I’m posting today in avoidance of all other tasks I need to do. It is 102 outside so that leaves me inside to muddle about. Yesterday I started painting in the house and I am avoiding it today at all cost.
Mrs. Roper was quite the decorator. All other visual offences aside, she had some sort of weird attraction to bead board. Not the paneling kind they put up on HGTV; I’m talking about the individual tongue and groove boards nailed up with 14,000 finish nails. At some point she decided that one wall of the living room, both sides of the staircase, and the entire upstairs landing should be covered with said boards and stained and clear coated. I should mention that this was all done after the wood was up so all of the boards are also stuck together. Each time I go up the stairs I am reminded of the kitchens in those fishing boats you see on Deadliest Catch. It has a nautical/torture chamber feel to it. It didn’t take long to notice a few things:
1. There are lots of finish nails holding it together. None of these were put in with the use of a punch, just a hammer. This can be noted by the imprints that the head of the hammer left in the wood around each nail. Incidentally, she had one of those expensive hammers with the waffle design on the head of it. Don’t ask me how I can tell.
2. When in doubt, simply put a piece of trim over the issue in the appropriate size. It does not matter that this piece is a different size than all of the other pieces or at a different height. Or in the middle of the wall.
3. Those corner rosette blocks make everything pretty. Some corners even have the benefit of two of them. I’m not sure what they cost (as they are too hideous for me to have priced) but in the downstairs and stairwell there are over 30 of them. That’s got to be pricey. When this drought breaks they will make a spectacular fire in the burning barrel. Maybe I will invite the neighbors over for a weenie roast.
4. Cheap yellow pine 1x4 boards can easily be turned into a snazzy trim piece with a heavy dose of redwood stain and ultra-high gloss polyurethane. I’m not sure where you find a coating this pretty and glossy, but it must come from some sort of marine supply company. I’ll bet the Titanic would still be wandering the oceans aimlessly if they would have slathered this on her.
After realizing that there was not drywall or plaster under quite a bit of it we just decided to prime and paint it in the wall color we were going to use anyway. I did the downstairs wall in the winter and it has grown on me. I think the fact that it is done helps me live with it. With the heat wave I decided to prime and paint the rest of this mess and get it over with. I worked all day yesterday and got one more wall downstairs done and part of the stairway. When I started today I decided to get rid of some of the extra trim before I started. You know how that works. It’s like trimming your own bangs. You are really happy with the first part that you take off and the next thing you know you have a forehead the size of Texas. Coincidentally, that happens to be the size of some of the gaps between the boards.
I now have all of the trim off and need to sit here and think about what I am going to do to correct the multiple messes that I found. On a positive note you can’t see the outside world from the inside of the house. This is simply because the house is covered with siding. It ain’t pretty. Realistically I am looking at a week of fine carpentry work with lots of details to end up with something that I can live with.
So I just cleaned up and sat on the couch. I’m not admitting defeat. I’m just admitting this speed bump is something I’d rather not deal with and it has caused me to adjust the length of this project to “indefinite”. It may go onto the list with “clean out closets” and “take old clothes to charity”.
The whole reason for this post was to say that I have chicks hatching! They aren’t due to hatch until Friday but a couple of the eggs have cracks and movement. Early birds, no doubt. They will get the worms.
I was sitting at the table eating my breakfast when I thought I heard a chirp coming from behind me. I decided it was way too soon to have babies chirping so I convinced myself it was outside. When I heard it again at noon I looked and discovered the cracked eggs. Yippee! I dyed some of these eggs on Sunday, so there is the potential for multi-colored chicks. If they all hatch I will have blue, green, red, and “natural” chicks. This is a continuation of my food coloring experiment. I will have to update you on that when we have some chicks around here and I see what colors I end up with. Interesting stuff there.
I guess I should probably go ahead and paint some primer on at least part of the bead board. Ugh. I’d rather not but I don’t want it to look like I spent my day eating chocolates.
Enjoy the heat!
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