house. We also went to pick up a TV Nathan bought from Craig's list--$50 for a JVC 42" screen!--because their TV had 'died' on Saturday. Tuesday we went to San Antonio, since BJ had never visited the Alamo. We went there in the morning, then walked through the Riverwalk, got an early lunch at Casa Rio (great Mexican place on the river) and went for a 30-minute boat tour, all before Brenna's nap time!
Wednesday BJ, Debbie and I went to Goliad, TX, because of its connections with James Walker Fannin, for whom our county here in GA is named. When I get pix downloaded, I may try to post about this. More Texans died for independence at Goliad than at the Alamo and battle of San Jacinto combined, but it's little-known today.
Thursday we watched the UGA game with Nathan (I think for him this was the whole point of the trip--to have other ardent Georgia fans with him to watch the game!) After the game, we drove to Houston to Kayla's grandmother's house where we spent the night.
Friday was another long driving day, leaving about 6 AM and driving until about 7 PM to Opelika, where we spent the night with Debbie's Mom (and most of the next day.) Deb's Mom had a diabetic episode at lunch and almost had to go to the ER, but then got OK. We drove back to Georgia in the evening, dropping BJ off in Woodstock, going by Matt & Tasha's to deliver gifts from Nathan/Kayla, and got in about 10:30 PM.
Sunday at church was a good but full day, and Monday/Tuesday this week were full of catching up at work, so now you can understand why I haven't blogged in so long!
Pictures soon, I hope!

Great Games

Don't know how many of you out there are football fans, but this ESPN magazine story brought tears to my eyes...http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3789373&type=story