August 2020 – RVing With a Purpose

Back to Work

Monday, August 31, 2020

Yesterday was a picture perfect Sunday – lower temperatures and humidity. We were out getting a good walk before 8:30 church. Worship service from Lester Memorial UMC in Oneonta, Alabama yesterday was wonderful. Pastor Harvey really puts the word out there for everyone. We are so blessed to have him as our pastor. All our services, contemporary, traditional and the Wednesday devotion are all available for streaming on Facebook and YouTube. Max cooked us a wonderful breakfast of blueberry waffle french toast and then we jointly cooked the one pot teriyaki chicken and rice for our main meal of the day. We decided it’s a keeper recipe but we will probably convert it to an instant pot meal. No need for cooking the rest of the week.

This crazy cardinal woke us up Sunday morning by repeatedly flying over and crashing into her reflection on the side of Fred …

Sunday sunset over the corn field

Today we had a very cloudy morning and it was great for installing the remainder of the metal on the roof. The materials arrived Friday and we had an extra volunteer today (Bill) and by three o’clock the roof was installed. Now we are waiting on the foam strips that go under the ridge cap and once that arrives we will install the ridge cap and the roof will be complete. It was a very productive day. Thank you Bill so much for you added help. Tonight we are tired.

The last of the metal being lifted to the roof

Bill volunteers at MMDC about one day a week. Today he helped us with the metal roofing.

All we have left is installing the ridge cap.

Hot Work Days But a Nice Saturday

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Not a lot of pictures but Wednesday and Thursday were busy and very hot work days. In fact, it was so hot that by the time we finished up in the evenings and got our showers we were too tired to blog. After reinstalling the door we decided the door really needed a door closer so we got that installed. We also had to turn the lock set around since we turned the door around. Yep, we sort of forgot about that little chore when we worked on the door. We remembered when we locked ourselves in and Anne had to climb out a window to unlock the door. We worked on installing insulation, worked with the electrician to complete the rough in, moved lumber and cleaned up the job site. Friday the HVAC and electrical passed inspection so now we can move forward. Also Friday the metal for the roof and walls arrived, as well as the drywall, the rest of the insulation, and all the screws, tape and mud etc. Now we just need some additional people to help us get the work done. We have one volunteer that will be here Monday when we plan to work to complete the roofing. Another NOMAD should arrive Tuesday and another Wednesday and we hope to be working on drywall by then.

While waiting on the rough-in inspections we put up insulation in the spaces where there were no wires or pipes.

The metal roofing and siding that was delivered.

We have enough drywall and insulation supplies to keep us busy for a while.

Today was a beautiful day. The temperatures were significantly lower with the high only 81 and the humidity lower as well. Our low tonight is suppose to be back down into the lower 50s. Much nicer. It was a really good day to get our exercise. Today was a walking day. It was also a cooking and laundry day. We prepared breakfasts for next week as well as enough stroganoff to feed us a couple of days. Tomorrow we plan to make a new-to-us recipe for “one pot teriyaki chicken and rice”. We like preparing one pot meals in FRED. With that made we will have the meals for the week. That’s about it for now. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

While we were at a local produce stand we saw someone buy the last watermelon that was on display. We asked if they had any more and this is what they brought out for us. Anne can’t even lift it. We were able to get half in our refrigerator but had to leave the other half in a refrigerator in the dorm.

Odds and Ends

Tuesday, August 26, 2020

Hello all. For those of our sweet family concerned about our well being, we are fine. Tired from working in the heat, but fine. We were walking back to FRED the other afternoon and Max commented on us coming to Illinois looking for some cooler weather than Alabama and we checked the weather in Alabama and decided the joke is on us.

Oh, well. We enjoy working with the folks at MMDC. They do a wonderful job serving those in need all across the world, USA, Illinois and their local community. It is our blessing to be able to work along side them in their ministry. On this visit we are working on building additional office space which is badly needed.

Some of the many reasons we support MMDC

Biking the Interurban Trail — Late afternoon bike ride on the Interurban Trail

Sunday, of course, we worshiped with Lester Memorial by live stream. Such a blessing. You can find the Sunday message and Wednesday devotion on YouTube and Facebook. Later afternoon, after it cooled a little, we biked a small portion of the Interurban rail trail we walked Saturday. We only road about 7 miles because we also needed to buy some groceries. Everything is very convenient in the Village of Chatham – such a nice little town. The trail needs a little love to smooth some of the rough areas but sure wish Blount County had something similar.

Monday we went back to work on the new addition and continued that work today. We completed the removal and installation of the exterior door, installed attic vents, and various other items such as marking the trusses for the folks that will be blowing in the insulation and marking the floor with stud location for when we install the drywall. We have stayed busy making sure we stay out of the way of the HVAC and electrical contractors. We think they will have their portion complete in time for inspection Friday morning. Fingers crossed.

Removing the lag bolts that are holding the door in

We were also able to visit with the LOLs through Zoom today. Aunt Jean was quite the spunky one and seemed very pleased that we “called” her. Aunt Helen was asleep but they woke her up for us and she seemed happy to see us too. She fell last night but seems okay. The nurse practitioner saw her for us this morning and said she seems fine. Another blessing. Hope everyone is having a great week. Stay safe and healthy!

Celebrating in Chatham

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Yesterday morning we met with the director at MMDC to discuss work plans for next week and beyond. We then said goodbyes to Richard and Dianne who are heading back to Arizona after a visit with family. Since yesterday was our 38th anniversary, we spend the rest of the day celebrating. We went to one of our favorite places in Chatham, Scoop Du Jour ice cream shop. We had our favorites from last year, blueberry waffle cone, and caramel collision. It was just as wonderful as we remember. As most of you know we both love to cook and since we still aren’t going into restaurants to eat, we grilled some steaks back at home. We had a very good day.

Richard and Dianne leaving. Since we saw them last, they bought a truck just like ours.

Today we walked the Interurban trail for about 3-3.5 miles. Tomorrow we plan to bike it. We also said goodbyes to Matt and Breanna and worked on cleaning tar spots and splattered bugs from Fred and our truck. We are very glad the state of Illinois is repairing their roads because repairs are definitely needed but we hated driving through fresh tar on the way here. Nice quiet day.