Back to the Ladder Ballet

I am desperately trying to finish painting once and for all this year.  I'm just about finished priming the north side (about nine hours so far).  I had removed shingles and nails from this side last year.

 It's difficult working here, which doesn't really translate to these pictures.  There are steps down a fairly steep slope.  Thank goodness I bought an adjustable leg ladder.  I'm also more comfortable working near the electric line this year.  But not comfortable enough to be careless.

While the paint's drying, or when it's too humid I'm working on the south side, where I've run into my first badly rotted out wood.  I'll have to replace part of a corner board and starter strip.

9/11 - Always Remember

Below is an excerpt from my other blog from last year:

I hope people always remember and understand this vicious act of war and the loss of 2819 innocent lives.

Here are the stats:

9/11 by the Numbers
Death, destruction, charity, salvation, war, money, real estate, spouses, babies, and other September 11 statistics.

The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out.

* Total number killed in attacks (official figure as of 9/5/02): 2,819

* Number of firefighters and paramedics killed: 343

* Number of NYPD officers: 23

* Number of Port Authority police officers: 37

* Number of WTC companies that lost people: 60

* Number of employees who died in Tower One: 1,402

* Number of employees who died in Tower Two: 614

* Number of employees lost at Cantor Fitzgerald: 658

* Number of U.S. troops killed in Operation Enduring Freedom: 22

* Number of nations whose citizens were killed in attacks: 115

* Ratio of men to women who died: 3:1

* Age of the greatest number who died: between 35 and 39

* Bodies found "intact": 289

* Body parts found: 19,858

* Number of families who got no remains: 1,717

* Estimated units of blood donated to the New York Blood Center: 36,000

* Total units of donated blood actually used: 258

* Number of people who lost a spouse or partner in the attacks: 1,609

* Estimated number of children who lost a parent: 3,051

* Percentage of Americans who knew someone hurt or killed in the attacks: 20

* FDNY retirements, January–July 2001: 274

* FDNY retirements, January–July 2002: 661

* Number of firefighters on leave for respiratory problems by January 2002: 300

* Number of funerals attended by Rudy Giuliani in 2001: 200

* Number of FDNY vehicles destroyed: 98

* Tons of debris removed from site: 1,506,124

* Days fires continued to burn after the attack: 99

* Jobs lost in New York owing to the attacks: 146,100

* Days the New York Stock Exchange was closed: 6

* Point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average when the NYSE reopened: 684.81

* Days after 9/11 that the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan: 26

* Total number of hate crimes reported to the Council on American-Islamic Relations nationwide since 9/11: 1,714

* Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion

* Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million

* Total FEMA money spent on the emergency: $970 million

* Estimated amount donated to 9/11 charities: $1.4 billion

* Estimated amount of insurance paid worldwide related to 9/11: $40.2 billion

* Estimated amount of money needed to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $7.5 billion

* Amount of money recently granted by U.S. government to overhaul lower-Manhattan subways: $4.55 billion

* Estimated amount of money raised for funds dedicated to NYPD and FDNY families: $500 million

* Percentage of total charity money raised going to FDNY and NYPD families: 25

* Average benefit already received by each FDNY and NYPD widow: $1 million

* Percentage increase in law-school applications from 2001 to 2002: 17.9

* Percentage increase in Peace Corps applications from 2001 to 2002: 40

* Percentage increase in CIA applications from 2001 to 2002: 50

* Number of songs Clear Channel Radio considered "inappropriate" to play after 9/11: 150

* Number of mentions of 9/11 at the Oscars: 26

* Apartments in lower Manhattan eligible for asbestos cleanup: 30,000

* Number of apartments whose residents have requested cleanup and testing: 4,110

* Number of Americans who changed their 2001 holiday-travel plans from plane to train or car: 1.4 million

* Estimated number of New Yorkers suffering from post-traumatic-stress disorder as a result of 9/11: 422,000

Copyright © 2011, New York Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Banish the Blue!

Yes, it's finally gone!  It was hard to look at that blue.  I had seen it in Better Homes and Gardens on a little Victorian cottage and it was so beautiful.  So I had my paint man match the color.  He said "You want to go that bright?"  Oh, yes, Booma, I sure do.  Well . . . it looked good in the spring, and summer, and fall.  But come winter . . . yikes!  The brightness!  The coldness!  My family tried to warn me.  My sister tells me not to copy magazines.  It had to go.  I had to suck it up and admit my mistake, which I basically made with all the colors here.  And it's doubly painful to fix mistakes.

So then what?  I wanted to be historically accurate and paint it in Victorian colors.  I was all set to paint it Georgian Green.  But I finally talked to a Benjamin Moore in-house color consultant who said my house looked like a farmhouse, not a classic Victorian.  Typical farmhouse colors are white, red and yellow.  I just can't do white anywhere and red is not a favorite (too bold), so I went with yellow.  I've always loved yellow houses.  My paternal grandparents' house was yellow.  So I chose Weston Flax, a pale, soft buttery yellow.  It's perfect for the cottagey style I love.  I can never get over what a difference paint can make!

The big behemoth, the back of my house.

  

 

I still love the color blue but next time I will stick to the Benjamin Moore Historical Colors palette and go with Buxton Blue, or Copley Gray, or Sandy Hook Gray, or . . .  So many colors, so little time!

P.S.  That is a bear of an area to paint.  There are two stone walls off the back right corner.  Just another reason why I put off re-painting for four years.

Yay, Sarah's New House!

It looks like Sarah finally has a new house to renovate.  It's on at 2 p.m. today on HGTV.  I'm not sure why they refuse to promote this show.  It's their only show, besides Property Brothers, that's a winner.