With a weather forecast of temperatures in the 80s, the plan was to start the porch painting. The paint had been bought Thursday night from a big box store which was a mini adventure. As I was looking at paint chips, the intercom started calling for help at the paint desk. It went off twice, while a guy in a suit stood there waiting. I made a quick color choice and stood at the counter near him. It was several minutes before a clerk arrived and in less time than the initial wait, we each had our paint and were on our respective ways.
The bathroom linen/pet supplies/tools and stuff closet was visited for the rollers and brushes I remembered having from the kitchen and bathroom painting projects. It turned out I was also pretty well stocked with plastic tarps. On the porch, the roll up shades were taken down and the sheer curtains were removed and set in the laundry. A tarp was spread over the planting work table. The small bistro table and chairs, some plant stands, and flower pots were relocated. The broom was used to sweep/dust the parts to be painted.
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| Some of the windows, so many narrow bits between. |
It was a methodical plan. First up, the six-inch boards at the top of all four walls. The small cabinet door roller was perfect for that. Next, the narrow trim around the front door. It took 1.5 hours and I was on a roll. There was still coffee to drink and it was comfortable, but it was time to stop, clean up, and go to dance practice for the Earth Day performance next Saturday.
The drive to dance on a Saturday afternoon is heavier than Sunday morning, and there were several events along the way that made the travel slower, but the jonquils and daffodils are out, and the forsythia and trees are flowering, so at least it was pretty. There was a big yard sale on one side of the road with people crossing from the parking area across the street, but I didn't have time to stop to check it out. Earlier in the day, there was a reenactment of part of the Townsend Minuteman’s Walk to Concord that started at the Common and I got to see some of the participants gathered for festivities at Reed Homestead on route 119 as I sat at a red light.
After dance practice, it was back to the house and the manual labor. First, the center beam on the ceiling was done, and then the trim and framing between the ten porch windows was started. The short wall with three windows was done, followed by the framing around the storm door before calling it a day. It was hot on the porch with the 4:30 sun blazing in through the doors and windows and my legs were feeling the many trips up and down the step stool.
Tomorrow, the longer part of the front wall with five windows and the end wall with two larger windows will be tackled, and hopefully there will be stamina for the eight-inch deep sills that run on the wall under all the windows. The final phase will be the half-walls below the sills, the one tall wall with the door to the deck, and the floor, but the paint for that phase hadn't been bought yet. The walls and floor are currently a burnt red, but I'm leaning dark blue. It’s nice to have a plan, and satisfying to see progress. The free home workout isn’t too bad, either.
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