And They All Stood By and Watched...

So continuing on, here sat both a dream and a nightmare. If you look past the blemishes and physical tragedies due to such neglect, I think the dream is easy to see. The nightmare was the actual elbow grease, unforeseen costs, and hours of labor when getting down to the nitty-gritty required, in becoming Fairy Godmother to this Cinderella.

Everyday we got tangled up in one challenge or another. One day, might be a battle with a mold problem, sucking up water in the basement, or sanding peeling paint off the walls and ceiling. Another day, might be filling out forms and paying money to the Conservation Committee, for permission to cut away the enormous amount of bittersweet, as it strangled its way through everything in sight. It also didn’t help that we had an overwhelming situation with getting all the stored things out, so we could fix things up and move our stuff in. (7 years of neglected stuff...Nobody wanted to deal with it.) I already told you about the water in the basement, right? Can you even imagine what became of all the stuff stored down there? I can describe it in one word….Hazmat!

As far as the decorating and painting was concerned, at first I had to keep the colors the same. So, I started in the living room and asked permission to sponge the blues, creams and whites that were present in the room. After they saw the job I did, I was able to change the colors throughout. We also had to get special permission for painting the outside. The first yellow the Historical Society approved, based upon a sample I presented, came out all wrong! It looked like a cheap, artificial daffodil. I hated it and shed a lot of tears. As you get to know me, you will find that nothing upsets me like the wrong color! So I went to my friend at the Historical Society and showed her the swatch. Well as it turns out, their color sample booklet was more than 17 years old and the lady at the store couldn’t get a correct match with what they gave her. So, with Memorial Day weekend approaching, we came up with a plan. I was to get out there and paint like a wild woman throughout the weekend, while all who would express concern attended their picnics! I was to get the entire front done and if anyone questioned me, I was to say that the first (and incorrect) coat was the primer!

Below are some photos of the transformation as it began. The people in the town drove by, beeping and cheering us on. Sometimes, as they went on their walks, they would simply stand by and watch.

Blogs to come will illustrate an evolution of changes. Then, we will be up to date and entering into the changes for this season. I’m so excited!

Get out there and paint! (May, 2008)

I remember leaving, this particular day, exhausted but feeling good!

The day worth waiting for! I made the mosaic boxes and Wayne came and put them up!


He even brought all the flowers for the boxes and all the flowers in containers!

The awning poles were still up...What a pain to get down. I don't know how Wayne did it!

It just got better and better!

A bit of a difference...No wonder they beeped and cheered!