The Forest that is Our Roof

In the constant moisture of the Pacific Northwest, it's fairly common for moss to accumulate on roofs. But ours has been the worst, the source of our embarrassment in the neighborhood, and probably even a conversation piece among those who converse about such matters. I'd like to say that our roof is an environmentally conscious "green" choice, but to be honest, it's just plain GREEN -- and the only choice we have is to clean it.

Setting foot on the roof is a dangerous endeavor, not only because of the slippery wet moss on the slanted surface, but because the roof tiles themselves are crap. Such crap, in fact, that we are part of a class-action lawsuit against to company that built them, Firefree. We absolutely must replace the roof this summer because about 33% of the tiles are broken (and these were expensive "50-year" tiles 15 years ago!), but until then we just can't stand the embarrassment of the forest that is our roof. So Tom has been up there all day with his new power washer toy. (I learned early-on that husbands are more receptive to honey-do's if you buy as associated toy as incentive.) I'll be so relieved when he finally comes down from there safely!

Even though it's not a warm spring Seattle day, it is officially a spring day in Seattle (in the past 20 minutes we've had clouds, rain and sunshine), so Shasta and I decided to get outside and do a bit of yard work, just to keep an eye on Tom up on the roof.

Er, I mean to thrown the tennis ball incessantly for hours...