The new and semi-improved "House on Stilts"

I wrote this post on the house on stilts. Well, it is becoming very apparent that if we don't do some minor (read:major) repairs in the near future, House on Stilts will become Pile of Wood. So, being the over enthusiastic people that members of my family are, we ignore most of the critical areas of "HOS" that need attention and decide to paint the porch. The idea is to move everything on the porch to the yard, clean from ceiling to floor and apply paint to every surface. We added the additional goal of being done by noon, 1:00 at the latest and get some beach in.

I enlist the help of honorary* family member Greg, and we set out early Saturday morning for a nine o'clock arrival in Matunuck, RI. We meet up with my mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law at The Breakfast Nook. As with any adventure concerning my family, some wrenches had already worked into the grand plan. The major wrinkle was that the paint had not been acquired, so half of the group would drive the 30 minutes to the "local" Home Depot and pick out the paint, while the other half would remove the furniture from the porch and begin cleaning.

I am delegated to cleaning crew. We complete the task at noon, but the paint still hadn't arrived. My thoughts of laying by the ocean were fading fast. We waited just long enough for me to get the workings of the first sunburn of the season, when the paint arrives.

We trudge in and set to work painting the ceiling. Greg turns out to be a real asset, because he had a lot of experience painting. Under his direction, we make quick work of the ceiling. We take a break and ask for the paint to be used for the wall.

We are handed a quart of paint. This is clearly to small of an amount to do the job. So Greg and I drive to "Home Depot" to buy another gallon of paint. An hour later, we return and get back to work. It is now 3:00 and apparently the non-painters have decided that painting the ceiling in the cottage would be a great idea. I however do not see the merits of that idea, with the day waning and with it the possibility of even a pre-sunset stroll along the beach.

We finish the walls about 4:00 and the non-paint crew decide to put the trim on the window sills. I have no idea what went into the color selection, but "Pepto-Bismol" pink is never a good idea. This setback killed any thoughts of continuing painting the interior of "HOS".

Finally, it appeared that the painting chore was just about completed and that it was time to get dinner. I took a shower, and while scrubbing off all of the paint, I came to the conclusion that, if this painting exercise was any indication, I better come into some money quick and hire professionals or the House on Stilts is doomed! I will keep you updated.

*We use the term honorary, even though we are unsure of where the honor lies. We felt the original term of indentured servant to be too mean.