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I would have taken a picture of the first coat, but I was too scared. It was leprechaun green. The saleswoman had opened the can of paint, and in response to Mark's squeal, had said, "Don't worry. It dries darker."
So he kept saying, "She said it dries darker." It looked like it might, but I broke it to him: plan on three coats. After the second coat, Mark said, "It seems to dry clear." The old paint spots were a different color than the sanded spots. I tried not to say, "See, you should have sanded down to the bare wood."
I'm good at saying stuff like that. You know, stuff like, "You know what you ought to do?" I just kept busy by saying, "Three coats will be like magic!" Besides, I can always cover it with carpets.
But here it is, all done. The green is not quite the color of the carpet that I sent Mark to the paint store with, but it's not leprechaun green enough to repaint it, either.
There was a stenciling incident, too. Java took a stroll on the wet paint, then stepped on the wood threshold. We considered sanding it or scraping it, but anything we do short of sanding the entire thing and restaining it will look worse than a set of paw prints, so I'm just going to consider it stenciling. It's kind of cute, if you like your cat more than your house, which I do.
About seven years ago, we started coming to our house for summer visits, which lasted for two summers, before we moved in permanently. I hated the bushes for two reasons. First, I thought that if someone were hiding in the bushes to rob the house, no one could see them. Second, they were so overgrown that they blocked sunlight and made the inside of the house very dark. So we started chopping. And chopping. And chopping.
Till we got this. I like it so much better! The house is a Federal style house which was originally built in the 1860's. It has been remodeled since then, with rooms added and such, so we don't really know what's original and what's not, except for the log beams with their bark still on that hold up the house!
You can see that the clapboard goes right to the ground. Modern homes are usually up a few feet, so foundation plantings are installed to hide the foundations. We have no foundation to hide. I've tried to find some information about authentic Federal style landscaping, but I've not had much luck.
I would like to hide the electric meter and the oil intakes, but other than that, I'm thinking that all it needs is a good kitchen garden outside the back door.
When we first moved in, I had romantic notions of the first occupants. It was right after the Civil War. What did they think about? What were their dreams? How did they survive economically? What did they sit in the yard and do? I used to bring this up with Mark all the time, but he didn't share my romantic wanderings.
One day he was in the basement trying to repoint the stone foundation. He came up the stairs covered in cement and said, "I know what your first owner was thinking. 'Why does the house have to be so damn big?'"
