Monday, January 12, 2009

The Paint Swatches

For those of you who enjoy life in states outside the northeast, here are a few recent pictures from Western Mass.

Every December for as long as they can remember, Andy and Chris' family converge at Auntie's house near Leominster for Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. Apparently there was a storm during the day of this year's Christmas get-together, but we all decided to make the 2-hr drive regardless. We had a great drive - everything is all hushed and muffled with that much snow on the ground. The road conditions were pretty poor, but that made things all the more adventurous.
This is what the car looked like when we arrived. The Swedes sure do build a good car for weather like this.
Karen busied herself on Saturday sanding and applying some poly acrylic to the railing to the loft. She likes to pose, too. You can see one of the color choices in the background there, but don't expect to see it again. It lost steam fairly quickly in the committee, and at final tally, only managed a 25% approval rating.
Here is the paint swatch in the kitchen. Unfortunately... or fortunately, I suppose... this color fared even worse, and ended up with no votes at all. Some described it as too sugary, too sherbety, and one committee member even said the color made her feel like she needed to brush her teeth. Hmmm... not good feedback for Behr. We'll keep looking, but both of these walls will end up some shade of green or another.
We finally finished the last two feet of wall in Chris and Karen's room. And yes, we practiced workplace safety at all times. The ladder is on a chair which is on the dining room table, and that rests squarely on the floor. With the rafters in place, we trimmed the sheathing boards to fit around them. For the space between the rafters, we cut boards to size and used the pocket jig to provide mounting holes into the rafters. Pocket holes are basically a fancy way to toe-nail. Toe-nailing here would never meet the WAF.
A bit more paint on the wall, and a bit of sunshine on the floor.
Like I said... she likes the camera. Though just between you and me, I suspect she kind of has a thing for the cameraman, too. Just sayin'. She was applying the poly acrylic at this point, and seemed pretty pleased with her progress.
Ever wonder what the snow looks like when it falls off a tin roof? Mindy probably won't park her car here anymore. Andy shoveled it out on Sunday morning, and we have moved things around so we don't need to be in the line of fire.
The 6" of snow we had on Saturday night made a pretty sight on Sunday morning. Church was postponed until 3 in the afternoon to give people a chance to 'dig out', and we had a good time getting the snow all straightened away.
A few weeks ago, we had a faulty connection in the tractor somewhere, so we shoveled the driveway by hand. Yes, all 800' of it. We are thrilled to have the tractor doing its part now, and were very happy with how much easier it is than shoveling. I know, hard to believe.
Between the bucket on the front and the blade in the back, our little tractor is a very useful tool. With some practice over the next few months, this process will get more efficient, but even so, it's fun to move snow!











4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just info. from an art major, if you put green in the kitchen or dining room, it can make your meats look greenish and not very appetizing! I can make it look like its going rotten. Anyway just thought you would like to know.
amber

The Wests. said...

Hmmm... good to know. Thanks, Amber.

Jennifer said...

So what color would make one want to floss?

How about a color that would make someone feel like inviting their friends over every weekend to watch movies ? :)

Anonymous said...

I guess something warm and inviting. Colors just evoke so many moods. put up something that you like, thats the best bet. By the way. . .Tell Mindy that she needs to pay attention to her blog because people are thinking she has fallen off the face of the earth, especially when she no longer has the same email and doesn't give a new one to anyone!