There is much happening around here these days, but most of it requires Patrick to be home. So we fill our days until he comes home and then we kick it into high gear!
Actually... I don't.. So much of the construction requirements for me are decisions and ordering supplies. So I decided to assess what other things needed to be done that I could handle on my own. I know that soon there will be much for me to do... The painting and cabinet staining is all me. Meanwhile, I putter in the garden from time to time and keep the meals coming. So I looked around some more. The BARN.
It was due for a new coat of paint or stain to keep it around and in good repair. Paint falls under my jurisdiction.
The toughest part... choosing the colour of the stain.
After a bit of research I decided on a semi-transparent stain in 'Tugboat' colour. I also ordered some wood cleaner.
A few sunny days on the forecast; I donned my painting clothes and headed out to start the barn washing.
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Washing pictures
At first I wondered if I was making a difference or just wasting my time with all the spraying and scrubbing, but as it dried I could definitely see a difference. So I spent the entire day scrubbing the barn. I used muscles that have been on a lifelong vacation. I was drenched and worn out, had sunburned the back of my calves and my neck, but it sure felt good to have that accomplished and now I knew that next up was painting. I was giddy with excitement to start painting.
I waited the required 24 hours for the wood to be fully dry and then headed out early one morning; again garbed in my designated painting suit.
I was talked into using a paint sprayer.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE???
It was amazing!
Within an hour, I had painted one entire side of the barn. Paint Spraying is my favourite way to paint. Painting is already so satisfying to me but this reached an all time high level of satisfaction beyond any paint project I've ever attempted. I was grinning ear to ear as I methodically stepped left, squatted and slowly rose to a standing position all while keeping my arm straight and even with the wall, my finger gently pressing the trigger, then without missing a beat; step left and slowly lower back into a squat with the steady hand on the sprayer, evenly releasing a stream of perfect paint... Then repeat.. .and repeat... and repeat. Beautiful. The rhythm was easy and I could paint about ten feet of wall before needing to fill my reservoir again. Even having to climb the ladder for the high sections was done evenly and I was making short work of a large barn wall!
During the previous 24 hours that the wood was drying, I had attended a meeting on zoom. Someone shared a motivational analogy about marathon running. It had been interesting. As I painted, I began to think about the marathon analogy.
A marathon, is a large endeavor that people train for and prepare for. Even with the desire to complete a marathon however, not all entrants complete the race. The point of this particular analogy was about those who don't complete the race. There are a lot of reasons why someone who trains and desires to finish a marathon cannot. But the interesting part was when did the majority of those who don't complete the race stop. It is pretty rare for a runner to stop within the first mile or two. They're just getting started, they've been training and know to pace themselves. They still have energy and feel empowered.
It is also unusual for a racer to quit with only a mile or so left. The finish is in sight (metaphorically if not physically), victory and accomplishment are sending a last bit of adrenaline to see them through the final sprint. Once this far, there is no talking a racer into stopping now! Goals are about to be met.
So when do those who don't finish give up?
It is said that they give up around the 20 mile mark. They've given a lot. Their training has paid off in getting them this far. It's still a huge accomplishment. However, there are still 6 miles left. Six miles. That's a good size race all by itself for some people. They are tired and mentally it's a challenge not to think that six miles is a long ways still to go. This is the tough endurance part that makes or breaks the racer. Dig deep and find something to spur you on or be pleased with all you've accomplished and stop at the 20 mile mark.
So I was thinking about this as I painted. The first side was completed in about an hour. The barn has four sides... Totally doable. The weather was ideal, the wind was non-existent, the paint sprayer and I were simpatico. I rounded the corner and began the next side. Although the front of the barn had higher peaks and I needed the ladder more, it wasn't as wide and within about an hour, the second side of the barn was painted. This was mind blowing!
As I rounded the third side, I had to slow for some detail stuff around the door, but even that wasn't complex. I was now moving right along. Jim in the Tin house played some painting tunes to keep me focused. 'The girl from Ipanema', some Beattles, some jazz.. It wasn't fast paced, it was consistent... just like my painting rhythm. I had opened my second bucket of 5 gallons of stain and kept on tackling the project. At the end of the third wall it had taken a little longer than the others.. This side was taller than the first so I had spent more time up and down on the ladder and there were external trusses to paint as well. It was noon. I took a lunch and potty break.
After lunch I noticed a few achy muscles from my four hour squatting session and the muscle in my forearm was letting me know that my trigger finger was tired. I was soo close! I wanted to be finished. I also began to think.. it would be doable to finish within an hour or so and since it had been 4 hours since I started the first side, I could just start the second coat and the barn painting would be completed in just one day! (Paint sprayer for the win!!) So armed with my fabulous, time saving sprayer, I set up the ladder and paint for the last and final side of the barn.
Before I began I had another realization. Some sage advice from a book the boys had been listening to before bed that week. 'If you have to eat a frog, best to do it in the morning. If you have to eat two frogs... eat the big one first.'
If the barn was my frog, I had done well and began in the morning. It was now 1:30 in the afternoon. The temp was in the high 70's. I had already painted 3 sides of the barn, so I was no longer in the morning of my energy level. But I was clinging to my marathon analogy.. Can't quit now with only six miles left.
Up the ladder, down the ladder, squatting and reaching, refilling the reservoir, and since I was in the corral.. shoo the geese and chickens away from the paint bucket from time to time.
One third of the back wall of the barn and I was sweating. I didn't wish to wear shorts and a t-shirt because I'd been sunburned earlier in the week from watering in the garden and bike rides and all the barn washing. My sunglasses were specked with paint mist and my hair had a crunchy paint film. No sense cleaning up now with so little left to go. But I was starting to drag. This end was the tallest wall. With the ladder completely extended, I still had to stand on the top rung in a precarious position. The ground was not level and the ladder was teetery. The hose for the sprayer was getting caught on the ladder rungs and I often had to climb up and down the ladder extra times to loosen the hose. Even standing on the top rung and reaching beyond what was really safe to do, I couldn't reach the top peak of the wall. The wind was picking up and the paint was blowing back into my face.
Half way, I sat in the shade of the chicken coop for a few minutes to cool down amongst the dust and the chickens. I didn't sit long. So close... so close. I had convinced myself not to do the second coat today though. Just finish the fourth wall. I mounted the ladder again. I began the steady, rhythmic strokes. My arm was aching trying to hold the sprayer, that hadn't seemed heavy all morning, up and away from my body stretched as far as I could get it. As I pondered my position, precariously perched on the top rung of a teetery ladder stretching beyond safety.. exhausted and hot, I thought of the two frogs.
'eat the big one first.'
This fourth wall was my big frog. Had I tackled it first in the morning, the barn painting may have had a different feeling. I used every inch of stamina I had and finished the fourth barn wall. I painted a little thicker than the other walls because I knew then I may never return to the big frog wall of the barn.
Completed! The barn had a full first coat of paint. I didn't even care how it looked, I just picked up my now empty second 5 gallon bucket, my paint sprayer and walked to the house. I threw away the empty bucket and began washing the paint sprayer. I was filthy, exhausted, and I my muscles were lecturing me on the merits of training.. or easing into using them. The temperature had reached over 80 degrees and the wind was picking up. BUT!!! I had completed the first coat on the entire barn in one day. Paint sprayers are the BEST!!
Somehow, the act of washing the sprayer gave me renewed excitement. It took all of five minutes to clean up! Rollers and brushes take me longer than that! I was back in full throttle love for the paint sprayer. I was eyeing the house... I will be painting it soon... once Patrick finishes building it. As achy as I was feeling and dirty as I was, I began to eagerly consider the next painting projects... Ignoring the second coat the barn needed, niggling in the back of my mind.
Clean and accomplished, I slept well that night.
The next morning... my eyes were swollen.. one almost swollen shut. My nose was watering, and half my face felt numb. I went back to sleep. I woke again a few hours later.. aching as I rolled over and itching at my still swollen eyes. I made an executive decision. I would NOT paint the second coat today.
Unsure exactly why my eye was swollen and my face was numb other than perhaps some seasonal allergies which I had been fighting mild symptoms for about a week, and perhaps that I had possibly overdone it the day before, I opted to take it easy and recuperate for a day or two.
Then the weather didn't cooperate. A week later I headed out once again. Still in love with my sprayer. My eye and face healed, my muscles bracing themselves for another round of torture.
In three and a half hours, I had painted the barn's second coat.
Three sides of it at least. I ran out of paint. Probably two weeks until I can get some more.
The second coat on the back wall will happen as its own project another time. It's better that way.
BEFORE
AFTER
(The bottom left side is the same colour as the others... just unusual lighting.)
