It is, for all practical purposes, the end of our NOMADS project here at the First United Methodist Church in Brackettville, Texas.  Tomorrow will be spent cleaning up our tools and putting away the materials that were left from the many projects that we did.

This has been a very different project for Sharon and I.  All of the work was done at the church.  We have usually worked on homes, or at church campgrounds/ assembly facilities.  Working at the church gave us the opportunity to meet many of the church members as they came to visit while we worked.  Many of the lovely ladies brought us snacks for us to enjoy during our breaks.  We had homemade cookies, cakes, breads, and plenty of other nice sweets.  We made many new friends here in Brackettville and Fort Clark Springs.  We have been treated to several nice meals, home cooked, and at local restaurants.  Even those that we have not personally met, know who the NOMADS are.  Everyone we met, no matter where in Brackettville or Fort Clark Springs, made us feel as part of the community.  Sharon and I will definitely make this a destination again for a NOMADS project.

Starting on Monday we started finishing up our work.  By finishing up, I mean we were actually able to start and finish some additional items that were on the "if you have time to do" list.  It always amazes me that on all of the projects that Sharon and I have been on the amount of "if you have time to do" jobs get done.  This project started out to just remove the old flooring from the fellowship hall and then install new tile.  The church sanctuary was all that was to be painted.  The "if list" contained the following: install three new outside lights, paint and install new base molding in the fellowship hall (this included caulking the molding along the wall and floor), remove an old ceiling fan from a room in the main church building and patch the hole in the ceiling, replace an old single light bulb light fixture in that same room with a new fluorescent light, paint two back rooms in the main church building, and, replace 27 2' X 4' acoustical tiles in an alcove in the sanctuary.  All of these items were completed without adding additional time to our work period.  It was a lot of fun doing all of it.

I have added a few pictures from this project that go back to the beginning to show you where we started and then to where we ended.

This is the first day of the paint project in the church sanctuary.  The walls and trim are all white.  You can see where speakers were hanging on the wall.

This picture was taken today.  The walls are now a light rose pink, with the trim painted a darker rose.  It is hard to tell from this photo, but the area over the pulpit appears to be darker when it is shaded, making it look like it is painted a different color.

This was day two in the fellowship hall.  This area of the room was a new addition.  The floor had to be prepared for the tile.  There were several areas that need patch work to cover rough spots in the concrete.  After some sanding and other preparation, the floor had to be cleaned very good.

This is the same area today.  The new tile has been installed, the new base molding installed and painted.  You can't see it in this picture, but where the molding touches the floor is where the caulking was done.  This was done to keep water from getting under the molding.

Here is the complete fellowship hall floor ready for tile.  The floor has been prepared by removing any old glue residue from the old flooring, swept, swept, mopped, and swept again.  Did I tell you that we swept the floor.  It was as clean as we could get it prior to installing the new tile.

The fellowship hall completed.  A new floor and some painting sure make a difference.

Sharon is working on some of the "if you have time" work.  This is a door that was painted in one of the rooms in the church.

Virginia is painting along the ceiling in the choir room.  One of the "if you have time" jobs in the church building.

Martha is getting her paint roller ready to paint the ceiling in the choir room.

Here I am installing a new florescent light in the choir room,

Sharon painting some of the molding in the fellowship hall.

Martha painting some of the molding in the fellowship hall.  The molding was painted prior to installing it on the wall, but need much touching up after installation.

Martha was awarded the prized "You did it" paint brush.  Actually, Martha was going through paint brush withdrawals when she had to put down the brush.  The team decided to let her keep it so she would be okay.

As I said before, we have had a great time on this project.  Sharon and I are heading home for a short break and restocking of supplies, then off again.  We will be on our way again to Kentucky, and points beyond, the end of March.  I will let all of you know when I have posted again, and where we are and what we are doing.

Hope you are enjoying our blog and our travels.  May God Bless all of you, and remember,

God Really Does Love you.  John 3:16

Gary and Sharon







This has been a wonderful weekend.  I am going to do something a little different with this posting and tell you what we have been doing by using pictures.

 

Thursday at lunch we were treated to a very fine meal at one of the local eateries.  The lay leader at the First United Methodist Church where we have been working had made arrangements for us to eat there.  He is one of many at the church that have made us feel very welcome to the community.

The menu included everything from home style cooking to Mexican.  Starting from left to right: Sharon has a nacho plate.  For those that don't know, the nacho was an invention of a cook in Piedras Negras, Mexico.  The women of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras would have a monthly luncheon, alternating between each city.  One of the women in Piedras Negras asked for a special hordourve.  The cook came up with the nacho, that was also the cooks name, Nacho.  We are used to a plate of nacho chips covered with all the fixings.  The type that Sharon has are the type that Chef Nacho invented.  Separate chips are covered with different toppings.  They are very good. 

Sitting next to Sharon on her left is Martha and her husband Kent.  They both had a Mexican plate of some type.  All I know is the really liked what they had. 

To Kent's left is Ralph.  Ralph had the fried catfish dinner.  Ralph must really like catfish, it was the second time in two weeks that he has ordered when we ate out.

Across from Ralph is his wife Virginia.  Virginia had a taco plate.  I believe that the taco shells were red.  They were not spicy, just red in color.

On Virginia's left is me.  No, I am not dieting, should be though, I am having the soup and salad bar.  The soup was some kind of vegetable soup with mystery meat.  It was very good.  I am not sure what all was in it, but I believe that what ever was left over from the day before found it's way into the soup.

All had a good feeding, and then back to work to finish out the week.

The Fort Clark Days celebration was held on Friday and Saturday.  We started the weekend off by stopping at the Sutler's Store, now a gift shop, to purchase some items for friends and family.  We have some wonderful neighbors that have been watching our house for us, so Sharon found a few little things for them.  One of my best friends expressed an interest in the Black Seminole history, so I got him a book about them.  We also picked up a few things for our grandson's.  Won't say what they are because they might be reading my blog.  This is the original building, just updated with a new rook and electricity. 

This picture is of the Empty Saddle Monument.  It is is honor of the many soldiers, assigned to troops at Fort Clark, that fell in combat from 1852 to the closing of the fort right after the end of World War II.  A little side story:  the American flag in the background was raised to half mast on Saturday morning in honor of one of the resident's of Fort Clark Springs.  Warren died after a long battle with a brain tumor.  Warren was a decorated retired Air Force Officer.  When the hearse carried Warren out the gate, all of the military re-enactors from the different time periods of the fort, all law enforcement, border patrol, fire department, emt's, and the Apache Indians, lined the road and saluted as he passed by.  I was not there, but I did talk to Warren's wife, Alyson, and she said that it was a complete surprise and very touching.

Here is a picture of Sharon, on the right, in front of one of the Lipan Apache Indian Tepee displays.  It was very interesting talking with these Indians.  The Apache's were the main Indians in this area during the time that Fort Clark was built to protect settlers and travelers from the Indians.  Many of the tribe that attended the Fort Clark Days weekend were from as far away as California and Indiana.

Friday was kids day at the celebration.  I was told later that there were about one thousand children there that day.  Many came from as far away as Eagle Pass and Uvalde.  You could tell that they were having a great time.  The re-enactors enjoyed talking with the children.  The best way to learn history is to see it live.  The kids really got a history lesson about the like and time of Fort Clark.

This U.S. Army Officer is from around the 1852 time period.  He dressed in authentic dress.  The articles on the table are from the time period, some are actually from the 1850's.  He was very knowledgeable of the history of the army on the Texas frontier.

Camels were introduced to the army in the west.  The camel worked out very well for transportation and as pack animals, except for one thing.  The camel walked so softly that they would sneak up on the horses and spook them.  The horses never seemed to get along with the camel, so the camels were dropped from service.  I understand that many were let loose into the wild.  The last camel was seen roaming the desserts around 1948.  Sharon would have taken this one home with her if she could have.  The RV doesn't have enough room for us, the cat, and a camel.

The old chuck wagon in this picture is over one hundred and fifty years old.  The head cook that told us the story about the chuck wagon was probably pretty close to being that old also.  He told me that he will travel throughout the state giving demonstrations at festivals and schools all year long.  He likes teaching school kids how soldiers were fed in the field during the old west days.  Oh yes, he was cooking beans.

On Friday Sharon and I took a little tour of the Fort Clark Springs property on a golf cart.  There are over 2700 acres on the property, with many miles of trails.  The terrain ranges from dessert to forested areas.  Fort Clark Springs gets it's name from the fort and the springs that are at the head of the Los Moras River.  As you get close to the river the forest come alive.  The forest aren't filled with very tall trees as we are used to in the mountains, but they are very big.  We spotted one old oak tree that is one of the biggest that I have ever seen.  I would say that it is over a thousand years old.

I you look closely you can see the turtles on the log before they jump into the water.

We spotted this crane, I was told that it is a Great Blue Heron, along the river.  This picture doesn't show the height of the crane, but I would guess that it stood at least five feet.  It stood so still that Sharon thought that it might have been a statute, until it took wing a flew away.  The wing spread was very big.

On Saturday we went back to the Fort Clark Days.  I was fortunate to have my brother, above, and his wife to come spend the day with us.  Don and Holly live just north of San Antonio.  Don is the one in the dark shirt, not the one in the beige fur.

We missed the gun fight, but the gunfighters were everywhere.  Here you see some of the gunfighters and military re-enactors.

The weekend finished with church on Sunday morning.  Here is the NOMADS team in front of the Brackettville First United Methodist Church.  Sorry for the small picture, couldn't get it size up for me.

Looking forward to finishing up this week.  It has been a wonderful time here in Brackettville, but ready to move on.  Friday Sharon and I head home for Alabama for three weeks, and then off again for other projects.

I will post again later in the week to finish up with this project, then take a few weeks off.

Hope all are enjoying my postings.  Please send me your comments and suggestions.  I have had some that I hope have improved my blog.

Will blog you more later, and remember,

God Loves You.

Good morning to all of you.  It is early here in Brackettville, Texas, on a beautiful sunny morning.  Today is our first day off for the weekend that looks to be filled with a lot of activities.  First of all I started laundry about an hour ago at the laundry mat here at the RV park.  Good thing I started early because when I went to put clothes in the dryers, two ladies were waiting on me to empty the washing machines.  If I hadn't shown up when I did I believe that my clothes would have ended up on the floor.

This part week has been busy.  The ladies finished painting the sanctuary of the church and have started on two smaller rooms.  Before they can paint either one of the rooms there has to be a lot of prep work.  The door and window frames have to be scraped and sanded.  When the started scraping they realized there were about five coats of old paint.  They got it done, then did a good job of putting on paint.  The other room needed some work that the men had to do.  There was an old ceiling fan that had to be taken down.  This fan was so old that it is made from cast iron and not the thin metals that the one's are made of today.  It is very heavy.  We were able to loosen it enough from the ceiling to lower down to the top of the eight foot step ladder for it to rest on while we disconnected it from the wiring.  Once we cut the wires we were able to set the fan on the floor.  The fan was hanging from a rod that was connected to the ceiling on a big hook.  The hook was screwed into the ceiling about four inches.  It took several minutes to unscrew the hook due to it size and the tightness of the hold in the wood.  After cutting a piece of sheet rock and patching the hole left by the fan, we tackled a big hole in the wall behind the furnace.  That was just a matter of cutting a large piece of sheet rock a putting it up on the wall.  Right.  Another simple job turned into a big job.  After measuring the hole and then cutting the sheet rock, we thought it would go in easy.  Wrong.  Part of the area is behind pipes that go to the furnace, the sheet rock had to go behind that piping.  After much pushing, cutting, and some other body English, we got it in place.  Now all we have to do is install a new light on the ceiling.  That will get done Monday.

The floor in the fellowship hall is all most completed.  We finished the large room and the kitchen yesterday.  We still have to do the pieces along the walls in two small rooms.  We also have new base molding to put down.  With two miter saws and a power brad nailer, that shouldn't take too long.

As you can see we have been busy, now for a nice weekend.  Fort Clark Springs is hold the Fort Clark Days festival this weekend.  The old fort was built here in 1852 and was in operation as an active fort to 1954.  It was even a Confederate fort duing the War for Southern Independence.  Should be pretty nice.  There will be re-enactments take place, some with cannon and Gatling gun firings.  Also plenty of good food available.

I don't have any pictures for this posting, but I should have some good ones after this weekend.  You all have a good weekend, and remember

God Loves You.