random thoughts – Day 1,550 – (Sunday) – labor camp

Dirty and embarrassing.

Since the winter when I became horrified at how gross the north-facing front of the house and vinyl picket fence had become with greenish icky stuff I knew it would need to be washed. It hadn’t been done for several years. Last year it rained all summer, so, despite being on the 2023 chore list, it never happened. But now, it was gross. It was embarrassing.

The question was when it could be done this year. There was a short list of criteria. Ideally, the day should be warm enough that messing with the hose and being splashed isn’t uncomfortable, but not so hot as to provoke suffering. Also, several hours may be needed. It would be great if the next-door neighbors with the pool weren’t entertaining, because it felt very awkward that time on July 4^th when I was toiling away washing my house while a yard full of guests enjoyed a cookout next door. Lesson learned.

For at least a month stores and websites were checked for one of those brush heads on a pole that screws onto a hose to facilitate the washing of the siding and help with reach. The local neighborhood Ace Hardware, my go-to for pretty much everything, closed a couple years ago, leaving me high and dry for most things home-related.  Big Lots, Tractor Supply, and Ocean State Job Lot were checked in person. The Lowe’s website inventory showed I would need to go to New Hampshire or order one and wait several days for it to deliver to the Lowell store. Didn’t happen.

Today was sunny and warm-ish but not hella-hot like it is supposed to be later in the week. The neighbors weren’t entertaining. I psyched myself up to get outside with a pail of soapy water, the plastic brush, and the hose hauled from the shed. 

Then I got sidetracked by another nuisance project. Rust spots keep appearing on the front of the refrigerator and an online search for peel and stick appliance coverings was done. The vinyl seems to be sized for the side-by-side doors and is too narrow for my stacked refrigerator doors. That information led to a search for appliance paint. Like the brush thingy, the paint seems to also require a trip to New Hampshire because the Lowe’s in Lowell only showed forest green as being available while lots of colors live in New Hampshire. I talked myself out of going to the store to buy paint.

Clad in capris, a tee shirt, and my Hush Puppy rain boots, I finally went outside. The plan was to just clean the fence out front, which seemed manageable. Once underway, the labor required a lot more brush scrubbing than straight up hose work. The weather widget on my phone claimed it was 76 degrees but it felt a lot hotter and after the first 22-foot section of fencing it seemed less likely I’d get the whole fence done, never mind the gross vinyl siding on the front of the house. Several breaks were required.

Clean and no longer embarrassing.

After the completion of the front-yard fence, it became the game where I trick myself into doing things. I started with the small wall to the right of the front door. It was gross. The slightly textured siding cleaned up quicker than the smooth vinyl pickets. Spurred by success, the larger portion of the front of the house was done.  

Progress moved around the corner to the side of the house, which wasn't bad at all. That led to the deck at the back door, which was gross with the spaces between the decking caked with gunk. A screwdriver was fetched to try and dig the gunk out of the deck. Then the rest of that side of the house was finished.

Momentum was building now. The hose was relocated to the spigot at the back of the house, which has southern exposure and didn’t look too dirty, especially compared to the front. The furthest side of the house with the long deck along it was also quick and easy.

The mental gymnastics and mind games continued. After coming so far, it seemed like a total wuss move to bail before tackling the backyard fences. The long stretch of vinyl picket fence was decorated with plentiful bird droppings on the post caps, but it was mostly hose work until I got to the panel fence along the back property line.

The panel fence faces north and was gross, but I didn’t have it in me to go hard at it with the brush. It was blasted with the hose, which was more effective on the lightly textured lattice at the top of the fence than the smooth panels below. A visit with the bucket and brush is still needed to properly clean it, but at least it is improved. And after several hours of semi-hard labor, I let myself call it a day. Until the next session of labor camp.