Finish one room. Any room

the bedroom ceiling got a coat of primer, then two coats of good paint. Yet the remains of the wall paper glue way behind bled through just enough to say. Ugh.

I’ll hit the stains with good primer, all hiding so it says, and then give the whole thing a third coat of paint. Same for the bathroom ceiling. This will end but I’d expected days and days ago.

off the column caps I found stepped, elaborate tops covered in a lot of ugly flaking paint. One of them will have to be carefully rebuilt, reconstructed, for there is rot about about. The others are all in great shape, paint aside. A nasty old spider turned attentions to me, upset about the demise of her home and eggs and all the rest. I flicked my wrist. The one guiding the heat gun. It was me or her of course. And there are still plenty of spiders, peace-loving spiders, to go around.

I uncovered all but one of the column fronts too, saving the one with a downspout attached to it, for later. We are down to the details now: using the big ladder to reach the fronts, a lot of time in stripping the complicated column tops, getting the belt and palm sanders on everything that’s been stripped. I hope to make big progress again today.

Front porch. It’s going more quickly than I’d hoped: Four porch columns, 16 sides. I did five sides. There are two big windows, I did the sills and lower apron of each.

I also removed the aluminum door surround. It was punched full of holes from Christmas lighting holders and a million staples from lord knows what. When I got it off I found a million holes in the wood below too. So I had to cover it again, this time with wood product, carefully fitted. I caulked and primed it all thoroughly before re-installing the storm door and I am happy.

The other nine bungalows in our row all have white, white, white trim. This, I do not understand, not at all. My goal is to have everything clean, sanded, primed and ready to paint. When she returns to her poet’s cottage, here, we will choose a colour and be cheerfully colour correct, historic, more in love than ever, and, well, happy! It is our home. Our home.

It’s the weather, don’t want to be working in if it’s perfect out. Sooo
A slim coat of plaster that I HAD to let dry all day.

Historic preservation is restore to original materials, design. If you can’t find or use original, replace in kind. So I am stripping aluminum covers, called panning, from porch window trim, door frame, porch columns too. Found good wood underneath and suggestions of original detail trim! A lot of the paint underneath is not troubled (sometimes covering means rot from moisture and insects) and it turns out I’ve got a pretty easy restore on my hands. Will strip porch columns. The window and door trim will be scrubbed, hand-sanded, and primed so that Ms R and I will be ready to pick colours. Golly I love her!

And if you are curious, the original 1925 or so paint was a dark butter colour, after that the colonial white lived here for years and years. We will be going back to a period colour, not white.

Wake early.
Affections, Linger over newspaper, affections, drift, shower, waltz in kitchen, breakfast, affections.
Second sleep, then affections, drift, newspaper, affections.

Call Mom, for it is Mother’s Day!

Go outside and mow the south and north fields if they are finally dry.

Affections. Move a good hosta or three to specific latitude and longitude destinations to better complete appearance of casual border symmetry below verandah railings. Look at bonsais for necessary trimmings Mostly this year I want full blown growth. Affections.

Move entire bedroom. Take down dropped ceiling in front bedroom, identify all work needed to move electrical lines, cut and drill holes for moving lines. Then BIG Affections. Drift. Third sleep. Wake to affections. Thoughts of supper. Begin scraping off wallpaper on ceiling. Drift into long beautiful discourse with loved one, Affections, drift into sleep tightly wrapped up like a burrito so we share breath and pulse and all.

The wallpaper is gone, all the layers, in one bedroom. Today I’ll clean up the plaster surfaces and begin repairing cracks, corners.I’ll be mixing a spot of mortar and sand for some of it, and will skim coat when that is set. It’s at the stage where a lot of people would say ewwww, UGLY! but to me this is gold, pure gold, for restoration is within reach if not sight.

When I’m done with this room, hopefully this week, I’ll start another ASAP, before the big heat of summer. After that, I’ll move downstairs to where the big work lies. (I wish I could do this full time. Alas!)

I’m a tough bird and hadmuh self a day of rest from the spraying of water, soaking of wall paper, stripping of layers. My candle’s been lit too much too, methinks. I fell asleep after supper and awoke with a start two hours later with a beautiful and welcoming whisper in muh ear. When I fell asleep again, it was early (fer me) with lights on, in muh clothing, on but not in bed. No, no booze or drugs involved. Just tired. And that is how I found muhself this morn, except with about 12 hours of additional sleep under my lids and I feel good. Back to it today when I have time.

I put a big tarp down and started really stripping the wall-papered ceiling. I’ll be back at it today, some, but not finished. Not today. There are three layers of paper. I take a spray bottle, soak the paper three times to get it absorbed and have the glue loosened, then scrape, scrape. Repeat as necessary. Imagine spraying a ceiling, in sections, three times. It is endless but minimizes real mess making. That glue gets everywhere if you let it.

cottage studio. She said Do we need an overhead light.” I said people expect them. But no. We do not. It’s wired for one now if we want to.

When the last of the gang boxes was sealed and the power turned back on I moved all the insulation from the bedroom ceiling, behind the dropped tiles, to the attic over the studio. That makes 14 inches of insulation for that room, the bathroom, the stair well. It’s a good start. I took a shower, dressed for her, rang her up and will find her shortly!!!!

The bedroom electrical is next, now that the insulation is gone! Back in the attic tomorrow. I gotta get this done before hot weather. After that I’ll start permanently remove the dropped ceilings, repair the historic ceilings, paint them up, do it right. Hurrah for historic preservation! And Ratty too! BOTH!!!!

with my dropped ceilings project. Today I return to it. I must so I may get things spick and span before the weekend.

I fell asleep, poof! gone!, with the other rehab underway Darling, the one we are doing together. I did not mean to but there we go. And when I woke I was groggily delighted! Progress!