It's been a busy month at the church. David and the crew were racing to get the steeple up and beat the bad winter weather. First, we had to deal with a bit more rot where the steeple once was than we would have liked. That put us behind about a day. When you're renting a lift, every day matters.
The frame, fortunately, went up quickly.
Then we waited for the delivery of the windows and louver vent. I climbed up there and the view was wide and sweeping.
Now, I was completely ready to put a spire on the steeple but there were issues. David had never built one and was concerned about wind. The manufactured ones at online shops with names like "the Steeple Store" were very pricey. Deb and I were checking out Leisure Time, our local flea, and we saw this:
It was copper, and while it wasn't probably more than thirty years old, it had a really nice patina. The price was right. I bought it, thinking it was meant to be. To cap off the steeple with a non religious homage to the river.
I'm glad I did. While I was having dinner with my friends in Paris on Thanksgiving (mine, not theirs), Don, my roofer, sent me this photo from my phone.
The windows and louver vent were installed and the weathervane was put up. I was really struck that the pitch of the main roof, pitch of the steeple roof and the "pitch" of the sails on the weathervane were all in proportion. Sometimes, you realize that it's best to go with the flow.
While dramatic things were going on top of the roof, subtle things kept occurring inside. I finally tackled the front staircase:
The process took a few weekends of sanding, staining and varnishing.
It's almost done. I'll have a new picture with all the spindles when I get up this weekend.
And when I get up on Friday night, there should be a floor to ceiling bookcase in front of the rear staircase.
I'm always happy when my books get a home and my bedroom becomes more private. I haven't been up in nearly three weeks. I'm homesick.
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