Note: This is a continuing story as Ellen works on her house. See links for previous posts below.
I am almost done with the contractor and he is almost done with me.
Sheetrock
I had some sheetrock left upstairs (from those renovations) so I asked my contractor to complete the wall behind the kitchen which looked like ancient tinfoil. He cut the sheetrock, put it up, and then he went around the beam that began this house around 1800 or so. We know this because the mill that used to grace the brook below the house went from a pit saw ( you can tell because of the up-and-down saw marks on the beams which the pit saw left ) to a circular saw in 1810. A circular saw would have left circle like grooves on the beams.
Paint
He got the sheetrock up in one day and then he had to return to tape and mud it, which means he only had to be here a half hour today. Then he was gone and it looks like a million bucks, or it will once I get it painted. Navajo white is what it will be. It’s not a flat white, or even China white (which has gray in it) but Navajo is a warm white, it has yellow pigment and even a little brown added to it and boy do I need that at this time of year when I have the parlor stove cranking and the furnace runs all the time because it is so effing cold outside.
Winter-Brrrr
I think the temp outside got up to around 15 degrees at around 1:15 this afternoon in the warmest part of the day. And if that isn’t bad enough, the wind is gusting 60 mph. The anemometer on my shed roof is going around so fast you can’t see it move.
I said to Aaron the contractor this morning that I wished I could go to sleep and wake up when it was May, and I could hear my grandmother saying “Don’t wish your life away…” and she was the one who said “time heals all wounds; and wounds all heels.” And I know that ain’t true! And he agreed it would be nice if it was green outside and daffodils were in bloom, that’s more late April than May. Although I will say that when I lived in N.H. it snowed on the 10th of May. But, thank God that was rare.
Stuff
I have SO much accumulated crap in and around this house and if I want to sell it, and I do, I have got to get cracking. But I would like to be able to see the ground before I start hauling stuff out of here. And I would like to sell some of it.
Worries
And if that creep Musk taps into social security…. I didn’t see his name on the ballot, and I wouldn’t vote for him if I did. Thank god he can’t run for President, being South African. For that matter the guy they elected (I had nothing to do with it.) cannot run this country with Executive Orders, time to change the Congress and put some brakes on him, too.
Anniversary
Yes, if it seems that I am in a foul mood, I am. The anniversary of Tony’s death was Friday, the 21st and I’m not feeling great about that, either.
Prior Posts: This is a continuing series. See earlier posts The Time Has Come to Share My House, In the Midst of Everything, Electricians, Tears and Music, Hurry Up and Wait, Bedbugs are Not Welcome Here.
I hear you Ellen – coming up five years this year and I still cannot face cleaning out his shed. I love my home here in Far North Queensland, Australia but it is too big (even shared with two fabulous housemates) and every week there is maintenance – this breaks, that breaks, and the other. I still can’t unscrew a lot of the nuts and bolts he put on so tightly with his big beautiful hands. Is the prospect of sorting out, selling and throwing away holding me back – yes, I think so… some days. Then other days I stand on the verandah and marvel that I should even live in such a gorgeous place as this. Then I leave the sorting out for another day. Good housemates have been a God send – we are over a year together now and it has been just the best thing .. don’t discount it if you want to stay. Love your posts Ellen, keep them up.