paintplaster

Every few years our old farmhouse needed to be repainted. Hey, come to think of it Tim still has to repaint it every few years. It’s very disconcerting to me that they can put a man on the moon, but can’t invent permanent house paint! I, on the other hand, have a modular house with vinyl siding. Every time I look out my window at Tim painting that big house again, I feel so thankful for vinyl siding! There are very few things in life I despise more than painting! Back in the 1950’s when our big farmhouse needed repainting, our dad would have a “Big Saturday/Sunday Painting Party.” He would entice all the family friend men to show up by providing a very ample supply of “Zookey Juice.” In addition, most of the guys brought their own supply too. They would put the old wooden extension ladders up and the wood scaffolding on the ladder jacks. Meanwhile someone was mixing up the cans of white house paint with a metal paint mixer that fit in an electric drill. We would watch the paint swirl around and form an inverted cone with the propeller-like “hickey” (as our dad called any “thingamajig”). They never bothered with drop clothes over the bushes or windows, the important thing was to get the place painted since the many coats of previous paint were probably holding the house together in places. That’s also probably the reason they never chipped off the old flaked paint. (Hmmm, maybe that’s why they seemed to be painting the house every fall)? As the painting day progressed, so did the effects of the constant flow of alcohol! By late in the afternoon, both the laughter and the paint cans would start to spill over the scaffolding onto the lawn, forming big “splotchy” white spots in the grass. We kids knew better than to watch the Painting Party” from under the scaffold, since a full or partially full paint can could come accidentally crashing down at any time! One of the guys (Art M. as I recall), after he was “feeling no pain” took a paintbrush and painted a white swath on the back of “Pete,” one of our dogs. He had that white stripe on his back for a long time till it finally wore off. It’s a miracle no one ever fell off the scaffold since there were no rails of any kind on it! On a few other fall occasions, they would have a “Paint the Barn Party,” with the same “Zookey Juice” enticements. One time some inebriated painter dropped a can of white paint and it hit the ground and splashed all aver the barn foundation wall. The spilled dried paint is STILL there to this day, albeit very faded, but still clearly visible! Maybe being around all this and dodging falling paint cans as a kid is the main reason why I have always despised painting, IT’S JUST TOO DANGEROUS!



	PAINTING WHILE “PLASTERED” Every few years our old farmhouse needed to be repainted. Hey, come to think of it Tim still has to repaint it every few years. It’s very disconcerting to me that they can put a man on the moon, but can’t invent permanent house paint! I, on the other hand, have a modular house with vinyl siding. Every time I look out my window at Tim painting that big house again, I feel so thankful for vinyl siding! There are very few things in life I despise more than painting! Back in the 1950’s when our big farmhouse needed repainting, our dad would have a “Big Saturday/Sunday Painting Party.” He would entice all the family friend men to show up by providing a very ample supply of “Zookey Juice.” In addition, most of the guys brought their own supply too. They would put the old wooden extension ladders up and the wood scaffolding on the ladder jacks. Meanwhile someone was mixing up the cans of white house paint with a metal paint mixer that fit in an electric drill. We would watch the paint swirl around and form an inverted cone with the propeller-like “hickey” (as our dad called any “thingamajig”). They never bothered with drop clothes over the bushes or windows, the important thing was to get the place painted since the many coats of previous paint were probably holding the house together in places. That’s also probably the reason they never chipped off the old flaked paint. (Hmmm, maybe that’s why they seemed to be painting the house every fall)? As the painting day progressed, so did the effects of the constant flow of alcohol! By late in the afternoon, both the laughter and the paint cans would start to spill over the scaffolding onto the lawn, forming big “splotchy” white spots in the grass. We kids knew better than to watch the Painting Party” from under the scaffold, since a full or partially full paint can could come accidentally crashing down at any time! One of the guys (Art M. as I recall), after he was “feeling no pain” took a paintbrush and painted a white swath on the back of “Pete,” one of our dogs. He had that white stripe on his back for a long time till it finally wore off. It’s a miracle no one ever fell off the scaffold since there were no rails of any kind on it! On a few other fall occasions, they would have a “Paint the Barn Party,” with the same “Zookey Juice” enticements. One time some inebriated painter dropped a can of white paint and it hit the ground and splashed all aver the barn foundation wall. The spilled dried paint is STILL there to this day, albeit very faded, but still clearly visible! Maybe being around all this and dodging falling paint cans as a kid is the main reason why I have always despised painting, IT’S JUST TOO DANGEROUS!