The end, part 2

House number 7:  Bohemian style

Paulie on the porch of house #7;  11:30 p.m.

Master bedroom in house 7, Isn't it beautiful!  We made that queen duvet cover in eggplant, the pillows are on the end of the bed , missing their pillow forms.  :)

Sorry, i couldn't get it all into one post. I hope I still have your attention.  By now its 10:00 p.m.;   Two sets of curtains had been hung, with 12 heavy gold drapes to go yet in the  house #7.  But since I hadn't eaten since noon, I was fading fast.  I was really hungry!!! They had promised us food at 10, but where was it?  Kay and I wandered all over the neighborhood looking for the free food. We also wandered in and out of houses, yards and garages.  One of the houses had a brand new sewing machine in the garage along with bikes, toys and books.  One yard had a mini skateboard ramp, one had a fen shwa (??) garden.  One construction crew was grilling pork chops behind one of the houses for their crew.  I almost grabbed one off their grill as we walked by, but I didn't think I could out run them. They were young and in pretty darn good shape.   Finally we found the food tent.  Several companies, like Dole, Blue Bunny, and Krispy Kreme had donated food for the workers.  Fresh fruit, deli wraps, baked chips, ice cream bars, and donuts got us fortified for the rest of the night. We carried a big box of food for our crew back to the church van and checked in at house #7.   Curtain rods for the gold drapes had been found and the hardware was going up. Inside this house  there were three girls painting flowers on the kitchen walls, four people framing pictures in the living room, several people putting together the bedrooms, the designer and a rep from Pier 1 who was providing the decor for the house and 5 of us trying to hang up curtains.And more people going in and out the doors, both front and back.   Accessories and furniture from Pier I sitting everywhere.  Its a wonder only one candlestick got broke.  They didn't even know for sure what they were going to use to decorate the house yet, but they had plenty to pick from. And there was more in the garage!  YOu can see some of it in the picture below.   It was such an adventure and pretty exciting. ( maybe it was all that sugar, but I was having lots of fun.)  Finally we got them all up, and they looked beautiful!

Pillow forms had not ever shown up , but the wallpaper for the master bedroom in house 6 had arrived on a plane from St. Louis.  The wall paper hangers got busy working, and it was only 11:00 p.m.  We walked out side and there on the porch was Tracy and Paulie from the show.  Just sitting there visiting with some of the other workers.  Probably important heads of construction companies, we weren't formally introduced.  I whip out kay's camera  to get a picture and it says:  battery exhausted. (kind of like us)  Even the camera was tired.  Used my cellphone to snap a couple of pictures, but the lighting wasn't very good on the porch in the middle of the night.  Oh well, it still was pretty exciting.  Now we had a decision to make, should we head for home or wait for the pillow forms to arrive.  Since it was now after midnight, we thought it best to head for home.  We were still short one curtain rod, pillow forms and the master bedroom in house 6 was still being papered.  But we were out of steam and fresh volunteers were arriving every hour on the hour.  They were letting a few in each house at a time to work, still unpacking clothes, kitchen supplies, pictures, etc.   We decided to leave some of the work for them to do and pack it up and head for home. I got home after 1:30 a.m. (Phil was in bed shivering without any quilt to keep him warm)  s It had truly been a once in a lifetime experience we would never forget.  To get to help in some small way to give back to these families who had suffered so much.  Two of the families moving into a couple of the houses had lost children in the tornado, all the families had lost their homes and all their possessions.  This was such a wonderful thing that the EMHE team and all the volunteers from every state in the US was doing for them, and it was an honor to be a part of it.  We didn't go back the next day to say in person "Move that Bus!"  but our hearts and prayers are with the families as they begin this new chapter in their lives. 

 

One of the other houses, it was so cute! 

Inside house #7, decorating wasn't done yet.  See the Red cabinets? 

Kay in her quilt's new home.  

How many men does it take to hang a little canoe from the ceiling?  Apparently a lot!  

I hope you've enjoyed reading about our adventures.  Some day I would like to go back to that street and personally meet the the families for whom we sewed.  Just to put  faces to the names and wish them the best in their new homes.  But for now, we are anxiously awaiting for the show to be aired. Tentative date is Jan. 20, 2012, but that is subject to change.  Last we heard they were going to have trouble fitting in all the great scenes and stories from 7 families into one show.  Maybe they'll make a couple of episodes!  Can't Wait, will keep you informed when i know more.  Say it all together now: Move that Bus!!!!!