random thoughts – Day 1,945 – (Monday) – food and labor

It was a pretty good day for a Monday. The buyer’s appraisal was at 11:00 this morning. I had intended to be gone from the house and my realtor, who is a former appraiser, was on site. Our goal was to learn as soon as possible the list of required alterations to the house for the buyer’s mortgage. I ended up staying through the process. 

Lunch at Kimball's.

There was a plan to meet for lunch with a friend at Kimball’s Ice Cream in Westford, postponed from last week. The place was hopping! We got fried haddock sandwiches and fried clams and it was delicious. The food was great, and it was a relaxing treat to sit under the canopy and talk and eat. I probably talked too much. I don’t socialize enough, then when I do, I sometimes turn into a chatterbox. 

On the way home, there was a stop at Lowe’s for some paint for the shed, one of the items on the appraiser’s list. My realtor had said the shed should be painted on her first visit to the house months ago, and for various reasons, it didn’t happen. She was kind enough to not say “I told you so” and I love her for that.

The paint counter was very busy this afternoon with one customer after another, and for the first time in three visits the attendant was helpful. He suggested painting when the temperature is lower than 85 degrees, which is definitely not something I would have thought to consider.  While my paint was being mixed, I wandered over to the major appliances and then lighting. My future house has a dining room pendant light featuring roosters and little plaid lampshades of which I am not a fan, but there was nothing in Lowe’s that I liked even a little bit.

In the evening, when the sun had lowered and wasn’t blasting the back yard, the scraping of the shed began. The scraper didn’t do much as far as the paint was concerned, and it was easier to peel it off like wallpaper. It was about an hour of sweaty, meditative work, peeling off strips of old paint as high as I could reach and tossing them onto a plastic tarp. Two and a half sides saw progress before the task had to shift to cutting back some viney, straggling growth that had grown over the fence from the neighbor’s yard and blocked access to the rest of the shed. 

Blue sky, pink clouds.

After a break spent drinking ice water, I remembered to look outside. The clouds were pale pink, which deepened against the blue sky as I stood on the deck. 

Tomorrow the very many selling and moving related chores will resume. There are more clothes, books, and glassware bagged and in the car, ready to be dropped off at St. Vincent de Paul. There are questions about utilities in the new place and curtains to be taken down, laundered, and packed, and at least 10,000 other things.