Every now and then a project--sewing, knitting, fixing up our house, etc.--falls into an "On Hold" category and languishes there for years. One that comes to mind is a nice soft red cardigan for myself that I started knitting as a "travel" project in 1997. Now that's a long time ago! It's currently residing atop a cabinet in the sewing room. But that's not the project that I'm trying to resurrect today. This project began over ten years ago.
Our house was built in 1979 and we bought the place in 1997, but didn't move in until 1999. For the previous 20 years no repairs or repainting had been done. It was just not a priority for the people who bought it from the builder. I think they had lived here for something like seven years.
We added a "solar space" to the downstairs. There had been a balcony around the dining/living room on the second floor since the house was built. It was open underneath and we enclosed it with a stucco wall that was about 1/2 window, maybe more. Here are a few photos:
In the spring we use it as a growing space for the very small plants until we open up the big greenhouse, about the middle of March. At this time of year it's a really lovely place to spend time in the afternoon and evening. We open the windows, the breeze blows through and we hear the gurgle of water in the little pump and barrel that are just visible in front of the windows. The Virginia creeper climbs up the screens and gives leafy shade.
Our house was built in 1979 and we bought the place in 1997, but didn't move in until 1999. For the previous 20 years no repairs or repainting had been done. It was just not a priority for the people who bought it from the builder. I think they had lived here for something like seven years.
We added a "solar space" to the downstairs. There had been a balcony around the dining/living room on the second floor since the house was built. It was open underneath and we enclosed it with a stucco wall that was about 1/2 window, maybe more. Here are a few photos:
In the spring we use it as a growing space for the very small plants until we open up the big greenhouse, about the middle of March. At this time of year it's a really lovely place to spend time in the afternoon and evening. We open the windows, the breeze blows through and we hear the gurgle of water in the little pump and barrel that are just visible in front of the windows. The Virginia creeper climbs up the screens and gives leafy shade.
Sometime before the house became ours someone repainted (or perhaps painted for the first time) the woodwork surrounding what were then the doors and windows to outside. There's a door on the south with a window on either side and a door on the west with a window on either side. But somehow or other that paint job wasn't done well. To me, it looked as if whoever painted applied the paint without any preparation. Frankly, it looked as if a whole lot of "fly dirt" (just plain fly feces) had been painted over in the corners of that woodwork. YUUCK!!!
So several years ago I told the Dear One I was going to redo that. He pitched in and did a lot of scraping. I did lots more scraping, including softening the paint with a heat gun. Finally we were down to the bare wood. I applied the undercoat and then two coats of a nice brown paint. The door facing west along with its windows, which is where the new outside door faces, were complete. It looked great.
I started on the south door, and that's where the project stalled. One window is finished. The door and the other window are only partly finished. Today I got out the scrapers and the heat gun and began working on it again.
This time I hope to finish the job -- all scraped, primed and painted by (I hope) the middle of next week! Wish me well!
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