i wish this was the post where i reveal my spiffied up cottage. bedazzled with her glowing white walls and gleaming trim. alas, it is not so.
hector has hit the skids so to speak. his work was getting gloppier and sloppier with paint drips gone unnoticed, nail holes gone untended, trim left as lumpy and bumpy as it ever was. each day i left sticky notes with arrows gently guiding him towards touchups, but finally he cracked.
with a doleful expression and downcast eyes he informed me that if i wasn’t pleased i could find someone else.
i let everything slide for a day or two figuring i would ride out the storm, but finally decided it was best for hector to move on down the road and for moss cottage to find a new caretaker.
enter larry, stage left.
larry is my neighbor and has done many a job for me over the years. this begs the question why didn’t i hire him in the first place, and the answer is simple. he has a full-time job and is only available nights and weekends. as i type he’s outside putting bondo on a hole in my porch rail and earlier he was hanging new curtain rods in the living room.
what do either of those have to do with painting, you ask? well nothing directly, except an effort to get back to normal asap and not have my house turned upside down. hector was slowly muddying all the floors and moving from room to room in a trance. there wasn’t a single finished room after 2 weeks and i was sick of living with sheets over everything.
so this weekend i cleaned every surface and assessed what still needs to be done – mostly the trim in every room and fixing mistakes. i had my neighbor larry come by to take stock. he can only work on sundays, so he’ll tackle one room at a time starting in december.
i decided i couldn’t go a single night more drinking tea and writing in my journal at my desk by the window. lamp casting a soft glow, while neighbors trudged up the lane walking their dogs. 2 weeks is long enough to be without curtains! and…rain is coming this week so the hole had to be repaired.
i have plenty of stuff packed away still and that will stay like that until EVERYTHING is finished, but in the meantime i’ve got my living space back.
the walls & trim behind the bookcases had already been painted, so i started with unpacking my little library and putting everything back on the shelves.
the star i’m orbiting dims without books to surround me, and mine was flickering and threatening to go out.
i even repaired a knob on my flat file that had been out of order for at least the last 6-7 years.
true, the new knob doesn’t match, but who cares?!
hector completed the walls in the art room first. they are plastered and fabulous.
it’s difficult to fathom the downhill slide from there, but it happened.
and it was growing worse by the day.
oh by the way…please meet the new kitchen chair that i found in the foothill community of sierra madre last week. there’s a stamp from a furniture store in massachusets on the seat bottom. it had a “free” sign on it so i adopted it. there were 2 but the other one was broken.
i’ll keep you posted on the moss cottage paint job that’s now dragging into december. the dream deferred, but not for long. and well worth it to be rid of H. and his mountain of excuses and shoddy work.
i found this photo while replacing the knob on my flat file. i like the expression on this girl’s face, the set of her jaw, the little smile beginning at the corners of her mouth. here is a girl who grew into a woman who bought a little house who hired a handyman who fired a handyman who found a neighbor who painted her house and set things right.
i’m sure of it.
Just want to let you know you have a very humorous way of telling stories even upsetting ones…enjoy reading your post
And looking at your inspiring art.
thanks catherine 🙂
Alas, you’ve discovered the reason I sold my home and am renting. I don’t like not owning but I love calling my landlord to fix my life.
Omigosh, I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I understand what you are going through. We have the same situation going on in our new old house in Nebraska. Hopefully our homes will soon be finished & we can breathe easily again! 😄❤️
and here i am imagining the best handymen are all located in the midwest. well, i do hope we both get things sorted out!
Oh boy I feel ya! Once I hired a handyman to redo a backyard Redwood gate and it’s fence. Well when he was done the gate and the fence did not align so he had to reset the post so that gate was able to meet up with the fence…Ugh I hate mickey mouse jobs but I just had to let it go! Another time I hired a handyman to do a small Masonry job when he quit two days into it stating he had another bigger job to go to. I really think he was in over his head and hadn’t ever done stone work. So I try to do whatever diy work my self when ever I can, Thank god for Youtube!
so great that you can figure out how to do things around the house. i haven’t got those kinds of skillz 🙁
Having just moved, all my art stuff and books are in boxes so I totally understand. My husband says painters are notorious for being drunkards. I have no idea if that’s true, however.
“Hello Larry”–do you remember the TV show back in the ’80s by that name? I think it was about a DJ who was a single dad. Used to love it!
Good luck to you! I am sure it will all work out.
XOXO
Sad to say we’ve all probably been there and back again….more than once perhaps. So glad you found a solution. May take longer but you will be a happy camper, er homesteader, when all is finally finished.
i’m convinced of it!
I image we all have contractor stories. That seems to be a very good reason for Angie’s List, although I’ve never tried it. I constantly thank my lucky stars that my husband is one of the handiest, most disciplined people on earth. Mary Ann, you’re so fortunate to have Larry to turn to! And, one room at a time will be a lot easier for you to stomach. Wishing you a wonderful, if not speedy outcome.
i’ve been hearing so much lately about the scoundrels on angie’s list and masses of fake referrals. drat!
All I can say Mary Ann, is, been there, done that! We hired a “handy man” to build a frame for new closet doors and to repair the stippled ceiling.
First clue things were going to go wrong and fast…he showed up with his wife in tow! She proceeded to tell him how to go about doing the repairs! She harangued him all day! Whether he was following her instructions, listening to her or not, I couldn’t tell because all conversation was in Korean! Yes, Korean…well, no matter because the job was botched.
So we fired him after three days, and my husband decided he should have done the job all along and he finished the framing and the ceiling.
I learned that I have to be more patient and that my husband is very handy with regards to renovating. While the ceiling isn’t the best job he has done, there are no contractors that will agree to come and work on such a small job.
Cheers from 🇨🇦
waving to you up there in the north. they always make home repair look so EASY on television. HAH!
Oh Hector…
I know how house projects can drag on and on. It’s annoying when it’s not done correctly. Glad you’ve found a way to make it habitable in the midst of the work. And yay for Larry.
i think hector was just in over his head and didn’t realize the scope of the work when he began.
UGH! Hitching your wagon and then having to change teams in the middle of the river! The worst! Am in the throes of doing that myself today. Gonna put on my life jacket, swim out and interview a new team at 11am this morning, then see if I can get back in the wagon before it’s swept away. I feel ya.
oh how i love your metaphors. i do i do i do xo
I feel up-to-date and as refreshed as your project! Thanks! I agree with the bookshelves. I overstock, remove and gather. A meritorious cycle. Happy for the newness paint brings and so with you on the expectations of dripless work. Details! The problem is this – you’ve trained yourself and your students to NOTICE! And this is a good thing. Happy sparkling cottage. Soon.
a happy sparkling cottage sounds lovely. thanks for your well wishes vicki!
Well, amen to your decisions! You gotta have your studio and your books and your journal and a house with curtains! Loved the photos. Bon courage, as the French say. Perhaps I’ve said that to you a dozen times already? But so be it.
please keep saying it. i love hearing it and hearing from YOU dear faith. xo
So sorry to hear about your nightmare of home improvements. (Sounds like Hector might have a substance problem that caused the decline.) Even if the work will be slow going, at least you know your neighbor is reliable. Looking forward to the unveiling!
i am feeling good about my choice and thrilled to come home today and have my house to myself!
I am so glad that your small little world corner will be corrected soon and beautiful as the new year begins!!! And congrats on your chair find! I love grabbing stuff on the side of the road and bringing it home but Mr Hubs says no. So that’s ok. I love going to yard sales and thrift stores just as much. Wink
howdy doo sharon. i love my new chair!
love what you said about the flickering and dimming without books….xox
My daughter is a handy women who does a lot of house painting, pet sitting, etc and she is affordable (below market at any rate). Let me know if you would like her phone number via email. (She also loves cats). No pressure, no need to answer this at all! Just feeling the “Sunday’s only” of your current situation. All the best in your endeavors!!!
sending you a private email. thanks so much for telling me Christy!