July 9, 2008 ~ Getting Plastered Part II

July 9, 2008. It was hard work applying the scratch coat on the wall the other day. Thankfully, we got more plaster on the walls than on the floor. Our mission today is to apply the brown coat on top of the dried scratch coat. This coat begins to make the wall smoother in appearance. In mixing the plaster Sparky was splashing plaster on innocent by-standers. However, he mixed it very well with just the right amount of water (with Super Dave’s supervision).
I think we did a pretty good job, and again, more on the walls than on the floor.

July 8, 2008 ~ Back to Windows

July 8, 2008. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with the work that needs to be done on the PRC and Cane House windows. We just have to keep scrapping, sanding, priming, and glazing away until we get the job done.

July 7, 2008 ~ Getting Plastered Part I

July 7, 2008. We learned something new today. We learned a lot about plaster! Not just any plaster, but lime plaster. It was highly educational and messy.

This is horse hair that we mix in the mortar to give it tensile strength.When applying plaster to a wall you must know there are 3 coats that need to be applied. The first coat is called the scratch coat, second coat is called the brown coat, and finally comes the finish.
Things within the Krewe are winding down. This is the first day of Week 5 of our 8 Week adventure. You can see a glimpse of weariness in our eyes.

July 6, 2008 ~ Lazy Days Part II

July 6, 2008. Sunday was marvelous! The most productive thing I accomplished was walk to Marigny Perks Coffee Shop and updated my blog.

July 5, 2008 ~ Lazy Days Part I

July 5, 2008. A nice relaxing Saturday. Stephanie was her guests for lunch and invited Dee and myself to tag along. We had lunch at a nice restaurant in the Quarter, but it must not have been that great because I can’t remember the name of the restaurant. The only thing I wanted to do that afternoon was be a lazy bum at the Bed and Breakfast.

July 4, 2008 ~ A DAY OFF!!!

July 4, 2008. Happy 4th of July! And what a nice day it was. It never felt so good to sleep in on a Friday. When I finally got out of bed I called my friends and family with happy holiday wishes and contemplated the previous four weeks living in New Orleans.
It wasn’t what I expected from the initial description of the program that I received in the emails. From those emails I expected to be helping families who experiences major damage to their homes during Hurricane Katrina and the flooded that occurred. It meant a lot to me to do that kind of work. When I found out that I would be providing free labor for a corporation that restores homes that have been abandoned pre-Katrina, I was just a little disappointed. It was very kind of this corporation to allow us to use their houses as our lab for study, practice, and experience.
After my contemplations it was time to chill away the day. Stephanie had some friends come into town for the Essence Festival so we celebrated the 4th with them. That night we were invited to a cook out in the Musician’s Village. I’m glad we accepted because not only was the food great, but we enjoyed some laughs from the amateur fireworks show. After the cook out and fireworks we went to Frenchmen Street for more good times.

July 3, 2008 ~ Ms. Evelyn’s Windows Part II

July 3, 2008. With the 4th of July Holiday just a day away the Krewe is short three members who wanted to spend the holiday elsewhere. However, that didn’t mean that work stopped. What was left of the Krewe went back to Ms. Evelyn’s house to put in more windows. Super Dave demonstrated how to make replacement window profiles and muttons using broken windows from the house we’re working on in Holy Cross. Brian showed us how to put in windows that don’t require weights. The work wasn’t difficult and there wasn’t a lot to do that kept us very busy. The girls got spare moments that were filled with jewelry making from recycled window weight chains. We believe in being green and beautiful.
We eventually got our windows in and Ms. Evelyn was very pleased and she exclaimed, “I have windows!”
That night we partied at Vaughn’s to the tunes of Kermit Ruffin. If you don’t know then you better ask!

July 2, 2008 ~ Ms. Evelyn’s Windows

July 2, 2008. Today our focus was still on windows. The Krewe has a change of location, moving to Ms. Evelyn’s house in the Garden District. The Hands On Organization has been working on restoring Ms. Evelyn’s house for some time. As a part of this process they took out and repaired all of the windows in the house but have yet to put them back in. This is where Super Dave and his merry band of misfits come in. Super Dave showed us how to properly put the windows back in. It was a long process and it took all day for the eight of us to put in three windows.