Weekend in Review: Green Paint and a Two-saw Sunday

I had another productive week, although not really what I had planned.  Ornery and I worked together to get 11 yardstick airplanes into the Etsy shop and even sold a couple this weekend.  I also did some cooking and made pretty serious inroads into the house cleaning. As Elizabeth's stuff migrates to Michael's house I am discovering hidden pockets of dirt and newly opened spaces that call for some attention.

As for the happy couple, they have set a date for their tiny wedding ceremony of November 16th--less than four weeks away--and the arrangements are made for that.  Considering that the weather is always iffy this time of year and there were still many things to take care of at the house, we set aside Saturday to spend the day helping them finish up some projects.  Elizabeth made a crock-pot full of chili so we wouldn't have to stop working--certainly she is her mother's daughter!

After loading up a massive amount of stuff in the back of Big Red and unloading it at their place, Ornery installed the peep hole in the new door and made the changes in the base of the shoe cabinet so it would fit properly.  Elizabeth and I painted her art room with leftover paint from our house and a couple of quarts from Lowe's.  We painted three walls with Olive Marinade (the same color I have throughout my hall, living and dining areas) and the fourth wall a deep olive green called Summer's End. (both by Valspar)  She plans to add some bright red curtains in there for some contrast.

While we were painting, Ornery and Michael took the saw home, and then unloaded the stuff from the (extremely heavy) armoire containing all Elizabeth's art and weaving supplies, and took it all over to their house.  It took a while before we were finished painting to be ready to unload the armoire from Big Red, but by the end of the day the room was completely finished and the beast was in place.  I also unpacked the box of china that had been sitting in the dining room for a couple of weeks and put it all away.  We were all tired at the end of the day, but it was a great feeling to have accomplished so much!

After working so hard on Saturday, Ornery and I were up for taking Sunday off--which we sort of did, but we still managed to accomplish quite a bit.  We had breakfast at Panera--the first time in about a month--then walked to Michael's and bought some wooden wheels for the little cars he is making.  Next we went to Home Depot for an extra battery for Ornery's Milwaukee cordless tools.  When we got home, I spent some time just sitting on the patio enjoying the lovely fall day.  Eventually the mess out there got to me and I had to clean it up, so I swept the porch, rearranged a few things, brought one of the benches up on the porch and stored my empty flower pots beneath it, and then moved the Boston fern into the master bathroom in front of the window.

We spent all afternoon in the garage.  I had hoped to have the energy to sweep it all out, but I mostly just sat and watched Ornery work. :)  There were little pockets of messes all over the garage, and gradually I got them all cleaned up.  We also worked together to cut a piece of Masonite for the top of his work bench.  One of his woodworking magazines recommended it to protect the work surface of your bench because it is cheap and easy to replace.  We had a whole sheet left over from some other project last year and I wanted to get it out of there anyway.  After he cut the piece for the top of the bench there was still over half of it left, so he cut some standard frame-size pieces for me to use as bases for my mixed media art pieces.  Next he cut out ten little cars with the scroll saw and we started sanding them using the drill press and a lot of elbow grease. When we quit for the day, four were ready for paint and six were still waiting for sanding.

I meant to take the camera over to take pictures when we were done at Michael and Elizabeth's, but it was one of the things I forgot.  It has a very homey feeling now, and once they marry and the rest of Elizabeth's bedroom moves over, the master bedroom will look very "put-together."  Then I can take pictures of the "after" and post them.

This week we are hoping to finish off the exterior painting--we sure thought we would have gotten it done already! The storm door and shutters still want to be painted red as well as the back door, and there is still much that needs a second coat of the Labrador color.  He just has about 30-40 feet of soffit and gutter left to paint with the first coat, so theoretically, that would be one good session. There is some rain in the forecast this week, and a lot of wind, which is why there was little activity on the project this week.  One day it was so dusty you couldn't even see 1/2 mile.

Today I will do a bit of cooking and then I will be ready to focus on projects in my studio. So many ideas, so little time!  I also need to finish the housework I began last week, especially after all that dust flying around-- everything is coated in it.  I am certainly never bored with my life--there are always projects that need to be done, and I love the variety of tasks that keep me busy.