At 1100h yesterday, I decided to see what was under the icky peach flowered wallpaper. I started with a small section over by my office.

This section came off easily, and there was nothing under it but the wall. A bit rough, but I decided I’d paint this part instead of putting beadboard paper over it. Also, I’ll finally replace the black speaker wires with the white I bought when we moved in here, but never used because the speakers were already up, and there was little point in custom-cutting wire for specific placement of the speakers in my office when I knew very well I’d have to take everything down when I got around to removing the ugly wallpaper. My office may be next; depends upon whether I’ve got time before I have to head out to the flower-farming fields. Oh, and I think I want my office to be some shade of sage green. Anyway, this part will be painted cream.

Next, I went toward the east windows. God, I wish I hadn’t. There was not one other layer of paper underneath the peach, but two; both ugly as sin. Whoever put up the peach stuff had made a start at stripping the 70s paper, but apparently discovered the 50s paper beneath it and gave up after a very small section over by the light switch. By the time I’d got over the door, I knew I was in for a rough ride.

At some point in time, this was stylish.

So was this.

I didn’t give up, though; I used stripper, and my fabric steamer, and got down to the original wall. Someone needed to keep track of what was going on which walls, I guess.

Under all the 60-year-old paper, the wall had been given a single coat of paint…in mustard yellow.

I quit at midnight, nearly finished except that I had to drain the tetra tank a little so I could move it. Too tired to do that last night.

This morning, bright and early, I started washing off the old paste, and moved the tank to finish stripping. Finally, I got it all. Jesus, what a job!

I had enough leftover beadboard paper to do a couple of rows, so after filling a few small holes, I put it up I ordered two more rolls to finish; that will arrive Wednesday. The wall is surprisingly good, considering the fucking mess that is in my bathroom.

I removed a phone jack, and something else (old, weird-looking brown wire that, come to think of it, I dimly recall as TV antenna wire) that was capped off beside the outlet. Quick and dirty repair, but after another coat of drywall compound and a bit of sanding, it’ll be okay. I’ll prime these two spots before putting up paper so the (unbelievable amount of) paste doesn’t soak into my patches.

Not related to wallpaper, but I washed my butterfly shower curtain, which reminds me that I’m way behind with laundry and oughtn’t be sitting here, tapping away on my phone!

I got a couple of inexpensive brushes to rip the paint off the Pot From  Hell…

(The other one is “fine”. At least they got that right.)

According to folklore, if Candlemas is grey and stormy, as it was today, then winter weather will be gone. According to the famous groundhog, who did not see his shadow, spring is on the way. That remains to be seen (doubtful, but possible, I suppose), but my spring bulbs seem to believe it. The croci are a little slow, and nothing at all from the spring beauty, but the croci are out in the open without mulch, and the spring beauty were planted only a short time ago. The surprise lilies cheated and sprouted in October, but the hyacinths and daffodils are up and green!

It was so warm when I got home that I walked around outside for a bit. I moved the bucket containing probably deceased stinging nettle, and saw a tiny sprout of hyacinth.

Figuring that if the one under a bucket, getting no sun, was up, then perhaps others were as well. I moved some mulch and leaves, and found some even more advanced.

C told me that her daffodils are up above ground. I thought mine would be later because hers are in full sun and mine in only morning sun, but lo and behold, they’re up!

The cold hasn’t yet killed the crazy tulips, though I think I’ll try moving them en masse because they won’t bloom over there and I want to know what colour they are. Dunno…it’s going to get cold again. Not bitter cold, but not the 60F it was today, either.

I still have lots of leaves left that B brought, so I decided to try a slightly less than organic method of turning them into something even more useful than mulch. To wit, compost. I read that urea granules would work, so I bought some on ebay. Wasn’t expensive, and I read that if you sprinkle some on the leaves in January (okay, so I’m a little late) and then again in March, they’ll should be done by July-ish.

I had the pile of shredded leaves, but urea is very water soluble, so I had to mix them up a bit, then sprinkle urea between the layers, and cover the lot with black plastic. Ideally, it should be in full sun, but the hell I’m giving up potential flowerbed space for compost, so they’re where they are and they do what they do.

I wandered around the yard a little and found this elderberry starting to leaf out. Yeah, it’s January 31st…that’s the best time to start growing, right? Not that it matters, since Charlotte and the rest of the goddamned deer will just eat it anyway.

I accomplished a fair amount again today; I finally got the bathroom painted (except for a few tiny touch-ups around the edges where I either taped incorrectly, or damaged the edge in removing the tape). It’s taken me approximately forever, but I like the way it looks, and it’ll be even better once I get my pretty new shower curtain in place, and the green rugs for some contrast. I did put my new round CFL bulbs in, but since I thought I was ordering a 2-pack, and it was only 1, I’m a bulb short. Hence, the yellowish cast on the far left of the fixture; that’s one of the old spiral bulbs.

I let the paint dry for a few hours, then decided it was safe to put up my towel bar, clock, and ring/lip balm holder.

Oh, look…it’s the goddamned pot from HELL. I primed and painted, then clear-coated, and it rippled. I sanded off the rippled stuff, primed and painted, then sprayed with a textured paint…and it rippled. I hate this fucking pot, but it WILL be in the Palm Room because now, it’s personal. It’s going to take a wire brush, but that goddamned pot is going to be in the Palm Room!

P.S. FINALLY, I glued and screwed the tabletop I made last year onto the base. I didn’t really care, since I never lean on tables, but P does, so I did it for him. I’d put it off in case the wood warped, and I’d been concerned about the screws going all the way through hours of my hard work, but the screws he’d got for me to put roost houses up on the trees were the perfect length, so I measured, marked, laid a bead of Gorilla wood glue, and finally…attached the tabletop. Only took me a bit more than a year, too! 🙂

I was too busy yesterday to write, but I got a lot accomplished!

Taped off the bathroom around the sink, which was the last part that needed painting.

Primed the rust stains on the wall, left when we moved the cabinet up, then put on one coat of paint, which took a while because of all the fussy corner bits. I didn’t take down the cabinet because it weighs a ton, and was a PITA to do the last time. Since hell will freeze over before I move that 10-ton cabinet again, I don’t care what’s behind it.

I’d drilled holes for hanging and painted one of the screaming Jesus yellow pots, and sprayed the inside with Flex Seal, but when I clear-coated, it wrinkled the paint. Fuck. I may or may not sand it and repaint. The other two I primed and painted with a textured finish (one green and “sandy”, the other the sienna granite finish I used on the tabletop in the Palm Room).

I repotted the Bird of Paradise plant that I grew from a seed the first February  (I think) that we were here. I broke two roots because I had to cut off the pot. I hope it doesn’t die.

It was warm and sunny, so I got out the pressure washer to get the woodpecker poop off the squirrel baffles under their log feeders, and the bird poop off my car. I also washed the two terra cotta birdbaths that are supposed to be “defunct”, but Onje insists upon drinking from them, and the aluminum heat deflector we use in the gradge. This would be why I wouldn’t let P use the piece of cardboard he’d put there.

P’s birthday is actually today, but we celebrated it yesterday because Sunday sucks. I got him a Breville Smart Oven, which is a toaster oven with a bunch of settings, and convection.

I made spaghetti and meatballs for supper–that was what he wanted for birthday supper–and did the meatballs in the new oven, which worked well.

I was inspired by a small patch of snow to make this last night. It didn’t last long, and by this morning, it was just a little pile. I’m okay with that.

The eyes and mouth are sunflower seeds, which made him look kind of crabby.

Not done, not even really close to done, but there is a tiny light visible.

This morning, I sprayed a couple of topcoats on the hardware I painted last night. Looks the same, so I didn’t bother with a photo. Then, I taped off and overspray covered the bathroom light fixture and the mirror cabinet. Good use for leftover bits of Christmas paper, and very festive, too!

Sprayed that all down, then let the bathroom air out, and put the final coat around the shower and on the beadboard paper.

Once the mirror and light fixture were dry enough, I removed the paper, plastic, and tape. I still don’t love the mirror or the lights–too “busy” and I’d really just like a clean, flat frame–but I can’t afford new ones, and I can live with this. Light sucks, but it really looks okay. The new CFL bulbs arrive tomorrow, and then all I have left to do is paint the walls around the sink, give the bathroom a good cleaning, and put my pretty Tahka Butterflies shower curtain up and the new rugs on the floor.

I still haven’t decided whether the second shower curtain is going to be a valence; it’s so pretty that I really don’t want to cut it.

P graciously got paint for me because I decided the table/chairs colour just looked wrong. I scrounged around in the closet and found the creamy white colour used in the Palm Room; it was dried up, and an ACE colour, but there was enough dripped on the label to give P a piece to get computer matched at Buchheit. I didn’t get flat, though; I know it’s washable, but semi-gloss is the only thing I’d really feel comfortable using right over a shower.

The tag on the old can, so I remember that it’s called Continental Cream.

While he was gone, I cleaned excess paste off the baseboard, caulked the bottom of the wallpaper and taped off the ceiling, yet again.

Yes! This is the creamy white I wanted!

Looks nice on the beadboard paper, too, and the little sponge roller was just the thing to get behind the toilet; I duct-taped it to a paint stir stick, and it worked perfectly.

The Buchheit label, which I’ll assume contains the formula.

P also picked up some Rustoleum Ultra Cover 2X spray paint for me in Heirloom White so I can paint (and repaint) some of my bathroom stuff. I didn’t feel up to taping off the mirror cabinet and the light fixture tonight, but I did do the small stuff: toilet roll holder, towel bar, and the hook I never use (but might someday) on the back of the door. I applied two coats tonight, and will clear coat tomorrow.

Well, the beadboard is almost finished. I didn’t clean up the bottom because it’s hard to see back there, and I was out of daylight, but I did get the seam, the top, and the sides trimed/tidied up, and sealed with paintable caulking. The seam actually came out better than I’d expected, especially considering that I somehow managed to get the damned sheet turned around when I soaked it, and instead of the perfect factory edge being on the seam, it was the one I’d cut with scissors, and I’d been none too fussy about it, either, because I’d planned to have that on the side that would be trimmed off anyway. It worked out okay, though, and the caulking gave everything a nice finish. It’s only latex, though, so I’ll definitely have to paint it. For the record, my bathroom floor isn’t filthy as it appears to be behind the toilet; that’s wallpaper paste that dripped onto the baseboard, and bits of backing paper that I scrubbed off when I cleaned the edges.

The ugly-looking seam in the middle is the goddamned paper seam tape that they didn’t bother crack-filling with drywall compound, and just painted over. I probably should have smoothed it myself, but it’s nowhere near as noticeable IRL as it is here, and frankly, I’m tired of this bathroom. Besides, P and I are the only ones who ever use it anyway; we don’t have a lot of company (or…any). I’m still iffy on the paint colour; it was mixed at the same time and supposed to be the same colour as the off-white I used for the table/chairs, but it looks darker to me. I actually carried a chair in to make sure I’m not insane, and it really does look about a shade darker. I still have some left from the table/chairs can, so if it’s fit to use, I may paint over the darker stuff. I dunno. Again, I’m getting tired of this bathroom. 🙂