Hi, everyone!
In autumn around here, most trees have leaves that turn pretty colors and then fall off the tree. But they don’t do it all at once! I’m enjoying more fall color even though some of the trees still have green leaves! Two Fridays ago, the leaves on trees closest to the bay were turning color and some of them were dropping leaves. We had lots of mushrooms coming up, too! I wonder whether this kind is good to eat?
Two Sundays ago, Grandma made my first leaf pile in Fairport! There were lots of leaves down in the back corners of the yard, so she raked them up and hauled them out front for the town to pick up. The enkianthus was turning fall colors. Even though we’ve had some mornings with frost, the impatiens in the window box had enough protection that they’re still blooming.
Grandpa decided that the shingles on the roof in Fairport needed to be replaced, because they were almost as old as Uncle Steven! Last Tuesday, the contractor called to say that the crew was coming the next day to replace the roof! They started early on Wednesday! It was fun to watch the shingles being delivered! The fork lift took them off the truck parked in the street, drove them up our driveway, and lifted them up to roof level for the crew to unload. I could hear big thumps from inside as each shingle bundle landed on the roof!
The old shingles needed to be torn off because there were already two layers of them on the roof. The crew brought a shingle catcher that lifted up next to the house to catch all the torn-off shingles. The crew moved it around the house as they worked on each section of our roof. While part of the crew worked tearing off the old shingles, the rest of the crew followed them around putting on new shingles!
Because the roofers were working in front of the garage, Grandpa parked his car in the back yard! It stayed there until the work was done! The roofing crew used a ladder in front of the garage to get up to the roof. Being outside to watch them gave me a chance to admire the pretty leaves in our neighbors’ yards!
When the shingle catcher moved around to the back yard, it broke a big branch off our lilac! The crew tore the shingles off both ends of the back roof, then the shingle catcher had to drive back around the house to dump all the torn-off shingles into the roll-off! While it was there, the crew tore the shingles off the front part of the garage roof. The shingle catcher was really close to a window while they did that! By the end of Wednesday, most of the new roof was in place, except for the long middle stretch in the back.
On Thursday, the crew came to finish the back section of roof. They were done by lunchtime! On that section, they had to install a new kitchen exhaust fan and work around the bathroom skylight. Some of the redwood trim needed to be wrapped in metal, because the woodpeckers had damaged it.
Friday morning, the roll-off was hauled away. One crew member came back to install a final trim board that is more resistant to wetness than our cedar siding. The new roof looks so much like the old one, that it’s hard to tell what a lot of work happened in three days!
Friday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa took me back out to the bay. There was more color on the road and in the orchard than the week before! More of the leaves were down on the lawn, and I helped Grandma and Grandpa clear them.
Thomas has been collecting rock treasures from the shore on the picnic table! Grandma decided they needed a new home. Now we have an official Thomas Treasure Tree Stump! On Saturday, we finished clearing leaves on the grassy knoll. Then I helped Grandpa winterize the powerboat engine. The water level in the bay is still very low!
On Sunday, we had more leaf clearing to do in Fairport! We were so busy watching the roofing last Wednesday that we didn’t notice the town had picked up my first leaf pile. I had another, bigger, one by Sunday afternoon! As Grandma and I were picking up leaves, we found a few old nails on the ground from the roof tear-off and one roll of nails for the power nailer the crew used to fasten the new shingles! Grandpa said it was a good thing none of them were on the driveway!
Today, there are more leaves down in Fairport! We’re not done raking yet!
Love,
Lion-san
We are lucky we no longer have to worry about raking leaves. Now we just enjoy the beauty and this has been an especially gorgeous autumn. Now you will stay nice and dry in your house with the new roof.