Fall is Here

Guess it's about time!  I finally updated the blog lead-in photo to a Fall picture of our house.  Temps have been in the mid-60's during the day and mid-upper 30's at nighty - so it's either late fall or early winter.  Not sure when the first day of winter is but I bet it's getting close.  They're predicting a heavy frost for tomorrow morning.  I've noticed that our mountain forests are not as colorful as they probably used to be.  They have harvested most of the hemlock and a lot of the maples and other hardwoods that have the more colorful leaves during the fall changes.  In fact, most of the trees remaining are assorted softwood firs and pines and a few hardwood species of oaks and hickory.  There's also a whole lot of junk trees such as the sycamore and sweet gum etc.  I imagine there's a lot more species of trees than what I know about but unless you get into an older growth forest, you don't usually see the vivid color like they have in the northern states like Maine and Vermont.
Ah Well - I just finished up a project for a homeowner over near Picket State Park.  He was not able to find anyone to help with scraping and painting the upper reaches of his home.  So - I volunteered to give him a hand.  I must admit it was a bit precarious but we got it done anyway. 

 

 

 

It's about 33' to the peak of the roof.  I was really glad they had that cross beam up there.  Even though it was decorative it gave me a place to put the paint bucket and help me free up a hand to hang on with.  I'm sure OSHA would not approve of my methods but it worked.  And so tomorrow, back to the mundane work of installing insulation and framing etc etc.  Looking forward to some light work for a change where I can keep both feet on the ground.

Just finished talking with my son, Stephen.  He was telling me that our new grandson, Kai, is a real quiet baby and a sleeper.  They have to wake him up for feedings and unless he's wet or has a stomach ache, he just sleeps.  I told Stephen to enjoy it cause it's unusual.  But then, Stephen was the same way.  When we brought him home we were expecting to do shifts to cover the all night vigils associated with babies and the wet diapers and every two hour feedings.  Didn't happen with Stephen.  Anyway, he and his wife, Lisa, are coping well and are adjusting to parenthood.  Well - that's about it for now.