"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door." - Coco Chanel
When I arrived at the Women Build site Saturday, the outside of the house had not changed much since I left it last in January. The inside had. When I left on my first Saturday of real work on the house, all that was on the walls was sheet rock. Now there was mudding and interior paint. Everything is really starting to come together.
The flooring has not been laid yet and cabinets have not been installed, but it is easy to imagine those things there.
There were less people on the site than the last time I had been there and I preferred it. We weren't bumping and running into each other so much and there were no good-natured squabbles over who got to use tools.
I was put to work painting doors with another volunteer, Kim. We were lucky. We got a mini paint roller. Another woman painting doors in a back room only had a brush. Other women were painting window and door trim.
We used the brush to paint the door's inset panels and used the roller on the rest. Kim and I soon fell into a natural rhythm which worked out very well for us the whole day. By the time she had finished using the brush, I would need it. By the time she had finished with the roller and was starting on another door, I would need the roller.
We were instructed to spread the paint thin and to avoid drips and runs at all cost. We did an excellent job if I do say so myself.
So, I spread the paint thin and was worried when the door looked blotchy. That was when I discovered I am a perfectionist when it comes to painting. I pressed down on that roller and spread that paint until the whole door was an even shade of white. It had to be even. I couldn't have it looking blotchy. Who knew if workers on another weekend would come behind us and put a second coat of paint on everything?
I think it was after the third or fourth door when we learned they would be. So those concerns were laid to rest. And we learned after lunch that when the paint dries, the color evens out.
(Speaking of lunch, I must digress here to note that I know everyone appreciates the various church groups and clubs that take turns providing lunch to the site every Friday and Saturday. This Saturday was the Ladies Club of Cedar Creek, I believe. I thank them. The food was great and they were so kind and courteous even when I inadvertently knocked over an entire platter of homemade brownies into the dirt. We were able to salvage some and they were still delicious.)
By the time the day's work came to an end, Kim and I had painted seven doors between the two of us. That's not counting the number of doors the other volunteer painted in another room
Work progressed smoothly and quite uneventfully.
Keeping looking in the Aiken Standard for new posts to my Women Build blog.
