Done!

Yesterday Stan finished the duplex roof. 

Woot! Woot!

It looks better than it ever has in the 29 years we've owned it. 

See that pink thing under the light?  It's the permit.  You have to get permission to work on your property-we found that out when the permit-checker-guy stopped by to offer to fine us if we didn't get one.  Our house permit was $25.  Our duplex permit was $75, plus $55 for the business permit we had to get first.  And they say Montana isn't business friendly!  That's ridiculous--they were down right warm and fuzzy as they took our money!

Only a dozen or so strangers stopped to ask Stan to reroof for them when he finished the duplex.  Sadly, Stan's decided to go back to his stockbroker life, at least for now.

See how nice the fascia Megan painted looks?  You can also see there is plenty of work to do--eaves, rain gutters,

and that nasty north side of the duplex siding that has had moisture behind it.  But it can now rain, snow, hail, and sleet, because the roof is done!

Here's something else I've declared "done".  My tomato patch. I've canned or frozen 293 containers of tomatoes, salsa, catsup, spaghetti sauce, and tomato sauce.  We are going to have to work hard to eat all of it this winter.  I've also given bags and bowls full of tomatoes to neighbors, visiting teachees, friends, and the lady who walks her dog past my house several times a week.  We have not had a frost, and there is no frost in sight.  I'm tired of watering.  I'm tired of picking. Mostly, I'm tired of the deer who have been munching on the best tomatoes, leaving piles of droppings all over my driveway.

Because Makayla eats tomatoes like they're candy,

I picked two last, large bowls of ripe and semi-ripe tomatoes

and then filled several large garbage cans with tomato plant carcasses

while Hailey showed Makayla how to make letters using earthworms.

Since Stan was at Priesthood meeting, and Megan was off playing, the girls and I ended the day by taking a "wagon walk".  We visited the pond in the park,

and as we rounded the pond and climbed the hill to head home, we startled a small herd of antelope, which quickly bounded across the road.  Hailey informed me matter-of-factly that they were looking for Santa.  I guess Montana Santa prefers antelope to reindeer.

I often wonder, after such a physically demanding day, why I don't weigh 98 lbs.  We stopped and got ice cream on our way home to bed while I contemplated the answer to that question.  I thought and thought as I ate my extra large cone, but I've got nothing....