In case you were wondering, using MyLowe's to save all the paint colors in your home is not actually a helpful process. You see, the bar code produced, applied to the top of the can of paint, and scanned into your account is actually the color formula for the specific type of paint you purchased. It does not actually contain the name of the color or a reference to that color's coding for all types of paint. So, for example, if you have a can of Valspar Exterior paint that you want to have made into Valspar's Porch and Floor paint, you are out of luck. The bar code will not work. And if you depend on Lowe's color matching system, you'll end up with matches such as this:
Having spent an hour and a half at the paint counter trying to get the white of the garage into paint for the railing, I ended up in tears. This was especially so because, at the very beginning, I said that I needed a can of Valspar Bonding Primer. The store I was at was out. Had she told me that pertinent bit of information immediately, I would have driven over to the other Lowe's and at least tried the matching thing there, where I could get the primer. SIGH.
What really bothered me is that I asked the paint person when the primer was being delivered again. She said none was on order. She also said I could not order it. Because of the amount of time it took at the paint counter, the fact that the bar codes didn't have the paint color information despite being told they would when I signed up for the MyLowe's account, and the fact that Lowe's staff color match from paint spilled on the side of a can when the directions for paint matching clearly say that the paint should be painted on white paper (the side of Valspar cans is colored coffee and blue), I went to customer service and asked for a manager. I had asked for one at the paint counter. No one ever came. Once at the customer service counter, one arrived and I learned that the primer is actually scheduled for delivery tomorrow and that I could pay for a can today so that it would be set aside for me. If I call ahead, someone at customer service will have it shaken and waiting for me. It seemed to me that the paint person was not really interested in helping me and just answered "no" to my questions about getting the primer so that I would leave.
With the house paint, which is a horrid mismatch, I am using that $45 paint as a primer or under coat for the remaining original paint. I am hoping to have someone tell me where a better paint match system is and try there. Home Depot. Menard's. Sherwin Williams. SIGH. I figured that trying to match the white of the garage to the railing and supports of the porches is a lost cause and that, hopefully, being so far apart, no one would really notice.
At least the silver is polished. All of it. Upstairs. The side table here. The candle sticks. My jewelry. My grandfather's dish from his desk that he used for a pencil holder. Any silver that is exposed to air is now polished and protected again. I am actually embarrassed at just how badly (tarnished) the silver was. I have a new name: Myrtle The Procrastinator.
I did fetch another can of paint stripper goop from Home Depot again, wishing the entire drive there and back that I had followed through with my initial plan to buy two cans when I first went for the second can. Second guessing yourself rarely is of benefit. Anyone who teaches test-taking skills knows that.
See those bamboo stakes? They are the reminders to me that those are the spots where the garlic is planted. Yep, I girded my loins and attempted to establish myself as a garlicmaker. There are six rows between the plants (those there and those planned) and three cloves planted in each row. If all goes well, I will have 18 bulbs of garlic. What do you think would be a respectable success rate for a first time garlicmaker? 75%??
In case I have not communicated clearly just how much rain we are having, here is my grass. Today. In dire need of mowing. Grass I am assuming will need to be mowed into November. Grass still rather lush and GREEN. I am thankful for the latter.
I also rescued my beloved 2 inch flat Purdy paint brush. Thanks to Firewood Man, I did. Lately, I have been using primarily chip brushes, when doing the sealing, because holding brushes hurts my hands. But I had to do a lot of careful work to stain the parts of the airing porch decking that ran beneath and beyond the railing. So, I used one of my Purdy brushes. I thought that I had very carefully cleaned it with hot water and soap, but I had not. When I picked it up from the edge of the laundry sink, the brush was a solid mass of bristles.
Tim, who shares my appreciation for Purdy brushes, suggested that I try soaking it in mineral spirits. I had just enough to try. I used the glass container he found buried in the dirt beneath the back porch. It had about two inches of mineral spirits in there. After soaking a while, I was able to bend the bottom of the brush. A bit longer and I could bend it more. Once I got the mineral spirits all over the brush, I used my Purdy paint brush cleaning tool (it came with a set of two brushes) to work the mineral spirit into the inner I left it for three hours. Tim was right. It worked!!
In my now 14 years of homeownership (or there abouts), I only recently finally understood the importance of a good brush. I thought brushes did not matter. But they do. A good angled brush can allowed you to do all your edging and cutting in without tape. Using the Purdy brushes, my painting skills increased significantly. They are not, however, economical paint brushes. So, to have ruined my only 2 inch flat Purdy brush (I also have 1 and 1.5 inch angled brushes) was a bit much for me to swallow, especially since I will have all that railing and post painting to do ... eventually.
Finally, I used up the last of my chicken making both Chipotle Chicken Chili and Thai Honey Peanut Chicken. I laughed when I put the jars in the freezer. When I went "shopping" in there yesterday, I really was on my last jar of the chili. So, I have no problem taking the afternoon to cook up another two sets of meals. However, I also emptied the dishwasher and have a nearly full drawer of different sized Mason jars. Well, I also still have weeks of meals in the freezer.
In the kitchen refrigerator freezer, I decided to organize the ice packs yet again, as I am ever on the hunt for a way to have them organized and set in such a way that they are easy to put in and easy to take out. Since I do have the tiniest bit of room with my eating-down-my-freezer-meals campaign, I put the larger icepacks standing on their side—slotted in, if you will—next to all the meals I keep in there. So, upstairs, I currently have 12 meals, instead of 15. But I might have finally found myself a good ice pack system (to easily retrieve and replace any of the three types of ice packs I use). However, if I keep eating down the fruits of my culinary labors, I am going to need a new system for storing my Mason Jars.
Anyhow, my deacon's bench is filled with goop and scrapers and sealer and paint and brushes and rollers and drop clothes and trash bags. All my tools of the homeowner trade at the ready. Tomorrow, I will fetch the primer, irritated, but taking advantage of a coupon for a free sub at some place called Penn Station East Coast Subs just across the way from Lowe's and I will use my Walmart Savings Catcher refund to buy some more of the probiotics I now have to take. And I will be slightly less irritated because I received a double credit and received an email telling me that the second adjustment to my credit card account would stand and is almost the exact cost of the primer. Then, I will be at the ready for that magical combination of days without rain and over 55 degrees. I am hoping ... daring to hope ... that the forecast will hold and by the end of this weekend, the airing porch railing will be painted and the three small spots of the decking that were not quite dry enough for the onslaught of rain will be lightly sanded and re-sealed.
Tomorrow, though, with the lack of that magical combination forecasted, other than fetching primer and trying out a free sub, I plan to sleep. Polishing silver is exhausting, even if visually rewarding. Besides, Amos told me that he needs more snuggle time ... that he's been on his lonesome too much yesterday and today. I agree. I told him we can nap together.
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