The front porch

The porch is a disaster. There are 5 layers of paint, the wainscoating is kinda messed up, the trim is rotted, and the shingles on the outside are really warped. I spent several hours stripping what I could of the multiple paint layers, but the whole time I am doing this all I can think is "should I just re-do part of the porch?" I have limited funds available...I think the most I might do is buy new trim pieces, nail the shingles on better, and paint. I also did a lead paint test today, which of course was positive. I had been getting lazy and NOT wearing my mask every time I worked. I needed that positive result to kick me back into wearing the mask. I KNOW BETTER. I have already gotten lead poisoning...several years ago, on the first paint stripping project I did. My doctor was pretty casual about my request, gave me the forms to go to the lab, and then called me as soon as the results came in. "You're doing WHAT kind of project?" he asked.

I have 4 test patches painted on now...this is really hard to do.

Landscaping progress

I finished scraping and sanding one side...bar the top strip that I will deal with separately. Gotta figure out how to best tackle the underside of the eaves...and I am considering just doing the whole house myself. I got a few painting quotes. Sigh. I know it will take me all summer (and it will take a painter 2 weeks) but I think I will go for it. I have no money unless I get a bank loan. Eh. Not an idea that makes me overly happy, that.

Ordered 100 pachysandra plants online, they arrived yesterday, so today I put them all in. I can only assume that they will take, and in a few years the area below the tree will be filled in nicely.

Overview of the front hill garden area. It's shaping up pretty well, considering this was the LAST thing I really cared about for the last 2 years.

Dog Park April 28

Tired

I have just spent 4 hours scraping and sanding. I was up last night until 3:30 am. I don't like it when my brain can't shut down and let...me...sleeeeep. However, my therapy of choice is still the house project, that should do just fine. I am tired, though. I feel like I shouldn't stop working, because the weather is good and it's not dark yet. I sound like my ex-husband when I say that...he would work in the fields until dark and I was always alone. Ah, well, at least there's no one waiting for ME to come in from the out of doors...

Dog park April 14

Dog park scans April 7th

I am really loving my dog park photos right now. I still haven't been up as often as I'd like, but when I do go the light is pretty good for the camera. (Since I can't change my shutter and aperture, I rely solely on film speed to help make the correct exposure.) I discovered something new the other day...as the dogs were jumping repeatedly for a stick, I shot from underneath them. This was an interesting experiment, I am going to try that again. Typically, my perspectives are from birds eye view (directly overhead) or down low, a dogs perspective. But shooting UP...now, that's something like the dogs perspective with a twist. Why didn't I think of this before??

Central America: Black and White

The trip to Central America was done months ago...and then I remembered I had 4 rolls of B&W film in my office to develop. Because I had set them aside (on reels, and in tanks) at the end of January, they had awhile to sit on a shelf in my office until I found/made some time to work with them. One of the tank lids was under too much pressure and burst, just a crack, but anyone who knows film knows what that means. Light leak. Big time. So, out of 4 B&W rolls, I ended up with only 3 that were workable. Tonight I remembered to bring them home to scan, and of course this is bringing back all kinds of memories from the trip. I am actually having quite an anxiety attack just thinking about it. This can't be good. But, at any rate, the above images are some favorites.