While I was away last week, our hired man was busy doing the shingles on the second cottage, with Chekhov assisting; it was rather nice to come home to that being nearly complete because I really had no desire to do that job again. Not only is it just too damned hot, it also requires positions which, after a few hours, leave me stiff and tense. But now that’s done, and Chekhov will soon be staining the second cottage (you can see the difference in this picture). On Wednesday I went to pick up the steel tubing for the roof structure, and Grace has been working on a deal for the purlins and steel roofing panels (which aren’t available wholesale locally); once we’ve got all that we’ll be starting on the main roof, and not a week too soon; the long-range weather reports are starting to show higher chances of rain. I’m not sure I’ll have anything visual to show you on that next week, but if I don’t I’ll figure something out!