a fine day to start painting.

Yes, a fine day indeed.

It was supposed to be mostly cloudy today but I will take a little sun. Maybe seventy out or so. Perfection. And so time to grab a roller and get to work (wearing what used to be my favourite pair of jeans that are now probably too tore up to even really wear outside but oh well) -

Today was not going to be exciting. Still prepping but at least using a roller and a paintbrush instead of a carbide scraper and orbital sander. Still I missed some spots I discovered as I put on the primer so I kept the sander handy and a brush and rag to clear off the dust -

After going all around doing all the ground level stuff it was time to pull out the extension ladder and get to priming the trim along the roofline. Good times. I will miss climbing up an extension ladder.

And it seems that it's next to impossible to find a contraption that holds a roller pan horizontally level so I dug into my climbing bin and pulled out a nylon runner that I used to loop through a pail hangar and tied to the tray. Wallah - roller tray holder twenty feet off the ground. I must say climbing stuff has come in handy with this ladder business.

After wrapping up with that it was time to have some lunch. And I'm just going to throw in here that by chance I found the perfect bread for grilled cheese sandwiches the other week at Fred Meyer. As in I have been on a quest to find this mystical white bread for at least ten years and I took a chance on a loaf and kazam! Perfect grilled cheese -

This is quite important (and the moral is sometimes take a chance on something).

So anyways back to work the rest of the afternoon and into the evening until I ran out of primer and had to make a mad dash to McLendons before they closed and the light died (it starts getting dark around 8 now and is more or less totally dark by 8:30 which is completely crazy).

Got back, took this photo then finished priming the south side of the house (thankfully the longest side and in the worst shape by far cos I was starting to feel the burn after nine hours of priming).

A long day but lots more progress ...

I am now on my couch listening to Lisa Gerrard on repeat psyched about getting up early tomorrow for another incredibly long day. But (and this is key) it will involve actual color.

Oh, and a little side project I had going today as well -

Testing spray painting a gutter. It looks like, well, a brand new white gutter (yes, this was one of the brown gutters I tore off my house). But I'll let it dry a full 24 hours before taking a hose to it and trying to scratch it to see how tough the applied primer and one topcoat are. I had a dude out this morning and the quote for 150' of gutters was about $650. My estimate for buying all new gutters and replacing them myself was somewhere around $450 so his estimate wasn't terrible. But if painting works that of course will be the cheapest route by far but will involve a bit of work that I will have to tackle pretty quick cos I'll, well, need gutters.

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And a little post script ... after giving into the night and lack of light and finishing everything up for the day I headed out quick to Fred Meyer. Was standing in the checkout line and this girl who was probably Julian's age came up behind me with her dad and put the little divider thing on the belt behind my stuff and then set this little stuffed horse she was apparently buying on and then another divider behind it. When she finished with that she folded her hands and set them next to the belt all proper like. It was about the cutest thing I have seen in a long time and quite made my day. Kids are awesome.