Roof...

Well, the crew has started on the roof. Apparently it was a lot worse than we thought because they have been working 2 days and only have off the top two layers of the asphalt shingles and have revealed the cedar shakes below. The gentleman that is removing the roof did mention that the second layer was a mess. The attached pics are from after they covered the roof with the plastic.


Sorry, I was busy researching my house at the courthouse for an hour after school and missed the pre-plastic shot. The basement of the Washington County yielded some interesting information, but no leads on the concrete in the backyard. For anyone who wants to know the history of my property is as follows:
The owner's prior to me were William & Helen Buske who purchased the land in 1961 for $10,000 from Ruth Hunter Thomas Giddings.

Ruth and her sister, Otway Schell, received the property, originally part of a plot of 5 3/4 acres, from their father S.W. Thomas on September 11, 1930.
It gets fuzzy here because of the non-flow of the names and the data taken in 1909... Somehow John Giddings purchased the property on December 10, 1909 for $600. He bought it from a J.C. Day who was a minor when he received it as an heir of Jessie Johnson on January 24, 1908. It was at this point that I basically lost track of property. I have more books to look in and at one point when I get a spare hour, I'll keep going. I'm guessing the following info based on what I read on the property. Mr./s Johnson bought up 3 different pieces of land when they bought the property originally because the purchase is recorded into 3 different deed books at 3 different dates. Thanks to the fabulous (I really mean that) handwriting of the people of the 1900's, I cannot tell much more because I can't read their writing. It is gorgeous to look at, but a pain to read!

After the guys finished the roof for the day, I psyched myself up and went up into the attic to tear out some insulation. People, let me tell you, it was NASTY!! Apparently the previous owners' cats were up there at one point, along with raccoons, and who knows what else. Just use your imagination as to how I know this.

While I was up there, I also found 3 picture frames that I'm hoping will clean up well, a Victrola label, and some baseball cards. All in all I pulled out three large bags of the stuff and didn't manage to go through the drywall. It was super humid up there, so I didn't hang out long, but I was proud of myself for getting 3 bags out. Now, if I can only do 3 bags a night, it should take me 3-4 months at the most! ;)