MMAP, Sept. 2013, New Durham, New Hampshire

We are beginning our second month at Maranatha Ministries in NH!  Due to some electrical problems, we moved into a new spot when we returned from Canada.

First, Paul decided we had to get our step in place.  There  was some large granite and cement pieces near our door, so  we just moved them over to create a step.

Can't we just take it with us for the next job?

Then we had to get our sewer fixed!  It was backing up, not only from us, but our neighbor’s sewer was going into the same pipe and backing up as well.  So Paul dug around and found a collapsed pipe, which was also broken at the septic tank input.  Chris, our host, got the big tractor out and it took the “village” to replace the pipe on Sunday afternoon.  I know, MMAPers don’t work on Sundays.... they were just playing ;).  The story of helping a man getting his ox out of a hole on the Sabbath came to mind.

Then, Monday morning we started working on the project.

The ladies painted the exterior of the “Sports Chalet” (part of it anyway, until the rain delayed finishing)

                                                                            and helped get a mailing ready to be sent.

We also sanded and varnished the milled wood for the interior walls and ceilings of the Sports Chalet.  

The guys had various building projects going on.  They were paired up to install a couple of doors.  Paul and Bill installed one between a staircase landing going to the basement from the worship center in the Summit building 

and the annex building where Edmunds (the owner/managers of the camp) live.

Even though a door was in the plans, and framing was done, it was between two buildings and the framed door did not match up on both sides when they removed the sheetrock.  It was just enough off that it required some extra work to reframe.  The hallway door was inset just a little to accommodate the width.  Nathaniel, the Edmunds youngest son who is in his 20’s, said he always knew there was going to be a door there, but never thought he would see it!  This building has been 25 years in the making!!

Paul and Bill then painted the stairway.  Paul asked me if I would paint it, but it was just a tad higher than I was comfortable with!! I offered to do the lower part, but they were able to do it without me!  

The other doors were installed in the basement.  The walls down there have been sheet-rocked and painted as well.  Trim is being sanded and varnished and will be installed this next week.

Anyone see the movie, RV?  If so, you have a vivid picture of this. One day at break, Paul and Bill came with a great story.   They had been working on the septic problem at the kitchen, and when they were testing it, the pump came on and sewage shot up in a geyser and came down on them, Bill getting the most of it!!  No camera was around, and for some reason neither wanted to reenact for a picture!

Paul has also been stumped with an electronic eye for the switching on and off of the light in this stairwell that is not working correctly.  It has been his nemesis, thinking about it at night and on the weekends.  He is even trying it here in the coach to see if it works here!

Of course on any project all is not work.  During the three months of this project, each month Joyce and Bill had a celebration.  They were one of the couples on our buddy trip back in 2009.  Both had birthdays and their 56th year anniversary.  During the first week we celebrated them with a potluck stuffed potato bar, then cake and ice cream.

Another couple (second from right), the Holcombs, joined us for this month and next.  We worked with them before in Maryland and Texas, and they still wanted to come work with us again when we all signed up for Maranatha!  We have actually worked with everyone on this project before, and enjoy every one of them!  This is a great group of people we consider to be close friends.  

This is the end of the second week of the second month.  That means our time here is half over.  In some ways it has gone fast; and in other ways, when we see what has been accomplished, it feels like we have been here for a long time.  In all  ways, it has been a blessing for us to be here.

Halifax area, Nova Scotia

The second week of our trip into Canada, we went to Halifax. Our first stop there was the Citadel, the Canadian army base as late as WW II, where it was used for prisoners of war.

We were fortunate to be there on a day there was a reenactment going on.

I am not the only one collects sand.  At the Citadel Army Museum, here are reminders of battlefields in three jars of sand.....

Because it was such a beautiful day, we were able to enjoy the ambiance and sitting on the Queen’s Wharf at lunchtime,

even little toot the tugboat...

The Maritime Museum included a tour of the Acadia, Canada’s first hydrographic vessel, used for surveying.

There was also a display on the Titanic, which included a deck chair,

as well as shoes from a two year old victim.

Halifax was one of the responders to send four boats out to search and recover bodies at the site of the sunken Titanic.  The White Star Line, owner of the Titanic  purchased a section of land at the cemetery to bury 209 of the victims, and paid for small headstones with engraved name and number of the victim.  The date of the tragedy is the inscribed date of death.  The cost for a more elaborate stone was paid for by family members and others.

The most touching for those responders was the finding of a two year old, who was unknown for some time.  It was his shoes displayed in the museum.

More were buried at sea.

To the east the city, Prince of Wales Tower sits on the edge of land at Point Pleasant Park. It was built in 1796-97 to protect British sea batteries fro French land attacks, and served as part of Halifax’s coastal defense.

Other ruins and cannons are also at the 186 acre park.  

Halifax rents the park for 1 shilling (about 10 cents)  a year with a 999 year lease.

To the southwest, we followed the coastal road and stopped to eat at Dover on the way to Peggy's Cove.

Peggy’s Cove is a very quaint fishing village,

but is most known for its lighthouse that sits up on the huge landscape of granite bedrock.

The rocks were phenomenal and

we were in awe of the waves.

It is truly a rugged shoreline, and very beautiful, to be respected.

A monumental work of art is across from the visitors center.

This monument was carved by a 70 year old artist, William deGarthe.  It took him six years (1977-to his death in 1983) to carve the 30 figures in the granite outcrop in his back yard. It was donated to the province of Nova Scotia for preservation.

Another monument stands in view of Peggy’s Cove.  It is memory of Flight 111.  On September 2, 1998, it crashed into the ocean just beyond Peggy’s Cove.   All 229 people on the plane perished

We took second drive southwest of Halifax again, going a little further.  The southwestern end of St. Margaret’s Bay was beautiful area. Peggy’s Cove lighthouse is on the northern end, and could barely be seen, but not through the camera!  

We loved the wharves and the beautiful homes.

And those colorful chairs.... we saw them all over the island, all in bright, cheery colors!

The sand at Queensland beach was really fine!  So we spent some time, just feeling it with our toes.

Mahone Bay was beautiful, with the backdrop of three old churches and colorful buildings.  

I found a shop, the Tea Brewery..... and of course I got some teas.....

We traveled through an amazing amount of farmland 

We finally got to our destination of the day, the town of Lunenburg, about noon, just in time for lunch!  We found a place to park and there was a local man on his porch, so we asked him “where was the best place to eat?”  His response, “Do you REALLY want to know?  It is the Knot Pub.”  

It was great food, great price, and great ambiance!!

I loved the charming, colorful buildings.  

They had a monument to honor soldiers, 

as well as a balyside monument to honor fishermen lost at sea.

The street signs on the main street indicates there love of sea life!

The Fisheries Museum was very informative, and well worth seeing.

There were two fishing boats to tour, this one having a guided tour by a retired fisherman.

We even learned about the lobster!   All one needs to know about lobster, we learned here!

We went back to Halifax to visited the Navy Base.  It is only open Monday-Friday, and we arrived on Friday afternoon of Labor day weekend.  This was the first opportunity we had.  Living in San Diego County most of my life, there is a preconceived notion of the size of a navy base.  Because this is the largest Canadian naval base, I was surprised how small it was.  It was only a few city blocks.  This was a highlight for me to visit  HMCS Stadacona.  This was where my mom served with the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS) in the early 1940’s.

The historic Admiralty House on site

is now the Maritime Command Museum

The second story had a nice display on the WRCNS

All five stories of this building were taken over to accommodate the 1000 initially trained WRENS.  The WRENS were commissioned in 1942 and disbanded in 1945.

To backtrack just a bit, we were led to attend a small Baptist church near the downtown area in Hallifax.  When someone there asked why we were visiting Hallifax, I told them my mom had been a WRCN, and that I was interested in seeing the city.  Another person beside me pointed across the room to a lady and told me she had been a WRCN!   So after church we talked.  We were both excited to meet each other.  Although they were at the same place at the same time, they did not meet.  I know that mom had lifetime friends from those days.   There is a certain bond that comes when  people serve together in the armed forces.  

In 1917, a french cargo ship full of wartime explosives collided with a Norwegian ship, causing the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons.  Approximately 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, and collapsed buildings, and it is estimated that nearly 9,000 others were injured. Almost everything within a half mile , including an entire community was completely obliterated.   A pressure wave of air did additional damage to trees, buildings and vessels, further away, as well as a tsunami which wiped out another  community.  The resulting earthquake was felt and heard 220 miles away.

The Hydrostone District was part of the rebuild after the Halifax Explosion, built out of hydro-stone concrete blocks, in an English-style garden suburb.

After our time in Halifax, it was time we headed back to Maranatha Ministries to begin our second month there.  

On the way, we saw this thought-provoking contrast of bowing to the cross and the playboy bunny!  A vehicle divided?

When we got to Maranatha, we felt like we were home!