Painting and Cold Watermelon

Painting is no fun. I forget that every time I start a refurbishment project. This is one I have been putting off for far too long. It's the bathroom out in the detached guest room. At some point, someone put up some of that particle board stuff instead of sheet rock for walls. It's a bitch to paint, as we found out when we first moved in. We painted the bedroom out there a green so pale it's nearly white. We went through a gallon of primer and two gallons of paint doing that room. The unfinished wall boards soak up paint like a sponge. After that ordeal, we decided against painting the ceiling, left it the natural color, and I intended then to move on the the bathroom at once. I had a stupid idea that I would wallpaper, but found with the first sheet, that the walls were far too rough and splintery and would have to be sanded or replaced or smooth board tacked over it before wall paper could be hung. I gave up. Right there. For two years.

After we got back from the mountains I decided this job needed tackling again. I had gotten an idea from my doctor's office about using faux ceiling tile on the walls out there. I went to Lowe's and bought 14 sheets of the stuff. Supposed to be super easy to cut to fit and to apply. Not! This is all providing the walls are smooth and straight, and the walls in this bathroom definitely are not. After a couple of hours wrestling with this stuff, cutting it to fit, etc. I gave up once again. Monday I took the remaining sheets back to the store for a credit and decided on one of those faux paint finishes. I talked to the lady in the paint department, explaining to her how much I hate to prime and wished to use that new paint with the primer inside. She heard the kind of walls I was trying to paint and promptly told me I would definitely have to prime first, even if I did use the new primer included paint. What a disappointment. Ruined my whole day.

Tuesday, I put up painters tape. When this particle board stuff was installed, whoever did the job, added little strips of seam molding over each 4 by 8 joint, and all that molding had been stained and varnished, so there was a ton of stuff to tape up. On Wednesday, I primed. I was worn out by it, and didn't even go buy my paint. During the priming I realized that all those faux finishes that required circular rubbing or sponging just were not going to work on this super rough wall board. I decided to just straight paint the stuff with some really rich color. I chose one called Raspberry Cocoa. Went this morning and bought the paint. And I just finished, at least with the first coat. I'm blogging while the first coat dries. Then I'll see how much I have left to do. I'm anxious to be done. I hope it didn't come out too dark. Or too purple.

It's so damn hot, and painting in the bathroom, up on a ladder, even with a fan and music, I was sweltering. I know music doesn't make you feel cooler, but it helps in other ways. I came inside and my darling had cut our watermelon, the one we grew ourselves. A Charleston Gray like we both ate when we were kids. You can't buy Charleston Grays in the stores anymore. We had watermelon vines growing a maze out by the garden, but this is the only melon we got off the whole tangled mess. And oh is it sweet. And juicy. And cold. Big black spitting seeds. Deep red heart. Pale green, thick rind. Oblong shape. This is the kind of melon you can hold in your hand and chomp your teeth right into, brings back memories. Nothing like watermelon on a hot, hot August day.

Onward ....