Whispers of Hope Horse Farm, Wichita Falls, TX - Week 1

Our latest project is at Whispers of Hope Horse Farm in Wichita Falls, TX, a theraputic riding ministry which is wholly staffed by volunteers and over 200 mentally and physically challenged individuals are provided care, free of charge. 

There are 20 horses provided for therapy sessions for the children and wounded soldiers.

This is the arena barn where most of the sessions are held,

and this is the inside view.

 Saddles, blankets, bridles, etc. are maintained in the tack room attached to the arena barn.

And, of course, more beautiful horses.

This is the crew from the left:  Cathy, David, Stel, Jodi, Bill, Susan, Chris, Iva & Warren.

 And this is our first project.  This old barn (white in foreground) has been replaced by the new, beautiful green and beige building behind it.  We are to tear it down, remove all fencing, salvage any usable parts and thoroughly clear the ground.

 Here, Jodi is removing screws from the panels,

 and Iva and Warren

 and Stel are doing the same.  (Did you get the idea that it is a little cold here?)

 and Chris is working on the roof.

Warren taking a short breather removing the interrior stall dividers.

 With everyone working, 2 on the roof and the rest on the ground, only a couple of days have made a great change.

 and this is all that is left.

 Some skids were used for dividers and can be salvaged for holding the dismantled parts while the trailer in the background holds those items destined for the junk yard.

Cathy is securing the area of nails and screws so that it is safe for all vehicles when completed.

 The posts were cemented in so excavation is necessary before the tractor and lift  can remove metal fencing and wood posts.

This is the final product with the new barn now accessible from the future parking lot.

In the meantime, there is some inside work including a damaged ceiling when one of ther previous volunteers stepped in the wrong place in the attic.  Chris is preparing it for repairs 

 and refinishing the textured ceiling.

 Some previous volunteers (not NOMADS) had incorrectly installed the baseboards in the offices and the owner asked us to try to fix it.  Stel is setting up tools for the project

 and fitting new parts in place.

 Bill is preparing to install a motion activated spotlight outside the horse barn,

 and here he is studying the wiring diagram to try to move the electric switches to some kind of logical system.

 Dave is helping Janice (one of the "fulltime" volunteer staff) with the horses.

There were lots of other "little" jobs but that is enough for the first week.  We have a couple of warmer days but another Canadian storm is headed our way and may be worse than earlier in the week.  Maybe there will be more "inside" work til the next front passes.  We'll see what next week brings.

3rd Week in Tucson

We started the final week by finishing doing final touches on previous work.  Here Paul is installing the final pieces of ceramic tile for the church office.

And Shirley is finishing the line painting for the handicapped parking spaces that was begun last week.

Then we began work again on the youth building (building for teens at the rear of the property) as Bill cut the Luan for the floor,

and after gluing each piece, Stel stapled the sheets in place.

Bev and Jane continued weeding around the playground to make it more inviting to neighborhood youth.

Shirley, Paul, Jim and Jane all worked to paint the window trim in the sanctuary.

Early in the week, we were all invited to the Pastor's house for an authentic Mexican dinner. (YUM)

Then it was back to work on the youth building.  Bill and Stel started sealing the Luan to have it serve as "finished floor" until the church can afford to put in tile or some other floor finish.

And the youth wanted to be able to paint a mural in one of their rooms so Bev and Jane painted the land and sky for the backdrop of the mural.  With finished baseboards now installed, looks pretty good and the kids now have a clean, neat space for their fellowship times.

Bev and Shirley did final touch up of baseboards and door trim that were just installed,

and Stel and Bill did final touches on doors to make them more usable.

Jane and Jim set out to "straighten up"  the trustee's supply space.  The change was remarkable.

With the week over, we all headed of to our next project or vacation spots.  Stel is headed to Wichita Falls, TX where she and Jodi will spend the next three weeks.  The travel path is the same all the way back to El Paso, but then we veered north east on the mountain trail that lead back into and across New Mexico past Carlsbad, NM. What views.

 Drove 435 miles before finding a place to stop for the night, this rest stop south of Carsbad.

 Next day, another 430 miles of mostly straightaways,

and badlands.

and then grazing land.

And now it is time to rest up for next week.  More to come.