Last fall, Mister built a barn for our donkeys, Dottie & Bill. Our goats, Jack, Ethel & Lucy, already had a goat shed but inside the shed, it’s only the height of Little Man, so in no way would our donkey couple be able to find respite from the elements in there. At the completion of the barn being built, I had plans to paint it, yet with the cool temps of fall and everything that fills up our fall calendar, I didn’t get to take on this task.
Enter summer with unusually cool temps (I’m loving these temps in the 70’s & 80’s!) and the barn is calling me because as you can see, before the paint, it’s woof, as in ugly. Off I drove to our area Home Depot for barn paint. Since I forgot my purse at home, it was two trips to Home Depot but that’s another fun topic about losing one’s marbles. Anyhoo, I bought two gallons of red barn paint, one gallon of white barn paint, a roller brush for rough surfaces, a paint tray, more paint tape and away I went on back home!
Painting this barn took a total of four days, 12 1/2 hours. I painted in increments because I don’t enjoy the summer sun beating down on me at the hottest part of the day and paint doesn’t go on well if it’s too hot. Two of the days, I was pushing it with the heat because the red paint wasn’t going on too smoothly. Little Lady and Little Red got the task of moving rocks away from the edge of the barn so that I could paint almost flush to the ground. Little Man got to help me become proficient in patience. Three year olds aren’t good painting buddies, FYI. So regarding the sun, unfortunately, on day three of painting the trim on the south side of the barn, I got a sweet sunburn at the base of my back, right where a tramp stamp goes. Some women have pretty tattooed art on their lower backs. I’ve apparently bucked the trend and gone with a nice swath of red on my skin, like lobster red. It still smarts some but I’m chugging on. Ha, ha.
To make painting the trim at the top of the barn somewhat challenging, heights are not a friend of mine, to the point where every day that I went out and climbed up that stinkin’ ladder to paint, I said a prayer. Well, yet another point to prove that prayer works because Mountain Chica’s at the keyboard this very moment and not stuck in bed with a broken bone or something. Ha, ha. Here are the photos of the barn progression:
I think it turned out really pretty! I also think that the faux trim at the top turned out swell, considering I had to just wing it with tape! Now Jack, Lucy, Ethel, Dottie & Bill have a spiffy dwelling that they can be proud to trot into. Next year, it just may be a chicken coop. Bock, bock, bock.
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