Christmas Came to Jane and Me

The very best gift anyone could receive is that of grandchildren.  Well,,, we've got 6 of the very smartest, most beautiful, most talented,,,,oh well you know!!!!

From left to right,,,, Sara Grace, Lucy Anna, Andrew, Elizabeth Bell (ZuZu), Si (the newest) and the little lady laying in Sara's lap is Sophia Catherine (Sophie Cat)

Now tell me,,,,,,,, pretty great huh?????








The entire family is below including Andy, Jen and all the kids.  Andy and Jen just moved to Johnson City, TN where Dr. Andrew is responsible for the interns and residency program development for East Tenn State University Medical School.   WE HAVE BEEN BLESSED......

They are so reserved and never have any fun!?

Mom and Dad get in the act too, so,,,,,  Andy works seven days a week and Jen works 9 days a week.

Six + One takes a few extra days a week you know.

Merry Christmas To All

Jane and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a safe and Happy New Year.

This has been a great year for us with many many blessings.

We have enjoyed wonderful family activities and never cease to be amazed at the grace of our Lord and Savior.

2010 will be one of the best years we have ever had thanks to our family as well as the friends that we have made here in Rye, AR.  

We can validate the often used phrase "you are never too old to learn" in so many ways.

We have prepared the old house a little bit for the seasons with some Christmas decorations.

We look forward to the New Year and continuing the work here and trust you too will have a great New Year and come and visit with us anytime.

Well Howdy, Its been a while

We have been so busy with Thanksgiving and general family times we just haven't been very diligent in our posting so, here goes with an update.


Kay and Donald (and Lisa, Donna and Mark) had all the family again at their home for thanksgiving.  As usual the food was plentiful and the visiting was so good that the time passed so fast we all were surprised when it was over.  Somewhere around 37 people at one time eating and enjoying each other and giving thanks for all their blessings.  How good does that get?

As far as the house goes, we've just been enjoying the work we've finished and the blessing of being here and having such good family relations.  We've just finished insulating the attic and boy does it make a difference.   Donald and your truly spent the afternoon in a cloud of dust and a ended up with a pile of empty plastic bags that was full of insulation.  Looks pretty good and it does make a difference.

We got our first snow fall of the year and the ole place just shinned in the early morning hours.  Just beautiful we think

The kitchen, extra bedroom, hall and finally the "sleeping porch" will be our next projects.  We're still enjoying every minute (hour or day) of the work process.  Its just going to be beautiful.  All the original owners and users are gonna be proud of the ole place again.

We'll keep you posted and hope to be moving forward.

We would say Happy Holidays, but we say MERRY CHRISTMAS if you get the idea!!!!!!!

Wild Halloween Party Makes News

Have you ever been to a winnie roast with a bunch of seniors?  Well, if you haven't you've missed it.

 Its starts out with a good spirit and everybody helping everybody else.
Lots of fun and fellowship and howdy doodie for all.

Then it gets real quite, and still.  Concentration and technique are beginning to take over.  Just total concentration on that wonderful "tube steak" meal.
(Notice Pastor Wiles {denim jacket, red hair standing on the left} is getting just the right turn on his stick!)

The mood is turning really somber and the group is remembering what their first winnie roasts were like I bet.







Ms Marry Mercer was just back from her west coast tour vacation and was glad to be back home.

She really liked San Francisco.  Her other traveling companions were not at the roast, Mr Sam and Ms Brenda were recovering from the travel and excitement.




A good time was had by all and the evening was over early.   One really really good coconut cream pie
was missing after Ms Pat Ashcraft worked so hard on it.  I think it found its way up to Pansy to the only person that came from Pansy, I'm just saying.......

South side of the house completed

Well,

We finally got the south side of the house painted and it looks as good to us as the north side and the front of the house.

We have also finished the front porch by rebuilding and painting the porch columns and the concrete platforms that they rest on.  The only thing left is the porch floor which once everyone agrees on what we are going to do with the floor remodeling, we'll finish that off in short time.

As a "catch up" bit of info, we have all but completed our living room redesign and remodel and now have a nice antique mirror thanks to Margie to help in the living room.  We will be completed when we finish out he mantel we will custom build.

We have been a little delayed in our work due to some heavy fishing arranged by Donald Curry.  I had to leave the picture large enough so you could see the results of his skills and efforts.  Yep, that's a trophy bream caught by the master himself!

No, actually Donald has lead several fishing trips lately and we've all had a great time.  We've fished the banks of the Bayou Meto, the Saline River and Fort Morgan.  We all have caught some really nice bass and Donald has been able to boat several very large crappie.  Donald always gets the best help from Kay for the cleaning process.   

Donald is "on the hunt" right here.  Looks like a lot of hard work don't it?  (This is on the Saline River at Paradise Island)

Man what fun this has been.

Thats a big fish but the smile on my face is even bigger!  Caught that bass on an ultra light crappie rig, and that was fun.

Well, Ya'll come to see us.  We can't leave the lights on for you, utility rates and all but still, yawl come to see,,,,, you hear?

Not Much But We've Finished The Front

Well, not much to report, we've actually slowed a bit in our work.  Don't know why except we "got tired" and began to pace ourselves a little.

However, we have just about completed the front of the house.  We built and painted all of the columns and installed them this week.  We also moved all of the construction equipment and material to the back where we will be focusing on in the coming days.  Cleaned off the front porch too and boy did that make a difference.

Compared to the picture on the opening of the blog, I think you can see a difference.

The front porch will almost be usable now.  Great place to begin and end the day

From February to September

From the left side to the right side and a lot of hard work.  We finally got the windows rebuilt, installed and painted.
Looks like a new house too!

New tin roof, new paint job, rebuilt windows, partially rebuilt porch. We have to paint the south side of the house and the back.  Pray for us!

As you can see, we are building the porch columns back and they too will be painted to finish out the front porch and the entrance of the ole house.  

In case your interested in "how", heres the process.  We had to remove the old windows completely, piece by piece and square up the opening.  This all took place about 15 feet above the ground so it was a little "hairy" for this ole fat boy.  Once down we rebuilt them "piece by piece" back to their original condition or as close as we could get them.  Remember, these are custom built windows and are not "pre hung" windows of the modern day.

Thanks to Donald and "The Ole Big Red Massey" we were able to lift the windows back in the bucket and I could install them with a safer and more sturdy platform to work.  These windows should be here for another couple of decades at least. 

Once up there and in position it was just a matter of putting up with the 98 degree September 23rd typical fall day in Rye.  I think Donald was sleeping while I worked.   (No not really)

Anyway, its getting there and we are getting closer to being ready for a show and tell in person.  Maybe we'll meet our Thanksgiving Day goal.  Jane and I are blessed to get to do the work and we enjoy every minute of it.  From February 8th till now we have not had a bad day here.  Not many people can say that, anywhere in the world.  

Come see us.  Kay and Jane will fix pecan pie, banana pudding, cornbread and beans and we'll have a good ole visit.

Another Weeks Work Done Again

These past few weeks have sure been busy and a short little break is in line.  Today the Razorbacks play Alabama and its crazy in this state today.  Oh Well, back to work and reporting.

Actually, I'm having trouble uploading my pictures so I'll just use this as a test post.   Bear with me, I'll be right back.

By The Way

Last week when Touch Up Tommy was here Donald took us on another 4 wheeler evening down in the Saline River bottoms.  Donald grew up in this area and he knows it like the back of his hand and boy was it exciting.

This is an old cabin that was the Young's  (Miss Peggy and her husband) for years.  It sits on the edge of the river and it is rustic to say the least.  I understand that Mr. Young had a hand pump for water and no lights.  Can't you just imagine this camp in the late 50's or early 40's?   This is about 5 miles from nowhere back at the end of a several "deer camp trails".

Its abandoned now but you can just imagine the times here at this ole cabin.

On up the river Donald took us to ole "Tubby's " camp.  Its floating out in the water, tied up of course but,,,,,, a little too snakie for me.   Tubby has offered this to Donald any time he wants to spend the night but,,, I don't think he (or Kay) has taken up the invitation.  This is the area where Donna, Lisa and Mark grew up riding 4wheelers, mini bikes and the like.  This also the area where everyone went to swim.  Can you just imagine swimming in the water with all the game (and snakes) around?  By the way, that's ole Tommy Touch Up there with Donald.  Yours truly was just there for camera work I guess.

Sad Sad Sad.

Finally, while we were scrapping, painting and generally working our butts off, Pink Kitty was happy to play on the scaffolds.  This is about 5 feet off the ground on a an old 2X8 board.  She was just enjoying the bugs and stuff and not even aware of the location.

Life is great, many memories are building, so to all the family and friends, come on down and get you own.  Before long, we'll have a place for anyone to "hang out" and enjoy the days of the past and the pleasures of today.

Thanks Donald and Kay,,,,,,,,

PS  If you come, plan on staying for a day or two.  It just not enough time to get the full benefit any sooner!!!

Painting Has Begun

They say a picture is worth a 1,000 words. well, here's about three thousand words I don't have to say.

Jane did the front porch and does it look great or what?

The side of the house is long, high and really needed a lot of paint. but, thanks to a lot of help its getting there.










Tommy the golf course designer came back.  He showed up and wanted food.  So, we fed and he painted and painted and ate and ate and painted and ate,,,, you get the idea.   His new name is "Touch Up Tommy" and he earned every bit of it.  Here he does some of his best work on the eaves.

On the other hand, I prefer to just give direction, drive the tractor and make fun of "Touch Up Tommy".   By the way the blue thing, that's Touch Up Tommy's cape.  (It goes with his ear rings and tongue jewelry)

No kidding, we could not have gotten this far without ole Touch Up Tommy.

By the way, if you look close you'll see two deer at the waters edge.  They wanted to paint too but they couldn't  hold the brushes.

God is good, this is fun and we hope you enjoy the progress reports.

Another Weeks Work Done

Well, guess what, the golf course designer we engaged turned out to be Tommy Arendt and Cookie Arendt.  Who would have ever guessed.  We didn't get much golf course design work done due to all the visiting and we ended up going on a four wheeler trip.  Tommy and Cookie used Donald's new version of 4 wheeler and Jane and I used Donald's old four wheeler that I have begun to keep up.

Jane and I look more like real racers don't we?  Tommy was a little scared as you can see on his face.  Cookie, well she was just Cookie.








One major accomplishment was to find and acquire our Propane tank.  Ole "hawk eye" Jane found it in the local thrifty nickel and we picked it up.  Actually, Mark and his trusty tractor and trailer and truck picked it up while Tommy and I gave direction.  Now we got to hook it up!   PS Mark seemed to know exactly where the previous owner lived,  strange out here?

Jane and I also were able to complete the dinning room.  The ceiling is done, the walls are finished and the floor is now down.  We think it looks great.  One more room towards our Thanksgiving Day goal.

Boy are we going to eat and be merry that day.

Well, its back to the "salt mines" for Jane and I.  We are looking forward to having Tommy come back this week and help us paint the outside of the house.  What a help that will be and we will be kind to Mr. Arendt for his help.  

What a great place to be!!!!!

September Already

Well, it is September and boy can we tell it by the temperature.  Love this weather, got to get even better.

To the basics,  we've started scraping the ole house and boy is it a lot to scrape.  We have finished the north side of the house and most of the back so we'll be adding our first coat early this week, if the good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise".  Lots of work but with the new roof, the paint will make a lot of difference.

We are also beginning the development of the 3 par golf course for the annual Thanksgiving Day Curry-Baker Celebrity Golf Tournament.  The first three holes are already laid out by the good Lord, all we have to do is cut it and take care of it.  We're bringing in the well know golf course designer Tommy Arendt from Rogers AR and his trusty assistant Cookie Baker for the final preparation.    Tommy is well known for "Re-Designing" many golf courses in his career.  He typically does not like to play most courses the way they were designed so we're going to let him design this one the way he likes to play.  (no fairways because he never uses them anyway)

 

The above is hole number 1.  Its a 165 yard hole over a tree, over a pond with the green located exactly 3 yards to the right of the front door of the barn and 5 yards short of the wire fence.  This baby will be a challenge to any golfer.

Hole number two will tee off just to the left of the 1 green and will carry back towards the Curry Road side of the course.  It will be 145 yards and the green is just to the left of the Cedar tree shown above and 

about 8 yards short of Curry Road.   Excellent on rainy days.

The third hole is 155 yards with the tee box just west of the Curry Road expressway and again over the pond.  There will be a 2 stroke penalty for hitting any water fowl on this hole and the green is between two Cedar trees and slopes left to right.

We'll be able to reach the third hole by cross the pond over the Robert Donald-Kay Baker Curry bridge as shown above.  This magnificent structure was donated by Donald and Kay as gesture of their love of golf and the 5th Tee foundation of Rye AR.

One last bit of information, we are now operating the 1986 Honda Four Wheeler that has been in retirement for at least 8 years.  Yep, Donald brought her out and had her primed for a little more action.

Now Jane and I can travel the roads the way you're supposed.  Thanks Donald, and when Jane drives, look out peacocks, dogs and guineas cause she needs a little more practice.

Thanks for watching, hope you enjoy the updates,

Carl Jane, Donald and Kay

August is Over,,,,,Whewwww!!!!!

Well, the LR is all "cut in" and completed.  Five doors and a lot of wood work made this one a tough paint job, but ole Jane "gotter done".

Looks great and we're now started on the DR.  The ceiling has been stabilized and we're ready to start the paint and and then the floors.  Nothing for us now,,,

Ever wonder what Donald Curry looks like?  Well we finally caught him out of the chicken houses, off the hay baler and off the work truck and here he is.  Donald was down supervising the scrapping and peeling we're doing on the outside of the house.  Now that Donald's had the roof put on, he's roaring to get the outside painted and so are we.    Our plan is to pressure wash the entire exterior, replace the boards that need attention and then paint the entire house outside.

Lots of work but it sure is fun.  Want to have some fun?,,, we'll share.....

We're using Mark Curry's "water cannon" to pressure wash the house.   This baby can shoot water alway across the county.  We have to be careful when we pressure wash that we don't just blow the boards off and wet the inside of the house.

This thing will save at least two weeks of scrapping and preparation work so, again, thanks to the tractors, and tractor owner/drivers we can keep our pace.

By the way, for all of our RV friends and followers, we have finally moved the RV to its final resting place where it can be used by anyone visiting or if you bring your own RV you can hook up to the 50 AMP service with sewer.  Rent will be cheap,,,, like free so come see us.

We're also getting more info on some of the local attractions and we'll be blogging about some of that in the future just to keep your attention.

"The Bend" will be the first one to get exposed.  You'll find it interesting and fun so come back soon.

"THATS ALL FOLKS''''''(for now)

Finally, The End and A New Roof

Well,
Larry Reppond and his crew worked for 8 days to get this roof done.  The work was so hard and they did such a great job,,  (I hope I got the spelling right, but if I didn't, excuse)
They had to work from 5:00 AM till after 2:00PM just top get to the roofing work.  Strip off, re-deck and then start the roofing.  Donald wanted it just the way it should be and that's what he got.





 By the way, Larry (on the left in the blue shirt) his son Mark ( in the middle with the red shirt) and Cole ( son of Mark and Grandson of Larry) is in white.
Red, White and Blue.  Just the way they treat their customers and the basis of their family business.
These guys just work like you would not believe and they never take an easy way out.  We appreciate their efforts and standards so much and we recommend their services to anyone in the Cleveland, Drew and Bradley county areas.

Jane and I have been encouraged by these guys efforts and we've been busy also.  Been working on the Living Room and its about there.

The big problem was the ceiling.  It was about 12 inches below the place it was supposed to be when we got here and there was a split from one end of the LR to the other.  (The split actually ran the entire length of this beam and was a good inch wide.)  We thought we would try a "beam" approach to solve the problem and it seems to have turned out OK.

The ceiling is corrected to a "good enough for government work" standard and maybe a little better.  Jane selected the color and its absolutely beautiful in our minds.  We completed a "false" crown moulding effect by putting a moulding below the beams (all around the room ) and painting in between the two structures.   Hope you like it, we got the idea from Lisa who got the idea from a neat lady that is also doing a remodel in the area.   The room color is Periwinkle Blue (I'm sure its mis-spelled) but you know what I'm trying to say.

The trim is white and the ceiling is a "hue" of the blue.  (Sounds good anyway).

We've finally got the LR completed, that's second to the the BR so we're moving on at a high rate of speed.

One sad note.  One of our favorite cats is missing.  We loved watching her and her sister each morning play and enjoy lie, but she has been missing for the past day and a half so, say a prayer.  (We love our animals too much but still,,,,,,,,)

Stay tuned, the DR is next and it is going to be a neat color and we are soooo  looking forward to 'MOVING AHEAD".