We are still repainting Sadie, hoping to finish the front and sides before Wintertime, while saving the back for next Spring/Summer. When I say “we”, I really mean “mostly Kenny”, as he is the one repairing and replacing wood and siding and doing most of the scraping. And all that was going pretty smoothly until he hurt his back; so we had to take it all a bit slower, waiting for him to heal and allowing for longer breaks between work days.
The heat of Summer also arrived, shortening my workdays from dawn until rays of full sun hit the part of Sadie I am working on. In 2007, I was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, and two of the biggest dangers for me are heat and direct sunlight. By now I am well versed in protecting myself from the sun (and stress), so my big floppy hat and I will be very clever and careful climbing the scaffolding to get Sadie all gussied up before the new year.
Since we last met here, we have painted as much of the first floor as possible – then errected scaffolding, and completed safety anchor and harness installation, to safely reach and paint the second floor blue. Safety is our main concern, as a fall could be fatal – but if we do fall, the harness should catch us.
I also revamped my studio and thought you might like to see those results. I am a painter, printmaker and sculptor, creating mixed media paintings with found or made objects added into the work. I focus on simplified, repeated shapes with hidden questions and answers to the universe, making each piece unique to my style and meaningful to me. In this way, the process often feels communal with everything, but my work space must have a certain flow to it to nurture a creative current.
I retired from a career in web development, but maintain a handful of web projects to keep me fresh, and this blog is one of those websites. Sadie’s Old House allows me to document the changes we make, which helps motivate us to keep plugging away at seemingly endless renovations. While Kenny and I have always taken on ambitious projects together, I am sure after we paint the last stroke on Sadie, we will consider this our swan song. Repairing and repainting a giant colonial revival eclectic house and two out-buildings is a massive undertaking and not for the faint of heart. This ain’t your run of the mill ranch house, after all.. and I should point out that we are painting it all by brush so we can properly prepare the wood and address any problems in the process.
At the end of every project, I am reminded that I married my best friend and that alone makes life pretty fun. We have been bickering around home projects now for 25 years, but the amount of time we spend standing back and staring in pride and accomplishment at the result, is worth each and every $%@!.
Kenny and I are a symbiotic DIY organism. It requires both of us to produce the results we crave.
