Painting Day 5

Today the livingroom got painted. White woodwork...check. Blue Opal...check. Nice and bright; oh, yeah. Just an ordinary day. Nothing bad happened. Everything went according to the plan.

Five days of painting and the house is looking good; just the bedrooms left to go. Small break for the next few days as the painter has another small job to do.

So, over the weekend I'll be cleaning up the dust and dirt. Washer is coming tomorrow. Oh, yeah, I'll also be doing a ton of wash.

Have a nice weekend even though it is supposed to be raining.

Painting Day 4

Good day today! Everything went smoothly. Today I needed to remove all the

books from the top shelf of the book case so the ceiling could be painted. I'm sure that was more than 100 books.

Painter came and it was right to work. Finished spackling the walls in the TV room and worked some more on the ceiling in the livingroom. Then it was straight to painting. Woodwork white...check. Ceiling white...check. Walls

Blue Opal...check. TV room is completed. How bright and beautiful it

looks. Livingroom will be painted tomorrow.

Also, went out looking for a washer this evening. Found one a Lowe's. Yeah, they will deliver it on Saturday. Already have someone looking for clothes they need. Hang in there guys!

Oh, pray for my Aunt Arlene H. She is still being treated in the hospital for

pneumonia. She has been in the hospital since the second week of January.

Painting Day 3

Well, you've heard the expression when it rains it pours. Well, it poured today. Awoke and the plan was to get some wash completed before the painter came again today. First load in and washed. Check. Second load in and washed. Well, sort of. It washed, but on the final spin the washer decided that the gears would grind and the basket would not spin thereby leaving the load sopping wet. Yep, WET! Like I said, it poured...water that is. So, the clothes went into a large clean trash bag to await being taken to a laundromat so they could be rewashed, sort of, so they could get the water spun out of them.

Painter arrives and the pressure in my head is building. Well, I ended up with a migraine like I haven't had for a while.

So, into the boys' room I went closing both blinds to make the room dark and down on the bed I went...two and a half hours of down.

The painter worked in the kitchen today. White woodwork...check. Wow, now the cabinets look dingy. Hey, Mr. Painter-man would you paint my cabinets white?? Sure! Okay, now we are on a roll. Walls- Blue Opal...check. Now, the cabinets need to be painted. White cabinets...check. Wow, to how the kitchen looks now. Kitchen painted...check.

I haven't taken any pictures of the painting because I haven't looked at how to operate the new camera I got at Christmas. Will have to check out the camera so I can get pictures and maybe they will get posted.

Maybe day 4 will be calm and peaceful. Here's to painting and a nice house!!

Painting Day 2

Okay, the challenge today was to see how much wash I could get done before the painter came. Climbed out of bed @ 5:50am. Surely at least three loads could be completed. Start with dress clothes. Separate the ones to be dried in the dryer and put them in the wash first. Okay, check. Boy, that was easy.

Load of clothes done washing. Shake out and put into dryer. Okay, check. Wow, I'm on a roll. Next load in. Time to eat breakfast. Side tracked and now it's getting later. Washer buzzes and clothes are ready to come out and to be hung. O-oo, is that a very young Mel Gibson in this

movie. Now I'm really side tracked. Well, at least the clothes made it from the washer to the

basket. See, I can do this.

What!! It is now 8:30 and the painter should be here any minute. Here he comes. No more wash for now.

The painter replaced the portion of archway he had to remove yesterday and started painting the woodwork. Guess I'll hang up those clothes that I took from the washer. I am advancing even though I cannot wash any more clothes.

White. Do you know how bright white is? Whoa, the walls look really dingy next to this white paint on the woodwork.

Oh, now the painter must leave to go to another place to bid on a job. Well, maybe the alcove will get completed today...at least that is his plan.

Time passes and paint is being put on the woodwork and walls. Looks absolutely wonderful!

Best part...nothing needed fixed or replaced and the painting moved forward. Alcove

complete...check!!!

Woodwork--white. Check. Walls--Blue Opal. Check. Looks wonderful! Check...check...check!!!

PAINTING Day 1

The painter came today for his first day of work. Said he would like to get the alcove outside the bathroom almost finished.

Well, this house does NOT like the word finished. Job was to remove mismatched crown molding and put up new matched molding, remove loose paint from ceiling, and put on a coat of paint.

First mistake was taking down the large crown molding above the bathroom door. Oops, molding covered unfinished wall. New molding will not cover unfinished wall. Okay, no problem. Will buy more large crown molding to re-cover this area. Check.

On to the rest of the molding to be removed...second mistake. Oh, look, an electrical wire was hiding behind the molding; only it is not connected to anything. Okay, no problem. Cut the wire. Check.

Now to deal with the wall at the doorway where this wire ran up in front of. Nasty, unfinished wall. Well, could put up corner molding...nope, too wide. Remove wood from side of archway and replace with a wider strip. Okay, no problem. Truly was no problem.

Trim electrical wire to floor so the wood strip will fit. Oops, wire is live! Third mistake.

Thought this project could be well on the way to be completed today. NOT happening.

Must find out where the wire is after coming through the floor. Go downstairs and look under the drop-ceiling. Oh, there you are! Make sure the breaker is off and cap the wire. Okay, no problem. Check.

Day is almost over now. Well, no paint on walls in alcove and only an hour left. Patch holes and nicks in kitchen and start repair on livingroom ceiling. Okay, no problem. Check.

The joy of working in an old house. Deep breath. Close my eyes and think about how it will all look at completion.

On Saturday evening, Feb. 19, Hannah came up from VA for a visit. She came Sat. evening because she got a new dog, Ava. Looking forward to meeting her.

After church on Sunday we went out for dinner. Had a fun time at Marco Polo. Just love their food. Best Chinese around!

When we got home we got another surprise. Titus and Shayla had also come up from VA to visit until Monday night.

Nathanael stopped over Monday morning and stayed through the night.

So, we had a full house once again with only Isaiah and Alicia of the Claytor gang missing. Talk about a rowdy and fun time. They were in their glory telling all their stories from growing up. Ah, what a mother didn't know.

Today is Friday...time to be with Brooklynn. On our way over to the house we pass a motorcycle shop every time. Well, this time she says, "When I'm 16 will you get me a motorcycle?" It was hilarious. She was very serious. She knows you have to be 16 to drive. She has already said that when she is 16 she will drive my car to my house so I don't need too. She has also asked me to get her a car...of course, it must be blue. Smart girl. Very good color.

Brooklynn had four shots last evening for school so right now she is taking a nap. They must have really wiped her out. Maybe they gave her sleeping shots as she doesn't always take naps now.

Grandma spent the last two nights here because on Tuesday a young guy who tried to commit a burglary at a house down the street from hers was hiding in her yard behind her kitchen wall and the cement wall. She had opened the door twice not knowing who was there and when she realized where he was hiding and that she didn't know him she yelled at him to get out of her yard and then quickly closed and locked the door. Needless to say it shook her up and she didn't want to be at the house. The police were already searching for him at that time because the owner of the other house was at home and confronted him and chased him. The police didn't realize there was a gap behind the wall of Grandma's house. They have not caught him.

This weekend I must prepare the house for painting. Insulation put in on Valentine's Day and this coming week and the second full week of March the painter will patch and repair the walls and then paint. So, all things on the wall must come off and all small knickknacks must be put away. Now, where do you go with the furniture in the Hobbit house? Um, the middle of the floor. Paint one wall and put furniture back...push other furniture to middle and paint other wall. It will definitely be fun. NOT!! I will need on long vacation when all is finished. It will look nice, but I will be exhausted from things being out of order!

My youngest daughter tells me I should write here on my blog. What do you say when you have not been on since September?

Well, I could back-track and tell you what has happened since then. No, that would probably be long and boring for you to read.

So, I'll tell you that as of today I am healthy and alive and busy and crazy as ever...and...and...and. Well, you get the point.

We had our house insulated on Monday. Some people have sick kids on Valentine's Day...me, I had a contractor come into my house and make a MAJOR DUSTY mess. I thought I would go crazy with the amount of dirt it had left behind. Old plaster walls are very messy. It took 15 hours to dust, suck up, and wash it all away; only to have my youngest daughter pull a book off her shelf and comment about the amount of dust still on it. CRAZY!!

My Pennsylvania granddaughter received yellow roses from her Pappy for Valentine's Day. She was very excited but wanted to know why Aunt Rachel got a glass (vase) to put her roses in and she didn't. All was explained and she loved the roses and the idea of taking them home to put in a glass...no; vase.

Hannah is up for a visit. She got a new puppy today to keep Rocky company. Rocky...take care of that puppy.