YES, I Am Still Doing My Blog!

So where I have been all summer?  I've spent most of the summer working out of town is where I've been all summer.  Or at least more of the summer than I have been at home.  It was supposed to be the summer of getting the yard into starting-point shape and building a woodshed, but it was the summer of doing lots of rewarding decorative painting for great clients instead.  Not a huge sacrifice, but I hope it isn't like that next summer.

Some of the work I got to do in Oregon:

Five (5) finishes viewed from one place!  The ceiling, the far wall, the niche, the round wall, and the mouldings on the top and bottom of the round wall.  Whew!  Thank you O'leal & Associates for another great project!

Faux distressed leather ceiling. Can't wait to see it with the chandelier!

Two (2) finishes here: Venetian plaster walls and ceiling (not shown) and aged brass rope moulding on an unfinished lighting feature.

This was supposed to be the summer when we worked to get the yard area of the property back to a good starting point for the next few summers, but my being gone so much pushed that off a year.  I'd hoped to build a new wood shed nearer the house, but ran out of time.  Our temporary firewood storage is pretty much the same set up as before, but with newer pallets and, most importantly, much closer to the house and on the same side of the house as the wood stove.  It's near where we hope to build the shed next summer.

We had also hoped that there was still time to get a drop box/dumpster delivered so we can finally get rid of some of the stuff* that the last owners left, but Eric really hurt his back while doing fire wood chores on Labor Day and I can't move a lot of this by myself.. I'll recycle what I can, but recycling is a whole lot more complicated here than in Portland. I guess this will be a project for spring.

Rumor has it that they just ran out of time for getting rid of 30 years worth of saving, storing, and maybe a little hoarding. Considering what was around the place when we saw it with our real estate agent, they got rid of 95% of it. Still, it's a drag we must pay to get rid of their stuff.

Full disclosure: The dog butt (upper left) is ours.

Regardless of the dumpster project, I must stain the fence.  It's a lonnnnnng fence, but at least it's just posts with a top rail... and I'm alllllllmost done.

If and when we get more fencing installed, I'll make sure I have a couple of weeks after the posts are set and the rails installed to stain it before the field fence goes on.

The posts are approximately 8' apart, with a 16' rail on top.  I figured a 16' section took 20-25 minutes to complete.

I realize this is a lot of pictures of a pretty simple fence, but dang it,  it's A LOT of fence and it's taking A LOT of time so finish.

Mostly the fence is in the open, but there are a few places where it runs through vegetation. like these lilacs.  I don't know how much extra time these sections took and I guess that I don't want too.  Oof.

The section to the left of the walk-through gate is the last part: about thirteen 16' sections.

I hope to put together a post or two of the activities that filled in the cracks of summer... stay tuned.


* And by "stuff," I mean "crap and rubbish."