Beginning the Roofing Process, Bent Tree

After finishing the trusses, we had to construct the gable ends before we could start with the roof decking. Putting on the front gable end was probably the most precarious high-altitude task we had to do. Standing on that front edge to position and stabilize that front peak was scary - you could look all the way down Buckskull Court from there and it seemed like you were a mile high. But this view shows that we got it in place and were now ready to start roof decking . July 6.

Rod is sawing off excess decking on the back corner as we move to the second side of the roof decking process. Soon we had the roof sealed with tar paper and could breathe a little more easily about the prospects of rain. From this time onward we could focus more on finishing up things inside. July 13.

A visit from a rattlesnake lent some unexpected excitement to the process. From finishing the roof decking we had moved to working on the upper back windows on the ladders shown at left. As I recall, it was Jeff who looked down from the window and said "There's a snake!" Sure enough, this rattlesnake was crawling right at the base of the oak tree where we had just climbed the ladder minutes before. The snake wasn't more than six feet from the base of the ladder. It was a pity to have to kill it, but we just couldn't have him wandering around. Wesley holds the snake, and besides Brenda, Sherry, Jeff and Mark, Grannie Duncan had come up to visit with us for the day.