On the Mountain (alone)

May 6 - 22

We're having a new roof installed on the mountain house.  After18 years of strong winter winds and having replaced a number of shingles, leaks have started developing, especially in the valleys around the dormers.  So it's time.

I have contracted with Van Hollifield, who is a well-respected roofing contracted in the area.  I had initially talked to him about installing a metal roof, but he talked me out of it.  He claims that with the extreme temperature daily and annual swings, a metal roof will after 6-8 years, start lifting the screws out and creating leaks.  Besides costing considerably more.  So I've chosen the longest life, heaviest shingle available.  It should last 25+ years - and it's guaranteed.  So, we'll see.

I drove up on Monday, May 6.  Clara had several doctors appointments, so I have the house to myself - different.

I immediately noticed that the house was not as clean as I would have liked.  But finding someone flexible enough to be able to respond and that will do the work has always been a challenge.

We had been marked down (from a 5 to a 4, which in this business is a big deal) on Airbnb because of cleaning.  And we aren't getting reservations like last year.  I'm convinced it's because of the cleaning downgrades on the reviews.  I decided that I needed to list the short-term rental with an additional company.  After some research, I decided to use VRBO (Vacation Rental by Owner) and their sister company Home Away.  I am able to synchronize the calendars so as to eliminate overbookings.  (As of June, we had two new bookings on VRBO.  So maybe it'll work).   Although both Airbnb and VRBO are in the same business, they are significantly different in how their web sites work, in the fees charged, in their payout schedules, and their collection of occupancy taxes.  Airbnb is by far the better of the two from the owner perspective.

I also noted that the yard looked the worst it has ever looked.  I immediately started looking for another Lawn Maintenance Company.  After a couple interviews, I choose Dale Lawn Service.  As soon as I was sure they were reliable, I fired the previous company.

On Wednesday, May 8 Van started.  It became apparent quickly that removing the old shingles was a bigger job than he had anticipated.  The previous roofer had glued down the first couple of feet of shingles to ensure that the wind didn't blow them off.  It worked, we never lost shingles in the first couple of feet from the eves.  However, we did lose them in some of the valleys.

During the two weeks of installation, they suffered through every kind of weather from blistering hot, to 40 degrees with wind, and rain showers.  They generally worked from 7 am to noon, so as to make sure they didn't get caught with a section not finished for the afternoon showers.  And one day they couldn't work because of 50+ mph winds.

I started working on the video and audio systems.  I wanted to replace the TV with a "smart" TV. However, the TV in the living room is in a cabinet, which limits the width. After some measuring, I realized that if I took the doors off the cabinet, I could get a 2 inch wider TV.  That took considerable workarounds, but I eventually got it done.

Since we've added Internet Service, we can get Amazon Prime.  So I took the TV that was in the living room and put it in the master bedroom and added Prime, and also added Prime to the basement TV.  I also added "local" channels to the service.  That should be enough TV.

Then I went to Best Buy in Asheville and picked up the same TV that I have in the guest house in Beaufort.  When I got back and put it in, I realized that there was a TV that is a little larger (about 2 inches) that would fit, so back to Best Buy.  This time I bought a "smart" TV.  I really liked the Amazon Fire TV's but they didn't come in the right size to maximize the space available.

I've found that "smart" TVs require a pretty "smart" individual to figure them out, but eventually I got the hang of it.  But I'm concerned about some of our future guests being able to figure it out.

Candace and Anna decided to come up for the weekend.  The boys were busy with Evan's basketball tournament.  They arrived on Thursday.  So "Papa and the Girls" were on their own.  It was a great weekend.

We had dinner with Bill and Judy at the Chalet one evening and Bill insisted on taking us back to their home in Little Switzerland to show Candace and Anna some of their family history and crafts.

On Friday, Anna and I hiked to the Crabtree Falls.  There had been quite a bit of rain, so the falls were really running - and it was beautiful.

On the way back home along the Parkway, we came across guy who had just lost control of his car avoiding hitting a deer in the road.  We were the first on the scene, so we stopped.  The guy was panicked.  As Anna helped to calm him down, I called 911 and thanks for Anna, we had the coordinates of our location to pass along.  While waiting, Anna walked up the road toward a curve to signal drivers to slow down.  There was only a short sight line coming out of the curve to where we were and we were concerned that someone would hit our car, or worse.  The Park Ranger arrived soon and took charge, much to our relief.

The car was on a very steep embankment and was stopped by a small tree.  If not for the tree, we may have never seen the car - or the guy.  It is very steep.

On the way home, we decided to drop by The Orchard and see Bill.  One of our favorite musicians, Terry Mckinney was playing.  After Anna and I dance, Bill asked Anna to dance.  Bill is known for his dancing - or lack thereof.  His dancing prowess is so well known that the store now has T-shirts with "I survived dancing with Bill Carson".

Bill autographs "I survived" card.

With our favorite museum, Terry McKinney

After he and Anna finished their dance, Bill gave Anna a card with the same slogan.  She now has Bill's autograph on the card.

Candace and Anna had decided they wanted to climb Mount Mitchell.  Saturday morning we drove to Black Mountain Campground, where they started their hike around 11:30 am.  I hiked with them a short while and returned to the car.

Then, I drove to the top of the mountain to wait for them.  I hiked a couple of miles while waiting on them hoping to meet them and walk the last part of the hike with them.  However, it turns out that there was a fork in the trail near the end and we missed each other.  It made for an interesting reunion because my phone had died and we had depended on it to get back together.  Eventually, we linked up - thankfully.

I am so proud of the two of them.  They hiked the steep trail, climbing 3,600 feet in 5 1/2 miles.  A real feat.

They left Sunday, so I'm back batching it!

I had been seeing more and more cleaning issues.  Monday I decided to wet mop the half bath and immediately realized that it had probably not been cleaned recently.  The wiping pad came up black after just the half bath.  We have been downgraded by guests in the past 6 months because of cleanliness.  That should have been enough.  I now knew I had to get a new cleaning service.

After a short search on the Internet, I found a new cleaning company, "Moutain Angel Cleaning Service".  I contacted them and Lila Angel met with me Monday afternoon.  Lila's two daughters came with her (18 and 20 years old).  The three of them, plus a sister-in-law have recently started their company.  After checking some references, I immediately hired them - and fired my previous service.

The rest of the week, I cleaned, and cleaned, and cleaned, and never really got to the point where I was comfortable.  Additionally, I moved all the furniture, mopped and waxed all the wooden floors.  It's still not acceptable, but Lila will finish up what I couldn't get around to.

Wednesday, Van finished the roof - it looks great a new color that is better than the previous.  And hopefully, no more leaks.

Thursday, I reluctantly drove back to Beaufort.  We had guests arriving on Friday.  Otherwise, I would have stayed another few days.

I never expected that they would find rotten wood, but there were three spots where they had to replace the plywood.

The new shingles are quite different from the original - and look much better with the house color.