Day 4



Rustoleum does wonders!

We had a busy but productive day at our second house. We applied the first coat of paint to all of the trim and interior doors and cleaned most of the windows, while Ron Smedley painted the security bars on the front door and windows, and exterior trim.  Thunderstorms were forecast all day, but they must have passed around us.

The gentleman who owns the home has lived in the neighborhood for most of his life, and his father still lives here.    While we and other teams have worked on his home, he has been living and working four hours away.

 

Close quarters and little natural light.

The neighborhood where we worked in East New Orleans is located in a very low, flat, treeless area adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain, and is relatively poor. The houses were well-maintained, but a few had not been touched since Hurricane Katrina. Our house is just now being repaired from that storm, now seven and a half years ago.  We learned from a neighbor that the entire neighborhood had been under about 3 1/2 feet of water. During Hurricane Isaac, the worst they encountered was a power outage.

 

We were able to divide up the work among several rooms at a time.  Because the house did not yet have electrical power, we had to run extension cords from a meter at the street to work lights in the darker rooms and closets.

 

 

 

After we quit for the day, all pooped out, we stopped at frozen yogurt shop, for the second time this week. Upon our return to camp, we learned that the owners of our first house have invited us to lunch tomorrow.

 

 

Presentation of the Piecemakers quilt.

We had two special treats after dinner tonight.   Our cook Andrea brought her 85-year old mother, granddaughter and other family members. It became a lively and wonderful evening. the granddaughter was so excited to join us and to be our server. Andrea's mom entertained us with comments and stories.  In gratitude for the great food Andrea has been preparing for us, we gave her mother a quilt the Piecemakers made. It was well received since she just recently was released from the hospital. 

 

One happy pastor!

In turn, Andrea prepared for us some awesome, hot bread pudding, topped with browned meringue and praline sauce. Some of our team members knew that their diets for the week were shot for sure.

We're looking forward to meeting the family of our first house tomorrow, finishing up as much as we can of our second home, and preparing to return to Farmington First on Saturday, to share more of our adventures with you.