Fourteen Roof Panels Up

Phil worked like a crazy man today. He finished two roof panels by breakfast, and he unrolled and finished eight more by the end of the day. He took a few rests as needed (just hoisting the ridiculously heavy rolls took some serious effort), but again worked until dark.

My aid was limited: I helped him lift the heavy rolls onto the man lift (two times) and helped carry over the 19' panels. Trying to get the panels propped against the building without scratching the blue (much) was a challenge, and trying to figure out how to communicate, when there's a 19' wedge between us, made for some tense moments. You can see the final panel of the day, propped against the building.

Fourteen roof panels finished: just 20 more to go!

And we have solid, permanent interior space, useful for storage, for the first time. First used: today. I put the rest of the insulation under cover, so if it rains, the new roof will protect the rest of the roof material.

I noticed that the comfrey patch in the orchard has been gradually growing more overgrown. In fact, there was a preponderance of running vines, which is not good to have in an orchard. I started weeding just as night fell, and of the first few rows, I found nineteen living plants, one dessicated root, and two vanished plants (I know I saw them growing at one point: maybe they will pop back up again one of these days). Just seeing so many growing, even if they are not all thriving, was very energizing and encouraging.

And to know that the total area to weed isn't super enormous: there's something to be said for starting small. I like knowing that I could weed the whole area in a few days; that maybe maintenance on this year's projects is possible.

After weeding, I came inside to find Joe. He asked me to look at his lighthouse, made with Geomags. I've never seen Joe make anything very complex with the Geomags: that's been a fun creative endeavor for the older boys. So to go from nothing to a lighthouse—unbelievable. I actually went and asked all the older boys if they had built it and were playing a trick on me. (I mean, Joe's eyes were communicating truth, and he's not usually one to struggle with dishonesty, but really, how surprising!)