Painting Project

This blog is about my favorite things - what I like to remember - memories - and....those little pleasures that are a part of daily living - very simple ones - like the first cup of coffee in the morning - strong and hot and dark - but even before the first cup - the smell of the coffee brewing.

Top on the list of what gives me a kick - projects - painting projects - projects that involve sanding things and restoring things and giving things a new look - furniture - rooms ....

This week the little house that sits behind my big house is getting a new coat of paint on the inside. It's called the "Art Studio" but its name is misleading. Art Studio implies that I do a lot of artwork out there. I don't - but it's a great room. Very cozy and makes me think of being outside but inside at the same time. There are windows on 3 of the 4 walls and it's as if the outside comes in.

Monday the project began - fortunately the room was nearly empty because it had been cleared out for Sarah this summer to work on ideas for her senior project which she is working on presently in Auburn. She'll graduate with a degree in fine arts in December. Had some pretty good holes in the wall from shelves that had hung since 1994 - utility shelves and not very esthetically pleasing - not creative - so that involved the wall putty - letting it dry - sanding that and reputtying and more sanding - all of that was pretty easy.

Tuesday I went to Home Depot and got my paint. The palest, palest whisper of pink - not little girl pink - not pepto pink - but a blush of it - On the paint card it reads "Bleached Shell". The windows and baseboards also are getting a new coat of paint - a warm white. That paint card reads "Pot of Cream". - The floor is a sheet of vinyl or linoleum. It's the cheaper of the two so I think that's vinyl - I've googled how to paint vinyl floors or linoleum floors - and am going to get a paint that is a deep chocolate brown. I picked it for it's color but of all things - the paint card reads "Bear Rug".

Yesterday, Wednesday, having everything ready for painting, I headed out to the studio in my paint clothes - the ones with paint all over them - and discovered a few ants in the threshold of the door. Not surprised because we had had a few in our kitchen - typical for this time of year - changes of seasons and all of that. Made note to self - get those little white discs that take care of that. As a temporary solution I got some ant spray which is really just a topical fix. When I put that nozzel in the crack of the threshold next to the door facing - WHOA! It was as if I'd stepped on a large ant hill. Swarms of those tiny little ants - I attacked full throttle with that ant poison - still thinking I'd get the discs later - I got all of those and went to the other side of the threshold - did the same thing and again - huge swarm - again the major blasting with the ant poison - and a resignation and decision, knowing, "I've got to go in, get a shower, put on decent clothes, go back to Wal Mart, for the 3rd time this week, and get all my ant stuff to get those guys. I did all of that - got back home - placed the discs and resumed my painting project only to discover that I didn't have the disposable paint pan liners. HAVE to use those! Simplifies cleanup - so - back with the decent clothing, back in the car - and this time to Sherwin Williams - I just couldn't do Wal Mart or Home Depot again - too big - too deep.

Finally toward the late afternoon I began to apply paint and into dusk I was working - It was very satisfying and I am headed out there again today to finish - the ants are gone - because I've already gone out there with that first cup of hot coffee to check things out. The ants are also not in my kitchen anymore - those little discs are wonderful!

When I work on a project like this - it's the same as what I've said about cutting grass - my thinking is all over the map - but mostly I think of Daddy and all the projects Mother had him do - I feel like him when I'm doing stuff - As a little girl I did follow him around watching and watching - seeing how he did everything. I can see him in his paint clothes and his regrouping when he had to go back to the hardward store for something he needed. Sometimes I hopped in the car and went with him. I guess I watched him so much that it must of reminded him of being a little boy, watching his dad - because, once, Daddy turned to me with smile and told me how when he was a little boy he'd get so excited watching his Dad work on something, building something. He said he would begin to giggle just watching him - just in the thrill of seeing it done. I remember absorbing his story, pondering and being able to imagine him in that moment. His telling me is vivid in my mind.

I didn't only follow Daddy around. I was with Mother more than I was with Daddy, it seems, or at least equal time. Often I was sitting and watching Mother on the sewing machine - all of that fascinated me - and in the kitchen when she was cooking - I loved watching her and occasionally getting to stir or pour something in - children hanging out with their parents - when they aren't playing alone or with siblings and friends - those are learning and growing experiences - memory making - learning about life - I loved it.

Now that I've posted on this blog - as I sit here at the computer with dried paint all over my hands and arms - I've got to get back to my project - can't wait!