Moving Right Along...

For the most part, the garage is complete. I've a bit of touch up to do here and there and a vent on the roof needs to be painted but it has be done first thing in the morning or the asphalt shingles will burn the skin off my arms. On the whole, I'm thinking it looks pretty sharp! (That's the pergola in the foreground.)

And so, I am moving along to the patio. This will be an exercise in patience as there are about a zillion little two-by-fours that need to be masked off with tape. Naturally, to prolong the agony, I painted the windows first. Two windows look out from the kitchen onto the patio, one of which is over the kitchen sink. It's full of little knick-knacks and such - in a tiny kitchen every bit of space must be utilized to the max. Of course, all the trinkets mean I don't need any sort of curtain for "privacy."

You can kind of get an idea by what I mean about all the masking tape. This is the top of that support post that Steve repaired for me. I think it turned out pretty nice.

The patio itself is probably a million years old - well, okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but it's been attached - and I use that term loosely - to the house for many years. Technically, it's over spanned but has been "grandfathered" due to it's age. It's a tenacious assembly of wood, corrugated aluminum, and some sort of funky scalloped metal trim. We've spent many many happy hours with friends and family enjoying its shade, ambiance, and the cracked concrete slab that I've decorated with flowering vines. (Yeah, I won't be quitting my day job.)

Before I could get after the trim, Steve needed to effect some additional repairs. (He likes doing this sort of thing so I "save" it for him - hee hee!) Next I'll be using some more of my favorite patching compound, sanding, wiping, and painting away.

The pressure is on just a little bit as Danny and Joni will be arriving on Friday from Cortez. They're attending their niece's wedding but will be staying with us at Chez Wilson. We are putting them up in what our insurance company euphemistically calls "The Casita" which is actually the freshly painted and air conditioned garage (complete with futon, television, and hot and cold running water). It's rustic but better than the back of a pick-up truck. Right now it's full of all the crap that was on the back porch. I'm out of masking tape. They say it might rain.

No worries...

When Do We Actually "Paint?"

Well, not yet but soon. Soon. I've got three gallons of primer stashed in the trunk of the car. I need to go back to the Depot and get a couple of gallons of the "self-sealing" masonry paint (I had to check the colors, first). This time next week I will hopefully be reporting that the painting of the outbuilding (also known as the garage) is complete. After that, I plan to move on to the patio. I'll tackle the house proper after we return from Canyonlands.

Steve replaced a bit of rotten wood atop one of the supports on the patio. The wood he replaced was pretty much dust and fell apart in his hand. It now looks worse than it is, as Steve did a wonderful job on the repair. I'll prep, patch and sand this before painting, of course.

Scraping... Scraping...

Tuesday. The front gable is not so readily scraped. As the sun never actually shines on this surface, the paint is in poor condition but not baked to peeling as it is on the back. Consequently, it requires a lot more elbow grease to make headway. I am getting off the big chunks but will resort to the sander for the balance.

The framing around the garage door is marginally more cooperative. I had to prune back a large sage to get at the trim and soffit. More patching is on the horizon. Tomorrow, Friday, I shall purchase my primer.

Wednesday I took a break from scraping and moved to the back porch where I proceeded to take down strings of lights, wind chimes, the thermometer, and the bottle opener. Stray nails were pulled, and all manner of "crap" was relocated to the vegetable garden pending disposal or permanent relocation.

I cleaned out the rock pile, too. (What? Doesn't everyone have a rock pile?)