NPC RHINO Project

Saturday- the NPC Rhino crew and our leaders

2010-04-03T17:54:00.001-04:00

Thursday

2010-04-03T17:26:00.001-04:00

Studies in concentration.......

Friday

2010-04-03T17:16:00.004-04:00

This was a day for tours and touring. In the evening most of us met up at Mulate's for dinner and dancing; we used our newly-learned cajun 2 step skills. Great fun.

Cleaning

2010-04-03T17:13:00.002-04:00

One of the many tidying-up tasks we did was to clean and organize the tool and supply containers. Jerra, the labels you did two years ago are still in use and guided us in putting stuff away.

The whole RHINO crew wednesday evening at the land house for dinner at St Charles Presbyterian Church

2010-04-01T18:50:00.001-04:00

Some work in the sunshine . . .

2010-04-01T18:43:00.005-04:00

Thursday Paint & Trim Crew

2010-04-01T18:37:00.002-04:00

Lots of people painting, prepping, filling, caulking today . .

And people installing trim . . .

Wednesday

2010-03-31T17:15:00.004-04:00

Surely the photos will appear soon to show the progress: paint brushes have never been cleaner, porches more level, railings so smooth. We are working hard but the weather is beautiful. The final two houses on Ferry Place are nearing completion. With a huge work crew on site, it is amazing that appropriate jobs are found for all and drill-sharing is so far bloodless.
As always, we are thankful for Lauren providing daily transport to Lowes for the after-lunch potty break.
Tonight is dinner with the congregation, which is always a pleasure. Afterwards we will need to practice our cajun 2-step, perhaps in the hotel atrium.
Now to the showers.

Tuesday

2010-03-31T08:15:00.002-04:00

Tuesday

2010-03-31T08:10:00.002-04:00

2010-03-30T23:59:00.002-04:00

The Rhino group enjoy their first night's dinner at Jacques Imo

Monday

2010-03-30T22:16:00.000-04:00

Some of the soffit crew on pumpjacks . . .

Andre checking tolerances . . .

Tim and Lauren cutting siding . . .

Jerry and Neil being schooled by Kate . . .

Mary supervising . . .

The paint crew in the sun . . .

The paint crew cleans up well . . .

2010 - We're back!

2010-03-30T17:48:00.005-04:00

As we arrived on our first morning back on Ferry Place in New Orleans, we saw that all of the homes we worked on last year were occupied. Very cool. The block is nearly complete. There are neighbors on front porches, kids on bikes, families being families.

Below Jeremy (now crew chief) is giving us our orientation and safety talk. We'll be installing fascia, soffets, insulation, doors, window sills, door trim, outdoor stairs, as well as painting and other work on two homes today.

THE DAVIS AND ELKINS CHOIR

2009-04-27T22:52:00.002-04:00

The group from West Virginia sang with the SCAPC choir at the Easter Sunday service. Here they are immediately afterwards.

Lisa's NOLA Brie (AKA Apple Pie Brie)

2009-04-18T17:14:00.000-04:00

1 can crescent rolls
1 wheel brie
½ stick butter
brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 375. Roll out crescent rolls. Place brie on of dough. Melt butter and add enough brown sugar to make a paste. Spread on top of cheese. Top with pecans. Wrap dough around cheese and bake for around 20 minutes.

Yum.

Lisa's Nawlin's Crawfish Bread

2009-04-18T17:11:00.001-04:00

Makes 3 loaves

1 package Bridgeford Ready Dough
1 lb fresh crawfish tails, rinsed and dried (or shrimp)
Chopped green onion
Chopped Vidalia (or other sweet) onion
8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese grated
8 oz Colby cheese grated
8 oz Mozzarella cheese grated
Dried parsley
Garlic salt
Cayenne pepper

1 package Bridgeford Ready Dough (three loaves) defrosted and each loaf rolled out to a long relatively slender rectangle (need to make sure you don't roll them out too long for your oven. If you have a small oven you may need to make 6 shorter loaves)

Distribute the following ingredients along the long center of the rolled out dough
A little less than 1 lb fresh crawfish tails, rinsed and dried (shrimp works when crawfish are not in season)
Chopped green onion
Chopped Vidalia (or other sweet) onion
8 oz Monterrey Jack cheese grated
8 oz Colby cheese grated
8 oz Mozzarella cheese grated

Sprinkle the following on top of the cheese
Dried parsley
Garlic salt
Cayenne pepper

Using wet fingers take the two long sides and seal them over the filling.
Seal the ends.

I generally make it several hours in advance and refrigerate the loaves. They will actually rise a bit in the refrigerator. Pre-heat the oven to 375 and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. An egg wash over the loaves about 5 minutes before they are done makes for a prettier presentation.

Letting the loaves set and rise a bit before baking helps prevent "blowouts," when the filling escapes the inside of the loaf. Using baking parchment makes the clean-up a lot easier when blow-outs happen

Before & After

2009-04-16T21:39:00.003-04:00

One of the Ferry Place houses on Monday when we arrived, and Saturday as we were cleaning up.

THE CELEBRATORY DINNER

2009-04-12T09:13:00.003-04:00

The group commandeered a streetcar to take us to the Palace Cafe for our final night's dinner.

This blogger and his family had a wonderful week with the RHINO group.

A special thanks to Marlon, our technological guru, for setting up the blog and teaching us how to use it. I'm hooked!

After the last day

2009-04-12T08:59:00.003-04:00

We wound up the week with a group dinner at the Palace Cafe followed by a visit to Cafe du Monde (just the right amount of sugar for us). Perhaps someone will post a photo of the event.
This morning is the packing up and getting off to the airport or vacation activities.

We will certainly have stories to tell, but it was a great week. Although I have been given a couple of unflattering nicknames, I am sure that I earned them. I want to thank my fine painting crew who were able to prime out nearly all rooms of two houses, using 25 gallons of paint with no spills (unless falling off a ladder counts.) You have all been great team members.

The Paint Nazi

THE !@#$%&* PORCH

2009-04-12T08:55:00.005-04:00

Kalie and her crew celebrate the partial completion of the most readjusted porch in the history of construction.

THE LAST DAY

2009-04-11T18:52:00.004-04:00

Today was the final day of our RHINO trip. We were joined by Jane and Neil's son, Nick, and his girlfriend, Mel. Nick went on the roof and Mel put chicken wire under the house.It was another beautiful day and everyone worked very hard. The cumulative effect of the week's work is now being felt and a number of us are feeling pretty tired. Even though it doesn't seem that we accomplish much each day, when we look back at the first day photos , it's amazing how much progress we have have made.

2009-04-10T20:12:00.006-04:00

Andre, Neil, Jerry and sometimes Nick working on the porch footing and framing.

Under the house installing insulation are Mel & Lauren.

Miss Gert's House

2009-04-10T19:54:00.009-04:00

This is the Tennessee Street house that a group of us worked on last year. It is complete, and Miss Gert is very grateful to all who helped her reclaim her home. She now has many neighbors, thanks to Brad Pitt & others. She mentioned that Brad and Angelina sat on her front porch swing.

up on the roof

2009-04-10T19:50:00.004-04:00

Ben, Rob & Jeremy taking turns (re)installing roof trusses.

Ben & Nick installing drip edge on the roof.

Marlon screwing in blocking held by Rob, Ben & Nick below.

Supervision?

2009-04-10T19:46:00.002-04:00

Jim on a break from the Southern sun.

JoAnne & Andre inspecting a house.

Paint crew

2009-04-10T19:44:00.003-04:00

Joanne, Ellie & Jane painting an upstairs bedroom.

The paint crew expands.

Deep thoughts

2009-04-10T19:42:00.001-04:00

Skip is quality assurance officer of the day.

Trim crew

2009-04-10T19:41:00.002-04:00

JoAnne, Ellie, Mary, Jane & Linda master the 5-in-1 while painting & caulking trim boards.

Construction? Destruction? Hard to tell . . .

2009-04-10T19:32:00.003-04:00

Jerry and Neil working on the porch framing.

2009-04-10T09:08:00.002-04:00

Skip guides Lauren as she puts up the back porch awning.

2009-04-10T09:04:00.001-04:00

Hard at work.
That's Linda, JoAnne and Ellie.

2009-04-10T09:02:00.002-04:00

Dinner at host family home. Fabulous food and wonderful company.

2009-04-10T08:59:00.001-04:00

End of the third day.

2009-04-10T08:56:00.001-04:00

House on second day.

2009-04-10T08:42:00.007-04:00

We looked hard to find a picture of Neil working, but this is as close as we could get.

Here is a group shot in the hotel room, quite nice and a perfect place to gather for games and beverages.

2009-04-09T00:08:00.006-04:00

One of the roofing crews. Marlon & Ben sheathing the roof. Rob & Jeremy plotting strategy for assembling the roof trusses.

2009-04-09T00:06:00.001-04:00

Sue & Jim are measuring & cutting sheathing to keep the roofers busy.

2009-04-09T00:05:00.001-04:00

Andre trims the drip edge.

2009-04-08T23:58:00.002-04:00

We're building trim cornerboards. JoAnne, Jane, Linda & Habitat crew are puttying and caulking boards. JoAnne & Ellie are sanding the puttied nailholes,

2009-04-08T23:57:00.002-04:00

Ben, Lauren & Jeremy sheathing the front wall.

2009-04-08T23:49:00.002-04:00

Sue on a ladder? REALLY?

2009-04-08T21:31:00.003-04:00

We are missing all of you who were here with us last year. Jerra, I hope you are feeling better. The weather has been sunny but rain is expected in the next few days. There are many fewer jobs this year living at the Brent House. Yippee!! See you all soon!

JoAnne

2009-04-08T21:04:00.002-04:00

Another great week of rebuilding homes and hope for the great city of New Orleans. While Lauren and I are missing our great friend Jerra: Bruce sadly no one has mentioned you, until now, and I do miss having you drive me to and from the work site each day.

Rob

2009-04-08T17:50:00.002-04:00

2009-04-08T17:38:00.003-04:00

Wednesday,

Just back to the hotel from a day on Ferry St. We were joined by a student group from W.V. and some of them were happy to climb high on the roofs. Some of us were glad to find jobs a bit more grounded and did lots of caulking, sanding, brush cleaning and chatting. Lauren was high up bon the ladder all day. She has had the special job of driving the "Princesses" to Lowes for an afternoon potty break. And we always find something we need to buy All in all a good day.

The weather is great and the company is as well. Tonight is dinner with the congregation so we are rushing to get cleaned up and presentable by 5:30.

Jerra, the tool container-truck is still labeled in your handwriting from your efforts last year. Looks like they are actually still organized.

at work

2009-04-07T23:38:00.012-04:00

Construction resumes

2009-04-07T23:25:00.004-04:00

It was a day of framing, sheathing, housewrap, and hurricane anchors. The Habitat crew was friendly, experienced and easy to get along with. They taught us to do a lot in a day, and many of us worked on several construction jobs.

Update on our 2008 Ferry Place Houses

2009-04-07T23:17:00.009-04:00

It was fun to see the Ferry Place houses we worked on last year. There are now seven houses completed on Ferry Place; five are occupied. We were able to tour one of the unoccupied houses. Yes, the house we started painting green is still green.

After the tours, we had a safety orientation and the week's work was explained. To continue the tradition begun by Bob & Norma, I gave out carpenter pencils to all. Then we broke into small crews & got to work.

Just arrived and getting oriented to RHINO 2009

2009-04-07T00:55:00.010-04:00

That's Kate doing an excellent overview of the aftermath of Katrina, the history of the Ferry Place neighborhood, the commitment of St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church in supporting Rebuilding Hope In New Orleans, the progress of the homes there (5 homeowners living in the homes we helped build last year!), and the plan for our week on the Habitat site.

Master of the chop-saw not able to join us

2009-03-31T14:29:00.002-04:00

So we will be heading to NOLA without our chop-saw master. We grasshoppers will have to sort out the intricacies of crosscutting timbers and scaring our health professionals on our own. We'll miss her so. Oh, yeah, and we'll miss that tall guy that follows her around, too.

Getting ready to go . . .

2009-03-30T14:17:00.003-04:00

We had our final organizational meeting yesterday and we're ready to head to New Orleans next week, with work gloves & carpenter's pencils ready.