Ross did…WHAT????????
This is from a few months ago, the SW corner. Most of this is now done. But that little bit of cornice on the tower still needs to be restored and painted, and the kinda pie-shaped bit of shingling just under needs to be fully replaced.
Sigh. More shingling.
Well, there is just no time for this. The last 3 line items on the 2017 Heritage Grant need to be finished by the end of the year, and this bit of work is not part of the grant. So, even though I’m right in the corner already, and even though the wood scaffolding is already set up, I cannot take the time to properly finish this tiny little bit. Because, you know it will take longer than expected. I can easily see three weeks zooming by.
So, nope.
However, I have an idea. But it is a terrible idea, so you cannot tell anybody, OK? It will be just between you and me.
OK? Promise?
I am gonna just slap paint on this small area! No prep work! No restoration! Yep! I know! A scandal! Ross is gonna do WHAT?
I even started! I painted the remaining Octagon Tower cornice! Save cleaning it, I did zero prep work! Just slapped a coat of green on! Tomorrow, will be another coat of paint slapped on!
And this is the pie-shaped shingle bit. All the shingles need to be replaced. And then proper flashing need to be installed where wall meets roof. Today though I just scraped off the peeling paint. Tomorrow, I will slap on some primer, and then slap on two finish coats.
I know: Oh, the horror!
So, you can see why this must remain a secret! I do not want anybody to know that I am doing this terrible, sloppy work. My reputation!
But, from ground level, it will all look fine, and what a thrill to, at long last, have the Octagon Tower looking complete. Then I can remove the wood scaffolding, fully revealing the pristine work of the restored second-floor.
In 2021, likely come spring, I will get back to the badly done bit and make it right*.
And I think the Restoration Gods will forgive me.
But, again, mum’s the word!
* This presupposes humanity still exists in the spring of 2021.
See though how nice the tower looks with its cornice finally fully painted? Ross happy! I just could not stand the idea of waiting another six months to get it painted.
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Hahaha I ain’t tellin. Anybody that yaps has smelly feet.
You will accomplish painting the whole second floor though, and that will look nice.
Hugs to you.
It’s our little secret. It does look nice all painted and who knows maybe it can wait another year or two to be done correctly. Oh the horror. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Have to get those grant projects done.
Mums the word! Life is challenging for us perfectionists. I too have occasionally had to do fast instead of best. Difficult, but it can be remedied. Sometimes completion (or temporary completion) is needed.
Here’s to a Spring 2021 filled with humanity in every sense of the word.
Looks good Ross!
Your secret is safe! I’ll just quietly admire your work from afar and act none the wiser. You’re just too good, Ross.
Perhaps you should just leave it until it begins showing distress? Unless there are deeper issues that need resolution (e.g. failed flashing causing water intrusion that will lead to greater damage), I see no harm in it. Spend your time in the spring working on something more pressing.
Beyond that, it can serve as a control comparison to the areas you’ve done such a thorough job. Maybe it’s just me, but I love a good experiment. I conducted a number on our last house restoration, although more with alternative materials rather than bad prep. I re-used original siding and trim everywhere it could, but I tried a number of different materials on portions that required replacement (either due to rot that couldn’t be repaired with epoxy, or because it was missing). I used cedar, treated pine, cellular PVC, engineered wood, and cement fiber. It all looked the same after painting, but my hope was to assess which held up the best and held paint the longest. We moved within 3 years of completing that, so sadly, I am not able to report on the results, though.
Well, I won’t tell a fly! {Psycho Anthony Perkins grin}
Your secret is safe with us, Ross. Anyone who wants to point out the second floor not being totally perfect really doesn’t need to be examing your work that closely anyway. Looks nice and it can wait until 2021 when the grant projects are finished. Way to go, Ross!
Say a word about what? Looks great. Get the grant done so that pressure is off your shoulders.
Ross, I must confess, I wish you would do that on all remaining grey/maroon paint. That color scheme never suited the house (imho) and I can hardly wait for it to be covered up. Can’t you just do that to the third-floor dormer too, I mean, since you’re already there? And then that little bit under the porch roof will be all you have to do. I don’t mind the unpainted part nearly as much, that can wait- but that maroon?? Ugh! (I know, I know, the honor in completing the grant items is the first priority – ugh!)
Thanks for the distance pic of the south side. From that angle, it looks like one of the porch columns is leaning. Is it?
A long time ago, you mentioned that your library wasn’t very photogenic. I have a theory that once you finish tarting up the south side of the house, that room will have better feng shui and suddenly become much more appealing. The south side won’t get any “poison darts” (people thinking negative thoughts about it) which can affect the energy. There are many beautiful features on this side which you have to look hard to see right now. Because of the colors, scaffolding, the construction site feel of it, all of that leads to impacted negative energy in this area. And SOOOOON, it will all be fantastically beautiful and there will be nothing but oooohs and ahhhs from folks – é voila – no more negative energy.
You haven’t mentioned what you’ve been reading lately. If you need a powerful book to get you through, I just finished *American Dirt* . Couldn’t put it down. Have a fantastic day in the BarcaLounger just finishing up this area. It’s a red letter day to be sure!! Good going.
Hi, Christine!
A few days ago I finished listening to Chasten Buttigieg’s I Have Something to Tell You.
I am currently listening to The Letter.
The fresh paint will help preserve that corner for a little while while things get taken care of that are more in danger. No worries.
Thank the Lord!! I am glad to hear of this plan too! Sometimes time and deadlines have us running like hamsters on a wheel. The maroon and cream on the cornices is making me nuts too!! So nice to see it going bye bye.
Having just completed several necessary maintenance projects in my yard that managed to eat up all my August, I can understand why you want to move on. There’s always something to do around my house, and you could drop my house in your basement and have basement left over. Just put it on your “UFO” (UnFinished prOjects) list and come back to it when you can.
In other news: I realized a couple of weeks ago that we didn’t have numbers on our house. (We’ve lived here 28 years and I thought we had them on the porch somewhere, but they were nowhere to be found.) So I decided to put them on one of the porch posts. I asked my husband if I needed to paint the post before installing the numbers, and he said no. Later, he went out to look at them, and said I probably should have painted before installing them. So I sighed and added “painting the porch” to my list of Stupid ProjectsTM for October.
Ask me about my “Stupid Projects” list the next time I see you. It’s long, and getting longer.
Wow! Seeing that sweep of shingles painted on the south side is just thrilling!! Whew!!!!!!!!! Gosh, what a transformation!!!!!!!!
Dear Ross,
In response your footnote * in this post, I find myself waxing philosophic and asking your definition of the word humanity. Is there a meaning that people agree on? Did it used to mean one thing and now it means something else? Were we all complacent in the belief that what we thought it meant was what everyone else did too?
I know the human race is still here and will be for years to come, although all things do end. There have been people prophesying the end of the world in every generation.
The concepts and beliefs that I am seeing about one’s responsibilities to one’s fellow human, what those responsibilities are, and the role of government in deciding and enforcing them leave me at a loss.
The borders lie in such different places for the diverse people who I have long known and respected that I fear that there is no common ground…. anywhere. I’m not sure that arguing a different view can be constructive in the current climate of what I see as fear mongering in the media.
I think I know what I believe. I understand that what I believe needs to take into account that I may be wrong, but I don’t see others getting it that they might be wrong too, or that compromises need not be ruled out. I worry about the sense of entitlement that people in all three branches of government seem to feel to force others to do what they see as best. Best for whom, I ask?
I am having serious trouble knowing if I should make a stand, where to stand, or how to do so in a meaningful way. I am questioning everything and everyone, including myself.
In spite of this, I am confident that the Cross House will stand in the spring of 2021and for many years to come because of the efforts of that extraordinary individual, Ross MacTaggart. You will continue to plug away at each thing that the house needs persisting in baby steps in the way you have already been doing. …. and it is a good thing. Many days, this blog is the thing that keeps me going.
Thanks again,
Stewart
Hi, Stewart!
As with much of what I write, my footnote is intended, somewhat, to be humorous.
Yet, not entirely.
After I typed the line “In 2021, likely come spring, I will get back to the badly done bit and make it right”, I paused, and thought: Will there be a spring?
This thought is based on my deep fear over what is happening to my country, as I watch it slid from democracy and into fascism, and as I watch (with horror) my country being the global death toll leader regarding Covid-45.
So…I’m not sure we will be here come spring.
Awwwh Ross, and Stewart……I agree with your concerns and fears and yet must add that we only need to revisit history to see what HAS been overcome, what HAS been survived, and feel better in the knowledge that there is a massive silent majority of like-minded people who are feeling the same.
Disasters come and go, wars come and go, pandemics come and go also. Elected officials DO get voted in and out. As a genealogist and lover of history I have seen my own ancestors overcome so much, my sturdy Norwegian grandparents who struggled with poverty came from Norway in their own small fishing boat to thrive in America. My other side ancestors had 6 of the boys fight together in the 7th Ill. Inf. to survive the Civil War with Sherman’s March. My grandmother was a combat nurse in WWI….my dad at age 18 went to fight at Iwo Jima, being the only one to survive in his unit. Having had all of these experiences, our family has somehow continued. Everyone’s family has its histories.
It seems as though every twenty or so years there is some great challenge, be it war or illness or finances or just SOMETHING. I draw strength from their fortitude and humor, always humor has gotten them through. The difference I mainly see is that they rallied together against such hardships. My grandfather was killed in an industrial accident leaving a widow with 7 children during the depression, yet my mom, the baby of the family always said her childhood was magical, as no one worried about being poor as EVERYONE WAS POOR.
What is different? The isolation of the silent majority and the constant barrage of negative and horrific news both online and on cable television, the technology gives the ability to learn of GLOBAL woes, not just something in your community. The GOOD things are not celebrated, the horrific headlines and political, especially political nightmare scenarios are never-ending and always oppressive and have almost instantaneous far-reaching results. Our divisions are weakening us by the isolation, division, judgments and fears. The individual acts of brutality during this time of unrest, the terrible division, ALL with a pandemic laced with hurricanes, wildfires, etc etc.. and most unfortunately during a political year, is enough to wear us all down.
I have limited my news watching, I also take heart from Mr. Rogers’s wisdom to always look for “the helpers”. “Humanity” will always have its good, bad and ugly, but the truly good is not so easily seen nor highlighted, it just never gets the headlines to sell the story of the day. Don’t forget that innate goodness still exists in each and every day. Somewhere someone is helping others, someone is doing good works, someone is a good person. This too shall pass. Just like you Ross, doing baby steps, always moving forward good will thrive. We all will look back on 2020 someday and when someone asks us how we survived it, just like our ancestors, we will say we “just did”. One day at a time.
Hang in there fellows, usually after such strife some good comes from all of the pain and sacrifice, political, racial, climate, etc etc. . a period of growth and I pray that will be the case again. Time will tell. I do believe that Spring will return. Sending virtual hugs until then.
Great perspective, Robin 🙂
Thank you, Seth!
Robin, I agree with, and appreciate, everything you wrote.
I am, as seems obvious, an optimist. But I call myself a realistic optimist.
So, let’s say it’s 1935. Let’s say I’m a Jew, and living in Germany. Things are pretty bad but not that bad. Yet, all the optimism in the world would not have saved me during the next decade. What would have saved me was action, like fleeing the country, STAT.
While things did get better for Germany, my God, the carnage in the interim.
This is how America seems right now, to me. I know too much about history and at how easily things can devolve. This is why I’m not remaining silent. An orange man in the Oval Office is calling out for peaceful protesters to be killed! The head of the Department of Justice is his toady!
So, yea, I’m scared. And I’m gonna voice my concerns.
Thank you, Ross. I truly hear you and while also an optimist I am a realist as well. In using my examples I hoped to mainly emphasize how inundated we all are by negativity ongoing daily, and with technology, instantaneously. This constant jolt to our system with no respite between bad news and disastrous stories leaves no chance for healing, let alone cohesive debate, or productive problem-solving, thus our chaos, I wished to offset it with a bit of hope. To function and prevail we need hope. In no way would I dismiss your concerns nor your complete right to voice them. We must voice our concerns. I am saying also that we must have hope to refuel our strength and humor to see it all through.
I completely understand, Robin.
I purchased the Cross House in 2014. I could not have anticipated how much it would save my sanity. Because, I could not have gotten through 2017 (and the following years) without it.
Every day, I take a break from the almost daily horror stories, work on the house while listening to a book and, when done, I feel that I accomplished something constructive and positive.
This has proved a powerful balm to my frayed nerves. I can’t stress this enough.
Without the Cross House, I think I might have given up on life by now, such has been my despair over what is happening to my country and the fact that many millions SUPPORT what is happening.
Oh, and kitties help, too. A lot!
BIG hug!
Ross, I just want to thank you for this blog, for doing what you are doing, for allowing the rest of us to the escape the daily strife and immerse our imaginations into the healing of your big ole grand dame of a house. I am glad you find healing in the process and want you to know that you are doing a service to others in allowing them to do the same. Hang in there, know that you are not alone, you are appreciated and your house and your kitties help to keep us all sane. Big hug backatcha, Sir!
My Beloved Great Aunt JuJu (given name was Juila but the family called her JuJu) had this saying- “A lick and a promise” – Her house was always flawless looking, but she always figured a little is better than not at all. I think of that often when I have way too many projects to be done to my standards but choose not to live in Chaos either.
Aaah. I see nothing. I was not here. I did not even get up this morning.