Our first week and full weekend here in Minot, North Dakota has come to an end.  Our work on our first house is going good.  We have almost completed the sheet rock work.  We still have some finish work to do on the mudding (that's putting the seaming tape and compound on the walls) before that work will be completed.  Sharon and I are learning how to do this.  I didn't realize that to do a good job that you can only do parts at a time.  When putting the compound on the tape you can't do it all at one time.  You do part, then let that dry before putting on any that will overlap what you just did.  That keeps from smearing what you just did.  We finished up what we could at the house we started, then went to another home to help get it to a point where the home owner could get the electrical work done do she could move in.  All that was required there was to finish staining the kitchen cabinets prior to the electrician arriving on Saturday.  The electrician would be wiring in the smoke/carbon dioxide alarms.  Apparently the stain would set off the alarms, so they had to be stained first.  That only took a few hours.  That finished our work week.

Friday morning started out by doing our laundry.  The Lutheran church that we are parking at has a laundry room that they are allowing us to use.  It is equipped with three new washers and dryers.  It was nice to be able to do all of the laundry in just a couple of hours and not have to drive to a commercial laundry mat.

By the time we finished the laundry the sky had started to turn grey again.  We had a beautiful sunny day on Thursday, and Friday started out the same.  But by about 1000 hours, the weather had changed.  We still decided to make a trip downtown to visit the Scandinavian Heritage Center.  The rain held off, but the wind picked up making it very cool outside.  We did get to walk around the outdoor displays, which were very educational.  Sharon even made a couple of new friends.  One of which, I think, tried to make a move on her.

This sign is at the entrance to the Heritage Center.

Sharon made friends with this guy in the information building.  She had a hard time understanding him due to his very nasal accent.  I liked his beard.  Same color as mine.

The above house was built in Scandinavia in 1810.  A few years ago the Heritage Association was able to buy it and have it moved to Minot.  It was taken apart piece by piece, each piece numbered, then shipped to Minot.  It was re-assembled on it's current site.  The painting is on the back of one of the doors.  It basically tells who built the house, where, and the builders name.

This guy was sitting at the table in the house.  When Sharon sat down to talk to the troll, he tried to make a move on her.  She was quite surprised.  The troll didn't seem upset about it, he just sat there and winked.

The picture above is a replica of a Scandinavian church.  The church was built using original plans and building techniques.  There are no nails, screws, or bolts in the construction.  All of the boards, and post, are held together with tongue and groove boards and wooden pegs.  All of the carvings are done by hand.

The pulpit area of the church is all hand built.  The whole building is made from Northern pine.

The large horse in this picture is about thirty feet tall.  Note the picnic table to the left to compare the size.  The horse is a national symbol used in Scandinavian countries.  Apparently they are painted many different colors and decorations.

This is a statue of Leif Erickson.  It is believed that he discovered the Americas before Columbus.

This is Hans Christian Andersen.  Hans wrote over 200 children's stories including the Ugly Duckling and the Littlest Mermaid.

A Scandinavian windmill with all of the Scandinavian countries flags on display.  The building in the background is the welcome center for the Heritage Center.

Our team has been enlarged by three more members since yesterday.  There are now seven of us, that allows us to do more than one home during the week.  The work that is being done by all of the volunteer organizations here is much needed.  Not only in helping to repair damaged houses, but to help families get back to a normal life.  Many of the displaced families are living in small FEMA supplied trailers, or with other family members.  We met a lady at the Scandinavian Heritage Center that really wanted to talk to us.  Once she found out that we were volunteers here to help rebuild houses, she really wanted to talk.  She was very glad to meet us and to tell us her story.  She was not flooded out like so many others, but she had helped others after the flood.  She said that at one point she had as many as eight people living in her home.  She was concerned that she had lost some of the compassion she had had for those that were victims of the flood.  She was not sure if she could do anymore.  After talking with her for about an hour, Sharon and I were able to get her to understand that sometimes all people need is someone to listen.  I think that our listening to her is what she needed.  I wonder how many others here feel the same way.

This morning we all went to church at Faith United Methodist Church together.  Another fine sermon, and a memorial service dedicated to service members, and church members that have died during the past year.

Tonight the team will meet and the leaders will go over what we will probably be doing this next week.  Bet it will be a lot of sheet rock work.

You all have a great week, I'll get back to you with more later in the week.

Remember,

God Loves You.

Gary