Deadlines

Aah, me and deadlines.  I can’t seem to fool myself when it comes to deadlines.  Last time you visited, I was going on about how I couldn’t fail now.  I had a real deadline.  My friends Chris and Dan were coming to visit on Friday night, and we we going to provide a wonderfully painted kitchen ceiling for them to socialize and eat breakfast under.

It is now Sunday night.  My Kris and I are gearing up for the season premier of “The Amazing Race.”  Dan and Chris have long since returned to Vermont.  The painting muscles in my back have had two days to recover, though my fingers are still sore.  The Giants lost.  The Patriots won.  The Red Sox…well, what does it matter?  They blew their season months ago.  And the ceiling in question?  Well…it’s half painted.

I have some really good excuses though.  Seriously, don’t leave the blog yet.  Kris brought home this nice little flu from work, which laid her up for a few days.  She was kind enough to share the coughing and sneezing symptoms with me.  We’re both getting better now.  Life gets in the way as well, driving kids here and there and attending cross-country meets (nice race this week, Hadley!).  The real killer is probably my occasional tendency toward perfection, especially when it comes to painting.

Each phase of this project took longer than planned:  the sanding, the wiping down the ceiling to get the dust off, the two coats of BIN primer on the knots, the coat of primer on the whole ceiling (especially in those 138 grooves).  The one break I did get is that the Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint really does cover in one coat, if you load up the brush with enough paint.  The kitchen is done, except that awful space above the refrigerator.  I thought I was going to die from inhaling primer fumes while I lay atop the fridge painting that nook.  I figured my girls would come home to find me dead on the fridge, angled 2½ inch edge brush in hand.  That leaves only the nook-and-cranny-free dining room space, which I’ll knock off today, after dropping Cora off at school and an overdue and much-needed couple miles of running.

The new Clear Moon-colored (think off-white) ceiling looks pretty fantastic.  There was too much wood in our kitchen.  The ceiling looks higher and no longer matches the floor.  The next step in the long-term goal of reducing the visual levels of wood is to replace the aging (and breaking) wood-block counters with concrete.  We’re getting closer on that front as well.  I have secured a 4’ x 8’ sheet of melamine upon which to build the molds.  While Tuesday brings the need for me to return to doing actual work, I do plan to begin assembling those molds in my spare time.  I am not announcing any deadlines, though.

Yes, I said, er, typed, molds, the plural.  In one of our recurring moments of serendipity and parallel thinking, Kris and I each thought of another test for our nascent concrete skills.  To the left of our stove is a 10-inch wide counter.  It is small.  It is lonely.  Disconnected.  The other, bigger counters make fun of it.  You know the story.  Well, the little bitty counter that is deeper than it is wide and can only hold the pepper grinder and balsamic vinegar just got selected to be a test counter in the kitchen.  It will likely be next summer before we have enough time, skill and the right temperatures in our primitive facilities to undertake a major project like an entire kitchen.  This second little test will be crafted in the same batch as the garage counter.  What a swell idea.

Oh, and I have a report of breaking news.  The crack news team here at “Learning to Play With Concrete and Stone” has dug up word of the Freeport Historical Society’s 2nd Annual Dry Stone Wall Building Workshop.  Oh yeah!  October 9th, from 9 to 4.  Check out this link for more info.  I’ve already sent off my fifty-five dollars.  I can’t wait.  It will be run by Chris Tanguay, of Yarmouth, owner of Maine Dry Stone.  I ran into his website a month ago and am excited to meet him and see his work firsthand.  As we get closer, the workshop will give us at the blog a chance to explore that three tons of rock in my back yard and what the hell I intend to do with it.  Maybe the crack news team will score an exclusive interview with him about his work.  Maybe he'll even take a member of the crack news team on as an apprentice or something (insert dreamy sigh here).

For now, wish me luck pushing through the last half-gallon of Clear Moon.  Thick and even.  Slap it on and spread it out.  After that, it will be time to once again test my basic electrical skills by replacing the tired old black track lighting with some new white track lighting.  If you don’t see another post from me, I’m not disrespecting my tiny audience.  I’ve just electrocuted myself.  Or my cold got a lot worse.

dave