Day to day

I thought we would show some of o.ur everyday things that we encounter such as the kitchen. Everything is small. Most buildings/houses that you see in London are rarely a one family house. They are divided up into many different flats which usually have only 2 to 3 rooms plus a bathroom. We have a kitchen which is large compared to most, a living room, bedroom and a bathroom the size of a closet. As you can see, we have to either bend over or kneel to see into our refrigerator. The stove is only half the size of what I'm used to. We feel lucky to have the size of flat we have as many of the other people that live here have only one room and have to share a bathroom and use the centres kitchen. We'll post pictures of the rest of the flat in a few days. Cheers!

April B-Day Celebrations

We have a house meal every Monday evening, taking turns with making the main dish and everyone else signs up for salads, bread, & dessert. It was a fabulous day last Monday and we ate out on the patio and decorated it with lights and candles as it was Will's birthday. We grilled hamburgers over an open fire. The beef here is a far cry from what we are used to in the States. But it was good anyway. Any guests we have at the centre at the time are invited and we had Deb Brubaker from Goshen join us that night. She is a music prof at Goshen College on sabbatical doing some interviewing of church leaders about their music. We are meeting a lot of mission workers, church workers, people working on papers for degrees, etc. that use the centre for lodging, meetings, or library use.
Our latest outing was to the museum of natural history. We attended a special photography exhibit which was fantastic.

Cemetery resident of the week: MONK: William Henry (1823-1889). Choirmaster, organist and composer of church music, notably that for "Abide with me". Musical Editor of the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern.

House Update

Drywall tape and dope is well on its way. The beams look like they have had some finish applied.

On the outside the window trim is complete but they haven't gone any further.

Celebration in the Garden

The garden is a source of great pride here at the LMC. It is quite large and offers a wonderful venue for worship, solitude, and parties! We have visitors coming regularly to spend the day in the garden Prayer Hut.

There are several April birthdays to celebrate here. Last night we celebrated Will's with a barbecue (interesting, since Will is a vegetarian). Every Monday night we have a "house meal" taking turns with he main dish. It was a wonderful evening in the garden.

Nothing new to report on the house. Plans were to be taping the drywall last week and this. We haven't heard how its going. We'll post a photo when we get one.

Cemetary resident of the week. (we actually visited the cemetary over Easter weekend. It is mostly overgrown and gnarly, but interesting) Sayers, Thomas (1826-1865) Last of the bare-fisted fighters. About 10,000 people attended his funeral.

House Progress

The drywall is hung in the whole house. This week they will tape and dope the seams. Here is the kitchen, looking toward the front door. We hope things will continue to move along at this pace.

Thanks again to the Grabers for the photos.

Four Day Easter Weekend!

Yes, you heard me. In the UK they take Good Friday and Easter Monday as holidays. It was wonderful. The weather was terrific and there was time for some casual strolling through the area. This is Crouch End. The people in the picture are the staff here at LMC. We are standing in front of Banners - a pub that Bob Dillon used to frequent when he was recording in the area some years ago. He wasn't in this afternoon.

The other fellow we encountered (Tuck)was hiding in an abandon train station. He had some excellent stock tips but didn't know where Dillon was either.

Cemetary resident of the week: Willis, Henry (1821-1901) Built or rebuilt over 1000 pipe organs - including the one in Albert Hall, London.

We took a little Trip

About an hour and a half South (by train) of London is the beautiful town of Bournemouth. Beautiful beaches and views as well as expensive real estate and lots of tourist attractions. We arrived about 1:00 PM, played a round of mini-golf, and, after some delicious (and greasy) fish and chips, we headed up the beach for a nice stroll. It was windy which made it feel cooler than you would like the beach to be. They have the cutest beach huts (6' X 8') that line the beach road - seems like hundreds of them. I guess you can rent them for the day or the summer. Interesting. The water really doesn't get very warm, so I guess they just hang out at the hut and watch and listen to the surf.

It was a great day. We went with Tim and Karlyn Wedler - a young Canadian couple (Emily and JJ's age) that lives here at the LMC. They have jobs in London and are taking every opportunity to visit as many European destinations as possible. What a life! We had a great time with them.

Cemetary Resident of the Week: Osbaldeston, George (1787 - 1866) Famed as huntsman and steeplechaser. His record for 200 miles was not beaten until Skudamore covered the distance in 4 minutes, 19 seconds less in 1993.

Some Progress

Some good progress this week! The roof is completely finished, the insulation is installed and the additional wood beams have been added in the great room area. Sheet rock (drywall) is being hung this week. This should take almost two weeks to complete. They have a good start on the exterior trim as well.

We can't wait till there is stucco on the exterior. The outside has had the "bare wood" look for too long!

Thanks to the Corbin/Tanya Graber family for the photos!