Ain’t No Gable High Enough
I made my way up to the summit of the house today to paint the highest gable on the house. It’s a very tiny little spot at the very top of the highest point on the roof. It has about 30 fish-scale shingles on it. The expedition up to the summit was treacherous. This shot was taken after I was safely back down.
To get up there I first made my way out the stained glass portal and on to the ledge you see. From there I made my way up an almost vertical incline (the ladder), which took me in to a small valley just below the summit. I made base camp there while regained my strength.
Base Camp
The Summit
The last climb up to the summit was very steep (I’m not kidding). It was so steep that unless I held on to the ledge above the shingled area I would slide back down. This presented some problems. Managing a pail of paint and a brush with one hand on a steep incline is not easy. In fact, I found it impossible. After several attempts to get primer on the shingles I gave up. I never even got the paint can open. What I had to do was keep the open paint can at base camp and then make repeated trips up and down the roof with a brush full of paint. Fortunately it was a small area and base camp was close to the summit.
After I scraped the shingles and put the primer on I had some time to spare. I scraped some algae on the north side of the roof and snapped a few shots. Here are some uninspired roof shots.
The white house (1928) in the foreground is where the bottom half of the Frankenstein hutch came from. The pink house(1888) belongs to Sheri. She gets me all the cool doors. The blue house (1898), which you can just barely see, is known as The Peacock House to some.
Oh, and don't forget to vote in the poll
5 comments:
It's interesting that the first time I went up there a few years ago to remove the asbestos shingles I did want to puke. I was absolutely terrified. This time was bad, but nearly as bad. I think I'm actually getting accustomed to climbing around on this house.
I have a great respect for heights (fear that is). Way to go- hopefully you won't have to make that trek often!
I hang my head in shame for my own fear of teetering up my little ladder to paint and strip the high walls and ceilings inside my humble abode. I gues "those who can do, those you can't fear and tremble" and then call the professionals. My family has convinced me to call in the pros - so I know they are more freaked than I. I'll stick to canvas and watercolor paper I suppose. Beautiful job though! Jane (Scout)
tooooo higggh!!!!!
Yikes! Gives me the willies just looking at it!! You could not pay me enough to make that last little climb without a harness.
Hats off! The paint job looks fantastic!
Post a Comment