Planes, School, and Bee Stings

Last Monday began with a trip to Keene Elementary on the school bus. Andy was also able to come with us to take Abi to see her new classroom and spend an hour with her teacher while we and the other parents had a meeting.

A couple of hours after we had arrived back home Andy called us from work. We were invited to fly in a Kodiak which was making it's way home from an airshow and was stopping past MMS. MMS families who had never been in a small plane would have the chance to go for a short flight. Abi and Matthew sat in their own seats and we all had an amazing time.

Abi started school last Thursday - I would like to say it all went really smoothly and Matthew and I had a wonderful peaceful day but, life in the Swanson household is never dull! On Wednesday Abi was stung by a bee under her toe. Apart from being painful, her big toe and surrounding area was very swollen. Thanks to a Thunderstorm which lasted most of the night and the bee sting we were all rather tired Thursday morning. Abi hobbled onto the bus wearing her garden shoes (crocs) as nothing else would fit her swollen foot. I had many errands to do in town like taking our rubbish and recycling to the dump ( we do not have it collected), library and a food shop, then stopped at the school to give a very tired Abi some more ibuprofen before returning home. Despite the drama of the first few days of School Abi is having a super time. Over dinner she is so busy telling us about her day that we have to remind her to eat. She also informs me as soon as she gets off the bus who, if anyone, was misbehaving that day! LOL!

The last few days Matthew and I have been getting the house ready for Auntie Ruth coming. Andy's sister is the first Swanson to make it to Ohio. She arrived Tuesday night and is here for a week before going onto to visit another friend in the USA. This morning Matthew and I took her up Amish country to Hershbergers Farm. They also had lovely home grown produce for sale and we came home with fresh nectarines, melon, blackberries, gala apples and some freshly baked cheese tarts from Millers Bakery!

Matthew is slowly getting used to the days by himself and we have enjoyed some more frequent trips to the library to get some huge books on fire trucks and giant dump trucks! We also borrowed a video on Monster Trucks so I am feeling a little trucked out at the moment and glad that Auntie Ruth is here to share in this along with me! He was very upset the other day when Abi -who does not appreciate his love of trucks - refused to watch his new video with him! Thankfully, Andy is more than happy to watch it over and over. Please remember Matthew as he adapts to being without Abi all day and as he starts preschool on Friday morning. I will be going with him this week for a few hours and then next week he will start by himself.


Nature in Ohio is always fascinating and we have seen lots of amazing things. Tonight a swarm of bees arrived and have taken rest on our trampoline! Matthew was jumping about on it and Abi was about to go out when we noticed the air was full of bees! Andy rescued Matthew and we watched it all from inside! Thankfully our neighbour is a bee keeper and he came down to have a look. As the bees began to stop flying about and settle on the trampoline we had a cup of coffee outside watching and learning all about swarms of bees. I am really hoping they don't stay too long as I feel I have lost enough sleep over bee stings lately! : 0)

Getting Ready for Kindergarten!

It's hard to imagine that Abigail is going to be starting school next week! A lot of the last week has been spent getting ready. The children here are expected to bring their supplies to school with them. These include things such as crayons, tissues, pencils, erasers, dry wipe markers, and even four tubs of play dough among other stuff! All the schools in the district put out their "supplies list" in the the two main grocery shops in Coshocton. I am expected to go in, find Abi's school list and buy all the supplies listed for Kindergarten - very different to Scotland. Last Saturday morning all the new kindergarten pupils from Coshocton County were invited to a local school to receive some of the supplies for free.

We headed out at 9am determined to beat the rush. We got a lot more than we bargained for! Abi walked around all the tables collecting supplies to put in her bag and there were balloons to decorate also. Outside there was a fire truck where we could spray the hose - I don't ever remember having a shot of a real fire hose myself so of course, I had to have a go! Then Abi climbed into the drivers seat for a look. There was also a school bus there from the Riverview District for everyone to climb aboard and explore. Our house and Abi's school are both in the Riverview district as we are on the outskirts of Coshocton town centre. This meant I was able to gather lots of information from the lady driver, who may even be the one picking up Abi next week!

As if this wasn't enough free stuff and excitement for one day, while walking across the car park I was asked if we would like our child car seats checked by their safety experts. I agreed thinking this should not take too long. I was wrong! It appears that our British Britax car seats are not recognized by US state law as being safe and therefore we could be fined if stopped by the police. Just as my heart was sinking at the thought of having to buy two new American car seats, they offered me two for free!!! This turned out to be another half an hour of form filling and car seat fitting. Abi and Matthew were delighted with their new seats, and so was I. This means that we can take our British car seats back to Scotland in October and leave them. No more flying with two strollers, four cases, AND two car seats! What a blessing! I only wished I had cleaned the inside of my car out before I ventured out last Saturday!

Later on that Saturday we had a lovely family evening out. We went for pizza and took it to a park in town to eat. Then the kids played and rode there bike/trike. Then we went to the video rental place and let the kids pick a movie each We ended up with five DVD's including a new release. The assistant scanned them all and said they were all free today! How does anyone make a living here? LOL! We topped off our family outing with a trip to "Earls" for some crazy, yet utterly delicious ice cream. I believe Abi and Matthew opted for the play dough flavour. We don't eat like this every day may I add!

Last week was not all fun and laughter. Before Abi and Matthew are allowed to start school, or pre-school, they must prove they are up to date with immunisations. This involved a trip to the doctors last Monday. They wanted to give them four shots each but I felt this was a little much at once so they had two and we shall go back in December for another two. The latter are not essential but very beneficial considering where we may be going in a few years. Abi was quite shocked by the ordeal and was convinced she couldn't move her arm or hand all day. Then she commented later on that the needle in her arm was sore. I realised then I had told her a needle would be going into her arm but had forgotten to tell her the needle would be coming out again! She thought it was still in there! LOL! I am glad to report that everyone is back to normal now!

As mentioned earlier, we can confirm that we are returning to Scotland on the 13th of October and will be leaving again on the 29th. Our primary purpose is to renew our visa in London but the rest of the time we will be catching up with family and friends. We will let you know when and where in Scotland we will be sharing and hope you can join us in person.

Love in Christ

Heather

We have had a good week getting back into a routine after all the busyness of the last few months.

Heather has been getting back into her groove, keeping us well fed with cakes and home bakes! She has enjoyed having the opportunity to get to know MMS’s latest arrivals, the Maddux family, as they are temporarily staying just up the road from us, and it has been good to have some of the other MMS wives round for a “catch up”. Tuesday night brought something a bit different, when Heather went out to a “Taste So Simple” party; think “Tupperware party”, but with lots of different foods to try!! It was a good opportunity to socialise with some friends from church, as well as a few new faces to get to know. Right now she is practicing away on the piano – she is singing at church tomorrow, so is giving me a sneak preview!

Since we have arrived in Ohio, it has been interesting to experience nature from the slightly different perspective that we have over here. We have been fascinated by hummingbirds, crickets and fire flies, and we’ve been amazed by freezing rain, floods, heat and thunderstorms. This week has brought a few more things to add to the list.

In the last couple of weeks many of the trees around Coshocton have found themselves becoming home to an army of little web worms. The little caterpillars weave a silk tent then spend the next few weeks eating all the leaves inside before graduating to moth status. Some trees seem to be more appealing than others - this one that sits beside the road I travel to the hangar every morning.




This morning saw the temperature a bit more civilised than it has been for the last few weeks, so we took advantage and got stuck into a bit of gardening, or “yard-work” as they say here! We got lots done, and the place is looking good, but even though the temperatures were cooler, it was still humid, so these two Scots are feeling a bit tired tonight after all our efforts!!! (…and there won’t be any pictures of us hard at work appearing on here!!) We did meet a few of the neighbours though, and Abi and Matthew were kept entertained with grasshoppers and frogs for much of the morning. Everyone stopped for a good look when Heather found a Praying Mantis, though! We kept it in a jar for the afternoon (to allow for a proper scientific examination!) then let it go just before the kids bed time. The kids are really loving seeing so many things over here that they could only experience on tv back home!

Abi with the mantis still in it's jar...

Matthew saying his good-byes!

Work goes on at the hangar with the Gabon 207, and this week has seen me working on repairs to the section of the tail cone below the horizontal stabilizer. The work I was doing at the beginning of the week started with me just stripping paint off the old skin. It needed to be prepared for the fuselage being rolled into the paint booth to get it’s final paint job. As we removed layers of paint, and examined the structure in more detail we found a bit of damage that needed attention. Repairs were made to the aft bulkhead and the rest of the structure was inspected.

The skin that covers this section was also badly damaged, so the decision was made to replace it also. That gave me opportunity for another “first” in my time at MMS – my first skin! The old skin was removed and used as a template and after a bit of drilling, cutting, filing and bending the new skin was all ready to be painted then riveted in place.



The aluminium was .040” thick (quite heavy…) and had a couple of tight bends to be put into it, so that gave us the opportunity for another “first” – the new slip roll we have at the hangar (http://mmsaviation.blogspot.com/2011/05/tennsmith-slip-roll.html#links ) has now had it’s first use “in anger” and has proved it’s worth!



Unfortunately I managed one more “first” on Thursday morning – I have been driving now for almost 17 years, and have never run out of petrol before, until now! Needless to say I was late on Thursday morning, and spent most of the day feeling a bit thick!

Thanks for checking in!

A

July has been a bit of a slow month on the blog front, but certainly not because nothing has been happening!!
Our first Independence day came at the start of the month, and Heather, Kirsten and Sarah were able to get out and enjoy the fireworks! The show put on at the Coshocton Fairgrounds, came complete with an appearance by Elvis himself!! The plan had been for all of us to go out, but the kids were pretty much knackered by the time darkness approached, so I stayed home with them.
The middle of July brought a short break away for us to the Carolina’s. We drove down to our good friends, the Baisley’s, in NC and had a few lovely days there catching up with them. It was good to have some family time as well, and a day trip to the children’s museum gave the kids the chance to experiment with planes and fire engines!




Heather and I then took a couple of nights away to Charleston SC on our own. It was great to be able to have some time to ourselves after such a busy summer – I got some touristy sightseeing done and Heather topped up her tan!



We’re now back to just the Swanson’s here again, and are adjusting to having our home return to normal for a while!!!
Back at the hangar and things are moving along as always. Work is progressing on the Gabon 207, and the work on the cabin floor has been finished for the time being. The damaged rear wing spar has been removed, and once the new part arrives, it will be installed. That will allow the roof to be put back together, and another major job ticked off the list!



Last week saw work starting on the damaged tail cone, with the damaged skins, spars and ribs all removed. The process of rebuilding has now started and sheet aluminium is being formed into the various skins that are needed to replace the damaged parts, and create the aft half of the plane.



It is exciting to see things moving along so quickly and great for me to be getting so much valuable experience making up skins and doublers for various parts of this aircraft. We are making good progress towards seeing this aircraft to be returned to service and sent back to Gabon to continue its important role there!!
Thanks for your prayers, support and interest!