{"id":5694,"date":"2020-09-08T08:33:26","date_gmt":"2020-09-08T12:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5694"},"modified":"2020-09-08T08:39:03","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T12:39:03","slug":"episode-112-ray-clough-roofer-eccentric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5694","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 112 RAY CLOUGH…ROOFER … ECCENTRIC"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE  112     RAY CLOUGH\u2026AN ECCENTRIC WHO DID OUR FARM ROOF.<\/div>\n

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alan  skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept 6, 2020<\/div>\n

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Ray Clough\u2026farmer and part time roofer.  I hired him.  A very interesting man.<\/div>\n

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This is not Ray’s  house.  Ray\u2019s  place had a good roof.  But the front door was similar\u2026very similar.  Upstairs windows closed  down because<\/div>\n
no one ever went upstairs.<\/div>\n

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This was a good farm sale to talk about a roof.  Not far from Ray\u2019s farm.   Might be  where we met and stick up the<\/div>\n
roof  conversation.  Take a look at the next picture.<\/div>\n

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An astounding  picture.  someone climbed up that ladder carrying those sheets of  metal  <\/div>\n

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I MET Ray at a farm sale much like the sale pictured here.  <\/div>\n

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Not far from Ray\u2019s place was another bachelor farmer.  He needed to hire Ray but likely could not afford it.<\/div>\n
How  did he ever get those patches on the barn roof?  Look at that long ladder.  Dangerous way to live.<\/div>\n

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When I described the restoration of our farm house by Wayne Shannon, I did not<\/div>\n
mention the roof.<\/div>\n

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    Before the robbery\u2026before the renovation I hired Ray Clough to put a steel roof over<\/div>\n
the asphalt shingles.  Ray was not a roofer.  He was a farmer over near Ospringe. <\/div>\n
A very unconventional chap.  The kind of person I admire.  His  own man as they say.<\/div>\n
Ray put a new roof on the farm all by himself.  How he did it mystified me.  Great long<\/div>\n
sheets of ribbed  steel.  Green.  How could Ray manhandle the sheets up to the roof<\/div>\n
and then pound in lead headed roofing nails.  He only had two hands.  I never<\/div>\n
saw anyone help him.  Must have  been helpers. Matter of fact I never saw him doing the roof.  It was<\/div>\n
done in the same week I hired him.  While I taught school, Ray hammered the roof in place.<\/div>\n

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This is not Ray nor is it our farm house roof but the picture gives  some idea of the danger involved.<\/div>\n

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After Ray finished  the job, he asked  if he could live in the house.  That was a <\/div>\n
surprise.   A bigger surprise came one Halloween night when Marjorie was having<\/div>\n
a bunch of her women friends in the house for a grand  supper.  Darkness. There was a nock<\/div>\n
on the door.   Jean or Cathy or Elizabeth opened the door and there was Ray.  Just standing there. She screamed and<\/div>\n
called Marjorie.  Ray had one set of clothes and a Fedorah hat that had seen far<\/div>\n
better days. He did not shave as often as some men do.  He was single.  Women<\/div>\n
scared him \u2026 especially when they scream. The night was dark and Ray just<\/div>\n
disappeared into the darkness.  He expected to see me. \u201cHe said nothing, Alan,\u2026<\/div>\n
just faded into the night.  I think we scared him.”<\/div>\n

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Then a day or so later\u2026payment.<\/div>\n

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\u201cMarjorie, you just stay in the car while  I pay Ray  for the roofing job.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRay lives  alone.?<\/div>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHe may not be a fastidious as me.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou?  That\u2019s a laugh. I do all the cooking and cleaning.  I even cut the grass.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNow I know you get my meaning.”<\/div>\n

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Ray invited me  in via the woodshed  doorway.  The front door had not been used<\/div>\n
for years.  it was  hard  to even see the door as some great wild shrubs had taken over.<\/div>\n
The woodshed was the closest way to the barn where Ray had his cattle.  No need<\/div>\n
for a front door.  Ray was efficient.  There was a foot trail to and from the barn. There<\/div>\n
was also a  foot trail in the kitchen.  Ray\u2019s path over the worn linoleum led  to great greasy <\/div>\n
stove\u2026blackened with old grease.  Then from stove to his big easy chair which<\/div>\n
was worn and tufted here and there.  The floor was black except for that trail from back door to stove to<\/div>\n
the big easy chair.  <\/div>\n
  As  I mentioned  Ray was not fastidious.<\/div>\n

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This is not Ray\u2019s kitchen   Same kind of stove.  Ray\u2019s was better than this<\/div>\n

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A year or so later,  Ray died.  Alone.  On his farm.  Marjorie and I went to his auction <\/div>\n
sale.  I do not know who dealt with his estate.  Not much in terms of household goods.  Not much that anyone would want.<\/div>\n
Someone suggested a tour of the house.  I think I dissuaded  Marjorie from going.<\/div>\n
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In conclusion.  I hope my story about Ray is seen the way I see it.  This is  not a put down.  I really<\/div>\n
liked him. Marvelled at our new roof.  I wish I had taken the time to find  out more about him.  Cousin Helen Parkinson <\/div>\n
and husband Bill lived on a farm near Ray as did  Shirley (Awrey) Freeman and cousin Ted.  So did  Barb and  Bob Root <\/div>\n
(\u2018Rooter\u2019) I am sure they knew Ray  because their farms  are close.<\/div>\n
Perhaps they will make a  comment.<\/div>\n

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Take a close look at Ray.  His face. Not his clothes.  That is  a  nice face.  The creases are<\/div>\n
warm creases.   The eyes are amused eyes.  Ray shaved  every other day. His hat must be a farm heirloom.<\/div>\n
The  hat was not put in the auction sale.  if it was  there I would have  bought it.<\/div>\n

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Ray believed in layered clothing.  Count the layers.<\/div>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept. 7  2020<\/div>\n

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EPISODE  112     RAY CLOUGH\u2026AN ECCENTRIC WHO DID OUR FARM ROOF. alan  skeoch Sept 6, 2020 Ray Clough\u2026farmer and part time roofer.  I hired him.  A very interesting man. This is not Ray’s  house.  Ray\u2019s  place had a good roof.  But the front door was similar\u2026very similar.  Upstairs windows closed  down because no one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}