June 14, 2012. Artemas, PA. Empty House.

The house always seems empty when house guests depart, even when your granddaughters are in residence.   After Don and Doreen left at 8:30, I had no one to talk to.  The girls were still in bed and Ken had gone downstairs to the computer so I was alone.  It took awhile for me to get used to it,  which is surprising because we have had many house guests and they always leave sooner or later, but I always feel the same, which is, all alone.  I did what I always do, which is read a book, like a balm in Gilead.

This afternoon late, our builder came with a roofer to give an estimate to replace the roof on the farm house.  We hate to get rid of the old roof, which was put on one hundred years ago.  It is made of metal shingles, with asbestos paint applied regularly.  The paint is unavailable and now the roof has leaked this winter, so Keith the builder tells us we must replace it.  Our empty farm house will cost more money.  In addition, the flooring for the porches needs to be replaced, also another major expense.   We are gearing up for the bad news.