Our story so far: We could not focus on the fine details of finishing the interior of the old Methodist church we had turned into a home because winter was coming. The belfry required attention and the garage needed to be built, and time was limited.

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The day the movers helped me move the stove and boxes into our home, Reroofer arrived, too. Reroofer, the bearded man who secured the roof beneath the bell on the first days we owned the church, was no longer bearded but still willing to work on our belfry. He climbed up inside the tower and began tearing off siding from the top down to reveal the real problems—and the real beauty—of our belfry.

Beneath the aluminum siding was the beautiful original diagonal wood siding and decoratively detailed cedar-like shakes—and the window we could always see from the inside but which had been covered by aluminum on the exterior. Reroofer also revealed the truth of the structural problems so we could see clearly what we were had and how to address it. The belfry never look so naked and the pilings holding up the bell looked as spindly as a wet dog after a bath; from afar, the 126-year-old four-by-fours looked like toothpicks, and they didn’t look so great up close either.

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Today’s headline is a quote from Esther Pauline “Eppie” Lederer, better known by the pen name Ann Landers, an American newspaper advice columnist.

Tomorrow: The gross interior of the belfry. See it here.