A Little Paint goes a Long Way

Visitors from North Carolina









<---Before Paint






<---After some Paint

FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 26, 2006

HIGHLIGHTS

1. The carpenters finished this week. The soffit work is done and rain gutters are back up. Hopefully, this is all the carpenter work that is needed up high off the ground. It is good to get this wrapped up.
2. It was a challenge painting what the carpenters had put up while the scaffolding was still in place. The scaffolding moved 4 times last week so I had to be quick with the paint after they had left for the day. You can see by the "Before" and "After" pictures that a good coat of paint is making a great difference. You'll probably get bored with future reports of "scraped and painted this week" but there is a ton of that ahead.
3. One down, one to go. The red hydraulic machine was hauled off on Tuesday. The yellow one may be gone this week. I'm not sure that I would call it a miracle, but it's ongoing evidence that God does answer prayers. (Some of you probably didn't realize that hydraulic machines could be part of a spiritual experience, did you?)
4. The tangerines are ripening. As I continue my sampling, the sweetness is increasing every day. The neighborhood cats are getting more comfortable. Little Leo says "Meow." Bethany (Hall) Fitelson "named that tune" - Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - from last week's blog quiz. (Bethany, have the vouchers for the paid vacation trip arrived yet?)
5. We thoroughly enjoyed this week's visits. Dani Dusek, an SBC friend from Mexico days, dropped the Silver Lady off at the house shortly after dark on Monday and got the twilight tour. She and Pat had been to Dallas for silver jewelry sales. Her gift for interior decorating will be a great blessing to us when we are ready to make this house our home. A neighbor, Deiter, stopped and had some encouraging words. The distance award goes to Dr. Dan and Sherrill Blazer from North Carolina. They are very gracious, Christian friends we met while living in California. Dan, a researcher at Duke University, was on a sabbatical at Stanford for a year when we first met them. Pat and Sherrill are kindred spirits and have kept the friendship alive despite the Blazer's move back to North Carolina and our move to Texas. Dan is an MD who just happens to have a PhD in psychiatry. (Pat may have called him in for an assessment of my mental state as manifest by the work on this house. I did give Dan, who has authored over 30 books, two suggested titles for a future work -- "When Someone You Love Loses Their Mind" or "The Fine Line Between Vision and Delusion." Keep your eye on the New York Times Best Seller list.)

NEXT STEPS
1. Deck work begins on Monday. More to report on as that progresses.
2. Painting will continue. I would love to get the high gable end painted this week and only have to work off of 3 levels of scaffolding for the remainder of this job. The gable end at the front of the house is going to require all 4 levels of scaffolding, i.e., ~35 ft off the ground. The number may look small, but the distance is HUGE when you're up in the air.
3. Plumbing may move forward depending on the progress on the deck this week. Part of the deck work includes a closet for the hot water heater that is presently located in the kitchen. Once the water heater moves, the plumbing can be completed.