You know the type of projects that start out as a “quick temporary fix” and quickly snowball into a weekend-long event? Ah yes, well, I stumbled into another one this weekend.

I’m not what you’d call handy with a trowel, so Teague thought it better if I didn’t skim coat the chimney with him. But I wasn’t off the hook, because we’ve got more unfinished projects than you can shake a stick at. I chose to wash and paint the porch floor. The paint was flaking off very badly, and we thought we better repaint it before big piles of snow sat on the bare wood all winter.

This being my first experience with our power washer (a 1750 PSI given to us by my father), I had NO IDEA how much paint was going to come flying off. Giant paint chips were blasted off the boards, sent whooshing across the floor and into our flower beds. Bare, mildew-ridden wood were brightened to a shiny gold color! I am totally impressed with the power of this machine. If it weren’t for the big mess, I’d use it for all my cleaning needs.

However, I got a little out of control with it and started to blast the railings too. Bad idea, because that paint came off in even bigger flecks (though it had previously looked just fine).

So, after power washing I had to paint the floor AND the railings, which of course doubled the timeline. It does look three million times better though, so it was worth it. I’d post pictures, but our camera battery is dead again.

Yesterday we had more fun with electricity. Did I mention how cranky electrical work makes us? After a full day’s work we have two totally new circuits, two new outdoor lights, 1 new outdoor outlet, 3 new light switches, and wire ready and waiting for the three new light fixtures we’ll be putting in the kitchen addition. And I only got zapped once by the old hanging knob and tube. Phew.