Hot, Hot, Hot

Putting up the awning

Dr. Mike rescuing the cat

Dr. Mike, Lisa, Sarah, and Andy (a member of First Presbyterian) continued to work at Ms. Minor’s house today.  We finished up some odds and ends:  reconnected an electrical box, did some caulking and priming, and rescued a cat.  Our main job for the day was to work on the awning at the front of Ms. Minor’s house.  The awning over the front of her door was too low and sagging.  This did not allow her to open her front door fully because the top of the door scraped the awning.  To solve this problem, we built a brace to support the awning so that we could just pull it away from the house a couple of feet.  After we built the brace and unattached the awning, we replaced the rotten board that the awning was attached to.  We then reattached the awning several inches higher than it was previously.  Ms. Minor can now open her door completely without having it hit the awning!  Tomorrow morning we will go back briefly to finish some caulking and priming as well as clean up some tree limbs and shrubbery. 

What's completed

What's left to go

More progress has been made on Ms. Floyd’s roof, but there is nothing hotter than on top of a roof in Mississippi during the summer.  We have extended the joists over half the roof, laid plywood, and created the necessary extension of the vents from the old roof.  We did find more rotten wood along the soffets that needed to be replaced.  A little after 3 pm, though, we had to call it a day as it was too hot to continue to work.  We will be leaving to work at 6:30 am tomorrow to take advantage of the cooler weather.  The goal is to finish the new roof and lay tar paper, so that it can be shingled on Friday.

In the evening we were blessed by the hospitality of Knox, Deborah (his wife), and a man named Keith (who barbequed ribs and chicken for us).  We had dinner at Knox and Deborah’s house and were refreshed by the opportunity to swim in their pool and play with their 75 lb, 7 month of German Shepherd puppy.  It was such a blessing to have an evening of fun and fellowship!

Tomorrow we will divide into three different groups.  Most of the work to be done on Ms. Floyd’s roof is needed up on the roof instead of on the ground.  So, several people will continue to work on Ms. Floyd’s roof.  The ground crew from Ms. Floyd’s house will go to another house to do some interior painting.   The group from Ms. Minor’s house will go to another house to put up some siding as well as repair a leaky roof. 

Fun in the pool

Please continue for us to stay rested and cool tomorrow.  We have been enjoying periods of clouds throughout the day.  We are praying that that will last throughout the week.  The people here are very appreciative of our work and we are able to see the impact that we are having on their lives.