And here are the rest of the new changes...

At last, a river pebble path that doesn't need to be raked back in place every time it rains, like the bark path...I love it, the kitties don't.  (Gives pussyfooting a whole new meaning...)  It feels delightfully Zen-garden, to me...

And yes, at long last...

...you guessed it...

Window screens!  I can have the windows open in mosquito and fly season!  Notice the clever swiveling wooden prop...it's attached at the bottom... 

My knight did a fantastic job...

I used one of my terra cotta triskeles to hold the big screen in place, like a toggle...the small one is so tight friction alone holds it!

This one has a brass hinge to hold the window open...

And a delightful new addition to the shed's art gallery, a lamb by the oh-so-talented Wil Freeborn--thanks, Wil!  Check out his Etsy store, here: https://www.etsy.com/people/wilfreeborn and don't miss his wonderful new book!

The screens are absolutely perfect timing, this gloriously cool, delightful summer!  Loving the fresh air...

Let there be...paint!

Yesterday, when the texturing was finally dry enough, I cut in around the trim with a brush and the pale yellow paint we'd mixed up from leftovers. (J. says "good luck matching that later!"  And he's right, of course.  I'm doing a Miss Scarlett, and worrying about that tomorrow.  Or years from now...) 

I used a roller on the walls after that and it went MUCH faster.  Still really tired yesterday, though...finally got back to "bread labor" in the afternoon!

I used painters' tape around the windows and small door, but didn't worry about it on the French doors; there I had sheet plastic to protect the wood.  (Still have to do a couple of coats of spar varnish on the wood.)

You can see the floor is speckled like a Jackson Pollack painting!  That's why we left it for last; we'll sand and sweep/vacuum, then add a couple of coats of deck paint.  Can't wait!

Missing Naomi...

Oh, my.  I had to have exposed rafters and beadboard ceilings.  Forcing paint into all those little crevices...

When we did the painting at the former drug house next door, Miss Naomi and her wonderful husband John helped; we had a ball.  Lots of work, lots of laughter, and pizza after.  They live in SF now, siiiigh.  We had Naomi's dad do one room over there, too, when he moved back here from Tennessee; Dubois was a professional painter for years--he's in SF now, too!  Boy, do I miss them. 


(Yes, of course for a lot of reasons!  But painting uneven surfaces overhead tends to make the missing more immediate...)

Nomes almost never gets a DROP of paint on herself--I looked like I'd dumped the bucket over my head.  Working overhead is rough in the best of times, but rafters and beadboard...eeeep.

And I had reason to think of The Wisdom of Mark, who suggested clear varnish.  YEAH.  If I'd missed a spot then, it wouldn't show!  Still lots of places to cut in with a paintbrush...

Brutal, but it's going to be SO nice.  I really did want to do it myself...and I'll be glad.  SOON.  Reaaaaaaaaaallll soon..........