Month: March 2018

Friday, March 23, 2018

Another gorgeous day! The spring days in Baton Rouge remind us of the mountains in the summer, cool mornings and evenings and warm beautiful days. Nice.

It was nice to have the day off allowing us to sleep a little late. Then we said our goodbyes to Mark and Lisa. This time it wasn’t as hard to say goodbye because all four of us have decided to return to Baton Rouge in May to help two more weeks while our dear friends Carol and Dave Hill are leading. Already looking forward to returning and we still have two more weeks here this time. Today Gary, Avis, Stel and Jodi went to the southern tip of Louisiana to the southern terminus of the Mississippi River. Dave and Rita made a trip to New Orleans. Finally, we rode the Levee Trail. Jo and Mark rode with us. The levee trail runs along the top of the levee that keeps the Mississippi River from flooding downtown Baton Rouge and the LSU campas. The Mississippi was still incredibly high, but it has receded just a little since last Saturday when we walked a section of the trail. The trail was a good ride, about 10 miles, and less crowded today than last week. We always like riding along the water.

After the ride, the four of us went to Portabello’s Grill for lunch. The food was very good and the company even better. We had a good waiter who put up with all our laughing and joking. When we left Portabello’s we walked next door to Madeline’s a french restaurant and bakery. The pastries and creme brulee cheese cake were awsome. We returned home around 4:30 and did laundry and relaxed. No supper for us after the lunch we ate. However, we did have the cheese cake in lieu of supper. Life is short. Eat dessert first – or instead. We have new team members coming in tomorrow. So we will probably get some groceries in the morning and then just hang out here tomorrow afternoon. Hope you have a great weekend.

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Feeling very blessed with another beautiful day. Cool this morning, then warmer during the afternoon. Actually, just plain hot working on the roof in the sun today. The rainy weekend we had last weekend turned into a beautiful week. Tomorrow is predicted to be nice, too. So hopefully we will finally get to ride the levee trail.

Today was roofing day. We really wanted to finally get the house in the dry. We had a really slow start, but then things started falling into place. Richard’s home is now in the dry with a bathroom and bedroom addition. We still have some additional screws to place in the roof and the soffit and fascia to put up, but the roof is on! Everyone worked so hard today. In addition to the roofing which everyone worked on, Stel and Avis got a lot more of the insulation installed. We had a lot of clean up to do since it’s out last work day this week.

Lunch today was again provided by Richard and was fried fish with slaw, french fries and bread. It was great. We also got word today that the committee approved NOMADS to build the other bedroom on Richard’s house so that means we will working there for a good while longer. The teams after we go home will have to complete the house. The team is very happy for Richard and Sandy. It’s been a good week.

Tonight we had our weekly team dinner and the team decided to stay home and grill hamburgers. All the food was great and everyone enjoyed the evening. We had to say goodbye to Mark and Lisa, and Mark and Jo. The four of them have been such wonderful additions to our team. We will miss their laughter and their wonderful contribution to the project. Otherwise, it was another good week.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Today was another beautiful day, cooler, and windy but beautiful. We are hoping for less wind tomorrow when we need to install the big sheets of metal roofing. We really can’t say anything negative about the weather here after looking at all the damage in Alabama from the Monday night storms. It is really amazing that no one died in those storms. Most recent count is 9 tornadoes touched down Monday night.

After devotion today, the team again headed to Baker to continue work on Richard’s home. We, however, headed in the opposite direction but only a few miles to Denham Springs to look over another home the Conference wants us to repair. This home needs sheetrock work, painting, doors installed, cabinets installed and flooring. The college kids who worked here last week taped, mudded and partially sanded the drywall They actually did a pretty good job but looks like they ran out of time to complete the job. Since this is all inside work we currently plan to continue on Richard’s home until the rain returns next week then at least some of us will go to this home.

While we were in Denham Springs, the team returned to work. It was a busy day and everyone is tired tonight. Today Rita and Lisa completed the railing for the front porch so now the porch and ramp projects are totally complete. They did an awesome job. The electrical was roughed in today, by Stel, Mark, Jodi and probably some others, and is awaiting inspection by the city. The inspector may have come after we left this afternoon. Otherwise he should be there first thing in the morning. Insulation was installed by Avis and Jo, in the exterior walls that did not have electrical installed. The electrical work has to remained uncovered until after the inspection and then we will complete the insulation installation. The windows were installed by Dave and Gary with some help by others. Yea! We took those windows out, protected them for a couple of days and got them reinstalled with out breaking any panes. Okay, now we will probably break them tomorrow. No! Mark, Max, Dave, Gary, and others spent most of the day preparing the rafters for the metal roof, soffit and fascia. Last night we went to Lowe’s and selected the material for the soffit and fascia and Charles picked it up for us this morning. We are so looking forward to having the roof on this house. That is our main goal for tomorrow. Sure hope we get it done.

Richard made crawfish etouffee for us at lunch. Again, he made a large pot and served us all. The man can really cook. Everyone enjoyed lunch too much and no one felt like returning to work. However, we had to earn our lunch. Thanks, Richard, for another wonderful meal.

Tomorrow is NOMADS Friday so we really want that roof in place before the weekend. We will let you know tomorrow night.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Today was a cooler but beautiful day. Nice working weather.

We all began the day back in Baker at Richard’s house. The Quickcete was mixed and poured at the end of the wheel chair ramp, completing that portion of the project. We began installing the railings on the front porch until we ran out of material. The lumber came this afternoon, but by then everyone was busy on other projects so we will complete the railings another day. The sheathing was completed. The purlins were all installed. We completed the blocking where it was needed. The house wrap was installed in spite of the wind and the sub-fascia was partially installed. After lunch Anne, Jo and Lisa returned to Francis Asbury and painted the floor in the hall at the church. There are still some doors to paint and trim to install and the floor will probably need another coat. We may save most of those projects for next week when we are expecting rain again.

 

It was another beautiful and productive day in Baton Rogue.  But we are tired so its a short blog.