Friday, February 28 - Day 5 - The Trusses

Today was our last full day working on the house. It was also one of the most physically demanding. We were setting trusses, 23 of them to be exact. I'm not sure how heavy most of them were but the last one we handed up, the heaviest of the 23, was 300 pounds. At first it was just Sharon, Becky, me and Jim but thankfully after about three trusses in, some others came over from another build site to help out. The floor was too high in the center which made it more difficult to get level and tomorrow we will spend some time getting those issues corrected. As for today we put in a good day's work and look forward to meeting the home owners tomorrow. Sharon and I hope to get away a little early so we can get to New Orleans in time to sightsee before it gets dark.

we passed the University of South Alabama every day on our way to the work site

Buckeye Builders
Jim, Grant, MaryAnn, Bob, Becky, Josh, Tall Dave, Me, Sharon and Beth

Thursday, February 27*Day 3 and 4*

First of all, Happy Birthday to my mom on her 90th birthday.
Day 3
Yesterday it rained all day here in Mobile so we were unable to work on the house. Instead we volunteered at the Re-Store and built several shelving units to store their lumber products. Proceeds from this store goes towards funding Habitat homes. We were treated to a fabulous catered lunch and met with staff and volunteers from the Mobile Habitat organization.
Day 4
This morning it was 22 degrees here in Mobile but at least it wasn't raining. We were able to finish all of the walls, get the OSB sheeting on the outside, cut out all of the doors and windows and put the top plate on the top of all of the walls. Our goal tomorrow is to get the trusses up tomorrow. We had hoped to be doing that today but the rain put us behind schedule.

Dinner tonight was at a restaurant on the bay called Ed's Seafood Shed. I wish it had been warmer, but the view and the food was spectacular. I had mahi mahi, fried okra, rice and a hot fudge brownie. Yum!!

 

 

we built a 16ft and a 12ft shelving unit. This is the larger unit.

Tuesday, February 25 'The Build-Day 2'

Today was another beautiful day for working on the habitat house. It was sunny and nearly 70. We were able to put up the rest of the interior walls and all but a small entry way wall for the exterior. The gals spent the day drilling the holes for the hurricane anchors and also started hanging the sheeting boards. The latter was physically demanding and I for one was a pretty tired puppy when 3:30 rolled around. We then spend about 40minutes picking up tools and extension cords and putting them in the tool trailer.

Buckeye Builders plus Tom from Pa.

We usually get back to the Seton Center around 5. This evening, after supper, some of us drove downtown to watch one of the 5 parades that will be held this week. I am so glad we did as it was so much fun.  The floats were quite extravagant and the people on them practically pelted us with everything from Moon Pies to Mardi Gras beads. The most unusual was a packet of ramen noodles but there were also stuffed animals, light up necklaces and peanuts. There were also lots of horses and marching bands.
I had a little time to take some pictures around the Seton Center so you can see what it looks like. Tomorrow it is supposed to rain and our backup plan will be to work in the Re Store, a store that furnishes re purposed items and supports Habitat.

Displaying our parade loot!

The Seton Center on Old Shell Rd.

St. Mary's Catholic Church

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Monday, February 24 "The Build"

Today was the day! We were up and down in the kitchen by 6:30 am. I think the smell of the bacon that Grant was frying brought most of us downstairs. Beth made scrambled eggs and we had juice, toast and cereal to go with them. It took us about 35 minutes to get to the work site. There was a cement slab and all of the lumber stacked beside it. After a prayer by Jim and a silent one by me not to nail my foot to the floor. We finished up around 4 and came back for showers and dinner. I'm going to load some pictures of our progress and head down to see whats on the menu.

At 6 the church next door must have mass as the bells were ringing. On the hour though, the carillon chimes play and remind me of our bell choir. Today at 6 it played How Great Though Art. Below you can see the bell tower as I see it from my room. So glad I am here.

Sunday, February 23 -Mobile, Alabama

We left Athens, Alabama at 7:30 this morning and after driving through some heavy rains we arrived in Mobile around 2 o'clock. We drove to see the USS Alabama on the Mobile Bay. The park also had many different aircraft and a submarine, the USS Drum. I really enjoyed our visit, especially talking to a veteran who was signing copies of a book he had written about his time in a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines. Unfortunately, the rains made it very foggy and the visibility was quite poor but I managed a few good photos.

USS Alabama

 

We ate at a very popular BBQ restaurant called Dreamland BBQ. Very good!  The Seton Center where we are staying is a former convent and although it is quite old, we are very comfortable. Tomorrow we build!