As the pregnancy continues Tati is going through some different cravings. This has been giving me the opportunity to make some different foods. I really enjoy serving my beautiful wife during this time.
Tortellini Soup when it is cold
It is fun to be able to serve my wife even when she wants something. I also am thankful that she has desires which change and are not the same thing every day.
BBQ Ribs and Potato Salad
Tati and I received a great unexpected gift last Saturday. One of her friends from Porto Alegre sent us some goodies from a bakery.
Cool gift: what’s inside?
Inside was some different drinks from grape juice to tea and coffee. We are thankful for each one.
Some great refreshing drinks
Besides the drinks we got some great sweet and savory options. We didn’t have to cook for a day thanks to this gift.
Yum looks delicious
The coronavirus has given us a real hard time recently. About a month ago we were looking to be opening back up with only a few hot spots still in Brazil. However, over the last month things have changed.
The number of cases keep rising.
As I am looking at the statistics of the Brazilian population (210 million people) and seeing some interesting data. As of last Sunday only 1.3% of the population of Brazil has had the coronavirus. Over the same time period only 0.04% of the population has died in Brazil due to the coronavirus.
Week of July 28 through August 3
The expectation is that the coronavirus restrictions will continue for the foreseeable future. However, the recent news indicates that the responsibility for the restrictions will be transferred to the cities rather than the state of Rio Grande do Sul. We hope that this will allow for us to start meeting personally at church.
Projection: Week of August 4 through August 10
While we are in the red zone here in Ivoti it is interesting to watch the residents. There are many residents who are walking around without a mask and others who are not practicing social distancing. This is contrasted with some stores and restaurants who are closed or only open for limited restricted services.
Current status of Ivoti
Dois Irmãos is similar to Ivoti as they are in the red restriction band. These restrictions are the need for masks and try to not leave your residence of you don’t have to. However, like Ivoti there are people who are obeying and other who are not. We have been able to open limited outreach in Dois Irmãos and I am thankful for the good conversations that I have been able to have over the past few of weeks.
Dois Irmãos is currently in the red zone
One of the projects that I was really excited about making was a barn door. We had some great eucalyptus rough cut boards. We searched through the pile of wood to select enough wood that would cover the door opening.
Choosing the lumber for the barn door
We had to cut all of the wood to the same length. We made sure to mate up the live edges together so that they would create one nice looking wood barn door.
Barn door laid out and cut to size
Because all of the wood is a little different it meant that it was a little harder to secure them together. I was very happy with how we got everything lined up and turned out.
Building the barn door
Due to the weight of this door being extremely heavy we had to get a special barn door track made. We priced out the metal work and came up with some great options. The one that we ended up selecting actually included them installing the door themselves.
Piecing the door together
The final result was a left upside down and with a little wave on the bottom so that we can cut it straight when we finally get the hinges delivered. We will just need to power wash, stain the door and fill the cracks with clear silicone. Once we have completed this the door will be ready to hang.
Barn Door in need of washing
Benjamin's Burden 