Handle Side Down

The store got a good ceiling vacuuming and scrubbing with degreaser. The three new fans are clean and operational. Turned on a lazy speed they should give the desired effect of times gone by and provide a much needed breeze. Bill and Mike were covered in pounds of dirt dobber nests that were concealed behind the wire covering a vent we will not use. Just when we thought the last of the nests had rained down a new vent full would descend. Mike hoisted a shop vac on a ladder and balanced it while Bill suctioned the vent. The fix was cardboard covered in plastic wrap and sealed with rows of black duct tape that disappeared behind the scrubbed and disinfected grate. With three fans, two vents, many square feet of dirty ceiling and two ladders Bills tendency to be accident prone had to surface. He "forgot" these things which all hit him in the head as he slid the ladder around: a paring knife, large shears and a tape measure. I have threatened to just bury him as I have no intention of taking a man with a paring knife sticking out of his head to a hospital emergency room. You know God watches out for him, because it hit handle side down.

The restroom got another coat of plaster mix so it is looking mostly finished on the walls. It will be clear whether this is complete after it dries and we watch for cracks.

Another of those odd cheap broken pieces of furniture from our favorite junk store was converted into a coffee condiment cart by tiling the top in black irregular tiles we sealed. Actually this is the side of a bunk bed set that housed a desk unit but by turning it sideways we will have a nice place to put our all you can drink/serve yourself coffee pot with enough room for cream and sugar. Underneath is a spot perfect for a trash can and a storage shelf for spare trash bags. It will need grout and casters for rolling installed on our next trip.

We got a visit from our cousin, Paul, who lives across FM410. Paul has a new baby girl named Kayla. She is doing well but needs our prayers as she is in Children's Hospital and not quite ready to come home. Because Kayla is a citizen of Kanawha she is very special!

The grounds around the store looked wonderful. Jody mowed and cleaned so our work at the store was all focused on the interior. Bless her for all the good she does as we enjoy the papers she saves for us and keeps the grass cut.

Cathy has leased the land across the street from the store to a family. They are carefully fencing and gating the area for future use.

At the end of the day Mike drove to Paris to visit with Steve, kind of hoping for a poker game but had to settle for a little brotherly visiting.

It was a positive trip with a good bit of progress thanks to Mikes help. Of course it rained- both going and coming.
_______________________
On a sad note we got a letter from our cousin, Bobbie. She told us her husband Vic had passed on in late November. We continue to pray for her and her family.
____________________________
I have emails from Judy sharing family history about the Bowman and Perot families that settled Kanawha early on inclusing portions of an obit published Feb 5 1928:
"...My mother was Sarah Josephine Perot. Her father was James Remy Perot who was born in Kanawha, Texas, on the Red River; he was the son of John C. Perot (and had a brother John C. Perot, also) who was a resident of Kanawha (after migrating from Campti Louisiana) and the husband of another Kanawha native, Sarah Mahala/Mahaly Hill Graham Bowman, who was the daughter of Tennessee Texas Bowman, a true pioneer

One of the early residents of Red River County, who rode horseback from
Tennessee to Texas when a girl 10 years old, Mrs. Tennessee Texas Bowman, 96,
died Saturday afternoon at her home on her farm near Kanawha.
Mrs. Bowman, who before her marriage was Miss Tennessee Texas Graham, was born
March 31, 1831, near Perryville, Tenn. She came to Texas with her family in
1841,...

Named for the State of her birth and the land of her parents' dreams, Mrs.
Bowman died in the house that she and husband, James Newton Bowman, built in
1869. Logs brought from Indian Territory were used to build the Bowman's first
house at Kanawha when they moved to Red River County in 1866. Three years
later the log house was moved away and used for a granary...

Mrs. Bowman in survived by a son, Robert Campbell Bowman, who lives near
Kanawha; six grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-
grandchild..."

Thank you Judy.

No Break for Helping Hands

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8 feet of peanut butter and jelly

Saturday was scrumptious with 75 degree sunshine toasting us, Sunday was 40 mile an hour gusts of wind whipped rain-enough to blow your socks off and Monday the chill sat in with 4 inches of snow scheduled to blanket Kanawha.

Fueled with three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches followed by a fried spam chaser Bill constructed another 8 feet of the store. I shudder to think what he could have done on a nutritious diet.

Country Etiquette
My Kindergarten through third grade years we lived in Eugene Oregon and each summer we drove over the mountains and came home to Kanawha where we got another years worth of hugs and my Grandmothers pound cake. When we reached Red River county a kind of hush fell over the car and my parents began talking in whispers. Moma had this glow like we were on holy land and my Daddy started giving people the finger.

Now we had driven over 2 thousand miles and he had not waved, saluted or other wise indicated anything, but as soon as we hit FM 410 he was raising his pointer finger at every truck or car we passed and the occupants of these did like wise.

So now years later when we bought the store and began traveling to Kanawha frequently I tried to explain this to my husband.
Now Bill is giving me a hard time about this, as he is a quiet guy who doesn't like to draw attention to himself. If you give someone the finger in Dallas you may be a victim of road rage so after he got comfortable with the friendly custom in Kanawha he began returning the one fingered "howdy", but not without some reservations and detailed explanation about exactly which finger he should use.

I know there are other special places on this earth besides Kanawha. Places where almost everyone you meet has a friendly finger salute to pass along, but they are rare and priceless. If you come to Kanawha, come friendly and remember to give on coming trucks the raised pointer finger, a nod of the head and a smile.

In a past blog, we said we were searching for melamine plates for the store. Excited about something I can do from home, I was prepared to order the plates, cups and bowls for the store only to find they were made in China. The Texasware Melamine once made in Oak Cliff, a Dallas Texas suburb, is vintage among melamine collectors, but like all the plastic plates we found they are now mass produced in China.

http://planetpooks.wordpress.com/category/oak-cliff/
So I began looking for pottery or anything that would fit our store and keep us in our budget. I discovered one, ONE, brand made in the United States. Bill was not too interested in the dishes, he was probably thinking I was over focused, but after three stores and only one brand made in the United States he had only one thing to say: "ORDER THEM, before they are made in CHINA!!!".

If you want a peek at them you can see them here:
zestydishes.com
and here:
saveonseconds.com

If you need dishes...hurry. These are lead free, dishwasher safe and sturdy.

We will use cloth napkins.
You can read about cloth vs paper here:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/paper-towels-and-napkins-vs-cloth.html

When you go shopping, turn the plates over and see where they are made. It was no small thing to find made in the USA. Don't even get me started about cloth napkins...they are made in India!

COUSINS
I can never say enough about finding lost family. Connie wrote to share her branch of the family with me. The Chambless and Walker family lived simple Godly lives leaving memories for their children's children to pass on. What a blessing to share stories of walking in that red sand as children. Thank you Connie, your memories are priceless. Here is some of what she had to share about her childhood visits to Kanawha:

"We rode horses several times. Cathy (her twin sister) and
I had a chance to feel like real cowgirls when we were allowed to
ride Shorty, an old and gentle horse. Papa and Grandmother Walker
certainly lived modestly. I think that they must have been some of
the last to get indoor plumbing. They got water from the well,
washed clothes in a big black kettle under a tree, and cleaned and
cooked their homegrown chickens! I remember a big fruit tree orchard
and vegetable garden.

On a visit, we found what was left of our grandparents' home.
Long ago, one side of the house was lined with Grandmother's
beautiful hydrangeas. The little one room church was still in Kanawha
at that time. We walked in and thought about the times we had
attended church there on our visits. The singing may have been a
little off, but the singing was saintly! We have a message that Papa
gave at one time in that church. Dad said that Papa taught school at
times. My sister has his school bell in her third grade classroom in
Childress."

FOUR DAYS mostly in MARCH

This week we will continue to build a cabinet for tools, auto parts, and another for pet and live stock feed and supplies. If this sounds like too much for one weekend you may be right, but hopefully simple construction will find us mostly done.

I'd fire him but there is a BURN BAN

Our four days in Kanawha were very productive. The potting bench came mostly together, the wall is built including a almost finished barrel for garden tools that is missing a slat or two, black screen door handles are on the kitchen cabinet doors and 5 new shelves finish off the grocery side of the store.

Bill and I are to that stage in our lives where saying what you mean and meaning what you say are sometimes laced with "new" words only a two year old could create. Both of us understand exactly what we mean and mean approximately what we say and neither of us can understand the other.

Saturday I fired him. I knew exactly what I needed him to do, but was unable to explain it in any form a human could understand. He was sure he would never understand and had his own ideas about what might or might not work which he was also unable to explain to anything female. I felt compelled to take action before one of us burst a bloodvessel. So I fired him.

He owns the store, pays the bills and has done the vast majority of the labor but seemed relieved when I said "YOU'RE FIRED". It was like someone defused us and we just sat there happy he could let go of the paper we had both been furiously revising over the last 30 minutes. I began calling him the new help and he responded in the polite voice you use on your boss even when you know what you're doing and the boss is wrong.

It worked wonders for the relationship. As his employer who held the hire/fire power albeit given to me by him, it was easy to explain what I wanted, and he found it easy to say "sure". I think we may get this store together without a divorce if this ploy holds up to future trips or at least until they lift the county burn ban.

Kitty came to see us only once. A large skull of some animal we neither could identify was lying near the store. It rained twice. We missed seeing Jody who always comes bringing goodies, gifts or news. The trees are covered in curled brown leaves they refuse to let go of. The wind has a nip in it that reminds you there may still be cold to come. Thirty-six days left in 2008 and my one employee is asking about his benefit package!