Fall Projects

You know that one of my favorite sayings is, "It's another job for another day!" The problem is that 'nother day has to come some day. So the last few weeks have found me tackling that 'nother day job! This is what my shed looks like THIS-day!



But back 4 weeks ago much of my shed looked like this...



And this too... (I know they look like the same kind of sprinkler-induced damage... good eye!) There was similar rot on the front of the shed, particularly the trim on the bottom of the shed and around the doors. I pulled that off with my crowbar... no sanding there! It makes me wish that I'd been more diligent in getting some before and during photos... sadly these are the only two I have.



I started with some scraping (yuck), but soon found out that I was facing a much bigger job than what a little bit of scraping would take care of. So one Monday morning we borrowed Kevin-son's truck and rented a power-washer. OhMyStinkinHeck!... did that ever blast! **

I got off much of the flaking paint with the power washer but, just as my research had predicted, I would still need to do more scraping and then sanding. Again with the "OMSH"... did that ever stress my poor hands and wrists (good thing I can get Ibuprofen in the giant-economy size at Sam's Club!) On one of my days in the pre-painting stage I decided it was time to clean out all of the junk: old wood, dead fruit (from my neighbor's trees) etc, that has been between the shed and fence since before we moved here. ICK! There was a whole wheelie-bin-full of rotten wood, and not-so-rotten fruit that had lived there for I-don't-know-how-many-years!



Kevin came one day with his know-how and circular-saw and replaced the two pieces on the side of the shed that were rotted. (Bet you can't even see the patches!)  I got cedar this time to replace the trim pieces. I saved some of my big paint chips from the shed and took them with me to Home Depot to custom match the paint. I don't know if it is the same color that the shed was originally, but it is a perfect match to the color the shed is now! I am so pleased with the results.



And as if the whole shed wasn't enough of a 'nother day (try 'nother month!) job. I knew that our poor east-facing French doors on the house needed attention before the winter storms started to blow. I'm not sure what paint the previous painter used... all I know is that it wouldn't sand off (but somehow would peel off all on its own!) so I ended up having to resort to the chemical paint stripper! Again with the "OMSH"! I spent the better part of this last week stripping the paint on the doors and trim and then repainting and chalking.



Ah... but it all came to an end on Saturday! I put up the last pieces of trim on the shed doors, chalked a few places on both the shed and the doors, did some touch-up paint, mowed the lawn, washed my car, raked up more fallen fruit, did some basking AND THEN went to dinner with Gordon.  Whew!  That's all I have to say!

I'm always so grateful for my strong and healthy body!  I can't work as fast... but I can still get the job done.


** OK Funny story-  Ages ago when we still lived in Palmdale I borrowed Auntie P's home-sized power washer to clean my windows and siding.  Ummm... I cleaned the bathroom screen so well it was non-existent when I was finished!  Power-sprayer beware!