a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Up On The Roof

Temperatures in low seventies had us hustling to get work done before winter stays for a few weeks. February is always our worst winter month.  Not so far.  The first day was perfect so up in the tractor bucket. We were lifted with heated tar to stop a leak in the roof and check out the gutters with Andrew at the controls.

I'm not one for heights but didn't know it until I was grown.  I thought that heart stopping breathless condition when I climbed trees to the top was just the thrill of the conquest.  It wasn't.  Found out later on, in fact, when Hubby and I went to the county fair. I was terrified when we stopped on the very top of the Ferris Wheel.  Didn't help that when Hubby started to swing our seat. He has always enjoyed making me scream and still does!

So we were slowly raised in the tractor with a bucket of hot tar which is the way we seal cracks and leaks on a roof around here.  Ideally we would get a new roof but ideally is not always an option so we do what we know how...make do with what we have.
Andrew, the bucket operator, could not resist tipping the bucket to get a reaction from me.  Papa made over!
The chimney was tarred as Dad did to get ahead of any possible leaks.
This is a steep roof.  I am still gripping the bucket and trying to clean the gutters. The thought of getting onto the roof had me about ready to pee my pants!

Andrew felt sorry for torturing me and monkey climbed the tractor arms and bucket to help the old man on the roof.  Since Hubby is my senior by around three years I was ashamed.  Not ashamed enough to climb up and help.
Having developed a leak on the front porch we wanted to get ahead of it by trying to stuff all possible places with hot tar to keep the rain out.  That is a male "we" as the female me is still gripping the bucket with a death grip.  It's not pretty but who's going to see it?  May this be the solution.  It has been a tried and true method our fathers used so cross your fingers.
And the younger generation learns by watching!
Hopefully.
In the background you can see my worm pit/compost.  My sitting area that I bored you with this summer.  You might also note how terribly high we are from the ground.  I prefer the ground.  

If we have more warm days maybe we, uh, they can accomplish some more daunting tasks.  I wish we could call a roofer.  No funds.  This roof was installed right after our big tornado a few years ago. The company who did it were idiots taking advantage of the tornado damage or we would not be having these problems.  Oh, well, another life lesson.

What did you do yesterday?  I bet it wasn't as heart stopping as this was for me!

22 comments:

MadSnapper said...

my heart just stopped when i read you were up there. i do NOT do heights and never have, you are truly brave. men do that because they are MEN... all men do that, try to scare us.. i think they like to prove they are big and strong and unafraid to themselves. i was 15 the one and only time i climbed the ladder and got on the roof to HELP daddy put tar on the roof. i climbed, i stood and FREAKED out. then i was afraid to go back down the ladder, there was much ado and loud threats from daddy because he thought i might have to live on the roof. going down that ladder was almost impossible. again i say you are BRAVE... may the tar stop the leaks...

eileeninmd said...

Good morning, I would be a nervous wreck on the roof or just watching. I am hoping for more warm days, keeping my fingers crossed for an early spring. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!

Lynne said...

Nothing heart stopping for me except "feeling it" for YOU!
Not nice that they scare the willies out of you on such a beautiful blue sky day!
Looks like one more task was checked off the "bucket list!"

TexWisGirl said...

i'm not great with heights but i'm okay. it's the getting on and off the ladder that terrifies me - or in your case, a tractor bucket.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I stay off the roof as I am scared of heights too, I never crawled too many trees! I hope your fix works! :)

Henny Penny said...

NO WAY! would I have climbed up on that roof! and look at Andrew standing there with his hands in his pockets...I would have been holding on for dear life! I don't do Ferris Wheels either. The last time I rode one with Poppy, I promised the Lord that if would get me back on the ground safe, I would never get on another one. So, you see, I can't.

Anonymous said...

Good grief...I get all shaky and dizzy on a chair.

Susan Anderson said...

Sorry to see that you had to do that on such a slanted roof. Scary!!
Makes me mad that you got a bad roofer. That happened to us once, too. He charged a little less, but we ended up paying a LOT more in the end.

Grrr.

"/

Farm Girl said...

I would have been so jumpy with a roof that steep. That is so bad about your roofers. It is good to get all of that done before the cold hits. You sure find out the weak areas when storms hit. We have one over our garage.
It is nice you have such a great helper.
Have a lovely Tuesday,

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm always nervous when I have to get on the roof, so I don't blame you. Glad the leaks are filled.
No shot of you clinging for dear life?

Sketching with Dogs said...

I don't blame you for not wanting to get up, I can barely stand on a chair without getting vertigo!
Lynne x

C-ingspots said...

Oh I know exactly how you feel. I'm so pathetic about high places, and especially when they're narrow and high, that I've been known to freeze in place and not be able to move. Have even had to crawl before...sorry excuse for bravery, I know. The only thing that seems to snap me out of my panicked predicament is when hubby screams at me, to just move!!! I hate it.

Arkansas Patti said...

Phew, I rank heights right up there with public speaking. Proud of you for doing it in spite of your fear.Better you than me. Think you did get taken. That roof shouldn't need attention for years as young as it is. Grrr.

Country Gal said...

I don't mind heights .I'm sorry for laughing here at the way you explained it but you did make it sound funny lol . Oh my not good when you don't like heights though . Glad you were all safe after all that . Hey one has to do what they can do , it looks like a steel roof if so they did do a crappy job Papa here works for the companies that do this type of steel for structural buildings and roofs and he also puts them on , on as a side job and if done properly they should last, well for ever . Oh your hubs is cheeky doing these things to hear ya screech what a brat lol ! Hope it works well and all is good . Thanks for sharing , have a good day !

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

I am terrified of heights so I totally understand and yet in an airplane I never gave it a thought. I might today though...since recent tragedy's.
I wouldn't even get in that bucket if it were me..so KUDO'S to you!!
:)
Can you believe I actually did a post...nothing of the greatest interest to others..but...sheesh..I had to do SOMETHING.
Hugs,
Mona

LindaG said...

I haven't liked heights for decades, and I am terrified to crawl under the house, even though it sits up off the ground as you know.
I don't mind at all that you didn't get up there with your hubby!

We wasted 5 hours at the outpatient hospital for what they told us would be about 2 hours so hubby could have a test.

Hope you all have a blessed week, Gail. Stay warm when the cold front comes through!

P.S., I like your boring posts. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I do not like ferris wheels, either. I am not afraid of heights. I am afraid of falling. *wink*

LilliStJohn said...

Heights do not bother me. I have climbed all over my roof, even to snow blow the buildup of winter snow. I guess as we grow older, and bones break easier, I tend to leave those high jobs to the younger generation. I am still very good at giving direction. he,he Yah, you are high up on that roof, guys are doing good job tarin' as my Dad used to say. No snow in your land, very little here.

21 Wits said...

Oh goodness no, but I've had a few sweats like that with my sons and their dad around here. I'm just a wreck by the time they usually get things mastered! My hubby, sons and my oldest son's father-in-law finally took down a very scary gigantic tree lodged nest to our garage (while I was in Alabama!) Hehehehe. They can be very smart boys!

Sandy Livesay said...

Gail,

Like you, I prefer to stay on the ground. Good thing your men went up and took care of the roof. Yesterday, I took care of a sick dog. He had his teeth cleaned, come to find out they pulled 5 little teeth. He was miserable :-(

Lowcarb team member said...

I have not got a good head for heights ... I do not like being in enclosed spaces either, where a ceiling is low ... I do not know what causes us to have these 'fears' but some of us do ...

Great photo's you've shared here and nice to see them, thank you.

All the best Jan

Josie Two Shoes said...

Just like you, I do not like high places, and any place such as a road edge or roof edge that I could fall off (and in my mind's wild imaginings I surely would), make me incredibly terrified and ill. Papa Bear laughs as I step back ten feet from the edge of the river bank or inch along the trail wall with my hand planted firmly on the rock side of the hill for stability and sense of balance. I think in a past life I careened off some high place by accident or otherwise, and met my death that way. That's the only way the level of my otherwise irrational fear makes any sense. I am glad your got your roof patching safely done and that they guys weren't afraid to play up there on the steep pitch of the roof. I would have to crawl on hands and knees and even then I'd likely slip and gravity would do the rest!! :-)

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