Joanna here: I have decided that repairing an old house is a lot like writing.
Many of the things I do seem to be a lot like writing, frankly. For instance, driving a car is a lot like writing because even when you know where you’re going you have to worry about what you’re doing this exact moment so you don’t hit the curb or a pedestrian or something and you do make progress but you’re too busy driving to notice.
But back to fixing up a house.
This is not unlike delving back into a manuscript you haven’t looked at it in a while. It puzzles you. It displeases you. And you see the manuscript needs a lot of work.
In the middle distance lies the intense pastel turquoise of the next room.
I have lots of work ahead.
As it happens I have acquired a house where the front bedroom is painted Grape of Violent Disposition. It is the color of Kool-Aid. (Kool-Aid, for those outside the US, is a packaged drink powder composed entirely of artificial ingredients.) It is the color of a chow chow’s tongue.
Mere photos cannot convey the intensity of this purple in real life.
Somewhere there is a paint sample named “Mystery Plum” or “Midnight Manic Violet.” That’s what the former owners chose for this little room.
Let us be charitable and assume it belonged to a kid.
The other Wenches take you to see gardens in England with 300-year-old rhododendrons or romantic warm Tropical Isles or ruined castles in Scotland. I let you watch me paint a bedroom.
Okay. The first way working with an old house is like writing a manuscript is that most of the actual work is preparation. You go through many fiddly bits before you lay color on the wall.
So you cover the floor with tarp. You tape plastic up over the mopboards so they don’t get splatted with paint. You protect the doors with blue tape and removed electric outlet covers, (being sneaky, sneaky careful doing that.)
You take home 3450 paint samples and narrow it down to seven nearly identical ones and then you agonize over them and keep changing your mind.
You can see how this is also the approach to the unsatisfactory draft of a manuscript.
In your draft manuscript you have somehow created good words or been handed them by the boys in the basement. You carefully preserve that blessed lagniappe of perfect-pitch language under tarps. If you got it right the first time, you leave it alone.
In a house the next step is you wash down the walls and ceiling. A big, wet, exhausting job.
Because paint will not stick if the walls aren’t clean.
I have discovered this.
In a manuscript you strip away the sticky film of excess descriptors and adverbs and buffer language and unnecessary whifflejiffery.
Though admittedly in writing this gets done in little chunks instead of a whole room at a time, but I will not let this stand in the way of a good metaphor.
Next, you mend all the cracks.
In a manuscript a writer repairs character inconsistencies and dialog that’s not happy in the mouth it occupies, all the little logical lapses that emerged as the structure settles, insufficient motivations, and any implausibilities the writer gets lured into when the plot heads one way and human behavior heads the other (Also called, "Why the devil doesn’t she just ask him?")
If you buy a house with some age to it the cracks are varied and numerous.
The house I’m working with is of the “Do not actually attach the closets to the structure,” persuasion. The Free-Floating-Closet School of Architecture. The foundations of the house shift one way; the closet goes another; and broad, deep, randomly-edged cracks appear where the two do not quite meet.
I have discovered that you do not fix these cracks with plaster or plaster of Paris because you cannot SAND plaster. (Why anyone would do anything construction-wise with a substance that cannot be sanded just escapes my comprehension. Are they Super-plasterer? Do they make no mistakes?)
(The term plaster of Paris dates to the 15th Century.)
You do not use caulk because caulk in this context would scream “amateur!”
Well. I do not actually know why you don’t use caulk but you just don’t.
You do not use spackle either. I love spackle because it goes on pink and then dries white and I am a sucker for nifty stuff like that. Spackle apparently shrinks as it dries. Who knew.
(Spackle. 1920s: perhaps a blend of sparkle and German Spachtel ‘putty knife, mastic’.)
You use joint compound,
which is for fixing joints, y’see.
This is lovely stuff and I buy it in the big can and slather it about. It has the consistency of pudding.
The building supply stores sell a variety of tools for applying joint compound to the walls, but I have decided it packs into the cracks very nicely if you just push it in with your fingers.
The writing lesson here is that some edits require sophisticated writing tools and astute approaches and some you can just smooth stuff over with your fingers and then sand away the excess and it looks fine and it’s in the back of a closet and nobody cares anyway.
There is joint tape involved in this. I will not speak of my experiences with joint tape. The trauma is still too fresh.
I bought a drywall corner tool thingum which looks like teeth-cleaning apparatus for a baleen whale and costs a bit and does nothing on earth but crisp your 90% angles for you. Nothing else. How many times in your life do you need to make perfect corners in your oozy joint compound anyway?
But I do not regret my purchase. It is an exciting thingum. I think it would make a cool weapon.
The writing lesson is that sometimes you buy a word frequency counter that lists the words in the manuscript and how often you’ve used them. You use it maybe once per manuscript but it’s worth it because it does something nothing else can do.
In this it reminds me of my kitchen drawers which are full of this kinda thing.
So maybe the writing lesson is to go a little wild now and then.
After you have protected the vulnerable parts of the room; after you have washed the walls, patched all the cracks, mended the dings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and sanded everything in sight
… you prime.
Primer paint is white colored and apparently magical. All the weather-beaten, hardy, paint-splashed men I asked said I should use it.
The writing lesson is, take advice from the experts.
Priming is the first wholly satisfying moment of the process.
I see the purple disappear, roller by roller.
I conquer purple. I vanquish it. I drive it from the world.
Everything is clean and bright.
Success.
The writing lesson is, it’s all worthwhile in the end.
So, what about you? What’s your favorite home repair story and what life lessons does it teach?
You’re hired! I’m afraid it’s years since I hired someone to add some colors to my walls on the main floor of the house. Today, having the oven replaced, discovered the painter only worked as far as they could see – but thankfully the new stove still covers that up.
You’re hired! I’m afraid it’s years since I hired someone to add some colors to my walls on the main floor of the house. Today, having the oven replaced, discovered the painter only worked as far as they could see – but thankfully the new stove still covers that up.
You’re hired! I’m afraid it’s years since I hired someone to add some colors to my walls on the main floor of the house. Today, having the oven replaced, discovered the painter only worked as far as they could see – but thankfully the new stove still covers that up.
You’re hired! I’m afraid it’s years since I hired someone to add some colors to my walls on the main floor of the house. Today, having the oven replaced, discovered the painter only worked as far as they could see – but thankfully the new stove still covers that up.
You’re hired! I’m afraid it’s years since I hired someone to add some colors to my walls on the main floor of the house. Today, having the oven replaced, discovered the painter only worked as far as they could see – but thankfully the new stove still covers that up.
I have learned several things here, Jo!
A) the purple room is a good writing metaphor for the bright shiny idea that you though would be cool, only it isn’t.
B) You have confirmed my belief in trickle down economic theory, of which my version is “Hiring someone who knows what they are doing to do the work is a double blessing, one for the person hired, and one for me!”
Good luck! You’re a braver woman that I am. I don’t think I have undertaken any painting since somewhere in the ’80s. And I intend to leave it that way!
I have learned several things here, Jo!
A) the purple room is a good writing metaphor for the bright shiny idea that you though would be cool, only it isn’t.
B) You have confirmed my belief in trickle down economic theory, of which my version is “Hiring someone who knows what they are doing to do the work is a double blessing, one for the person hired, and one for me!”
Good luck! You’re a braver woman that I am. I don’t think I have undertaken any painting since somewhere in the ’80s. And I intend to leave it that way!
I have learned several things here, Jo!
A) the purple room is a good writing metaphor for the bright shiny idea that you though would be cool, only it isn’t.
B) You have confirmed my belief in trickle down economic theory, of which my version is “Hiring someone who knows what they are doing to do the work is a double blessing, one for the person hired, and one for me!”
Good luck! You’re a braver woman that I am. I don’t think I have undertaken any painting since somewhere in the ’80s. And I intend to leave it that way!
I have learned several things here, Jo!
A) the purple room is a good writing metaphor for the bright shiny idea that you though would be cool, only it isn’t.
B) You have confirmed my belief in trickle down economic theory, of which my version is “Hiring someone who knows what they are doing to do the work is a double blessing, one for the person hired, and one for me!”
Good luck! You’re a braver woman that I am. I don’t think I have undertaken any painting since somewhere in the ’80s. And I intend to leave it that way!
I have learned several things here, Jo!
A) the purple room is a good writing metaphor for the bright shiny idea that you though would be cool, only it isn’t.
B) You have confirmed my belief in trickle down economic theory, of which my version is “Hiring someone who knows what they are doing to do the work is a double blessing, one for the person hired, and one for me!”
Good luck! You’re a braver woman that I am. I don’t think I have undertaken any painting since somewhere in the ’80s. And I intend to leave it that way!
We painted a room 45 years ago. It went well and we rathe enjoyed it.That’s it! Everything else has been hired.
I haven’t had as much fun reading about an experience as I have had reading this post.
We painted a room 45 years ago. It went well and we rathe enjoyed it.That’s it! Everything else has been hired.
I haven’t had as much fun reading about an experience as I have had reading this post.
We painted a room 45 years ago. It went well and we rathe enjoyed it.That’s it! Everything else has been hired.
I haven’t had as much fun reading about an experience as I have had reading this post.
We painted a room 45 years ago. It went well and we rathe enjoyed it.That’s it! Everything else has been hired.
I haven’t had as much fun reading about an experience as I have had reading this post.
We painted a room 45 years ago. It went well and we rathe enjoyed it.That’s it! Everything else has been hired.
I haven’t had as much fun reading about an experience as I have had reading this post.
The thing about doing your own painting is that you get it painted the way you want, except without the skill.
There is a trade off here …
The thing about doing your own painting is that you get it painted the way you want, except without the skill.
There is a trade off here …
The thing about doing your own painting is that you get it painted the way you want, except without the skill.
There is a trade off here …
The thing about doing your own painting is that you get it painted the way you want, except without the skill.
There is a trade off here …
The thing about doing your own painting is that you get it painted the way you want, except without the skill.
There is a trade off here …
Yes. The Purple Room metaphor.
Until you see it in grand completion you do not realize how … wrong … it is.
Yes. The Purple Room metaphor.
Until you see it in grand completion you do not realize how … wrong … it is.
Yes. The Purple Room metaphor.
Until you see it in grand completion you do not realize how … wrong … it is.
Yes. The Purple Room metaphor.
Until you see it in grand completion you do not realize how … wrong … it is.
Yes. The Purple Room metaphor.
Until you see it in grand completion you do not realize how … wrong … it is.
I think you are wise not to engage in this room-painting thing.
But (jo looks at the bathroom and the kitchen) by doing the painting I may avoid doing the tiling. Wouldn’t that be nice?
I think you are wise not to engage in this room-painting thing.
But (jo looks at the bathroom and the kitchen) by doing the painting I may avoid doing the tiling. Wouldn’t that be nice?
I think you are wise not to engage in this room-painting thing.
But (jo looks at the bathroom and the kitchen) by doing the painting I may avoid doing the tiling. Wouldn’t that be nice?
I think you are wise not to engage in this room-painting thing.
But (jo looks at the bathroom and the kitchen) by doing the painting I may avoid doing the tiling. Wouldn’t that be nice?
I think you are wise not to engage in this room-painting thing.
But (jo looks at the bathroom and the kitchen) by doing the painting I may avoid doing the tiling. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Thanks for a very entertaining post, Joanna. I last painted an interior in 1990; I sincerely hope not to do so again. (I think our interior was previously mystery lilac. What is it with these Fifty Shades of Purple?) Wishing you much joy in your freshly painted room.
Thanks for a very entertaining post, Joanna. I last painted an interior in 1990; I sincerely hope not to do so again. (I think our interior was previously mystery lilac. What is it with these Fifty Shades of Purple?) Wishing you much joy in your freshly painted room.
Thanks for a very entertaining post, Joanna. I last painted an interior in 1990; I sincerely hope not to do so again. (I think our interior was previously mystery lilac. What is it with these Fifty Shades of Purple?) Wishing you much joy in your freshly painted room.
Thanks for a very entertaining post, Joanna. I last painted an interior in 1990; I sincerely hope not to do so again. (I think our interior was previously mystery lilac. What is it with these Fifty Shades of Purple?) Wishing you much joy in your freshly painted room.
Thanks for a very entertaining post, Joanna. I last painted an interior in 1990; I sincerely hope not to do so again. (I think our interior was previously mystery lilac. What is it with these Fifty Shades of Purple?) Wishing you much joy in your freshly painted room.
I’m not sure which made me laugh harder: some of the writing comparisons, or the Grape of Violent Disposition. Because, oh dear, I can relate! Let’s just say that at once point in my house, a particular shade of green was selected for the dining room wall that looked much better on the card than it did on the wall. Needless to say, the painter was asked to start over with a different color.
I think my favorite writing comment, though, is where you summed up what happens to me much too often:
“any implausibilities the writer gets lured into when the plot heads one way and human behavior heads the other (Also called, “Why the devil doesn’t she just ask him?”)
Somehow that last question sounds like the title for a post of its own.
I’m not sure which made me laugh harder: some of the writing comparisons, or the Grape of Violent Disposition. Because, oh dear, I can relate! Let’s just say that at once point in my house, a particular shade of green was selected for the dining room wall that looked much better on the card than it did on the wall. Needless to say, the painter was asked to start over with a different color.
I think my favorite writing comment, though, is where you summed up what happens to me much too often:
“any implausibilities the writer gets lured into when the plot heads one way and human behavior heads the other (Also called, “Why the devil doesn’t she just ask him?”)
Somehow that last question sounds like the title for a post of its own.
I’m not sure which made me laugh harder: some of the writing comparisons, or the Grape of Violent Disposition. Because, oh dear, I can relate! Let’s just say that at once point in my house, a particular shade of green was selected for the dining room wall that looked much better on the card than it did on the wall. Needless to say, the painter was asked to start over with a different color.
I think my favorite writing comment, though, is where you summed up what happens to me much too often:
“any implausibilities the writer gets lured into when the plot heads one way and human behavior heads the other (Also called, “Why the devil doesn’t she just ask him?”)
Somehow that last question sounds like the title for a post of its own.
I’m not sure which made me laugh harder: some of the writing comparisons, or the Grape of Violent Disposition. Because, oh dear, I can relate! Let’s just say that at once point in my house, a particular shade of green was selected for the dining room wall that looked much better on the card than it did on the wall. Needless to say, the painter was asked to start over with a different color.
I think my favorite writing comment, though, is where you summed up what happens to me much too often:
“any implausibilities the writer gets lured into when the plot heads one way and human behavior heads the other (Also called, “Why the devil doesn’t she just ask him?”)
Somehow that last question sounds like the title for a post of its own.
I’m not sure which made me laugh harder: some of the writing comparisons, or the Grape of Violent Disposition. Because, oh dear, I can relate! Let’s just say that at once point in my house, a particular shade of green was selected for the dining room wall that looked much better on the card than it did on the wall. Needless to say, the painter was asked to start over with a different color.
I think my favorite writing comment, though, is where you summed up what happens to me much too often:
“any implausibilities the writer gets lured into when the plot heads one way and human behavior heads the other (Also called, “Why the devil doesn’t she just ask him?”)
Somehow that last question sounds like the title for a post of its own.
Yes! That last comment would make an awesome title/theme! 😀
I don’t paint. Our first house had peptobismol pink paint in the bathroom when we bought it. Three years later when we sold it,it still had Peptobismol pink paint. But I had a nice collection of dark burgundy and indigo blue towels…
Yes! That last comment would make an awesome title/theme! 😀
I don’t paint. Our first house had peptobismol pink paint in the bathroom when we bought it. Three years later when we sold it,it still had Peptobismol pink paint. But I had a nice collection of dark burgundy and indigo blue towels…
Yes! That last comment would make an awesome title/theme! 😀
I don’t paint. Our first house had peptobismol pink paint in the bathroom when we bought it. Three years later when we sold it,it still had Peptobismol pink paint. But I had a nice collection of dark burgundy and indigo blue towels…
Yes! That last comment would make an awesome title/theme! 😀
I don’t paint. Our first house had peptobismol pink paint in the bathroom when we bought it. Three years later when we sold it,it still had Peptobismol pink paint. But I had a nice collection of dark burgundy and indigo blue towels…
Yes! That last comment would make an awesome title/theme! 😀
I don’t paint. Our first house had peptobismol pink paint in the bathroom when we bought it. Three years later when we sold it,it still had Peptobismol pink paint. But I had a nice collection of dark burgundy and indigo blue towels…
I love this! We once renovated an old farmhouse built around 1840. I hung wallpaper (crookedly) and painted trim and cupboards (sloppily). My husband the unplumber replaced a cracked PVC pipe under the kitchen sink with the very same pipe he’d removed and I got quite a soaking when I turned the water on. This house taught us things…hire someone who knows what they are doing! I hope your renovation goes more smoothly. It’s always refreshing to make a change, then settle in.
I love this! We once renovated an old farmhouse built around 1840. I hung wallpaper (crookedly) and painted trim and cupboards (sloppily). My husband the unplumber replaced a cracked PVC pipe under the kitchen sink with the very same pipe he’d removed and I got quite a soaking when I turned the water on. This house taught us things…hire someone who knows what they are doing! I hope your renovation goes more smoothly. It’s always refreshing to make a change, then settle in.
I love this! We once renovated an old farmhouse built around 1840. I hung wallpaper (crookedly) and painted trim and cupboards (sloppily). My husband the unplumber replaced a cracked PVC pipe under the kitchen sink with the very same pipe he’d removed and I got quite a soaking when I turned the water on. This house taught us things…hire someone who knows what they are doing! I hope your renovation goes more smoothly. It’s always refreshing to make a change, then settle in.
I love this! We once renovated an old farmhouse built around 1840. I hung wallpaper (crookedly) and painted trim and cupboards (sloppily). My husband the unplumber replaced a cracked PVC pipe under the kitchen sink with the very same pipe he’d removed and I got quite a soaking when I turned the water on. This house taught us things…hire someone who knows what they are doing! I hope your renovation goes more smoothly. It’s always refreshing to make a change, then settle in.
I love this! We once renovated an old farmhouse built around 1840. I hung wallpaper (crookedly) and painted trim and cupboards (sloppily). My husband the unplumber replaced a cracked PVC pipe under the kitchen sink with the very same pipe he’d removed and I got quite a soaking when I turned the water on. This house taught us things…hire someone who knows what they are doing! I hope your renovation goes more smoothly. It’s always refreshing to make a change, then settle in.
Purple is not so much a color, I feel, as an attitude.
Sometimes good … sometimes, as in this case, overwhelming. The room is far too small for the color.
It was like being trapped in a skittle, if skittles came in purple which I think they do not in the US but do in UK. The purple ones also taste differently in the UK.
This is not directly related to the similarities between writing and painting walls, though.
Have you ever noticed how seldom we use the singular of skittles?
Purple is not so much a color, I feel, as an attitude.
Sometimes good … sometimes, as in this case, overwhelming. The room is far too small for the color.
It was like being trapped in a skittle, if skittles came in purple which I think they do not in the US but do in UK. The purple ones also taste differently in the UK.
This is not directly related to the similarities between writing and painting walls, though.
Have you ever noticed how seldom we use the singular of skittles?
Purple is not so much a color, I feel, as an attitude.
Sometimes good … sometimes, as in this case, overwhelming. The room is far too small for the color.
It was like being trapped in a skittle, if skittles came in purple which I think they do not in the US but do in UK. The purple ones also taste differently in the UK.
This is not directly related to the similarities between writing and painting walls, though.
Have you ever noticed how seldom we use the singular of skittles?
Purple is not so much a color, I feel, as an attitude.
Sometimes good … sometimes, as in this case, overwhelming. The room is far too small for the color.
It was like being trapped in a skittle, if skittles came in purple which I think they do not in the US but do in UK. The purple ones also taste differently in the UK.
This is not directly related to the similarities between writing and painting walls, though.
Have you ever noticed how seldom we use the singular of skittles?
Purple is not so much a color, I feel, as an attitude.
Sometimes good … sometimes, as in this case, overwhelming. The room is far too small for the color.
It was like being trapped in a skittle, if skittles came in purple which I think they do not in the US but do in UK. The purple ones also taste differently in the UK.
This is not directly related to the similarities between writing and painting walls, though.
Have you ever noticed how seldom we use the singular of skittles?
I love to do technical posts on the craft of writing but I don’t indulge myself often. And I don’t do it here at Word Wenches, which is all about the Reader.
I cannot tell you how often I have looked at something I just wrote and said, “That’s very convenient for the plot, isn’t it? Unfortunately no sane human being acts that way.”
I love to do technical posts on the craft of writing but I don’t indulge myself often. And I don’t do it here at Word Wenches, which is all about the Reader.
I cannot tell you how often I have looked at something I just wrote and said, “That’s very convenient for the plot, isn’t it? Unfortunately no sane human being acts that way.”
I love to do technical posts on the craft of writing but I don’t indulge myself often. And I don’t do it here at Word Wenches, which is all about the Reader.
I cannot tell you how often I have looked at something I just wrote and said, “That’s very convenient for the plot, isn’t it? Unfortunately no sane human being acts that way.”
I love to do technical posts on the craft of writing but I don’t indulge myself often. And I don’t do it here at Word Wenches, which is all about the Reader.
I cannot tell you how often I have looked at something I just wrote and said, “That’s very convenient for the plot, isn’t it? Unfortunately no sane human being acts that way.”
I love to do technical posts on the craft of writing but I don’t indulge myself often. And I don’t do it here at Word Wenches, which is all about the Reader.
I cannot tell you how often I have looked at something I just wrote and said, “That’s very convenient for the plot, isn’t it? Unfortunately no sane human being acts that way.”
I did a good bit of the scutwork of fixing up a house … (jo thinks) … about ten years ago. Tearing stuff apart and painting. That’s about my speed.
I was more supple ten years ago. (wry smile)
But you are so right about getting an expert to lay tile, do the plumbing, and do the electric work.
Electricity scares me to death. The last time I did any big stuff in a house I turned off ALL the power in the house before I touched any wires.
This is the first time I’ve worked with an OLD house. (Not nearly as old as yours. *g*) It’s different.
I did a good bit of the scutwork of fixing up a house … (jo thinks) … about ten years ago. Tearing stuff apart and painting. That’s about my speed.
I was more supple ten years ago. (wry smile)
But you are so right about getting an expert to lay tile, do the plumbing, and do the electric work.
Electricity scares me to death. The last time I did any big stuff in a house I turned off ALL the power in the house before I touched any wires.
This is the first time I’ve worked with an OLD house. (Not nearly as old as yours. *g*) It’s different.
I did a good bit of the scutwork of fixing up a house … (jo thinks) … about ten years ago. Tearing stuff apart and painting. That’s about my speed.
I was more supple ten years ago. (wry smile)
But you are so right about getting an expert to lay tile, do the plumbing, and do the electric work.
Electricity scares me to death. The last time I did any big stuff in a house I turned off ALL the power in the house before I touched any wires.
This is the first time I’ve worked with an OLD house. (Not nearly as old as yours. *g*) It’s different.
I did a good bit of the scutwork of fixing up a house … (jo thinks) … about ten years ago. Tearing stuff apart and painting. That’s about my speed.
I was more supple ten years ago. (wry smile)
But you are so right about getting an expert to lay tile, do the plumbing, and do the electric work.
Electricity scares me to death. The last time I did any big stuff in a house I turned off ALL the power in the house before I touched any wires.
This is the first time I’ve worked with an OLD house. (Not nearly as old as yours. *g*) It’s different.
I did a good bit of the scutwork of fixing up a house … (jo thinks) … about ten years ago. Tearing stuff apart and painting. That’s about my speed.
I was more supple ten years ago. (wry smile)
But you are so right about getting an expert to lay tile, do the plumbing, and do the electric work.
Electricity scares me to death. The last time I did any big stuff in a house I turned off ALL the power in the house before I touched any wires.
This is the first time I’ve worked with an OLD house. (Not nearly as old as yours. *g*) It’s different.
This house also has a Peptobismol pink bathroom. They must have been a “thing” in the Forties.
This house also has a Peptobismol pink bathroom. They must have been a “thing” in the Forties.
This house also has a Peptobismol pink bathroom. They must have been a “thing” in the Forties.
This house also has a Peptobismol pink bathroom. They must have been a “thing” in the Forties.
This house also has a Peptobismol pink bathroom. They must have been a “thing” in the Forties.
Once upon a time I did a lot more renovation and minor construction projects than I’m inclined — or able — to tackle now. But one thing I learned. Remove the masking tape from the window panes as soon as you have finished painting.
I had a room with five windows, all with small panes. I was so tired by the time I finished that I just left the tape there. But the windows faced the strong afternoon sun. When I finally got around to pulling the tape off, it wouldn’t pull. The glue had been baked onto the glass. I had to scrape it off with a razor blade and it took me for bloody ever!
The experience remains vivid in my memory, long after the paint has yellowed with age.
Once upon a time I did a lot more renovation and minor construction projects than I’m inclined — or able — to tackle now. But one thing I learned. Remove the masking tape from the window panes as soon as you have finished painting.
I had a room with five windows, all with small panes. I was so tired by the time I finished that I just left the tape there. But the windows faced the strong afternoon sun. When I finally got around to pulling the tape off, it wouldn’t pull. The glue had been baked onto the glass. I had to scrape it off with a razor blade and it took me for bloody ever!
The experience remains vivid in my memory, long after the paint has yellowed with age.
Once upon a time I did a lot more renovation and minor construction projects than I’m inclined — or able — to tackle now. But one thing I learned. Remove the masking tape from the window panes as soon as you have finished painting.
I had a room with five windows, all with small panes. I was so tired by the time I finished that I just left the tape there. But the windows faced the strong afternoon sun. When I finally got around to pulling the tape off, it wouldn’t pull. The glue had been baked onto the glass. I had to scrape it off with a razor blade and it took me for bloody ever!
The experience remains vivid in my memory, long after the paint has yellowed with age.
Once upon a time I did a lot more renovation and minor construction projects than I’m inclined — or able — to tackle now. But one thing I learned. Remove the masking tape from the window panes as soon as you have finished painting.
I had a room with five windows, all with small panes. I was so tired by the time I finished that I just left the tape there. But the windows faced the strong afternoon sun. When I finally got around to pulling the tape off, it wouldn’t pull. The glue had been baked onto the glass. I had to scrape it off with a razor blade and it took me for bloody ever!
The experience remains vivid in my memory, long after the paint has yellowed with age.
Once upon a time I did a lot more renovation and minor construction projects than I’m inclined — or able — to tackle now. But one thing I learned. Remove the masking tape from the window panes as soon as you have finished painting.
I had a room with five windows, all with small panes. I was so tired by the time I finished that I just left the tape there. But the windows faced the strong afternoon sun. When I finally got around to pulling the tape off, it wouldn’t pull. The glue had been baked onto the glass. I had to scrape it off with a razor blade and it took me for bloody ever!
The experience remains vivid in my memory, long after the paint has yellowed with age.
You are intrepid. We need more intrepid people. Thank you for this delightful adventure which I can assume continued throughout most of the new house. I am grateful. Your house is grateful for who or what can not appreciate being made to look lovely again? May you take some comfort in the fact that the Purple and Turquoise Fans appear not to have painted the woodwork to match, a horror I have encountered. When completed, I request finished pictures, if you are inclined to share more, please?
You are intrepid. We need more intrepid people. Thank you for this delightful adventure which I can assume continued throughout most of the new house. I am grateful. Your house is grateful for who or what can not appreciate being made to look lovely again? May you take some comfort in the fact that the Purple and Turquoise Fans appear not to have painted the woodwork to match, a horror I have encountered. When completed, I request finished pictures, if you are inclined to share more, please?
You are intrepid. We need more intrepid people. Thank you for this delightful adventure which I can assume continued throughout most of the new house. I am grateful. Your house is grateful for who or what can not appreciate being made to look lovely again? May you take some comfort in the fact that the Purple and Turquoise Fans appear not to have painted the woodwork to match, a horror I have encountered. When completed, I request finished pictures, if you are inclined to share more, please?
You are intrepid. We need more intrepid people. Thank you for this delightful adventure which I can assume continued throughout most of the new house. I am grateful. Your house is grateful for who or what can not appreciate being made to look lovely again? May you take some comfort in the fact that the Purple and Turquoise Fans appear not to have painted the woodwork to match, a horror I have encountered. When completed, I request finished pictures, if you are inclined to share more, please?
You are intrepid. We need more intrepid people. Thank you for this delightful adventure which I can assume continued throughout most of the new house. I am grateful. Your house is grateful for who or what can not appreciate being made to look lovely again? May you take some comfort in the fact that the Purple and Turquoise Fans appear not to have painted the woodwork to match, a horror I have encountered. When completed, I request finished pictures, if you are inclined to share more, please?
My dh is a do-it-yourselfer, and he has redone our house constantly over the last 35 or so years. (We started out with one of those awful pink bathrooms…yes, they must have been popular in the 40s, for I have seen them in other oldish homes, too.) What have I learned? To be as supportive as I can and get on with my own stuff, because the plans change frequently and I don’t understand them anyways. I can’t even remember what our house was like when we first bought it, except for the horrible red shag carpet and the toilet in the kitchen closet. 😉
My dh is a do-it-yourselfer, and he has redone our house constantly over the last 35 or so years. (We started out with one of those awful pink bathrooms…yes, they must have been popular in the 40s, for I have seen them in other oldish homes, too.) What have I learned? To be as supportive as I can and get on with my own stuff, because the plans change frequently and I don’t understand them anyways. I can’t even remember what our house was like when we first bought it, except for the horrible red shag carpet and the toilet in the kitchen closet. 😉
My dh is a do-it-yourselfer, and he has redone our house constantly over the last 35 or so years. (We started out with one of those awful pink bathrooms…yes, they must have been popular in the 40s, for I have seen them in other oldish homes, too.) What have I learned? To be as supportive as I can and get on with my own stuff, because the plans change frequently and I don’t understand them anyways. I can’t even remember what our house was like when we first bought it, except for the horrible red shag carpet and the toilet in the kitchen closet. 😉
My dh is a do-it-yourselfer, and he has redone our house constantly over the last 35 or so years. (We started out with one of those awful pink bathrooms…yes, they must have been popular in the 40s, for I have seen them in other oldish homes, too.) What have I learned? To be as supportive as I can and get on with my own stuff, because the plans change frequently and I don’t understand them anyways. I can’t even remember what our house was like when we first bought it, except for the horrible red shag carpet and the toilet in the kitchen closet. 😉
My dh is a do-it-yourselfer, and he has redone our house constantly over the last 35 or so years. (We started out with one of those awful pink bathrooms…yes, they must have been popular in the 40s, for I have seen them in other oldish homes, too.) What have I learned? To be as supportive as I can and get on with my own stuff, because the plans change frequently and I don’t understand them anyways. I can’t even remember what our house was like when we first bought it, except for the horrible red shag carpet and the toilet in the kitchen closet. 😉
Sometimes, when you do stuff for a house or buy stuff for a house, you can feel it being grateful.
The last paint job here — maybe in the Sixties? — was performed by blind men with drink taken. They did not repaint the mopboard and window frames. Exactly. They did slop paint over the edges of the varnished wood allovertheplace.
I cannot sand to the wood and match the now-well-aged stain and varnish. I’ve given it a go and it doesn’t work. Even well sanded, the old wood does not want to accept new stain and urethane.
So I’m trying to find a shade of inconspicuous brown paint I can use for these areas of sloppy encroachment. Shy, retiring, diffident new paint will probably be more invisible than an attempt to recreate original color using the original methods.
It will not be satisfactory, but one must live in an inperfect world.
I will post pictures of the progress of this endeavor on Facebook. By “progress” I mean an agonizingly slow, halting process represented by fuzzy photos,
https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Sometimes, when you do stuff for a house or buy stuff for a house, you can feel it being grateful.
The last paint job here — maybe in the Sixties? — was performed by blind men with drink taken. They did not repaint the mopboard and window frames. Exactly. They did slop paint over the edges of the varnished wood allovertheplace.
I cannot sand to the wood and match the now-well-aged stain and varnish. I’ve given it a go and it doesn’t work. Even well sanded, the old wood does not want to accept new stain and urethane.
So I’m trying to find a shade of inconspicuous brown paint I can use for these areas of sloppy encroachment. Shy, retiring, diffident new paint will probably be more invisible than an attempt to recreate original color using the original methods.
It will not be satisfactory, but one must live in an inperfect world.
I will post pictures of the progress of this endeavor on Facebook. By “progress” I mean an agonizingly slow, halting process represented by fuzzy photos,
https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Sometimes, when you do stuff for a house or buy stuff for a house, you can feel it being grateful.
The last paint job here — maybe in the Sixties? — was performed by blind men with drink taken. They did not repaint the mopboard and window frames. Exactly. They did slop paint over the edges of the varnished wood allovertheplace.
I cannot sand to the wood and match the now-well-aged stain and varnish. I’ve given it a go and it doesn’t work. Even well sanded, the old wood does not want to accept new stain and urethane.
So I’m trying to find a shade of inconspicuous brown paint I can use for these areas of sloppy encroachment. Shy, retiring, diffident new paint will probably be more invisible than an attempt to recreate original color using the original methods.
It will not be satisfactory, but one must live in an inperfect world.
I will post pictures of the progress of this endeavor on Facebook. By “progress” I mean an agonizingly slow, halting process represented by fuzzy photos,
https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Sometimes, when you do stuff for a house or buy stuff for a house, you can feel it being grateful.
The last paint job here — maybe in the Sixties? — was performed by blind men with drink taken. They did not repaint the mopboard and window frames. Exactly. They did slop paint over the edges of the varnished wood allovertheplace.
I cannot sand to the wood and match the now-well-aged stain and varnish. I’ve given it a go and it doesn’t work. Even well sanded, the old wood does not want to accept new stain and urethane.
So I’m trying to find a shade of inconspicuous brown paint I can use for these areas of sloppy encroachment. Shy, retiring, diffident new paint will probably be more invisible than an attempt to recreate original color using the original methods.
It will not be satisfactory, but one must live in an inperfect world.
I will post pictures of the progress of this endeavor on Facebook. By “progress” I mean an agonizingly slow, halting process represented by fuzzy photos,
https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Sometimes, when you do stuff for a house or buy stuff for a house, you can feel it being grateful.
The last paint job here — maybe in the Sixties? — was performed by blind men with drink taken. They did not repaint the mopboard and window frames. Exactly. They did slop paint over the edges of the varnished wood allovertheplace.
I cannot sand to the wood and match the now-well-aged stain and varnish. I’ve given it a go and it doesn’t work. Even well sanded, the old wood does not want to accept new stain and urethane.
So I’m trying to find a shade of inconspicuous brown paint I can use for these areas of sloppy encroachment. Shy, retiring, diffident new paint will probably be more invisible than an attempt to recreate original color using the original methods.
It will not be satisfactory, but one must live in an inperfect world.
I will post pictures of the progress of this endeavor on Facebook. By “progress” I mean an agonizingly slow, halting process represented by fuzzy photos,
https://www.facebook.com/joanna.bourne.5
Oh Lordie. I have lived in your house. I guess it was back in the 70s when I was a student. Pink bathroom. Extra john in a closet off the kitchen. Wallpaper gently disintegrating from the walls everywhere …
The good old days.
Oh Lordie. I have lived in your house. I guess it was back in the 70s when I was a student. Pink bathroom. Extra john in a closet off the kitchen. Wallpaper gently disintegrating from the walls everywhere …
The good old days.
Oh Lordie. I have lived in your house. I guess it was back in the 70s when I was a student. Pink bathroom. Extra john in a closet off the kitchen. Wallpaper gently disintegrating from the walls everywhere …
The good old days.
Oh Lordie. I have lived in your house. I guess it was back in the 70s when I was a student. Pink bathroom. Extra john in a closet off the kitchen. Wallpaper gently disintegrating from the walls everywhere …
The good old days.
Oh Lordie. I have lived in your house. I guess it was back in the 70s when I was a student. Pink bathroom. Extra john in a closet off the kitchen. Wallpaper gently disintegrating from the walls everywhere …
The good old days.
I am using the blue painter tape which PROMISES me it can be removed for up to 14 days after a job.
(jo frowns at it, deeply skeptical.)
I am using the blue painter tape which PROMISES me it can be removed for up to 14 days after a job.
(jo frowns at it, deeply skeptical.)
I am using the blue painter tape which PROMISES me it can be removed for up to 14 days after a job.
(jo frowns at it, deeply skeptical.)
I am using the blue painter tape which PROMISES me it can be removed for up to 14 days after a job.
(jo frowns at it, deeply skeptical.)
I am using the blue painter tape which PROMISES me it can be removed for up to 14 days after a job.
(jo frowns at it, deeply skeptical.)
Try shoe polish.
Try shoe polish.
Try shoe polish.
Try shoe polish.
Try shoe polish.
I will do this. Thanks.
I will do this. Thanks.
I will do this. Thanks.
I will do this. Thanks.
I will do this. Thanks.
I confess that in my first rental apartment, when I was in college, I picked a purple color for the bedroom. It was a sort of lighter lilac purple, but looking back, I’m sure the landlady was horrified after we moved out.
I confess that in my first rental apartment, when I was in college, I picked a purple color for the bedroom. It was a sort of lighter lilac purple, but looking back, I’m sure the landlady was horrified after we moved out.
I confess that in my first rental apartment, when I was in college, I picked a purple color for the bedroom. It was a sort of lighter lilac purple, but looking back, I’m sure the landlady was horrified after we moved out.
I confess that in my first rental apartment, when I was in college, I picked a purple color for the bedroom. It was a sort of lighter lilac purple, but looking back, I’m sure the landlady was horrified after we moved out.
I confess that in my first rental apartment, when I was in college, I picked a purple color for the bedroom. It was a sort of lighter lilac purple, but looking back, I’m sure the landlady was horrified after we moved out.
Ya never know. She might have grinned widely and said, “Perfect!”
Ya never know. She might have grinned widely and said, “Perfect!”
Ya never know. She might have grinned widely and said, “Perfect!”
Ya never know. She might have grinned widely and said, “Perfect!”
Ya never know. She might have grinned widely and said, “Perfect!”
Oh Joanna, thank you! I think I feel some sympathy for all you’re going through, but I definitely feel delight at having read your descriptions. We are living in a time when smiles are somewhat hard to come by, but you definitely made those weakening muscles flex this afternoon! On, on!
Oh Joanna, thank you! I think I feel some sympathy for all you’re going through, but I definitely feel delight at having read your descriptions. We are living in a time when smiles are somewhat hard to come by, but you definitely made those weakening muscles flex this afternoon! On, on!
Oh Joanna, thank you! I think I feel some sympathy for all you’re going through, but I definitely feel delight at having read your descriptions. We are living in a time when smiles are somewhat hard to come by, but you definitely made those weakening muscles flex this afternoon! On, on!
Oh Joanna, thank you! I think I feel some sympathy for all you’re going through, but I definitely feel delight at having read your descriptions. We are living in a time when smiles are somewhat hard to come by, but you definitely made those weakening muscles flex this afternoon! On, on!
Oh Joanna, thank you! I think I feel some sympathy for all you’re going through, but I definitely feel delight at having read your descriptions. We are living in a time when smiles are somewhat hard to come by, but you definitely made those weakening muscles flex this afternoon! On, on!
I have an offer for you. Since you have all this painting experience and such a great philosophical outlook on painting, have you thought of bringing your brushes and other tools to Texas?
I have a small town house and it needs painting, inside only.
And I would be willing to learn from all your experience. I have toyed with the idea of writing – used to write for newspapers – but that is not truly writing is it?
I promise that nothing is purple.
Actually, what I wanted to tell you is I loved your post. You made everything very entertaining and that is a wonderful gift. Thank you.
I have an offer for you. Since you have all this painting experience and such a great philosophical outlook on painting, have you thought of bringing your brushes and other tools to Texas?
I have a small town house and it needs painting, inside only.
And I would be willing to learn from all your experience. I have toyed with the idea of writing – used to write for newspapers – but that is not truly writing is it?
I promise that nothing is purple.
Actually, what I wanted to tell you is I loved your post. You made everything very entertaining and that is a wonderful gift. Thank you.
I have an offer for you. Since you have all this painting experience and such a great philosophical outlook on painting, have you thought of bringing your brushes and other tools to Texas?
I have a small town house and it needs painting, inside only.
And I would be willing to learn from all your experience. I have toyed with the idea of writing – used to write for newspapers – but that is not truly writing is it?
I promise that nothing is purple.
Actually, what I wanted to tell you is I loved your post. You made everything very entertaining and that is a wonderful gift. Thank you.
I have an offer for you. Since you have all this painting experience and such a great philosophical outlook on painting, have you thought of bringing your brushes and other tools to Texas?
I have a small town house and it needs painting, inside only.
And I would be willing to learn from all your experience. I have toyed with the idea of writing – used to write for newspapers – but that is not truly writing is it?
I promise that nothing is purple.
Actually, what I wanted to tell you is I loved your post. You made everything very entertaining and that is a wonderful gift. Thank you.
I have an offer for you. Since you have all this painting experience and such a great philosophical outlook on painting, have you thought of bringing your brushes and other tools to Texas?
I have a small town house and it needs painting, inside only.
And I would be willing to learn from all your experience. I have toyed with the idea of writing – used to write for newspapers – but that is not truly writing is it?
I promise that nothing is purple.
Actually, what I wanted to tell you is I loved your post. You made everything very entertaining and that is a wonderful gift. Thank you.
It’s true that one rarely encounters a solo skittle. That said, it may have been poor usage, but I’ve seen mention of “a roach skittle away.” Hopefully, it wasn’t a purple roach.
It’s true that one rarely encounters a solo skittle. That said, it may have been poor usage, but I’ve seen mention of “a roach skittle away.” Hopefully, it wasn’t a purple roach.
It’s true that one rarely encounters a solo skittle. That said, it may have been poor usage, but I’ve seen mention of “a roach skittle away.” Hopefully, it wasn’t a purple roach.
It’s true that one rarely encounters a solo skittle. That said, it may have been poor usage, but I’ve seen mention of “a roach skittle away.” Hopefully, it wasn’t a purple roach.
It’s true that one rarely encounters a solo skittle. That said, it may have been poor usage, but I’ve seen mention of “a roach skittle away.” Hopefully, it wasn’t a purple roach.
Hmm, this was intended to be posted directly under your previous comment to me, Joanna.
Hmm, this was intended to be posted directly under your previous comment to me, Joanna.
Hmm, this was intended to be posted directly under your previous comment to me, Joanna.
Hmm, this was intended to be posted directly under your previous comment to me, Joanna.
Hmm, this was intended to be posted directly under your previous comment to me, Joanna.
If it’s the stuff I used, it tries to peel the edges of your new paint when you yank it off. Be prepared with an x-acto knife to snip any would-be tearing edges. 🙂
(Lucy, hopes we didn’t buy the same cheap brand.)
If it’s the stuff I used, it tries to peel the edges of your new paint when you yank it off. Be prepared with an x-acto knife to snip any would-be tearing edges. 🙂
(Lucy, hopes we didn’t buy the same cheap brand.)
If it’s the stuff I used, it tries to peel the edges of your new paint when you yank it off. Be prepared with an x-acto knife to snip any would-be tearing edges. 🙂
(Lucy, hopes we didn’t buy the same cheap brand.)
If it’s the stuff I used, it tries to peel the edges of your new paint when you yank it off. Be prepared with an x-acto knife to snip any would-be tearing edges. 🙂
(Lucy, hopes we didn’t buy the same cheap brand.)
If it’s the stuff I used, it tries to peel the edges of your new paint when you yank it off. Be prepared with an x-acto knife to snip any would-be tearing edges. 🙂
(Lucy, hopes we didn’t buy the same cheap brand.)
I live in an apartment in a Regency square, built of a building material which is unique to Brighton – bungaroosh. Bungaroosh breathes, which is helpful in some ways, damp is not a problem, if it’s treated with respect. You do not undertake improvements to bungaroosh lightly, as it is likely to object and you have to be very careful what goes on the walls. There’s reason why regency houses had picture rails, so that you could hang your artwork on a wire, with space behind it so the walls can breathe. My *beautiful* (and ridiculously expensive) Farrow & Ball wallpaper is not something that the bungaroosh approves of: we’re pretty sure that the very heavy wallpaper, which was slathered in paste to get it to stick, has simply had all the moisture sucked into the wall and is now peeling shamefully. I have given up on the idea of wallpaper and am now exploring my options for paint colours and have been taking notes from your experience!
I live in an apartment in a Regency square, built of a building material which is unique to Brighton – bungaroosh. Bungaroosh breathes, which is helpful in some ways, damp is not a problem, if it’s treated with respect. You do not undertake improvements to bungaroosh lightly, as it is likely to object and you have to be very careful what goes on the walls. There’s reason why regency houses had picture rails, so that you could hang your artwork on a wire, with space behind it so the walls can breathe. My *beautiful* (and ridiculously expensive) Farrow & Ball wallpaper is not something that the bungaroosh approves of: we’re pretty sure that the very heavy wallpaper, which was slathered in paste to get it to stick, has simply had all the moisture sucked into the wall and is now peeling shamefully. I have given up on the idea of wallpaper and am now exploring my options for paint colours and have been taking notes from your experience!
I live in an apartment in a Regency square, built of a building material which is unique to Brighton – bungaroosh. Bungaroosh breathes, which is helpful in some ways, damp is not a problem, if it’s treated with respect. You do not undertake improvements to bungaroosh lightly, as it is likely to object and you have to be very careful what goes on the walls. There’s reason why regency houses had picture rails, so that you could hang your artwork on a wire, with space behind it so the walls can breathe. My *beautiful* (and ridiculously expensive) Farrow & Ball wallpaper is not something that the bungaroosh approves of: we’re pretty sure that the very heavy wallpaper, which was slathered in paste to get it to stick, has simply had all the moisture sucked into the wall and is now peeling shamefully. I have given up on the idea of wallpaper and am now exploring my options for paint colours and have been taking notes from your experience!
I live in an apartment in a Regency square, built of a building material which is unique to Brighton – bungaroosh. Bungaroosh breathes, which is helpful in some ways, damp is not a problem, if it’s treated with respect. You do not undertake improvements to bungaroosh lightly, as it is likely to object and you have to be very careful what goes on the walls. There’s reason why regency houses had picture rails, so that you could hang your artwork on a wire, with space behind it so the walls can breathe. My *beautiful* (and ridiculously expensive) Farrow & Ball wallpaper is not something that the bungaroosh approves of: we’re pretty sure that the very heavy wallpaper, which was slathered in paste to get it to stick, has simply had all the moisture sucked into the wall and is now peeling shamefully. I have given up on the idea of wallpaper and am now exploring my options for paint colours and have been taking notes from your experience!
I live in an apartment in a Regency square, built of a building material which is unique to Brighton – bungaroosh. Bungaroosh breathes, which is helpful in some ways, damp is not a problem, if it’s treated with respect. You do not undertake improvements to bungaroosh lightly, as it is likely to object and you have to be very careful what goes on the walls. There’s reason why regency houses had picture rails, so that you could hang your artwork on a wire, with space behind it so the walls can breathe. My *beautiful* (and ridiculously expensive) Farrow & Ball wallpaper is not something that the bungaroosh approves of: we’re pretty sure that the very heavy wallpaper, which was slathered in paste to get it to stick, has simply had all the moisture sucked into the wall and is now peeling shamefully. I have given up on the idea of wallpaper and am now exploring my options for paint colours and have been taking notes from your experience!
I will admit I’m trying to write something funny.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about difficult times and the need to find a smile now and then.
That’s one of the reasons I love Romance. We’re a candle flickering in a great darkness.
I will admit I’m trying to write something funny.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about difficult times and the need to find a smile now and then.
That’s one of the reasons I love Romance. We’re a candle flickering in a great darkness.
I will admit I’m trying to write something funny.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about difficult times and the need to find a smile now and then.
That’s one of the reasons I love Romance. We’re a candle flickering in a great darkness.
I will admit I’m trying to write something funny.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about difficult times and the need to find a smile now and then.
That’s one of the reasons I love Romance. We’re a candle flickering in a great darkness.
I will admit I’m trying to write something funny.
I know exactly what you mean when you talk about difficult times and the need to find a smile now and then.
That’s one of the reasons I love Romance. We’re a candle flickering in a great darkness.
I’m reminded of a skit Tom Baker did in one of the Dr Who episodes.
Dr Who was walking through the Tardis dressed in a dramatic painterly smock and artistic beret, talking about Artifical Intelligence. (Was he referring to K-9?)
Dr Who: That’s all very well. But CAN HE PAINT?
Dr Who pulls out giant paint roller and exists stage left.
Painting and plastering and repairing (and the pottery I make) use a different part of my brain from the “writer person.” I become, in a way, a different “me.”
Doing manual stuff blasts down the walls of that comfortable abstract part of Joanna Bourne. It leaves me with joint compound all over my hands and drips of paint on my clothing and aching muscles.
It’s one way to travel to a different reality. Good practice for seeking out a new Point of View in writing.
I’m reminded of a skit Tom Baker did in one of the Dr Who episodes.
Dr Who was walking through the Tardis dressed in a dramatic painterly smock and artistic beret, talking about Artifical Intelligence. (Was he referring to K-9?)
Dr Who: That’s all very well. But CAN HE PAINT?
Dr Who pulls out giant paint roller and exists stage left.
Painting and plastering and repairing (and the pottery I make) use a different part of my brain from the “writer person.” I become, in a way, a different “me.”
Doing manual stuff blasts down the walls of that comfortable abstract part of Joanna Bourne. It leaves me with joint compound all over my hands and drips of paint on my clothing and aching muscles.
It’s one way to travel to a different reality. Good practice for seeking out a new Point of View in writing.
I’m reminded of a skit Tom Baker did in one of the Dr Who episodes.
Dr Who was walking through the Tardis dressed in a dramatic painterly smock and artistic beret, talking about Artifical Intelligence. (Was he referring to K-9?)
Dr Who: That’s all very well. But CAN HE PAINT?
Dr Who pulls out giant paint roller and exists stage left.
Painting and plastering and repairing (and the pottery I make) use a different part of my brain from the “writer person.” I become, in a way, a different “me.”
Doing manual stuff blasts down the walls of that comfortable abstract part of Joanna Bourne. It leaves me with joint compound all over my hands and drips of paint on my clothing and aching muscles.
It’s one way to travel to a different reality. Good practice for seeking out a new Point of View in writing.
I’m reminded of a skit Tom Baker did in one of the Dr Who episodes.
Dr Who was walking through the Tardis dressed in a dramatic painterly smock and artistic beret, talking about Artifical Intelligence. (Was he referring to K-9?)
Dr Who: That’s all very well. But CAN HE PAINT?
Dr Who pulls out giant paint roller and exists stage left.
Painting and plastering and repairing (and the pottery I make) use a different part of my brain from the “writer person.” I become, in a way, a different “me.”
Doing manual stuff blasts down the walls of that comfortable abstract part of Joanna Bourne. It leaves me with joint compound all over my hands and drips of paint on my clothing and aching muscles.
It’s one way to travel to a different reality. Good practice for seeking out a new Point of View in writing.
I’m reminded of a skit Tom Baker did in one of the Dr Who episodes.
Dr Who was walking through the Tardis dressed in a dramatic painterly smock and artistic beret, talking about Artifical Intelligence. (Was he referring to K-9?)
Dr Who: That’s all very well. But CAN HE PAINT?
Dr Who pulls out giant paint roller and exists stage left.
Painting and plastering and repairing (and the pottery I make) use a different part of my brain from the “writer person.” I become, in a way, a different “me.”
Doing manual stuff blasts down the walls of that comfortable abstract part of Joanna Bourne. It leaves me with joint compound all over my hands and drips of paint on my clothing and aching muscles.
It’s one way to travel to a different reality. Good practice for seeking out a new Point of View in writing.
Nothing is lost. I located the reference immediately. *g*
Nothing is lost. I located the reference immediately. *g*
Nothing is lost. I located the reference immediately. *g*
Nothing is lost. I located the reference immediately. *g*
Nothing is lost. I located the reference immediately. *g*
One comes across skittles in a singular form in a few contexts. For instance, one of the wooden pins used in the game of skittles would be “a skittle.”
The word seems to have entered English in both singular and plural forms, as both noun and verb, perhaps in the early C17.
Ultimate origin might be Middle English: shittle, shutle, from Old English scutel, scytel dart; akin to Old Norse skutill bolt, Old English scēotan to shoot
Its entry into English is through the game skittles, a form of lawn bowling and a tabletop pub game.
More at:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyybxz/the-surprisingly-complex-etymology-of-skittles
One comes across skittles in a singular form in a few contexts. For instance, one of the wooden pins used in the game of skittles would be “a skittle.”
The word seems to have entered English in both singular and plural forms, as both noun and verb, perhaps in the early C17.
Ultimate origin might be Middle English: shittle, shutle, from Old English scutel, scytel dart; akin to Old Norse skutill bolt, Old English scēotan to shoot
Its entry into English is through the game skittles, a form of lawn bowling and a tabletop pub game.
More at:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyybxz/the-surprisingly-complex-etymology-of-skittles
One comes across skittles in a singular form in a few contexts. For instance, one of the wooden pins used in the game of skittles would be “a skittle.”
The word seems to have entered English in both singular and plural forms, as both noun and verb, perhaps in the early C17.
Ultimate origin might be Middle English: shittle, shutle, from Old English scutel, scytel dart; akin to Old Norse skutill bolt, Old English scēotan to shoot
Its entry into English is through the game skittles, a form of lawn bowling and a tabletop pub game.
More at:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyybxz/the-surprisingly-complex-etymology-of-skittles
One comes across skittles in a singular form in a few contexts. For instance, one of the wooden pins used in the game of skittles would be “a skittle.”
The word seems to have entered English in both singular and plural forms, as both noun and verb, perhaps in the early C17.
Ultimate origin might be Middle English: shittle, shutle, from Old English scutel, scytel dart; akin to Old Norse skutill bolt, Old English scēotan to shoot
Its entry into English is through the game skittles, a form of lawn bowling and a tabletop pub game.
More at:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyybxz/the-surprisingly-complex-etymology-of-skittles
One comes across skittles in a singular form in a few contexts. For instance, one of the wooden pins used in the game of skittles would be “a skittle.”
The word seems to have entered English in both singular and plural forms, as both noun and verb, perhaps in the early C17.
Ultimate origin might be Middle English: shittle, shutle, from Old English scutel, scytel dart; akin to Old Norse skutill bolt, Old English scēotan to shoot
Its entry into English is through the game skittles, a form of lawn bowling and a tabletop pub game.
More at:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyybxz/the-surprisingly-complex-etymology-of-skittles
People sometimes turn to wallpaper when they have difficult walls to deal with. This is a mistake IMO.
Wallpaper is a delicate, temperamental beauty. A high maintenance lover.
I have put wallpaper up (in a bathroom, no less.)
Once.
I was young and a fool.
It was lovely and I moved before I came to regret it. All our youthful exuberances should end as well.
I have also taken wallpaper down with solvents and heat guns and scrapers and colorful language.
I emerged sadder but wiser.
I’m sorry you’ll be losing your lovely wallpaper. *sigh*
People sometimes turn to wallpaper when they have difficult walls to deal with. This is a mistake IMO.
Wallpaper is a delicate, temperamental beauty. A high maintenance lover.
I have put wallpaper up (in a bathroom, no less.)
Once.
I was young and a fool.
It was lovely and I moved before I came to regret it. All our youthful exuberances should end as well.
I have also taken wallpaper down with solvents and heat guns and scrapers and colorful language.
I emerged sadder but wiser.
I’m sorry you’ll be losing your lovely wallpaper. *sigh*
People sometimes turn to wallpaper when they have difficult walls to deal with. This is a mistake IMO.
Wallpaper is a delicate, temperamental beauty. A high maintenance lover.
I have put wallpaper up (in a bathroom, no less.)
Once.
I was young and a fool.
It was lovely and I moved before I came to regret it. All our youthful exuberances should end as well.
I have also taken wallpaper down with solvents and heat guns and scrapers and colorful language.
I emerged sadder but wiser.
I’m sorry you’ll be losing your lovely wallpaper. *sigh*
People sometimes turn to wallpaper when they have difficult walls to deal with. This is a mistake IMO.
Wallpaper is a delicate, temperamental beauty. A high maintenance lover.
I have put wallpaper up (in a bathroom, no less.)
Once.
I was young and a fool.
It was lovely and I moved before I came to regret it. All our youthful exuberances should end as well.
I have also taken wallpaper down with solvents and heat guns and scrapers and colorful language.
I emerged sadder but wiser.
I’m sorry you’ll be losing your lovely wallpaper. *sigh*
People sometimes turn to wallpaper when they have difficult walls to deal with. This is a mistake IMO.
Wallpaper is a delicate, temperamental beauty. A high maintenance lover.
I have put wallpaper up (in a bathroom, no less.)
Once.
I was young and a fool.
It was lovely and I moved before I came to regret it. All our youthful exuberances should end as well.
I have also taken wallpaper down with solvents and heat guns and scrapers and colorful language.
I emerged sadder but wiser.
I’m sorry you’ll be losing your lovely wallpaper. *sigh*
I got what they had at the Lowes. I hope it’s “the good stuff.”
I will keep the exacto knofe handy, if I can find it amid all the disorder of moving …
Thank you.
I got what they had at the Lowes. I hope it’s “the good stuff.”
I will keep the exacto knofe handy, if I can find it amid all the disorder of moving …
Thank you.
I got what they had at the Lowes. I hope it’s “the good stuff.”
I will keep the exacto knofe handy, if I can find it amid all the disorder of moving …
Thank you.
I got what they had at the Lowes. I hope it’s “the good stuff.”
I will keep the exacto knofe handy, if I can find it amid all the disorder of moving …
Thank you.
I got what they had at the Lowes. I hope it’s “the good stuff.”
I will keep the exacto knofe handy, if I can find it amid all the disorder of moving …
Thank you.
I agree about using another part of the brain. I love to iron. When my daughters were small and they wore lovely little dresses every day, I was happy to iron for them.
It blesses me two ways. I see tangible results of my work. Better than cooking when what you do is gone in 15 minutes. And it is mindless and I am able to sort of zone into another place and that is relaxing for me.
I agree about using another part of the brain. I love to iron. When my daughters were small and they wore lovely little dresses every day, I was happy to iron for them.
It blesses me two ways. I see tangible results of my work. Better than cooking when what you do is gone in 15 minutes. And it is mindless and I am able to sort of zone into another place and that is relaxing for me.
I agree about using another part of the brain. I love to iron. When my daughters were small and they wore lovely little dresses every day, I was happy to iron for them.
It blesses me two ways. I see tangible results of my work. Better than cooking when what you do is gone in 15 minutes. And it is mindless and I am able to sort of zone into another place and that is relaxing for me.
I agree about using another part of the brain. I love to iron. When my daughters were small and they wore lovely little dresses every day, I was happy to iron for them.
It blesses me two ways. I see tangible results of my work. Better than cooking when what you do is gone in 15 minutes. And it is mindless and I am able to sort of zone into another place and that is relaxing for me.
I agree about using another part of the brain. I love to iron. When my daughters were small and they wore lovely little dresses every day, I was happy to iron for them.
It blesses me two ways. I see tangible results of my work. Better than cooking when what you do is gone in 15 minutes. And it is mindless and I am able to sort of zone into another place and that is relaxing for me.
For me, that’s potting. I’m not terribly good at it, but I do enjoy it.
Can I say I just turn my brain off?
Not very flattering to those who make an art form out of this.
But that’s kind what happens.
For me, that’s potting. I’m not terribly good at it, but I do enjoy it.
Can I say I just turn my brain off?
Not very flattering to those who make an art form out of this.
But that’s kind what happens.
For me, that’s potting. I’m not terribly good at it, but I do enjoy it.
Can I say I just turn my brain off?
Not very flattering to those who make an art form out of this.
But that’s kind what happens.
For me, that’s potting. I’m not terribly good at it, but I do enjoy it.
Can I say I just turn my brain off?
Not very flattering to those who make an art form out of this.
But that’s kind what happens.
For me, that’s potting. I’m not terribly good at it, but I do enjoy it.
Can I say I just turn my brain off?
Not very flattering to those who make an art form out of this.
But that’s kind what happens.
Having redone an old house myself, I can honestly say that I’ll never do it again I agree with MJP. On the other hand, I’m sure my motives are suspect because I’ve just finished listening to your book again and I want more. It’s true that they hold up like good Livies but I’d like another pair of pants please.
Having redone an old house myself, I can honestly say that I’ll never do it again I agree with MJP. On the other hand, I’m sure my motives are suspect because I’ve just finished listening to your book again and I want more. It’s true that they hold up like good Livies but I’d like another pair of pants please.
Having redone an old house myself, I can honestly say that I’ll never do it again I agree with MJP. On the other hand, I’m sure my motives are suspect because I’ve just finished listening to your book again and I want more. It’s true that they hold up like good Livies but I’d like another pair of pants please.
Having redone an old house myself, I can honestly say that I’ll never do it again I agree with MJP. On the other hand, I’m sure my motives are suspect because I’ve just finished listening to your book again and I want more. It’s true that they hold up like good Livies but I’d like another pair of pants please.
Having redone an old house myself, I can honestly say that I’ll never do it again I agree with MJP. On the other hand, I’m sure my motives are suspect because I’ve just finished listening to your book again and I want more. It’s true that they hold up like good Livies but I’d like another pair of pants please.
It’s satisfying work … but I have to admit to a lot of sore muscles.
I’ll try to work on books in between the painting and plastering.
It’s satisfying work … but I have to admit to a lot of sore muscles.
I’ll try to work on books in between the painting and plastering.
It’s satisfying work … but I have to admit to a lot of sore muscles.
I’ll try to work on books in between the painting and plastering.
It’s satisfying work … but I have to admit to a lot of sore muscles.
I’ll try to work on books in between the painting and plastering.
It’s satisfying work … but I have to admit to a lot of sore muscles.
I’ll try to work on books in between the painting and plastering.
I love playing with words, but I’ve never painted any of the places we’ve lived in. Always white! I think the amount of choice is intimidating…or maybe I’m not as comfortable with renovations as I am with phrases!
I love playing with words, but I’ve never painted any of the places we’ve lived in. Always white! I think the amount of choice is intimidating…or maybe I’m not as comfortable with renovations as I am with phrases!
I love playing with words, but I’ve never painted any of the places we’ve lived in. Always white! I think the amount of choice is intimidating…or maybe I’m not as comfortable with renovations as I am with phrases!
I love playing with words, but I’ve never painted any of the places we’ve lived in. Always white! I think the amount of choice is intimidating…or maybe I’m not as comfortable with renovations as I am with phrases!
I love playing with words, but I’ve never painted any of the places we’ve lived in. Always white! I think the amount of choice is intimidating…or maybe I’m not as comfortable with renovations as I am with phrases!
Words do what we tell them to. Eventually.
The solid world is not so cooperative.It’s downright testy sometimes.
Words do what we tell them to. Eventually.
The solid world is not so cooperative.It’s downright testy sometimes.
Words do what we tell them to. Eventually.
The solid world is not so cooperative.It’s downright testy sometimes.
Words do what we tell them to. Eventually.
The solid world is not so cooperative.It’s downright testy sometimes.
Words do what we tell them to. Eventually.
The solid world is not so cooperative.It’s downright testy sometimes.