Paint It!

In the last posting I included a picture of a tabletop that I had painted---reuse, recycle. I have painted many surfaces in my house and thought I would post some examples, as well as a few of my more conventional paintings. I designed my home with a home computer program and hired a Menonite building group to put up the structure and dry it in. Serving as contractors, Larry and I hired a plumber for the rough in, HVAC guys, and sheetrockers to rock, mud, and tape the place. We built all of the interior walls and insullated; our son, Brian, did the wiring; and Larry did the finish plumbing, installed electrical fixtures, and ,as he says, followed directions. We also took a cabinetmaking class out at the local Votech center and built our cabinetry. It's a homebuilt home, which is not so tough to do when living in a rural setting. You see, there are no requirements for building permits or inspections out here. Everything meets code when it comes to mechanicals, but no one had to approve anything. It's like the old days when folks just decided what they wanted and built it.

Because we were on a very limited budget, finish work was done over a period of time. When we moved in, we had temporary kitchen and showering facilities and no interior doors. With the use of Home Depot and Lowe's six-month-no-interest credit, we went every six months and got about $600 worth of supplies. We paid it off as we used the materials and then went back for more. Our 2,653 square foot home was built with proceeds from the sale of our previous home, a $30,000 bank loan, and pay-as-you-go finishing. It was also paid off in 5 or 6 years.

So much for background... on with the painting aspect. Of course, we painted all walls in a more or less conventional way, but there was a need to finish the floors. The house is built on a concrete slab. I saw a Christopher Lowell Show on which he painted floors and thought "Why not?" It wasn't as if very much of the house was conventional, so...
Let's start with the bathrooms. The tub was across the road with a bunch of junk, and the owner let me have it for $10!

The wainscoating was a gift from a friend who had a sawmill in Wyoming and brought a pickup load of Ponderosa pine tongue and groove paneling. We used it here and there throughout the house until the last of it went into this bathroom. The floors are painted, as they are throughout the house. Because it was new concrete with no finish, I didn't use any primer on the slab first. It is porous material, so I didn't foresee any problems with paint adhering. I determined what I wanted as a pattern and colors and laid it out on the floor. I used 1/4 inch masking tape from an autobody shop to tape off what would represent grout lines. The original concrete appears to be grout. I just used interior latex wall paint, although the man at a Sherwin Williams store told me I couldn't use that as floor paint. I hate it when someone tells me I can't do something! After painting the desired pattern, carefully pulling up the masking tape before the paint dried, I applied 6 coats of high gloss water-based polyurethane. I did have a bit of a problem because there was fiberglass added to the concrete for strength. Strength is good, but the little hairs of the fiberglass became prickly with the addition of the polyurethane. Not good for bare feet. I did have to sand it off after three coats. That was the only way I came up with to get rid of the prickly stuff. The finish has been down for 8 years now, has never been waxed, and remains just like new. What was originally meant to be temporary until I could put down tile or something has become permanent. It is attractive, I think, and easily maintained. I have just a bit over $500 invested in the flooring finish for the entire house!

The other bathroom had its own issue. No problem on the flooring...just paint it! But the shower was another matter altogether. I have a 3'x8' walk-behind shower. How to finish it out.... Fiberglass panels? No- would have to be custom and wasn't the look I wanted. Tile? No! would have to clean grout lines! What to do, what to do....

Paint it! The floors were painted the same as before. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" But, the shower walls had other challenges. I decided to start with greenboard to cover the walls of the shower. Of course, the helpfull guy at Lowes told me I couldn't use greenboard in that application. OOOOOH! I hate being told that. I just told him, "I think I can!" and hauled it home. I installed the greenboard and taped and mudded the joints. Then I painted it with Dry-Lock paint. Hey, if it can be used in swimming pools, why not a shower? After the Dry Lock, I painted it all a lovely sky blue with regular latex wall paint. Then I got out the acryllics and painted clouds, trees, and flora. Why not? Add about 8 coats of polyurethane, caulk the joints in the corners, add poyurethane molding pieces to finish, plumb, and shower!

It has been in service for about 7 years now.

I have had to repaint the

floor of the shower. Too much standing water,

I guess. I repainted it using marine, oil based paint. So far so good. I clean with vinegar and water solution and it seems to holding up well. Not bad for a $250 investment. I figure it's an acceptable risk to try something unconventional that costs little more than a few dollars and some time. I'll get tired of it sometime and do something else.

The rest of the floors in the house vary in color and design, but the process is the same. I have decided that what was intended to be a stop- gap sort of thing until I could afford floorcoverings will become permanent. It is so easily maintained. When you live out in the sticks, a lot of stuff gets tracked in, particulary when it rains, and a little sweeping or mopping makes it as good as new. I have recoated the high traffic areas with more polyurethane since the original coats, but that costs no more than applying a quality wax. There have been a couple of nicks in the floor because of small pebbles coming in on shoes, but a little touch up and poly takes care of that. Kitchen flooring has worked out well too...just paint!

I have really enjoyed the entire process of making my home my own and recommend it to everyone. You have to know that people have made their own dwellings for centuries, and they weren't all geniuses. I say "go for it!"

I have also painted furniture. Buy something dirt cheap at the swap meet (rural folks' garage sales) and paint it. The lamp table was the base of an old desk, I think, that I got for $1.50; and the dresser was more expensive--$20.

I also do more conventional painting. Here's a small gallery...

As a hobby, painting isn't very expensive to get into, doesn't take much space, and is FUN!
Even if you live outside of Podunk, as I do, there are instuctional programs on educational TV. I have found programs on PBS, BYU, and local university channels. I set the DVR to record them and paint along when I have a chance. Once you have some techniques down, find your own subject matter and go for it. I like acrylic painting, but you can find shows on other media and adapt to whatever you want to do.

GO FOR IT!

Ya know it's hot....

Ya know it's hot when the chickens are walking around with their beaks open, panting, and their wings held away from their bodies. Ya know it's hot when the horses are all sweaty from doing nothing more than standing around eating, and the cows in the field are either standing in the pond or clustered under any tree that might provide a bit of shade. Time to go to the river or lake! A week of 100 plus degree weather will drive ya there.

We drove about 45 minutes to a campground below the dam at Langley that we have visited for about 40 years. Of course, then we had a truck that would barely make it and a tent to stay in. At that time boats could be rented there, and we had a little outboard motor. Now, that's our pretty little motorhome parked with utility hookups ( must have air-conditioning!), and we have our own flat-bottomed boat and motor. Not many fish to be caught in that kind of heat, but we can get out of the boat and float along side a while. Larry did catch enough catfish for dinner!

On another note, stalking the crazy bird goes on with no success.
This is what I get when I try to sneak up on it. The crazy bird is a painted bunting, a beautiful bird with a blue head, red belly and green back. He really is gorgeous, but you'll have to look one up to see what he looks like because he won't allow a photograph. The doggone thing has been around for a month or so alternately eyeing or attacking his reflection in the glass. He just will not hold still! The other morning I tried again, missed him again, and came in from the sunroom all frustrated to get ready for work.

"What's the matter?" Larry asked.

"I just can't manage to get a picture of that crazy bird!"

Into the bathroom I went to prepare myself to meet the public at Walmart.

A few minutes passed. "I got it," Larry said, smugly offering the camera to me. He had stood at the door to the sunroom, used the telephoto and snapped away.
I took the camera to review his photo, then proceeded to laugh my head off ( well, not literally; but you get the idea). "Did you look at these?" I asked when I caught my breath.

"No...."

"Are you thinking we have world-class camera equipment here? 'Cause what we have is an 'el cheapo' easy-share. You got a lovely picture of the sunroom, but no discernable bird!"

Well, maybe we'll keep trying; but ,seriously, find a picture of a painted bunting elsewhere because it's not looking so good here.

Blackberry season is here! It's looking better than mushroom season was. No mushrooms this year... must have been the erratic temperatures. It was crazy, warm then cold, twenty dgrees or more variation day to day. The berries a little smaller than I would have guessed after the spring rains, but they'll do. Wild berries tend to be smaller than domestic ones anyway. Yep, ya get domesticated, then ya get big and fat. Happened to me! Time to make cobbler...Yum!

Still no blooms on the big-leaved plant in the backyard, but they've got to bloom sooner or later, right? Meanwhile, God's garden along the road is doin' pretty well. If I could just get stuff to grow where I want it!

I have finally gotten a little bit from the vegetable garden! A few peppers and some green beans! Before long, tomatoes, cucumbers, cantelope, okra, eggplant, and squash! In the meantime, thank goodness for grocery stores!

The green beans are sitting on my latest recycling effort. I bought the table about 20 years ago at a garage sale. I just kept a tablecloth on it, but about 8 or 9 years ago, I painted it. It was just kind of beige with some oak leaves stamped on it. Fine for years, but started looking kind of yucky. I stripped off the paint thinking I would just stain it and poly the top. So, stripped off the paint and then remembered why I painted it in the first place. A couple of black rings on the top that I just couldn't remove! Well, so much for stain andseal. Here's the result... Different, huh?

Officially Summer

Summer and Father's Day arrived on the same day. Brian and the boys came out for some "guy" activity. A new .22 rifle had to be sighted in. Larry insists that only two shots needed to be fired in order to sight in the gun, but, hey, it's a .22-- cheap bullets! What about the fun factor? Fire two shots or shoot the heck out of a cardboard box? No contest.

When Brian finished throwing bullets, Gage helped me bring the ponies back in from grazing. I lead the biggest one, and the two smaller ones generally follow. Sometimes the smallest, Dezi, needs a bit of encouragement to come in. Enter boy on four-wheeler from the rear. Fun for all! Well, not so much for Dezi. Next, time to go fishing at a nearby farm pond, clearly more enticing than fishing in our pond. Larry's job was to take photos. Maybe photographer school would be a good idea. Everybody caught something, but Lane caught the only turtle. They had fun anyway, despite the heat.

It has been a tough season for gardening so far. The spring was so wet! When I managed to find some time when the garden wasn't too wet to plant, I would get a few seeds in; then a downpour would come and beat down any seedlings or wash out any seeds. A neighbor brought over a few squash and cucumbers, but we haven't gotten anything out of our garden yet. I finally have a place in the backyard to plant flowers. You wouldn't think that would be a problem with ownership of 33 acres. That would not take into consideration the goats, chickens and assorted wildlife. I now have an area surrounded by cattle panels and chickenwire. Eventually I hope to cover the less than attractive fencing with greenery. This year, though, I put out a few bedding plants. I also got a box of hummingbird mix seeds. Attract hummingbirds! Sounds good, right? Well, I cleared an area and broadcast the seed. Soon there were all sorts of things germinating. Problem... no indication of what was coming up from the broadcast seed and what was just coming up on its own. Soooo.... the only difference between a flower and a weed is cultivation, right? Right??? Maybe not. Some plants seemed to have stickery stems. Ooooh, don't want those! Pull them up! May have gotten a little carried away. Ornamental grass would be grass that you don't mow, right? Got some of that! And I have a bunch of these big-leaved plants. They're sunflowers, right? Time will tell.

Do Rural people blog?

Maybe I am one of the remaining unconnected rural people. Maybe it is more a result of age than locale. As I approach 60 years of age, I feel more and more out of it. I watch kids texting their little brains out and wonder what I'm missing. I retired from teaching high school partly because I felt so out of touch with students. It could be suggested by some that small school rural students are out of it anyway, but that would make me twice as out-of-it. I no longer listened to the same music, watched the same movies or television programs, and was totally not a gamer. Anyway, it's time to try something different as my mind now has the time to wander.
I know that many people think that teaching is almost "banker's hours" or even better because of all the holiday breaks and summers off. I must have been doing something wrong for thirty years then because I didn't get that sense of leisure. I found myself with no life outside of teaching. I felt the need to retire to find something of myself, if there remained much to find. I feel that sense that "there's got to be something more," but I have no idea what that might be. The paltry sum left of my teacher's retirement check (over half of the net goes to health insurance--as bizarre as that is) does not leave much for exploration financing despite the fact that I am debt free. So... what to do, what to do.... Maybe the only sort of exploration left as a viable option is virtual exploration. I have the means and ,finally, the time.