More porch and roof

Duane and his brother Den have done most of the work on the roof. Den has been a huge help. Jeremiah has also done a lot of work. Erika and myself mostly help clean up, feed and water the workers, hold this or that, and so on.

Here are shingles coming off the other wing of the house where our bedroom is. This is taken from the back yard.

This is the bedroom wing of the house. The shingles are off and tar paper on. You can get a bit of idea of what the porch will look like.

This is what our yard looks like! Piles of aluminum siding and gutters, wood, flashing, empty Gatorade bottles, and all the other signs of hard work!

Duane (and whoever is available to help) is usually out working until dark every night. Duane usually gets up at 4:00 to get to work by 5 or 5:30 so he can get home early to work on the house. We usually end up eating supper about 8 p.m.

Porch and Roof, Part 3

This shows the difficult section of the porch roof going from the side wing around the corner of the front middle section of the house. Those who have seen the house will better understand.

Every job this big needs a dumpster!

Here is the high middle section all done except for the cap.

View from the roof top!

Our dear friends, the Coulters, came over one day and helped with the roofing job, even though they are doing their front porch and roof as well. After supper we enjoyed a very special treat--a chocolate fountain. We had various fruits, pound cake, wafers, and oreos to dip in the chocolate.

One of our deacons from church also came over to help. He is a dentist. He brought a couple of boys along with him. He is also our Sunday School teacher.

Erika and Pete were loading shingles and hauling them to the dumpster.

Porch and Roof, Part 2

This picture is from the roof looking down at the porch decking (actually just some plywood laying there temporarily so you can stand on it). But for those of us who don't like heights, it helps us appreciate the work they're doing up there! (By the way, if you click on a picture, I think you can see it in a larger format).

These pictures are not in order! This one is of the roof that you saw plywood on in the following post. Oh well. Here the roof is stripped down to its original old boards. The men cut a whole in the roof to put insulation in the attic area. This attic is not accessible from the house.

They put this pink styrofoam stuff that has a corrugated shape to it under the boards for airflow, then replaced the boards.

This picture is taken from the highest peak looking down over the side wing (dining room end).

Here you can see all the layers of shingles at the peak. There were 4 layers, I believe (it looks like more because of the cap).

I think we should have bought stock in Gatorade! The guys on the roof go through a lot of water, pop, and Gatorade!

In this picture the side wing has been done as far as the tar paper. Then work on the roof stopped so the porch roof could be built. Here you can see the one side porch and the middle porch framework.

Porch and Roof

Our summer jobs always seem to end up being fall jobs. This year's project is re-roofing the house. But one job always means another job has to be done first. In this case, the roof can't be done until the front porches are put on. The house, which was built before 1850, has a center 2-story section and 2 side wings that are 1 story. Originally each side wing had a small porch. We are putting a porch the full length of the front of the house. It will be beautiful, but certainly involves some tricky angles.

The new plywood has been put on this side of the middle section. Duane is on the ladder/scaffold and his brother, Den, and nephew, Ethan, are on the top of the roof scraping shingles off the other side.

This shows the same side with new plywood, but from the back of the house. The back of this side wing was shingled when we built the addition on .

Here is Jeremiah scraping shingles off the roof.

Here is another view of the 3 guys scraping shingles off this side of the main section of the house.

This is Duane's brother, Den.

This is Duane's nephew, Ethan.

Skunk De-odorizer

Ever had a dog get to close to a skunk? Mine has! And the whole tomato sauce thing is really a waste of time and money. But a patient at the clinic where I work gave me this remedy, and she says it really works! I haven't needed to try it yet, but thought I'd pass it along:
Mix together
1 cup peroxide
1 cup baking soda
1 cup water
2 drops detergent
Use like you would shampoo, I guess, and work through the dog's hair.

Misc. leftover photos of Colorado Vacation

First of all, I'd like to say many, many thanks to my mom and dad for inviting Nancy and I to take this trip west with them. We had a great many hours of conversation as the miles rolled
by.

Alesha and I on our day shopping in Westcliffe.

Ain't she sweet!

Or not!

Horseback Riding

Except for the first day when I had a killer high altitude headache, Alesha and I went riding every day. These pictures are from my last day when we packed a picnic lunch (every thing tastes better in the mountain air) and went for a very loooooong ride. It was so incredibly awesome. First let me introduce you to the horses. The mostly white horse is Baby, and only Dave and Alesha are allowed to ride her. The mostly brown horse is Sugar and I rode her each time. They are Spotted Saddlehorses and they are gaited horses. I did a little reading and they were bred from Spanish American ponies and Tennessee Walking horses. I can't begin to explain what a gaited horse is, but let me tell you, it is one very comfortable ride!

Here is Alesha getting the horses ready to ride. It is such a joy to watch her work with the horses. She is so comfortable with them, and so obviously enjoys being with them. And since I know nothing about horses, I like watching her take care of everything:)

After a big boost from Alesha, I landed in the saddle and was ready to ride. Too bad I didn't get a close-up of my cowboy boots! I found them on the outing Hope and I took to Canon City--$350 boots for $10.00. Yeah! I love them. They are so pretty and so comfy.

Help me, Alesha! I can't find reverse on this thing!

Words cannot begin to describe the overwhelming beauty that surrounded us on our ride. And the smell of the ponderosa pine is indescribable. This is the view behind me as we rode, and ....

this was the view in front of me. It would take far to long to post all the beautiful photos I took. Sometimes we would go off the road and up a hill side. We stopped and rode off into an aspen grove at one place.

After a while we decided on a nice spot to stop for lunch. Alesha tied the horses up and we went over a ways to a rocky area that allowed us a nice seat as well as a perfect view.

Here is Alesha staking out our lunch spot...

Oops! The sandwiches got a little squished in the saddle bag!

After lunch I went up behind the rocks to use a tree, and got quite a kick out of this view. I felt like I was in an old western show, and just needed my gun to shoot off her hat!

On our ride home, we digressed from the road and went through some pastures. We were past the prime of the wild flowers, but there were still some, and I like this old windmill. This was the first picnic horseback ride Alesha has taken since she's been in CO, so it was very special that I got to share it.

Ranch of Hope

Here is more of the beautiful Ranch of Hope where Alesha is on staff. This is the living room part of the lower level of the house. This is standing in my bedroom door looking across at Alesha's bedroom door on the other end.

This is the upstairs level showing the dining area and looking out to the side deck.

This is the kitchen. It is probably difficult to see in this picture, but all of the cabinets are bordered with cut stone. Hope has done a beautiful job with her stone work various places in the house.

I love this mural that an artist painted on the living room wall of the Ranch. It shows the hands of God at the top left pouring out the water that is coming down the falls.

I loved just walking around the house, looking at every nook and cranny. What a knack for decorating!

Here is Alesha doing her office work at the dining room table while I was mending some clothes for her. She has an office in the sitting room area of her bedroom suite downstairs, but was keeping me company.