I have to learn to finish one job before I start the next. At the moment, pressing projects include: painting the studio, walls and trim, adding molding, finishing up the doorway, putting everything back in there. Other projects include, finishing the banister, installing a sliding screen for the back door, and continue dealing with the yard! I've decided that I need to live with certain things - such as the doorway in the studio. That will probably not get done now until after my show in November. Too bad, it looks pretty raw.
One job which needs to get done sooner than later is the banister because of Henry Sanding Floor. I started stripping with Citristrip - this stuff is great! It took three layers to get all of the previous layers off, it's ready to strip in half an hour up to 24hrs, and it comes off beautifully with steel wool. Then I ran out. I used this other stuff that is ready to strip in 15 minutes, has some
nasty fumes, and gave me a few chemical burns as well. Also, when it says ready to strip in 15 minutes, that's it. There is no cushion. The stuff starts to dry and is useless. The Citristrip is much better for the multi-tasker. I could run outside, paint the molding, work on digging up a root - realize an hour had gone by, run into the banister and scrap some more paint off. Then add another layer of stripper, paint the baseboards in the studio, spackle the walls, talk to Jacques, realize another hour and a half had gone by, pull some more paint off. With the second stuff, I had to drop everything hop off the ladder where I was painting the windows and run to strip the paint. Hmph. I was sweaty and stinky and didn't feel like dressing up for Home Depot (we've discussed this - it helps, trust me), so the banister has been tabled. I hope that my favorite hardware store on 10th has Citristrip. I'm stocking up.
Mike said to try to use my landscape mode on my digital camera photograph Fred. Here is the result on that. Not great. The camera keeps focusing on the reflections on the glass, not on what I want it to focus on. I'll be gettin' that there 35mm film tomorrow. Fred is definitely turning into something. He hasn't moved but every once in a while he twitches.
(10 hours later) Well, I take it back, I put the camera on portrait and used the flash and here's what I got! A fantastic shot of Fred. I just took this image, the one above is from this morning. Look how much further he is from the branch. That bright shiny thread is what is holding him up. I'm so desperately afraid I'm going to knock him off the branch by accidentally knocking the table or something, but so far so good.
To recap: (this is really for me - so I feel productive) today I watered the yard and pulled some roots, tried to install a sliding screen for the back door so I could leave it open (not successful), stripped the banister, painted the molding, spackled the window sills, stripped the banister, painted the baseboards, stripped the banister, second coat of paint on molding, stripped the banister, second coat of paint on the baseboards, started painting the windows, gave up on the banister tried to clean a bit. Came upstairs, took a bath. Retrieved molding from front porch, bagged four garbage bags of yard debris, collected various other trash items, put them on the curb. Made chicken tacos for dinner, and got a bit further on the bootee for Nodin.
I'm tired. I'm going to bed.
I wonder if Citristrip doesn't have some oil in it which helps the wood. It is such a difference from the other stuff which left the wood dry and parched looking. I cleaned up the last of the bits with steel wool and the wood is a rich chestnut color, wiped it down with odorless Mineral Spirits and it gleams. It's coming along - and now that I have the right stuff, I can slap it on and walk away for a while, complete a job and then get back to the banister. Makes multi-tasking much more efficient.
