Saturday, May 10, 2014

Starfish, green paint, and a flip flop

I should be prepping for my job interview this coming week. And I am sick of going over a presentation I will give for my ADM this Tuesday. Instead, I write about home. The Island. The farm. My favorite place. 

In April, I sojourned to the Island. For the first time in a long time, I celebrated Easter at home. There was church – a lot of church. There was also a lot of family time, laughter, story telling (some new – most old) and there was a lot of Molly time. It was wonderful. In my heart, I am still there.

The first order of business was painting the living room. At Christmas, Mom mentioned she was thinking of painting it. I jumped at the chance to do it with her. Painting a large room is not fun. Painting a large room with my mother, however, was a ball. The living room had been a grey color for almost twenty years and there had been many favorable comments about the color over the years. It contrasted lovely with the white crown molding. But after twenty years, Mom was ready for a change. So the grey was changed to a green and we did it in one day: two coats, the crown molding (that remained white), as well as a touch up to a kitchen wall. 

Were were squirelly by the end? – Yes.

Did I perform a major flip flop (e.g.: fall down) in the process of painting? – Yes.

Did we laugh a lot? – Yes.

Would I do it again? – In a heartbeat.

Before:


After:






The next day I got up only to discover Mom still had the paint brush in hand. She confessed to just doing “touch ups” and I understand now that once you get started, it is hard to get stopped. Sometimes, the smallest change can make such a difference. In the bathroom, for example, Mom painted a small shelf white, and it gave that wall such a fresh new look. I also insisted two pieces of Mom’s art be hung in the washroom. These two beach scenes further contributed to the room’s beachy feel. I also re-organized a small shelf with some new finds I dragged home from Toronto, and added a new toilet cover tank that I made – a small hooked rug piece.





Upon completion of the big paint job, we realized that every room in the house, with the exception of Mom & Dad's room, is some shade of green (Yes, we are Irish). Plans are already underway to paint Pierre's room next.