Getting Started on the Big Summer Project

With just a couple of days remaining in the semester and the bulk of the grading completed, I've turned my attention to starting the big summer project: painting the house. 

I am so excited.

And I'm in no hurry. I have all summer ahead of me.

So I've started the scraping work, just taking my time. I decided to begin the process on the back side of the house since it's in the worst shape. That's the west-facing side, so it gets a lot of wind and rain pelting it. I've made some good progress over the last week. Last evening when I stepped off the ladder after scraping the fascia board, I felt such satisfaction with the amount of progress I've made so far. 

Before I can continue on to paint this side of the house, though, one section of cedar shingles needed to be completely replaced. The old shingles are so rotted that a layer of wood came off with the paint. I figure this isn't a good thing, so new shingles it is. A quick run (as quick as can be living 30 minutes away from the closest home supplies store) into town got me the shingles I needed and the replacing began.

It took some doing to get the old shingles off. Definitely a learning curve here, but after I got the hang of getting the crowbar underneath the old shingles and pulling up then a bit sideways, the process went a little quicker. Some of the old shingles appear to be original to the house. They had square nails, which are kind of cool. I saved a few to put in a jar. They offer some history about the house. To think those shingles have been on this house for over 100 years is amazing. What a hardy product. I love thinking about how this house and the shingles I put on will be here long after I leave this life. Hopefully whoever moves in after my time here will appreciate the shingles as much as I do.

Along with the house project, I started a garden project. I might have a bad habit of browsing a certain site for all things people are selling. During one of my wasting time looking at all kinds of treasures, I ran across a person selling old gas-filled glass blocks. I immediately knew I wanted some to make something for my yard/garden. I ended up buying 25 of the blocks and went to work making what I envisioned in my head. So far, this is what I've got. Getting this made has been a learning experience, for sure. It's been a lot of trial and error, going forward then backing up, but I'm making progress. 

My goal is to make three, the tallest being around five and a half feet tall, the second four and a half feet tall and the third three and a half feet tall. I have a spot in one corner of the yard where I'm thinking they'll look really pretty with some Hostas and other perennials planted around them. 

Today the weather has us holed up. Rainy, windy, and very chilly. Like we're back in March. I even turned the fireplace on to chase the chill out the air inside. I need this kind of day, though, to force me to sit down and finish up some work. Which I'm dragging my feet on. Which might have to wait a bit longer . . . until after I watch another episode of Line of Duty.

Comments

Unknown said…
You have great carpenter skills😀
May 9, 2021 at 8:55 PM
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