I Done Good!

 
I have to do some cleanup yet, but look at this! I got all the old shingles off except the few I left on purpose to keep the edge of the tarpaper from getting caught by the wind.



Tomorrow I start new shingles.

Here's the mess I made.



If you think there would be any other news on top of this, you must be nuts. I'm whipped. Hopefully, I can still actually move tomorrow.

I think a couple of you must have said a prayer for me. I sure didn't think when I started the day that I'd be able to get all the old shingles off in one day. That said, let me remind those of you who do not know, I actually love to do roofing. It requires no thought and is extremely satisfying. The one problem is to squeeze it into weather windows. (Unless you own big tarps, which I don't. But I have a couple of smaller ones if I don't quite finish before the weather goes bad.

P.S. The subcontractor who did this roof originally should be taken out and shot. But since the identity of the person/company has been lost in the mists of time, you can't accuse me of being unkind to a particular person. But, it was a really poor job. I'm not talking about the shingles that turned out to be sub-standard, I'm talking about the quality of the work. It's a wonder we haven't had leaks.

See Remember the Roof?

Remember the Roof?

 
I just looked up previous posts about this to get the link for the end. I CAN NOT BELIEVE I last worked on this project 6 years ago.

You can be assured that the shingles on the front of the house have not improved in that time. They really need to be replaced. It looks like I get a weather window this week, and the stimulus check is being put to good use buying shingles made in the USA. Fortunately, I could still get the same kind and color.

As a reminder, I still have to do the two faces on the front of the house. I'm hoping for the larger one this week. I have managed to recall some information about the original shingles. They were supposed to be a great product made partly with recycled fly ash. They had a 30-year guarantee. They did not last 20 years (and contractor is gone and all info about possible warranty). The back roof, in full sun, shredded beyond functionality in 19 years. While I was doing the insurance picture-taking job I came across 3 other houses with the same kind of shingles. They had all deteriorated just like ours.

The front section you see here is not nearly as bad as the back had gotten, even 6 years later, but it's not great.



Yesterday, when I hoped to start, it did not stop raining. Today, it was a little windier than would have been good, but I made things work. I just kept the edges of the tarpaper covered so the wind can't catch it.

I only got about a quarter of this section cleared. This needs to be happening faster. Hopefully, I can actually spend more time on the roof tomorrow. Today, I had to get several pieces of the puzzle assembled and ready to use.

One piece of good news is that the original roofer put the tarpaper on this side correctly, as opposed to how they did it on the back side.



While I was up there, of course I had to snap the view of my kingdom and beyond. And you can see that nice smooth brown roof that was the result of my efforts in 2013 and 2014.



I had to quit earlier than I wanted to because I had to get to the P.O. before 4, and to UPS between 3 and 6. Then I had to buy more shingles, and go to the grocery store. Of course, while I was gone it started to rain again! What? Called Om to put some things away that I had left out. And now the lawn tractor won't start. I'll have to try to figure out what's going on with that.

Still a lot of empty shelves at the grocery. Why would there be no wax paper? But Brussel sprouts were on sale, so I treated myself.

This is the news of the day. I'll try to get my rear in gear earlier tomorrow.

See 2014 Roofing Project

Rain, Cold, Slow

 
It rained all day again today. Needless to say, I did not start a new project. Neither did I work much on any of the old ones. Was kind of a slug. Ms. Fuzzytail keeps coming back to the bird feeders that we haven't filled for several years because of her and her kin. In the wild, they are lucky to live 3 years, so it seems unlikely that this particular squirrel remembers the feeders. But it's possible. In captivity, they can live 7-10 years.



Here's a somewhat shocking fact. Red squirrel mortality is 75-80% in the first year of life. It's a tough world out there in the woods.

I goofed off pretty much. The only news of note is that I went out to the trailer last night after dark when it was raining in sheets. OK. Now I know where it's really leaking. The corner of the back window has a river pouring out of it, and the vent leaks too. I'm pretty bummed, but also glad that now I at least know where to direct my efforts instead of guessing.

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice. Time to get energized for a project!

See Ms. Fuzzytail

Got One of those Little Devils

 
Today was a rain day. I put it to good use. Got the main leak in the back wall of the trailer located. It's underneath the port for the electric cord. See the water running down the wall? Big puddle on the floor.


Nothing leaking around the one window where I was pretty sure water got in on my drive home last fall. Perfectly dry today. Eye roll (I'll still check it with the hose).

In other news: I made some really yummy muffins this morning. I worked most of the rest of the day on one of my projects. Tomorrow I'm starting a new "old" project. Not too thrilled, but it has to be. Stay tuned.

See Water Woes

Fighting Invasives all Day

 
It was a truly gorgeous day here, and I decided I wanted to spend it working around outside.

One of my goals was to get my fire ring reclaimed from the autumn olive bushes- see link below. There's a shadow from the tree trunk, but you can see my little grill sitting there in the middle. I got enough cut down that if I now spend some more time with a rake and shovel to clear away the leaves and redig the pit, it should be good to go.



I didn't take a before picture, but it looked just like this, which is the next row back. It is SO much work to remove these nasty things.



And I pulled a bunch more garlic mustard. Both the autumn olive and the garlic mustard are allelopathic. That means they give off chemicals that retard the growth of anything else. You can see how there is very little underneath the shrubs in the picture above.

There is less consensus on how strong this effect is with the garlic mustard, but take a look at this space where I pulled it up. Almost nothing is growing there. A few small violet clumps were hiding.



This little guy is not alien, but he's not allowed to grow on my property. One cute little poison ivy that I must have missed before. It's gone now.



I also cut some tatarian honeysuckle. So much horrible crap wants to grow here.

Had three ticks- all still crawling and easily dispatched.

Got a lot accomplished, but there is SO much more to be done. I never have enough mental stamina to keep up with this place.

There is no other news.

See Fire Grilled Burgers