No, I'm not ADD...Why Do You Ask?

I'd love to move. Why? Well, I live in a watershed, and the creek runs right through my property. This poses a slight problem when one has livestock; even the small handful I've got. Mostly because I'd like more than a small handful!

Getting City Boy motivated enough to move, however, is a challenge. I think he rather likes that I'm limited in my animal exploits here, to tell you the truth. Plus, he has a hard enough time when I rearrange the furniture in the living room; can you imagine if I rearranged the entire house, moving more than just couches and chairs, but entire doorways and room layout? He'd be walking into walls on his way to the loo in the middle of the night. So for now, at least, I'm stuck.

However, that doesn't mean I don't make an attempt to change things. There are walls, you know, and those walls were meant for painting! Why, just this past fall I decided to paint the living & dining room areas. It was just prior to Thanksgiving, and I'd picked out the loveliest shade of red...deep, rich and oh-so-perfect. Darling was along with me; she found a golden color called Buckskin Pony which seemed perfect for us.

I love this red!

There's one huge wall in this house that spans from the living into the dining room; that's the one we decided to paint red. The remainder of the living room would be buckskin. I grabbed my painting tools and got all set up. It took a couple of coats for the red to cover the white (who knew?), but I was soooo happy with the results! The family came for dinner and did nothing but rave. I was pleased.

The original buckskin color on it's own was a bit too gold.

Dappled up a bit (you don't see the mess on the table...)

The buckskin color ended up a little on the gold side, but I had found a five gallon bucket of a very light, but not quite eggshell, paint for just $20 at the store. I decided to make my pony a dapple, sponging on the creamy color over the top of the buckskin. I must say that, despite the trouble and extra time, I rather like it. At least the one wall I managed to finish. The one, small wall...

City Boy didn't appear to mind the colors. He has expressed concern, however, that I actually finish the job. I'm not sure why he's so worried...I mean, it's just paint, it's not hard to finish painting...and it's only February, I've got lots of time! Oh, hadn't I mentioned that the walls that I started in November are still not completed in February? Well, listen, that's just a few short months. I assure you I can stretch this job out for, oh, say a dozen years or more. For example:

Behold, the other dining room wall. I began painting it when Darling was three and GBGN was ten. They are now 13 and 20. Only ten years. No reason to panic. Most folks think it was meant to be this way; it's my creative, artistic rendition of the trees outside. When I tell them it's not quite finished, they're sure that I'm only going to paint a few birdies to complete the job.

I was going to paint flowers around the windows in the living room at one time. My arm got a bit tired, though, so I stopped.

Now I think I'll paint over the unfinished flowers. Looks like it may take two coats. I'm sure I'll get it done before Christmas (no guarantees which year.)

Handpainted wallpaper. No, I didn't paint it, but thanks for asking.

The bedroom? Well, it's close to being done. I did get the walls painted all the way around. I've just got this little bit of wallpaper to finish, and the border...and it's only been two years. Plenty of time!

I was talking to a dear friend of mine about painting my carpet (okay, okay, I'll get to that) and of course my unfinished walls came up in the conversation. Being a doctor, she immediately recognized that I have a slight issue with staying on task. Between her gales of laughter at my decorating exploits, she managed to say "It's called ADD." What is? I asked. Not finishing? Oh, I'll finish...someday. But you know, there was a Dr here who gave me those little pills for staying on task. I just kept forgetting to take them.

The walls, however, will need to wait. I've got a more challenging project, which is painting the carpet. I know, everyone asks me the same thing, "How do you paint a carpet?" They're also often wondering how to paint a dappled pony, so I'll explain both processes to you.

How to Paint a Dappled Pony:
Paint walls Buckskin Pony. Decide buckskin is just a wee too gold. Get five gallon bucket of eggshell paint that you purchased on sale for $20 over a year ago out and stir, stir, stir, then give up stirring because the bucket is too deep and you can't seem to stir up the solids at the bottom. Grab an old wash cloth or towel, dip into the eggshell and begin dabbing over the buckskin. Wonder why God didn't give you two right arms so when the first one wore out you'd be able to use the second one. I know...why not use your left arm? Because your left side isn't accustomed to doing anything, let alone painting or dappling, so two right arms are more useful. Eventually you've got a Dappled Pony.

How to Paint Your Carpet:

Try to move your big bucket of eggshell, but don't lift it quite high enough to get the bottom over the folds of the drop cloth because you're admiring your dappled pony instead of paying attention to what you're doing. Bucket tips, splashes out a bit of paint (okay, pretty much a lot of paint, but you could be more conservative if you'd like. I just tend to over do things.) Panic and run to the kitchen for towels and get them soaking wet. Wonder why there isn't a child to scream at and blame for your mistake in the room when you need one (this, I find, is a very important step.) Begin praying while on your knees that City Boy notices the walls and not how clean the carpet is under the eggshell paint. Rub it around a lot, getting as much out of the carpet as it takes to keep the carpet from getting stiff. Eventually, you've got a dappled carpet to match your dappled wall. It's that simple!