This is what the worst section of our roof looked like on the day the roofers were scheduled to begin re-roofing our house. These shingles are only 16 years old, but on the South elevation over the garage and mudroom they were crumbling to nothing.
We’ve chosen to replace them with 50 year guaranteed architectural shingles that should withstand the wind and sun better. This roof has splashes of red and green in it that I’ll miss, but I’m glad to know that we have a sound roof over our heads.
Monthly Archives: December 2005
Stripping It Down
You can see the seven guys who worked on our roof. They started at the top and worked their way down, slipping reinforced forks under the shingles to pry them off. This is mid-morning on the first of the two days they were here.
There are tarps all around the house, protecting the plants and grass below, as they fling the shingles down to the clean up crew.
Naked!
This is the North side of the house. The roof is just about stripped, and ready for the black paper to be laid. It took a day and a half to remove the shingles Dear Husband and I so laboriously put up. The white framed window is the bay window over my kitchen sink.
Black paper
Black felted paper has been laid over the entire roof. The valleys have been reinforced with “Water and Ice” barriers and “baby tins” and flashing are in place. Next stop…shingles!
Shingles
The shingles are going up fast and furious. A storm is coming in. Scattered severe thunderstorms are predicted to start in just a couple of hours. When Dear Husband and I did the roof 16 years ago, it took us almost four months to do what they did in four and a half hours. Aren’t pneumatic hammers amazing??
Done At Last!
And THIS (ta daahhhh) is what the new roof looks like:
Brrrrrrr!!
My word, it’s cold! When I got up this morning it was just 16 degrees outside, and right now, it feels about sixteen next to these windows!
For Elegante Mother, we have the temperature set at 72 degrees. If she didn’t live with us, the temperature would be at 68 during the day and 65 or so at night. I’m usually too warm, and would willingly lower the thermostat for the winter, but Elegante Mother is going to be 89 on December 7th, and she tends to look blue if we turn the heat down too far.
I’ve been trying to get her to get up and move around, but she doesn’t seem to believe that being active will keep her warm. I have the perfect idea for this afternoon, though. I’m going to bring the box of ornaments up from the basement, and have her work at decorating her Christmas tree.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…..
Well, drat!
I was just over at WHUZZUP!, seeing what Eric had to say, and he made a suggestion that was SO sensible.
Go read what he had to say about comments on Thursday, November 17th, in the post on spammers. Just disregard the entry on the penis-enlarging pills, and scroll down.
Do you suppose he’s right, and that most of us have been doing this backward? After all, he has had a blog since 1998….a year BEFORE Blogger came along.
What do you think?
AIDS
This week, the figures have been on the radio, on TV and in the newspapers.
40,000,000 people have HIV/AIDS. 2,300,000 of them are children.
It’s expected that 3,000,000 people will die of AIDS this year, and half a milllion of them will be children.
More than 25,000,000 people have died from AIDS since 1981.
Of the 6.5 million people in developing countries who are infected with HIV/AIDS, only one million of them are receiving life prolonging drugs.
More than 6,000 young people (ages 15-24) become infected world wide every day.
There are more than 1.2 million people in North America living with HIV/AIDS.
The statistics are chilling, especially those dealing with children.
A Quandary
I was talking with Dear Husband about something that has been taking place when we host my family at major holidays. My sisters, and their adult daughters bring “bread and butter” gifts. There’s nothing wrong with bread and butter gifts, but it seems as though the cost of these gifts has been rising steadily over the years.
Where someone might have brought a jar of something they had canned, or a candle, or a pot holder, now the gifts are getting up scale. At Thanksgiving, I received a beautiful bowl painted with a country style pumpkin design, a chocolate dipping pot, a jar of gourmet chocolate and two pound cakes, a pot with three of the most gorgeous poinsettias, and a gift basket with five or six items for Mexican appetizers and hot chocolate. And, my niece who was in an accident sent the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I’ve ever seen.
Has there been an announcement I missed that has stepped up the gift giving?
I routinely take gifts to my hostess. I’m sure there have been times when I missed, but generally, I try to show my appreciation for having been invited with a small gift. I’m concerned about this increase in the size or quality of the gift. Is this just a reflection of our stage of life, where we can afford to give more?
Dear Husband suggested that my family was just trying to show me how much they enjoy celebrating at our house. He went a step further and said that perhaps they were showing their love for me. How can I argue with that??
So…I guess I’m going to have to do a better job of shopping before we go visiting.