Where I Been

The most recent post listed here at Brain Candy is February, 2006. Considering that February 2007 is pretty darn close, I suppose I should explain myself. I'm the shy type, but not usually this quiet. Frankly, I've had little to say and much time in which to say it. Since last posting I've send my family to Eastern Europe and Eastern Ohio, I've accompanied them to Florida, I've continued to hold the same job (that's no big whoop unless you know me), I've changed domiciles, lost a mother-in-law and had a father-in-law move into assisted living. There's probably more, but it doesn't immediately come to mind.

That's history, here is the present. I'm surrounded by opportunities to improve the new place. Let's start with some exterior work I'm anticipating:

My immediate future holds painting and powerwashing.

Painting
The garage door here is the old-style two-panel door that folds in the center. When I'm inside the garage, I pull the door and the whole thing comes toward me, then folds on itself and rises to the ceiling. Oh, there are springs and whatnot involved, but that's the gist of it.

There was plastic film attached to the inside of the window panes in the door. I've scraped those. Now it's time to attack the surfaces of the garage door and sill. They look like this:


Garage door

The prep time will be the worst part of this task. There will be much scraping and sanding before we can apply a clean coat of exterior paint.

Cleaning
Because of trees that shade much of the front of the house, there is quite a bit of algae growing on wall and walkway surfaces. A day with a power washer should take care of much of this and go far toward improving the appearance of the home.


Front wall beside the garage door.

A trip to the landfill to dispose of the scrap metal will also neaten the appearance. In time, the stark becomes irrelevant and is relegated to the subconscious. We’ve been entering and leaving this home for years. In part of that time the steps to the right of this wall were new. They are clearly darkened and stained today. As for the wall beside the steps, what might have generously been called a patina at one time now is irrefutably crud. It too will be given a thorough power washing.

There is much to do inside as well, but that will have to wait. Someday soon somebody is certain to discover we're not having winter. That will be rectified and I'll have several months to attend to indoor needs.