Sunday, July 22, 2012

Done!

Ceiling is finished!  Well--that means that the ceiling itself is finished.  We still need to put away tarps, caulk guns, nail gun, compressor, ladders . . .  At least I already sealed and put away the paint cans and paint rollers.

Here's the view from lying in bed:

There's been an expected and pleasant side effect to this--it's helped my insomnia.  I have a tendency to the 3:00 a.m. wakeup and then worry about whatever there is in my life to worry about (which may be something that's been resolved for a few decades--3:00 a.m. is not a logical time).    But there's enough light from the fish tank to bounce off the ceiling--and I admire how pretty it is and then drift back off to sleep.

It's Sunday, and The Day Of Rest, and much as I'd like to just lie in bed and admire the ceiling, the fact is that the garden has not died off completely yet.  Fresh tomatoes are ephemeral--so what we can't eat in the next few days are going to be turned into sauce today.

Friday, July 20, 2012

And the Ceiling?

Is not quite finished . . .

In the last post--about three weeks ago--the trim was painted and ready to go up.  And it did--just not enough of it.   There was one area where we thought we wouldn't need trim--and we did--so we needed to go buy some more and paint it.  Then things just sort of fell apart.  In the last post I had also mentioned that Mom got sick and had to spend a few days in the hospital.  She was home and recovering--but lost her balance one evening and when Dad tried to catch her he fell and broke his leg.  Then she got sick again.  So I spent a couple of weeks dithering between the hospital, the health center (where Dad is for rehab) and the folk's apartment (fortunately just across the breezeway from the health center).  After Mom got out of the hospital for the second time she also went to the the health center to be near Dad while he heals.

We didn't work on the ceiling . . .

The various health crises being more-or-less over, it's time to return to the project.  Actually, the only thing left to do is paint and put up 5 pieces of 40" long trim--about a 20 minutes job.  After, of course, we buy and paint the trim. We need about 17 feet--so a 10-foot piece and an 8 foot piece.  This means using the truck.  Not usually a problem--but we're now in the rainy season, so it rains every afternoon.  If Bob picks up trim after work--we're going to have wet and probably warped trim.  We had resigned ourselves to making a trip into town just for the trim this weekend--when two of my few remaining brain cells drifted past each other, shot off a little spark, and I realized that I could buy three 8-foot pieces and easily fit them into the Honda.  Granted, we'll have a few feet more than we need, and it cost about $2 more, but I can live with this.   I'm going to start painting as soon as I'm through with this entry.

For Margo--here is RiverSong helping with the project:

The almost-finished ceiling:



And life otherwise marches on.  What with spending too much time in the ER and hospital rooms, I've knit about 3/4 of a peacock shawlette--but lace just looks like a big blob in process so it will be pictured when done.  Meanwhile, Bob took care of the garden, and here's his prize pepper:


But we're letting the garden go to rack and ruin.  First we had Tropical Storm Debby, and then the daily rains.  This after an unaccustomed dry spell.  The result is a plague of mosquitoes.  I remember a scene in "A Land Remembered" (a history of Florida) where cattle literally choked to death on mosquitoes.  The most time we spend outside is a mad dash to the car.  Bob still has to go out in the evening to lock up the chickens.  Despite the fact that it's still sweltering hot even at night, he has to dress for the occasion.


And that's the news from the swamp.