Visitors Bearing Gifts

A little backstory: I'm not from Michigan. I was born and raised in upstate NY, in a suburb of Rochester NY. I moved to Michigan to work at the Longway Planetarium in Flint, MI, after living in the NYC area for several years. I've been happily in Michigan around 15 years now, and the ONLY thing I regret about leaving NY is that I live 6 hours away from my parents!

They came for a visit. They arrived weary, since they both still work, but bearing gifts, as always! They brought Mike a saw. A very nice saw. I know it has a great name that explains its function, but I'll just call it a saw. It moved in many, many dimensions, planes, and time zones, and Mike was delighted with it.

...and this knob extrudes macaroni...

...but this one flattens out pizza dough and then takes you to 1985...

Ok, I'm making fun, but now I see the label- it's a radial saw!

We let Mom and Dad sit down for 5 minutes, then we put them to work. We still had lots of work to do before drywalling could commence. So hi ho, hi ho, up on the scaffolding we go!

"Measure twice, cut once"

The wall at the front of the church wasn't ready for drywall yet. Nailers (2x4s) had to be positioned so that there was something to nail the drywall into. There is an arch already built into the wall, but there was little to hang drywall on, so that was the day's project. There was something for everyone to do.

How's the weather up there, Ma?

"Hey! Up here! Look up!"

I definitely inherited my work ethic from them.  They haven't slowed down much in the 46 years I've known them. Mom's 71 and Dad's 69 (it was his birthday!), and they work harder and better than most 30 year olds! Plus they are fun to have around. Dad has a great attitude and endless curiosity, and Mom and I are always up to hijinks. We both almost wet our pants trying to get a ladder out of the bathroom. It was definitely a Laurel and Hardy moment, but luckily I'm the cameraperson so there is no evidence of it!

"Put that camera down and fetch me a prybar!"

This was an especially athletic moment for the men. You can't see the full view, but Dad was hanging out in space like a child on a jungle gym.

"This doesn't feel like recess!"

Honestly? I don't remember him being in so much peril when I took the picture, but looking back, yikes!!

"I can't quite reach the nail..."

But perseverance paid off, and the arch had its nailers!

I know it's hard to tell the difference, but Wayne, our drywaller, will be able to tell! He's set to start work soon, and everything must be prepped and ready. 

There was also a door that was to be walled over and had to be framed in. 

Good bye door, hello wall...

Let's go get some ice cream!

It was a busy and short weekend, and I was very sad to see them leave for NY on Monday morning, but before they left there was some time made for ice cream eating and cow-gazing. Dad and Mom grew up on farms in a little town near Hornell, NY, and Dad retains his love for the bovine race, as do I. So he and Mike stopped by our favorite magical cow pasture for some cow-eye candy!

Bovine Bliss

Cow-gazing is relaxing!

Cow Contentment!

We're very, very lucky to have Mom and Dad! Thank you, God!

Progress Isn't Pretty

I'm going to be showing a lot of pictures of progress. Progress is not always pretty. But it is exciting, and the fact that these pictures show giant steps in the progress of White Church Gallery is extra-exciting, if such a state of being exists.

'Bout to get extra-excited!

Some things that were never meant to be seen by the general public are actually quite pretty. Women's underwear can be very fancy, and I've seen shiny engines under the hood of a car that should be hanging on the wall as art.

Fanciness.

The church's underwear-engine is the spray foam. But it's not all that pretty. It's more like flannel underwear than silk.    

 After the plaster and lathe was taken out, the church was looking a little bare-bones.

You could see daylight through some of the planks.

So we had it spray foamed. Here's a messy before and after...

Messy before...

Messy after!

But the Church is as snug as a bug in a rug! No breezes blowing through the walls now! No weird smells coming from the ancient wood. It just feels different in here!

Spray foamed walls.

The Wine Room! Cozy!

Windows aren't insulated...yet! 

So what is spray foam? Why not the old school pink fiberglass? Here's what I got from Wikipedia: 

Spray foam insulation saves on energy costs and lowers utility bills. Studies by the US department of Energy show that 40% of a home's energy is lost as the result of air infiltration through the walls, windows and doorways. Buildings treated with spray foam insulation typically insulate as much as 50% better than traditional insulation products. 

It's got a higher R-value than most other insulators. That means it's cozier, comfier, and just better. To me it looks like a cake that was frosted! To cold air it looks like a inpenetrable blanket.

The next layer on the cake is the drywall. I've been asked why we got rid of the old plaster and lathe, and why we didn't replace it with the same.We got rid of the old plaster because we really needed to insulate the church, and spray foaming was the way to go. So the plaster had to go, so that the spray foam could get where it needed to go.

We are trying to do this project right. The Church was built with loving hands over 100 years ago, and it has lasted this long, even though it fell into disuse (and possibly misuse) in the meantime. We'd like it to last at least another 100, long after we're gone. We put a new roof on to prevent further decay. We added an economical and earth-friendly heating/cooling system, Geothermal. [Spoiler alert] We put in a septic system!  And someday the Church will have water! (and with water and septic come a bathroom!) So we are spending the money and effort now to make sure the Church will survive into the next century.
As far as what we'll replace it with, it's an economical and aesthetic matter. We're using drywall, but we will be using a paint that has a stucco finish, so it will actually retain some of the look of the original plaster, without being as heavy and expensive as plaster and lathe.

So, it's a work in progress, a little messy at times, but we're always working toward making it better!

And it's all ours! 

A Few Additions...

It's the busy season at the Church. Summer was right for hanging out at the Ice Cream Store, shooting the breeze and eating ice cream.

Sittin' and Chattin'

But Fall hath come, and worker bees are swarming the church ready to make some sweet, sweet honey. Sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor. (Anyone get the reference?)

(Where Honey = Finished Church)

But before we get to the big changes, I need to catch up.

So let's go back a week or so when a back door was added. We needed a second exit, so a hole was cut and a giant door was inserted. Here it is!

Big giant metal door. 

Another added feature is a bathroom. The Church never had water or septic, so we've been using the handy but rented Port-a-John just outside the front door. But winter's a-coming and it's time to move the operation indoors. The bathroom will have its own lovely window for viewing. Not sure how we'll deal with that yet...

Potty room! No peeking!

It also features a very high ceiling and will sport a very heavy and old marble sink.

High, ceiling!

It'll be pretty once it's cleaned up! Trust me!

The toilet will be new. The septic tank will be new. The water tanks that will hold our potable water will be new. Meanwhile, back at Fort McMahon (the cottage in Port Austin) the sinks and toilets were thick with hair. Since both Mike and I have long hair, the drains get clogged with amazing regularity. So here we are spending 15 minutes at the Walmart shopping for a plunger. We've got that kind of time! 

"I like the black one,  it feels thicker than the pink one..."

Really, we have to break ourselves away from the church to take care of other business, and it's not easy. But when one hears directly from God to finish the church, one must obey! Other stuff can and will have to wait.

So back to the Church. We've had a lot of prep work to do. We'd already had the plaster and lathe removed, and the electrical is mostly all installed. But there were still pockets of aged filth, ductwork that needed to be moved, and just all kind of nasty little jobs that had to be done. 

High work...

And low work...

I went up high to remove the last of the nails and dust and animal leavings. Mike went low to wriggle around in the dirt of the crawl space. This blog doesn't come with smell-o-vision, but perhaps you can imagine the aroma of damp, aged, lived-in dirt under a 120 year old church. I was lucky to get the other job since rolling in the dirt is not my idea of fun! Poor Mike always gets the dirty jobs! 

The church has a crawl space. The story as we know it is that the church was originally built about a quarter mile away on Carrie lane! It was moved to its present spot around 1902.

Crawl space? Who wants to crawl around down there?

Working all week, and then working all weekend makes a body tired. Here we are after our respective adventures. High or low, it's most likely Bud-O-clock. 

Weary, but satisfied with a job well done!