Two of our neighbors

The human is Herman, our neighbor in Woodland Park, CO who, with his wife Mary, lives down the mountain from us. He is originally from Germany but has lived in Colorado for nearly 30 years. He is retired and has many hobbies. One is that he is building a castle in his back yard. It is a small one, but one that will be livable when he is done. He has been featured on several episodes of one of HGTVs programs about unusual homes. Here he is feeding one of our other neighbors whom he calls Josephine. Josephine is a fox and has either a partner or friend (fox) that is more timid than Josephine and didn't show up for this photo shoot. Ed and I noticed many times that we would spot a fox around and Herman has been able to befriend her and feed her by hand. Here he found some cold french fries (chips if you are British) that were left by one of the workers on our building site.
At first she was shy about posing for Ed and the camera but she didn't run off so I think we have a friend.

A trip to the States

Ed and I took a trip to the states from Sept 12-27. We flew from London to Colorado Springs on the 12th and had perfect connections. We spent two days in the Springs with Emily and JJ then drove to Harper to visit my mom and family and friends. We had a great time visiting with everyone which included a get together with many friends at Pam and Jerry Gerbers house on a Sunday evening.

We then drove back to Colorado Springs and spent the rest of the time at Emily and JJ's house. Ed spent most of that time working with the City, County, bank, and general contractor trying to get things moved along so that we could get the certificate of occupancy which means we could then move our things out of storage and into the house. Several inspections took place while we were there, (electrical, pluming, and structural.) That allowed us to move things from storage into our garage but not into the house as the driveway still needs to be paved and the wall on the drive up to the house needs some erosion control things to be done to it which should take place on the first and second week of October. By putting money into an account which states that the money will be used for the paving and erosion control issues, the city did provide us with a C.O. but not until the day we were leaving for London. So Emily and JJ will have to do this on their own. Luckily they have good family, friends, and church support to help them out.

Special thanks to Spike and Gloria for staying around several extra days to help us move our things from the storage sheds into the garage. Also to Merv, JJ's dad, and Tonya and Corbin Graber for their extra muscle on that day.

A real big thanks to Jim Hathaway for doing tons of work on the house since we have been in London. Without him, I'm sure we would not be this far along. He has been a real driving force and has been a great communicator with us on the progress.

Here are a few pictures.

Initial moving day

Moving the couch up the stairs.
This is a picture of our house using a telephoto lens from about 1/2 mile away looking up to our property.

Thanks Tonya!

After a day full of moving lots of storage containers and furniture we needed sustenance. Tonya Graber provided pizza, pop, and a few other goodies.

Washer & Dryer installation

When the washer goes into it's spin cycle it should be smooth with no shaking about. Between Spike Hostetler, Merv Birky, and JJ Birky, and Ed of course but not in the pictures, we have our W&D installed and perfectly balanced. Spike spent a long time on the refrigerator but I don't have any pictures of that. It took at least 30 minutes if not longer to get the ref up the stairs due to a very tight fit.

The final moments

We were in the middle of moving a few things into the great room when we looked out the large windows of the great room and saw a full moon rising over rampart range. It was a great ending to the day. So then we plopped down onto the couch and put our feet up.

Woodland Park, Colorado house update

Here are some more pictures that Emily has taken and sent to us on the net. I love the Internet capabilities. The final finish was put on the wood floor this last week. I think most everything is done on the inside.

Here you are inside the master bathroom looking into the master bedroom.

This is the first application of the stucco which does not have the final color. The second and final stucco application is scheduled to be applied on Thursday. I think we picked out a tan color. It's been so long ago, I can't remember. The decking and posts are to be put on after the stucco is done. Also the stone work is yet to be applied to the bottom third of the house as well as the bottom third of the posts that hold up the deck.

Birds at Warwick castle

These are three of the birds that we saw at Warwick castle. The bird trainer would have the birds fly over the crowd of people just barely above their heads. Ed was unable to get a really good shot of the bald eagle in flight. The eagle would grab it's food when the trainer would throw it up into the air, usually with it's beak but sometimes with it's claws.

Warwick Castle

Ed looked at the blog and told me that I forgot to include our day at Warwick castle last weekend. We were told it would take two hours to go through the castle. I think we were there for at least four and could have done more. Instead of just touring the castle, there were many things to watch such as jousting, sword fighting, archery, trebuchet exhibition, large bird flight exhibition, etc.

A weekend away

There is a yearly event in Cheltenham on the raceway called "Greenbelt" which in a nut shell is a Christian Arts Festival. There are musicians, speakers, Boothe's, and much more that thousands of people attend. Some camp on site, others come for a day or stay nearby in a hotel or B&B. Our church, the London Menn. Centre plus a couple other organisations that the Centre is connected with have boothe's there and people sign up to man them. Ed and I decided we aren't the camping sort, especially in this case where the tents are only about 5 feet apart from each other, no showers, sleeping on the ground, etc. Plus all the hotels were booked. So we drove the others there and then took off for a long weekend away. Monday was what the British call a Bank Holiday. I don't know what the holiday was but it gives most people that Monday off. So the next few entries are about what we did. We had a great time and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was mostly sunny, usually in the mid 20's (C) which would be low 70's F and dry.

Stratford upon Avon

We spent a day and a half in Stratford which is on the river Avon. This is where Shakespeare was born and lived. The entire town is dedicated to him in one way or another. You can tour his home, his wife's home, they have the Royal Shakespear Company which has all kinds of Shakespeare productions all year long. All of these were on a break during the weekend we were there. However, we found a young theatre group that put on the production of The Twelfth night on a stage outside by the river. We sat on mats on the grass and it was a beautiful day plus it was free. Well they did ask for donations at the end. After that a younger group, as in 12 year olds, were doing Hamlet, but we ventured on towards other events. The first picture is of the river Avon, the next is Shakespeare's home where he grew up, third is the theatre group at the end of the play, and the last is a statue of Shakespeare.

Monk's Barn

This is the Bed and Breakfast where Ed and I stayed for three nights. It's just outside of Stratford upon Avon on a working sheep farm. The Barn is dated pre 1500's and they are in the process of restoring it. It is registered so they have to do things in a way that takes a long time. While were were there we could watch them putting on a new thatched roof. Very time consuming. This first picture is of one of the buildings close to the house which we think had at least one bedroom in it. The second picture is of the pasture/meadow right behind the house of their sheep grazing. The last picture is the backyard of the main house which has at least four rooms for guests. Ours was the room with the three rectangular windows on the right of the house. She served a "full British Breakfast" which is 2 eggs, grilled bacon, sausage, a tomato, mushrooms, toast, cereal, juice, and coffee or tea. You could have baked beans if you asked for them which is very traditional as well. They look like they come right out of the can. Yogurt and/or fresh fruit could be ordered for a lighter appetite. We usually had the larger meal which lasted us until evening.

Hidcote Gardens

When we were driving through the Cotswolds country, we happened upon this garden. It's one of the largest I've ever been to and was really varied. It had wooded areas, large open trimmed grass areas, "English garden" type areas with boxwood, etc. and wilder looking areas that were less "manacured". I would have to put in 20 pictures to give you a decent idea of what it all encompassed.

"Where time has stood still"

Here is the Village of Snowshill which on the info from our B&B said that it is one of a couple of villages in the Cotswolds where it appears that time has stood still. The road into Snowshill was just barely more than a one vehicle width and we would often have to stop and pull over slightly to let the oncoming vehicle through. It is worth it just to see the quaint homes and shops that are all made of the same sandstone.

Tower Bridge

These are pictures that we took back in March when Weldon, Jenny, and Laurel Martens were here visiting. Ed and I just haven't done much recently and haven't taken any pictures to show. And with all the cloudy, rainy, cool weather we've been having, I wanted to look at some pictures with blue skies to remind me that we do have sunshine here.
We are going on a weekend get away to a B&B and hope to have some good pics after that. We actually are flying back to the States on September 12th to visit my mom and family in the Harper area, then most of the time in Colorado. We were hoping to be able to stay in our house that is being built in Woodland Park, CO. However, even though the inside is finished, the outside things are not completely done. The city & county are stricked and they won't give us a certificate of occupancy until things are all done. It's hard for Emily and JJ as they are going to move into the house wants it's done and they don't know when to tell their land lady. She wants a months notice and it's just hard to know. A year ago we thought we might possibly be in our house by the end of the year or at least before we left for London. Oh well!
The Centre has officially been closed to meetings, seminars, etc. for the month of August. We have continued to have guests in the guests rooms. We've had several people on their way to mission assignments and it has been interesting hearing about what they will be doing. Some are going home from their assignments and they enjoy having a stop in London for a few days before they go home. I'm glad we have a place for them to relax.
I'll try to post after we get back from our weekend in the Cotswolds.

A trip to Bristol

Ed and one of the guys that live at the Centre took a trip to Bristol which is close to the West coast of England. They went for two days and saw a few sights. Ed can't remember the name of this bridge but he must have been impressed as there were a lot of pictures to choose from to post.
There was a balloon loft going on and again lots of pictures to choose from. They stayed with the sister of Will, one of the other guys that both lives and works at the Centre. Will goes to Bristol nearly every other weekend to visit his mother who is in a long term care facility so Ed and John rode along.

Brunel's ss Great Britain

This is the ss Great Britain which is the worlds first great ocean liner. It could run on either steam or use it's sails.

This is a picture of one of the great halls, (on the ship) where they would have dinners etc. Here it is set up for a wedding reception that was to happen later that day.

More from Lithuania

I am sitting at an outdoor table at a cafe by a lake and behind me is this counter where you can purchase smoked flounder. We had some kind of pike for our meal and it was really good.
This castle is on another lake in Lithuania near Vilnius, the capital. The bottom part of this castle is the original and the top is new since some time in the past 40 or 50 years. I can't remember at this point. There were too many facts about Lithuania to absorb in a week.
Lithuania is strongly Roman Catholic and there are many icons to be seen. This is one we saw often which is called the contemplative Christ.

Lithuania

I'm still learning how to post things on the blog to get them in the order that I want. Seems like when I think that I have it figured out, then it changes. So for the next few pictures you need to read the paragraph below the pictures to know what they are about and where we were.

The beach and folk singing/dancing

The beach was great. The water however was very cold. There were quite a few people who got in however.
We had supper at a large restaurant in the country and they had arranged for this group of players/singers for us. They played and sang traditional Lithuanian songs and did some dancing as well.
A number of times they would grap someone from their table and start dancing. I happened to be close to the group so I got chosen a couple of times.

This is a view of Klaipeda from the top of a tall building where we had lunch one day.

Mennonite Mission Network workers gathering

Sorry that it has been awhile since I have entered anything on the blog. There hadn't been a lot happening at the Centre as it slows down somewhat during the middle of July through August. We went to a seminar/retreat for MMN workers of Europe which this year was held in Lithuania. It has been about 15 years since the dissolution of the USSR and Lithuania is still in transition in many ways. Much rebuilding is going on with the infrastructure yet there are reminders of the old Soviet Union. We flew into Vilnius, the capital city, took a 3 1/2 hr bus ride to Klaipeda. We stayed in the student dorms of the LCC International University. (Formerly known as the Lithuania Christian College). There are a lot of North Americans teaching and working there on staff. The University has been in existance since 1992 as an invitation from the Lithuanian Government shortly after they received independence. It is an amazing thing to see how they have grown and what is happening there. Too much info to put into this blog. In a nutshell, we had a great time. Visiting with other missionaries in Europe, eating the local ethnic food, and doing a lot of shopping and touring in the city. We spent a couple afternoons on the beach but the water was very cold. Klaipeda is at the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska but isn't quite as cold. However they say Lithuania has two seasons: July and Winter. It was quite cold when we arrived and I wasn't sure I had enough to keep me warm. We had warmer temps as the days went on with upper 70's or more by the end. It was really humid so I'm glad it didn't get too much hotter. I will not insert all 500 plus pictures we took (thank goodness for digital photography) but will put in a few and maybe throughout the next couple of weeks as well.

sunny France

It was so nice to be in France where the weather was actually like summer! It was around 75 to 80 degrees and mostly sunny. London has been rainy and cool, often not getting over 68. 68 is good but I need more sunshine. Today is TUESDAY the 24th July: When we got home from France I found that the refrigerator in the main kitchen was not cold, not even cool. So the milk and everything else was spoiled. Ed used a good part of the day to check out refrigerators on the internet through a company called "Which". It is similar to consumer reports but for the U.K. We greet new guests, a family of four, from Chicago, IL. At 7:30p we have a house dessert together because after the huge house meal last night, we were too full to eat dessert. Last night we ate rollkuchen and watermelon which is a Russian Mennonite meal that was eaten in the summer when they had lots of melons. If you want to try it out, the recipe is in the more with less cook book. Two of the Centres residents are back from Berkina Faso, where they were for six weeks for various reasons. They brought back treats of cashews and dried mango and gifts of carved elephants made out of hard redwood. Then later we briefly talked with Darlene Bontrager on Skype. So now it's time for bed and tomorrow has a lot of mailings of manuals to go out to participants of the next mediation facilitation workshop given by Bridge Builders.

What were we thinking????

About a month ago Tim and Karlyn Wedler wanted to know if we wanted to go with them to Disney land Paris for a weekend. Well, it's not what I would think to do if I go to Paris, but Tim and Karlyn are going home soon and they are a lot of fun to be around. Plus it's not often that 25 yr olds want to spend a significant amount of time with 50 plus year olds. So we agreed to go. Well, it was a good time, except for the travel to and from. We went low tech which meant leaving on a bus from London on Friday at 8:30p, to Dover, on a ferry to Calais, then to Paris where we ended up at the bus station at 8:00am having had a terrible time of sleeping on the bus & ferry. Then a whole day at the park. The weather was great which was a nice change from London. Ed and I headed to the Hostel earlier than the other 4 (there were two other young girls too). We got off at the right bus stop, but it was a bit tricky finding the hostel, on foot, not knowing french and it was getting dark. Well we made it, tired and weary and feeling all of our years. We slept in the next day while the other 4 went to the park at 8am. We met them at 12noon. The sleep helped a lot and we had another great day both at the park and weather wise. At the end of the day, we took the sub to the bus station and did the trip backwards through the night again. This time with the bus Nazi. He yelled at people and was very strict about what we could or couldn't have on the bus.

FRIDAY

I'm writing this before the day is out as we will be leaving for an out of town trip at 6p. I'll talk about that in another post.
Today Ed's day is filled with trying to fix the internet. That has involved talking with people on the phone and him getting a bit frustrated. He also takes care of all the ordering of anything for the centre whether it be paper supplies or office furniture, to hardware, phone lines, etc. So he is often on the phone learning how things are done in the UK.
I find that I am able to understand Brits on the phone much more easily and even the Northern Ireland and Scottish accents I can handle fairly well. There are times when I meet someone and they start talking and it might be a minute or so before I realize that they are American.
I've given out directions frequently to people who pass me on the street and I'm amazed that I usually know where it is they need to go.
I'm doing a lot of changing addresses in the data base on the computer and mailing out materials that have been requested.
I miss my job as a nurse and I think I will be ready to get back to it when we return in 2010. I hope I don't forget too much.

THURSDAY

Today was busy with lots of "little" things. Ed did the mowing and trimming and raking of some debris that the walnut tree gives off.
There is a group called Partnership meeting today from 1p-6p so everything needs to be set up for that and then check on them through out and of course clean up afterwards.
I do some brownie baking as it is a cool and cloudy day and just seems right.
A new guest comes for a three day lay over on his way back from Ethiopia. It is Martin Histand, a 25 yr. old from Corvalis, OR. He was in the SALT program and has just finished. He is also a good friend of our oldest dau Emily and so we have a good time talking about that. He is there is time for tea and so meets the other young people at the Centre. He gets invited to have supper with the four young women of the house......I wonder why Ed and I weren't invited?
Our other family of guests are leaving in the morning so Ed and I are helping them with travel arrangements. I didn't realize before we came how much of that we would be doing. It is a little easier now that we have been here for awhile.
I get some house laundry done.
The Wood Green Mennonite Church (WGMC) has a prayer meeting for a 19 yo girl in the church dealing with cancer and chemotherapy.

WEDNESDAY

Besides the usual things of the day, we take the mini van to Tesco's which is a large grocery store. We get groceries for the centre and for ourselves and fill the van up with gas. Gas here is 96 pence/liter. In U.S. money, that would come out to about $7/gallon.

We just did a large mailing and now I am dealing with address changes to be made in our data base. We also get a lot of requests for brochures and other information that need to be sent out. Email keeps pouring in and needs to be dealth with.

The LMC is in the middle of purchasing the remainder of the building that they don't own. Ed is doing all the phone work....getting the surveys and appraisals arranged, and then meeting with those people to show them around.

One of our regular prayer hut users has reserved today for it's use.

Ed and I have the young Canadian couple living on the third floor to our flat for supper.

TUESDAY

We start with the usual beginnings. Today there is a group of three from the National Youth Theatre who are coming to have a planning session for the rest of their season. We get a number of groups that are not associated with the Centre but like the facility and the large garden area in the back. By having a meeting here, they can get away from the office and not be bothered. Ed works on a desk he is making for the office. We have a staff meeting from 2-4p which we have every two weeks. New guests arrive and I show them aroung the centre and get them settled in. They join us for tea at 4p.

Tonight at 7:30 is the Wood Green Mennonite Church communion and meal at the Centre. We share a simple meal, have communion, foot washing, and then prayer time.

SUNDAY & MONDAY

Ed & I were talking and realized that we haven't really shown on this blog about what we actually do for the London Mennonite Centre. We have focused more on the sights and sounds of London which have been great. However, we do work as well and so I would like to journal for a week each month to give you a picture of our lives at the centre.
Sunday, 15th July: We have been here now for five months. When people stop me on the street and ask for directions to somewhere, I actually can tell them. Ed drove a neighbor of ours, some of his musician friends and their equipment to a BB/restuarant outside of London where they were putting on a concert/show and dinner. Johnny (the neighbor) is a professional singer and has done some acting at some of the West London theatres. This would be the equivalent to Broadway in New York. We can often hear him practicing when he has his back door & windows open as our back yards are next to each other. He is a fantastic singer.
I stayed back and went to church as I hadn't been in two weeks. Since Ed took the mini bus, it means we have to walk. This is a 40 min brisk walk one way. It's a good way to get your sense of direction. Afterwards, we often congregate in the lounge on the main floor and talk, play games, etc.
MONDAY, 16th July: Ed and I are at our "posts" by 8:30 or 9am. He sweeps the front porch and steps, the main bathrooms, make sure that the trash is emptied. I (Phyllis) try to look at the email first thing and get all of that answered. I receive all the email that is directed to the LMC and so either answer it or send it to the appropriate people. The mail comes around 10a and I distribute that. Today there is a "Root and Branch" meeting in the lounge. This is a network of Christian organizations in Britian & Ireland committed to shared radical values and vision with respect to anabaptist perspectives. We get the room ready with chairs, charts, coffee, etc. They are there until 1pm and then we clean up afterwards. We are welcome to sit in.
Mon - Fri's I have coffee & biscuits ready for break at 11a where all the staff gather in the kitchen around the table or outside if it is nice. At 12:50 Mon-Fri, we (the staff) have prayers in the chapel for 10 mins. Then it's lunch from 1p-2p. Ed and I are always "on" so to speak as if someone rings the door bell, then we are responsible to answer it. There are others who do if we are out. Also when the phone rings at the Centre, if we are there then we will answer it.
Ed has several little maintenance type things to do around the house and gets those done.
At 4p Mon-Fri, I have tea & biscuits ready for the staff and any guests or visitors that may be there. After tea, Ed wraps up any books that Will (the bookstore manager) has gotten ready to be mailed out from the metanoia book shop which is mostly an on line store.
Tonight is house meal night and we take turns with having the main course. It is our night and so I walk about the equivalent of 5-6 blocks to get some ingredients for spaghetti. At 6:30 we buzz that we are ready and all the people that live at the centre, plus any guests in the guests rooms at the time come for supper and bring whatever they signed up to bring. Tonight we have three guests so we have 16 people around the kitchen table. Lots of conversation goes on and the main topic is Ian's recent trip to the States. He flew with three other friends to Chicago, rented a car and drove to Goshen for three days, then drove through Ohio, stayed in Pennsylvania for awhile then to NYC. He loved it and was impressed. He got to see Amish and was able to do some water colors. Ian is an architect by profession and an artist as his hobby. Often Monday nights are topped off with me playing some scrabble with some of the younger girls, or rook, or other card game.
After 10 or 11p, we check to make sure that all the doors & windows downstairs are closed and locked, and the blinds are drawn and I recheck the calendar to see what is on for the next day. We try to phone Emily as it is around 3p when it is 10p here, but she doesn't have her phone on or is out of range. Then it is soon time for bed.......after checking the email and blog comments of course!