Car And Roof Update

In my last post I wrote about how Harold hit a deer with my car.  We bought another car to drive in the meanwhile, but we were looking for another Echo, if possible, for parts.   We found a "parts car" with the help of Harold's sister who saw an ad on Facebook.   This car was down by the Twin Cities.  So we went to look at it, since it was only $200.  Well, the so-called "parts car" ended up being a very nice car indeed!  It had no rust, had 100,000 miles LESS than my Echo, and even the engine area was rust free.   The car came from Louisiana where they have no salt on the roads or snow, etc.   This car runs, but it has a very noisy engine.  It didn't quietly "purr" like my old Echo.   Come to find out the problem is that the engine needed a throttle body and a harmonic balancer.  (Never knew cars had those!  But what do I know?)  Harold thinks he can fix this Echo, as the parts for these two problems run about 50 to 75 bucks total.    If we sink another hundred dollars or so into the car we should have something economical to drive for another 150,000 miles.  The Chevy Uplander we bought as an interim car is OK but it's a bit of a gas guzzler.  I know for a fact that a Toyota Echo is a little gas sipper.   Everyplace we need to go around here is about 40 miles away.   We tend to put miles on a car very quickly. 

The Toyota Echo "parts car" we bought for $200 is in very good condition!

So we will use the new Echo as our economy car and the old Echo that was deer damaged as the parts car.

Also all summer long Harold has been working on putting the new metal roof on our house.  It was a slow process.  It seemed like the weather just didn't cooperate - it was either raining or too windy or snowing!  During garden season, Harold had to work on this in his "spare time", and then there was the sugar beet harvest to work with.   But he finally got it done!  He only has to do some minor adjustments to the roof caps and the valley tin on the porch section, but the roof is on!  We had to put a new roof on because a bad storm took the shingles off on the back side of the house several years ago.  We decided then to replace the shingled roof with a metal one and bought what we could afford at the time.   But this year we bought the rest of the roof and put it on.   It was great that Harold could do this job, as it sure saved us a lot of money!

Just before winter now, Harold only had about a 12 foot section to go.  The weather was fairly warm - about 37 degrees - and the wind was calm.  Snow was predicted this evening, so the job had to be done NOW! Harold always used his trusty tractor/loader as a safety catcher, so if he fell at least he wouldn't fall too far! 

Harold sweeps excess dirt and roof dust and pieces of old shingles off the roof before putting on the metal sections.

Finally finished!  He can climb down the ladder for the last time this winter.   In the spring (or if we should have a few warm days) he needs to make minor adjustments to the roof cap and the valley tin.  This metal roof is supposed to last 50 years, definitely in our lifetime.

And so these are the projects we have been working on lately.  Harold will continue with car repairs, and some other repairs to his tractor.  I am working on a quilt, learning some new music on the organ and accordion, and getting ready to decorate for Christmas and do plenty of holiday cooking!  (Things like pierogies, lefsa, flatbread, cookies and jelly for gifts.)