I am Spackle Woman, Hear Me Roar!

There is nothing like having the right tools for the job. Skinny sticky fiberglass tape borrowed from Secondborn and her hubby, as a foundation for the quick setting, light duty spackling compound [which is paintworthy in 15 minutes, not 24 hours, huzzah!]. My old putty knife, about 2” wide, to lay down the compound. And a bright shiny new 6” putty knife to smooth it.

You’ve seen the accent wall, painted in a flat finish. This is what it looks like now with a wash of glaze in the same color. I like the eggshell finish much better than the flat. Who knew? [Please excuse the general blurriness; this is my nod to the Impressionists. Yeah. That’s it.]



Next comes the base coat for the fancy walls. It was so hard to make myself go out and play with others last night. I just wanted to stay home and paint until the cows came home. But I had a great time! The person who was supposed to teach us salsa was unavailable, so I ended up teaching them to line dance. I also demonstrated my lack of putting ability during the “games” portion of our fun and games.

We had plenty of good simple food: sandwiches, potato salad, olives, and at one point our choice of a Popsicle or a miniature “drumstick” ice cream cone. And pumpkin pie for anybody who still had room at the inn. I did not.

I met some new people, including a good brother who plays the piano, whistles gracefully and on key, and can tell jokes in multiple languages. One of the sisters in my ward is Japanese-born; he had her laughing and wiping her eyes. Another sister at our table spoke Spanish; he made sure that she was included. And he spoke a little French to me and related it to both the Japanese and the Spanish equivalents. All of this without being pedantic, overbearing, or obnoxious in general. [Naturally, he is too old to be a romantic prospect, but another JustFriend is always welcome.]

I am ready to tape newspapers over the windows and mask two of the three walls. I wonder if I will be able to move my bed all by myself, or if I will need to wait until LittleBit and her friend come over tonight? Emptying the bookcases and moving them across the room would definitely come under the heading of “labor”, so I will save them and their wall for tomorrow. Will be quite happy to help keep the labor in Labor Day.

Fourthborn’s Fiancé’s socks are wrapped, with a really great card that I found last night after the singles’ activity, and are ready to go. I am hoping that LittleBit will deliver them tonight.

I have put my large hatbox by the front door; I didn’t make it to Secondborn’s yesterday to return the wallboard tape, so will kill two or three birds with one stone tomorrow. The hatbox is full of photos from her father’s childhood. I’m not sure why I still have them, but they are safe, and I will be happy to turn them over to her and bring back an empty hatbox.

In knitting news, I have finished another repeat of chart 2 on Adamas. That’s eight, eight lovely repeats [cue The Count: bwa ha ha ha ha]. I’m heading back for more knitting, but first I will replace the switchplate by the bedroom door. I almost bought one that could be painted or decoupaged, but I was a little leery about the set-up for the plugs. I will definitely get one for by the front door, however, particularly if I go with Venetian plaster for the long wall and a compatible treatment on the other three walls. That switch seems a couple of degrees off plumb, and it will be less visible to me if I go with the upscale switchplate.

It is not 10° off plumb like the one in our bathroom in the old house in Irving; that one made me twitch every time I walked into the room. One of our friends who was a framing carpenter said that our house must have been framed by drunks, because one of my bedroom windows was 3” off square. That was easily obscured by my window treatment.