Building a Stucco Enclosure

 

I just uploaded a new video onto my Rectory House YouTube page that shares the process of building a stucco enclosure around the pool equipment. 

Day Two: Pool Liner Installation

Day One: Pool Liner Installation

Staining the Choir Benches

Father John spent a few hours this evening staining and putting a coat of polyurethane on the newly built choir benches.  The stain makes them look so nice!

Church Painting: Days 28, 29, 30, and 31

While I was in church tonight, I realized that I never documented the work that Mirona did a few weeks ago.  Over four days, she was able to complete all of the decorations painted on the inside of the arched windows and the two rectangular windows in the Altar.  These decorations look so good and pull everything together.

Church Painting: Days 26 and 27...

 

 

 

 

  Mirona spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week painting the inside edge of two windows in the church.  She was also able to begin work on two more.  Metropolitan Tikhon will be visiting our little parish for a mortgage burning celebration in a few weeks, and we hope to have all nine windows completed by then.

In Full...

 

There was big announcement today in church...  an anonymous donor paid off the church's mortgage of $318,000 in full!!  Glory to God for all things!

 

Church Painting: Day 25...

 

 

Mirona completed the cross on the ceiling late last night and it look glorious!   

Church Painting: Day 24...

 

 

  Mirona has begun to work on the decorations on the cross in the center of the ceiling.  It took a long time to get everything measured and drawn on, but now that things are planned out, the painting is moving right along. 

We had several errands to run this afternoon and I was shocked to see that the fields of hay next door are already being harvested.  I am always surprised that June is haying time, because it always seem like it should be in late August.  The farmers usually sow soybeans after harvesting the hay, so there will be lush fields to gaze at again soon.

Church Painting: Day 23...

 

 

 

Today was another big day for the church painting because Mirona was able to complete the border and touch up the napkin in the Altar.  It is exhilarating to now have the choir loft, the vestibule, the nave, and now the Altar completed!  Next up is the cross on the ceiling!

I cut a few blooms from two of our hydrangea bushes and am really enjoying them in the living room.  They are adding so much color to the room and along with the blueberry sour cream coffee cake the children and I mixed up before bedtime yesterday, it really feels like summer has arrived!

Church Painting: Day 22...

 

  The church painting has resumed this week and Mirona spent the day completing the border in the choir loft.  It looks so amazing walking into the church from the house now.  As Mirona says. "it looks more precious."

The weather cooled down a lot after a real scorcher yesterday.  Despite the cool temperature, the children still spent time swimming today after working on some math and practicing the violin.  I'm knitting like a fiend on Vivienne's baby blanket and am starting to see the results of my labor.  Mirona and I are going to relax a little tonight with a viewing of The Magic of Ordinary Days.  I can't wait!

Church Painting: Day 21...

  After a couple of weeks off, the work has resumed.  Today was spent working on some of the white lines in the choir loft.

Church Painting: Day Twenty...

 

 

The napkin in the Nave and on the Altar walls is finished!  We are going to be taking a break from painting for Pascha and will resume at some point in May.  When we return to work, all that will need to be done in the border in the choir loft and some detailed designs on the cross on the ceiling, the napkins, and inside the window frames.  I am s happy with how the church has turned out.  It has been such a joy to attend services in our little chapel this Holy Week!

Church Painting: Day Nineteen + Great and Holy Tuesday...

 

 

Church Painting: Day Eighteen + Great and Holy Monday...

 

We're in the final stretch of the first part of our church painting project and it seems fitting that we are pushing ourselves to the limit in the last week before Pascha.  I cannot even imagine how joyful we will be at the midnight service in our beautifully painted chapel.  

Merona is working on the red lines at the bottom of the last few napkins as I type this.  Our hope is to be finished with one wall of the church (done!) and the stairway to the choir loft by the time we go to bed tonight.  There is still a lot of napkin left to do:  the altar and three more walls in the vestibule and nave of the church.  We're hoping to be complete this phase of painting by Wednesday night.  

I am trying to get as much accomplished in the house that I can early in the week.  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday will have a more intense service schedule before the service schedule and that will make it hard to get much done.  For now, I am quickly cleaning each room in the house, making lists of things to buy at the grocery store, and tackling all those little things I need to finish before Pascha.  I cannot wait for the Feast of Feasts!

Church Painting: Day Seventeen...

 

 

 

  Progress on the church is still being made, even though it's not as obvious.  The inside of the windows was painted ochre and a thin maroon border was adding along the outside of the window frame.  We also worked on the decorative border and the napkin in the altar.  We're down to the wire for the first part of this project.  Only two and a half more days to work until after Bright Week!

Church Painting: Day Sixteen...

 

 

 

 

We began work on the napkin today.  One small section is finished (though there will be more decorations added after Pascha) and the rest of the napkin has it's base coat done.   I absolutely love it and think that it looks even better than I thought it would!

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 It was a big day  of cleaning the rectory today.  The little ones and I dragged lots of junk out of the attic this morning.  We recycled more than five big boxes full of school papers for children who lived in this house before we came.  In addition, we tossed twenty to thirty boxes from merchandise that the previous owners had purchased over the years.   I'm trying to get up to the attic to get rid of things every other week before the recycling dumpster is emptied by the garbage company.  Father John made the job so much easier by driving the riding mower and cart up to the porch to collect the rubbish.  Without that help, it would have taken us a long time to walk the heavy boxes down the long parking lot to the dumpster.

Later in the afternoon, I came into the playroom today to announce that we could take a trip to the playground, but found that the children had made quite a mess with legos, playdough, and other craft projects.  Fortunately for me, I had planned to do a big clean in there today and so we set to work together:  They cleaned up their mess, I dusted, they returned everything to freshly dusted surfaces and shelves, I swept under furniture and rugs, they collected toys to be repaired, and Little Man vacuumed the rug.  It was pretty painless and I plan to use my little child laborers from now on.  The whole rooms was cleaned beautifully in about half an hour.  It is true what they say:  Many hands make light work.  We'll tackle the living room tomorrow.

    

Church Painting: Day Fifteen...

 

The border is now complete in the vestibule!  Tomorrow we'll begin work on the napkin that runs throughout the altar, nave, and vestibule.

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The Donald arrived in our area sometime around 7pm.  The estimate for the number of people that came to see him was 10,000, which just blows my mind.  There was a hum of news helicopters around, but having him here didn't really impede church attendance for the Presanctified Liturgy, thank God!    

Church Painting: Day Fourteen...

 

 

The border has been officially finished in the nave!  Hopefully the border in the vestibule will be wrapped up tomorrow and we'll maybe even get to start painting the napkin.  Father John worked on the ceiling in the choir loft today and that will hopefully finished up in the next day or two.

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Before Lent started in March, I jokingly (but actually pretty seriously) told my husband that I was giving up Donald Trump for Lent. I just found out that he is coming to our little backwater town to speak at the high school down the street from us tomorrow night... what?!?! Ten days before Pascha? I am completely mystified when I try to think of the reason he would come to a town with a population of 4,562. 

At least we'll all be enjoying the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts when he begins his rally and will be 'setting aside all earthly cares.'