RVing With a Purpose

Friday, March 30, 2018

Today was back to a beautiful day. We did have some wind and it was definitely cooler than earlier this week but it was just about perfect. Don’t know about Louisiana but we usually have a cool snap before Easter at home. The low tonight is predicted to be 49, definitely cooler than last week

This morning we said goodbyes to Dave and Rita, around 7:00 and then Jo and Mark around 10:00. We will certainly miss both couples. They have both become dear friends and were certainly hard working members of this team. Safe travels to you both and we hope to see and work with you again soon. If not before then hopefully we will see you in September at annual meeting. In between departures, Max prepared another wonderful breakfast. Love mornings when he has time to relax and prepare a wonderful breakfast.

Later in the morning Anne and Suzanne did a little more painting at the church. They want the doors to look good for Easter. After that we relaxed most of the day, did the laundry and then went to Rice and Roux again for dinner. Anne tried the shrimp fettuccine this time although it was actually penne pasta. It was good but still think the chicken and sausage gumbo and fried fish is the best. We had the red beans for the first time and they were quite good.

That’s about it for today. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend celebrating our risen Savior.

Thursday, March 29, 2018

The forecasts were at least partially correct. It rained today. And rained and rained and rained. Fortunately we had no severe weather and by 5:00 this afternoon we had beautiful blue skies and a gorgeous sunset.

Early this morning we started watching the weather closely. We decided to postpone devotions until 8:00 because the rain was suppose to be really bad about that time and we didn’t want people out driving in the storm. Rita brought us a devotion about Maundy Thursday. Thanks so much Rita for a really good devotion. We decided to not go out to Baker to Richard’s because we have primarily outside work there. The predictions were for thunderstorms and possible tornadoes. We didn’t need to be trying to work outside. There was work to be done at the church. The original plan was to work a few hours at the church, watch the weather and then perhaps we could go to Baker or out to one of the other homes that need inside work after the threat of severe weather had passed. Everyone got started at the church and found their spot they wanted to work. Mark, Barrie, Lee Ann and Jo began working in the tool room to clean it up and organize it. Max also did some work there. Wow. The tool room now looks amazing and we can find what we need. We still have to take some things out to the paint shed but didn’t want to do that in the rain. Dave installed and repaired trim in the church. The trim now looks much better. Stel stained the new trim and helped with some painting. Rita worked on prepping and painting the front door of the church and Suzanne painted trim in the church. Jodi painted the doors on the dormitory. A fresh coat of paint makes everything look better. Anne did some window repairs and tried to keep everyone in the necessary supplies. We all enjoyed the slower pace in a cooler environment and really wanted to make the church look a little better before Easter. It’s our little gift to the people of Francis Asbury. They have been so nice and welcoming to us that it was nice to be able to do something for them.

Shortly after lunch we said goodbye to Avis and Gary. They had been watching the weather and based on forecasts for their destination, decided it was time for them to hit the road. We enjoyed working with them so much. They were a tremendous asset to this team and we will miss them. Prayers for safe travel and that they can get Gary’s knee surgery taken care of quickly so they can get back to work soon.

We decided to just stay at the church for the day and continued the various projects after lunch. We were pleased with what we got done but there is more to do.

Tonight we again decided to have our Thursday night dinner at the church. We had a lot of chicken and veggies left over from the Sunday dinner, along with many desserts. So we ate leftovers. They were just as good as they were Sunday. Jo and Mark will be leaving tomorrow, as will Dave and Rita. We ate, enjoyed dessert and talked and laughed like we have for three weeks. We didn’t say goodbye yet because we plan to see them before they leave tomorrow.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Today’s weather was iffy. Rain was predicted but we thought we would be able to get in a half day of work at Richard’s house and then we might have to move to inside work. It was very cloudy to start the day but then we started having some occasional sunshine. When the sun was out it was hot and humid! As we were finishing lunch it started raining so we all jumped up and started picking up all the tools to keep them dry and covering all our lumber for the same reason. By the time we got everything covered, it had just about stopped raining. An hour or so later we had another brief shower. So, we are grateful for essentially an entire day of work. Now tomorrow may be a different story.

Today, we really wanted to get the rafters all hung so we had a team of folks working on that project. Mark and Dave were working on the framing, while Jo and Rita ran the saw. Throughout the day others were on the deck and helping with the framing including Stel, Gary, Avis, Barrie, Jodi, Suzanne and Lee Ann. At the end of the day all the rafters were up. YEA. Additionally the south wall was up and the north wall has been laid out. Our siding painters, Lee Anne and Suzanne, are now siding installers. They are doing a great job. Others working on siding included Avis, Jodi, Gary, and probably some others we failed to mention. The siding is going to look very good when we get a second coat of paint on it. Max and Avis worked on the roofing for bedroom one and are close to having that completed. We are still waiting on screws that are on order. Anne put up a little insulation today but primarily tried to keep everyone else with needed supplies and filled in where ever she was needed. A lot was accomplished. We were pleased.

Tomorrow will totally depend on the weather. Sure hope we get to go back to Richard’s.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Today was a mostly cloudy day but boy when the sun was out it was hot and humid. We were thankful for the overcast skies. We had a couple of tiny showers. It was just enough to make us cover up the chop saw once but by the time it was covered the rain had stopped.

Today devotions were led by Stel and Jodi who again did a great job. They shared the history and significance of the folded napkin found in the empty tomb. We then headed to the job sites. Again today, Jo and Mark went to the Denham Springs house to repair the bathroom floor. They got that completed this afternoon and tomorrow we plan for them to be back working on the framing at Richard’s house. Yea! We missed them. We may need to go back to that house later this week or next to set the bath tub, toilet and do some drywall work but we need everyone at Richard’s tomorrow while we hope to have dry weather. We shall see.

At Richard’s we made good progress. Suzanne and Lee Ann completed the painting of the siding for the first addition and put up the first couple of pieces. It’s going to look good. And they got to use a new tool that none of the rest of us have tried yet. It’s for cutting the concrete board siding. From what I hear, we may have a purchase in our future.

The framing of the second bedroom addition moved ahead today. We started on the decking this morning and finished that in time for a slightly late lunch. We then removed the remainder of the siding and part of the sheathing in preparation for starting the rafters. The window air conditioner was removed as that is where the door into the bedroom will be. We also raised one wall of the addition and began the layout of another. We are pleased with all that was accomplished today. This addition is moving faster because we learned a lot on the first bedroom and bath. Before we left we covered all our lumber in case it rains tonight. A front is going to come through and it’s looking like Thursday will be a rain day, but we are hoping for at least a good half day of outside work tomorrow.

We were all pretty tired tonight but still had enough energy to meet after showers for left over pie from Sunday’s dinner and a brief card game. This team really knows how to work and play and laugh.