When I shut one of the windows in the front room, this is what I heard:
Snap!
Clunk!
The snap was the rope in the window sash breaking.
The clunk was the counterweight dropping to the bottom of the window.
I may or may not have cried a little.
In theory, I know how to fix it. I'll have to pry off a piece of trim on either side of the window, take the window out, pry off the little piece of trim that hides the rope and pulley system, pull out the broken rope, string a new rope through the weight, and put everything back like it was. I've seen other people fix windows this way, but I have never done it. Hence, I know how it's done in theory but not in practice.
I'll add this to the to-do list. Sigh.
Clapboards Not Baseboards
Charlie called me this morning from work. "Whatcha doin?"
I sighed. "I'm thinkin about maybe puttin some paint on those baseboards."
"You're still not done with that?!" he said. (He knows full well that I'm not done with it, because I haven't asked him to come over and help me move furniture.)
That motivated me.
But not to paint baseboards.
Instead, I removed three more storm windows, stacked them at the back of the house, and pried another window open. Then I painted the other half of the east side of the house, which I started on (again) two weeks ago.
Charlie called me again on his way home from work. "How's those baseboards comin?" I could hear the laughter behind his voice.
"Actually, I'm outside paintin the house," I said.
He laughed and laughed. "You're supposed to be inside paintin baseboards, not outside paintin clapboards. I knew it! I knew it when I saw it didn't rain today!"
I laughed too. "How'd you know I didn't stay inside?"
Charlie said, "Because I know you! You do what you wanna do, not what you say you're gonna do."
I'd say that's a pretty accurate assessment.
Maybe I'll paint those baseboards tomorrow. Or not.
I sighed. "I'm thinkin about maybe puttin some paint on those baseboards."
"You're still not done with that?!" he said. (He knows full well that I'm not done with it, because I haven't asked him to come over and help me move furniture.)
That motivated me.
But not to paint baseboards.
Instead, I removed three more storm windows, stacked them at the back of the house, and pried another window open. Then I painted the other half of the east side of the house, which I started on (again) two weeks ago.
Charlie called me again on his way home from work. "How's those baseboards comin?" I could hear the laughter behind his voice.
"Actually, I'm outside paintin the house," I said.
He laughed and laughed. "You're supposed to be inside paintin baseboards, not outside paintin clapboards. I knew it! I knew it when I saw it didn't rain today!"
I laughed too. "How'd you know I didn't stay inside?"
Charlie said, "Because I know you! You do what you wanna do, not what you say you're gonna do."
I'd say that's a pretty accurate assessment.
Maybe I'll paint those baseboards tomorrow. Or not.
Help, Please
Help, please. Someone who is good at math and figuring out these things, please help. Because if I think about this any longer, I might hurt myself from banging my head on the wall.
See, I'm trying to figure out how many pieces of picture rail to buy. I am told that picture rail comes in lengths of 16 feet and 7 feet. (That 7' length seems odd to me...why not 8 ft??) At first, I had a what-the-hell attitude towards it: the room's about 15 by 15, that's 60 feet of picture rail, done. Then it occurred to me that subtracting the width of the doors and the window might save me some cash. Um, yeah, because without those I figure I need about 45 feet of rail. I think. Or I could be wrong.
Then I got to thinking about how many cuts I would have to make and how many pieces I could get out of each length of rail. (And by "I", of course I really mean Charlie.) That's when my head started to hurt.
Hey, let's put it in the form of a word problem. Some people--not me--are good at those. That'll make it easier to understand.
Sharpen those pencils. Click on the photo to bigify it if you need to. Hum the theme from Jeopardy. And help me out, please.
See, I'm trying to figure out how many pieces of picture rail to buy. I am told that picture rail comes in lengths of 16 feet and 7 feet. (That 7' length seems odd to me...why not 8 ft??) At first, I had a what-the-hell attitude towards it: the room's about 15 by 15, that's 60 feet of picture rail, done. Then it occurred to me that subtracting the width of the doors and the window might save me some cash. Um, yeah, because without those I figure I need about 45 feet of rail. I think. Or I could be wrong.
Then I got to thinking about how many cuts I would have to make and how many pieces I could get out of each length of rail. (And by "I", of course I really mean Charlie.) That's when my head started to hurt.
Hey, let's put it in the form of a word problem. Some people--not me--are good at those. That'll make it easier to understand.
If Jayne is buying picture rail for her front parlor, and the dimensions of the room are as shown in the photo, and picture rail comes in lengths of 7' and 16', how many pieces of picture rail of each length will Jayne need to buy in order to have the least amount of wasted lumber?
Sharpen those pencils. Click on the photo to bigify it if you need to. Hum the theme from Jeopardy. And help me out, please.
The Trunk
I have two things on my to-do list for my days off:
1. Buy picture rail.
2. Scrape some of the paint off that old trunk.
The first thing will happen on Friday. It will. Unless I get distracted.
The second thing will be begun later today (after a long nap) and will be finished...sometime before 2016. It will. Unless I get distracted. (This is, after all, the home of four-year projects which certainly didn't start out that way.)
I bought the trunk at an auction in early March and it's been sitting on my back porch ever since. Two or three other people bid against me for it, which initially made me fear that my competitive nature would cause me to overbid my budget of 50 bucks. I ended up paying $37.50 for it. It's hard to imagine what it might look like when all that paint's stripped off of it, but I'm hoping that it turns out well enough to be used for a side table somewhere in my house. Preliminary tapping and scratching on it leads me to think that those strap-looking things on it are wooden and the rest of it is tin. In my mind's eye the hardware on it is brass and when it's done it'll look very vintage cool. I'll let y'all know.
1. Buy picture rail.
2. Scrape some of the paint off that old trunk.
The first thing will happen on Friday. It will. Unless I get distracted.
The second thing will be begun later today (after a long nap) and will be finished...sometime before 2016. It will. Unless I get distracted. (This is, after all, the home of four-year projects which certainly didn't start out that way.)
I bought the trunk at an auction in early March and it's been sitting on my back porch ever since. Two or three other people bid against me for it, which initially made me fear that my competitive nature would cause me to overbid my budget of 50 bucks. I ended up paying $37.50 for it. It's hard to imagine what it might look like when all that paint's stripped off of it, but I'm hoping that it turns out well enough to be used for a side table somewhere in my house. Preliminary tapping and scratching on it leads me to think that those strap-looking things on it are wooden and the rest of it is tin. In my mind's eye the hardware on it is brass and when it's done it'll look very vintage cool. I'll let y'all know.Done! (Sorta)
The wallpaper in the front parlor is finally done!
I think it looks especially nice around the fireplace.
I've gone from wallpaper painted over with hideous baby blue paint, to bare plaster, to this wallpaper. In only three short years! (Or maybe four...)
Of course, the room's not done. I still have to finish painting the shoe moulding. (At the rate I'm going, that will be another three-year project.) The trim on the door between the front parlor and the foyer still has holes in it from the hinges back when the doors were in two pieces, so I need to finish filling that in with wood putty, sand, and paint. And--biggest project yet to do in here--I have to buy picture rail, paint it, and then enlist someone's help to hang it. (Hey, Charlie!) The buying of the picture rail will happen on my next days off, after I happily discovered that it's just 45 cents a foot. For the first time, something costs less than I thought it would.
After Sarah told me that my bare couch looked like it belonged in a doctor's office, I went out and bought a throw and some pillows to warm it up. Sarah approves.
The couch is all alone in the front parlor. It needs a cushy chair and an end table and a coffee table or an ottoman to keep it company. Some of those things I have, but I'm holding off moving them in here until we finish the picture rail. Still, the parlor's starting to look like a real room that someone might actually be able to live in, rather than a construction site.
Well, except for this....
Maybe someday I'll have a nice window seat or chaise lounge here like a normal person would.
I think it looks especially nice around the fireplace.
Of course, the room's not done. I still have to finish painting the shoe moulding. (At the rate I'm going, that will be another three-year project.) The trim on the door between the front parlor and the foyer still has holes in it from the hinges back when the doors were in two pieces, so I need to finish filling that in with wood putty, sand, and paint. And--biggest project yet to do in here--I have to buy picture rail, paint it, and then enlist someone's help to hang it. (Hey, Charlie!) The buying of the picture rail will happen on my next days off, after I happily discovered that it's just 45 cents a foot. For the first time, something costs less than I thought it would.
After Sarah told me that my bare couch looked like it belonged in a doctor's office, I went out and bought a throw and some pillows to warm it up. Sarah approves.
The couch is all alone in the front parlor. It needs a cushy chair and an end table and a coffee table or an ottoman to keep it company. Some of those things I have, but I'm holding off moving them in here until we finish the picture rail. Still, the parlor's starting to look like a real room that someone might actually be able to live in, rather than a construction site.
Well, except for this....
Progress (Finally)
Finally, some progress here at the house. The planets must have been aligned just right on Friday, because I had the day off, Charlie got home early, I was motivated (and didn't have arthritis troubles) and the weather stayed nice.
I got all but two strips of wallpaper in the front parlor done. I'm hoping to finish that next week on one of my days off. Then I can go buy picture rail and start painting it. (Ack.) Charlie mowed the grass (but not the flowers!) and cleaned out the gutters. I have no trees, but my neighbor to the west has a couple that are right on the property line and they really fill up my gutters with leaves, acorns and sticks. Charlie climbed up on the front porch roof and shouted down, "GODDAM! There's a truckload of leaves and stuff up here!!" (Bet my neighbors loved hearing that...) I thought he was exaggerating until he backed his pickup up next to the house and raked everything off the roof into the back of it. Indeed, there was a truckload of leaves and stuff.
Today Charlie had to work at his real job, which he went to with much grumbling about having to work on a Saturday when he'd rather go fishing. I briefly considered finishing the wallpaper and then decided it was just too nice to stay inside. So, I went out to the east wall of the house (which looked like this the last time I showed it to you, but has since been completely scraped and caulked) and put a coat of paint on it. I have several other spots of peeling paint on my house, but that east wall was the worst. It's all done but three or four clapboards which are too high for me to reach without borrowing Floyd's taller ladder. Come to think of it, I think I might leave that painting for someone I know who happens to be nearly a foot taller than I am....
And now, I'm going to the Royals game with Sarah. Our beloved Royals are off to a very rough start this year, so I hope they win tonight.
I got all but two strips of wallpaper in the front parlor done. I'm hoping to finish that next week on one of my days off. Then I can go buy picture rail and start painting it. (Ack.) Charlie mowed the grass (but not the flowers!) and cleaned out the gutters. I have no trees, but my neighbor to the west has a couple that are right on the property line and they really fill up my gutters with leaves, acorns and sticks. Charlie climbed up on the front porch roof and shouted down, "GODDAM! There's a truckload of leaves and stuff up here!!" (Bet my neighbors loved hearing that...) I thought he was exaggerating until he backed his pickup up next to the house and raked everything off the roof into the back of it. Indeed, there was a truckload of leaves and stuff.
Today Charlie had to work at his real job, which he went to with much grumbling about having to work on a Saturday when he'd rather go fishing. I briefly considered finishing the wallpaper and then decided it was just too nice to stay inside. So, I went out to the east wall of the house (which looked like this the last time I showed it to you, but has since been completely scraped and caulked) and put a coat of paint on it. I have several other spots of peeling paint on my house, but that east wall was the worst. It's all done but three or four clapboards which are too high for me to reach without borrowing Floyd's taller ladder. Come to think of it, I think I might leave that painting for someone I know who happens to be nearly a foot taller than I am....
And now, I'm going to the Royals game with Sarah. Our beloved Royals are off to a very rough start this year, so I hope they win tonight.
Point Taken
Charlie mowed down my daylilies.
"I thought they were grass," he said.
"How could you think they were grass?! You didn't mow down the ones in the front yard and they look exactly the same!"
"I knew those were flowers because you put them little plastic rocks around 'em."
Oh. Well, he's got me there.
Point taken.
"How could you think they were grass?! You didn't mow down the ones in the front yard and they look exactly the same!"
"I knew those were flowers because you put them little plastic rocks around 'em."
Oh. Well, he's got me there.
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