The Roof is Gone

Well, not quite gone. It has been disassembled and moved to ground level. Those are the panels leaning against the herb garden wall. There is a massive pile of very long, very heavy aluminum posts and beams on the ground. I don't think we have any idea how we are going to get rid of it all....and doesn't every California family need a barbecue for each person?  

I was able to miss the whole production by keeping our weekly appointment with Kathy by myself. I sounds like Dan, bless him, spent all his time on the roof passing heavy stuff down to OilMan. Once again, we owe him a lot. 

It was kind of Grand Central Station around here today, even before I left. Our former neighbor, Susan, who now lives in Minneapolis, is taking a life coaching course in Marin County, and always spends a night with us when she comes. She and I were just leaving for coffee when Jorge showed up unexpectedly and went straight to work putting some nice stone steps down to a rather unaccessible part of our yard. In fact, without some sort of steps, most parts of our yard are pretty unaccessible.

Jorge's son Kevin is standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me to find him another puzzle, and probably wondering what on earth I'm taking pictures of. I got his patented smile when I showed him this picture with him in it. 

We are now researching what to replace the hot, ugly roof with. We're thinking some sort of umbrella, but it's hard to imagine what. What size? What shape? Cantilever or center pole? Aluminum, wood or fiberglas? Canvas, acrylic, or polyester? Maybe we'll start by moving our hardworking yellow umbrella  there just to get an idea. It's a whole new  world of patio umbrellas out there, with breathtaking prices to match.

But the next step is to get the roofer here to see how much damage has been done to the main roof.