Lapse

Painterly 30/100

Painted, sort of. Enough to get through winter. Next spring...

Maybe save enough to get a proper job done for.

Struggling with profound fatigue, virus lingering without consent or invitation.

Hard to imagine doing all the necessary work to finish.

Workroom space a mess beyond. An eternity of maybe not.


The progress is fascinating, though. The pile of debris less.

I thought it would be in the job, but no.

Will have to wait for city cleanup day in Spring.

Or hire it hauled away? One piece at a time,

In the weekly bin? Snuck at night into neighbor's bins?

Curtains 29/100

The Porch is now The Laundry. Bright, warm and functional.

Still working on a shielding curtain for around the toilet.

Doesn't bother me, but there may be times, so yeah.

Dylan got the speakers working out there yesterday, very nice.

And a drying line at some point. Still to come.


The glow in the dark skeleton, clock, old calendar decor.

Eleanor goes out there, Moby much less interested, so far.

The platform for washer dryer a great idea,

All credit to Dylan. And our able contractor's easy skill,

Wouldn't have been easy for us. Outside painting still needed.

Emulsion 26/100

Watered down, free from yard sale paint, an emulsion brushed

Lightly over flatly painted brick, bringing out the texture underlying.

The illusion of depth, reality of dimension, roughly highlighted truth.

An experiment, creative play, color and luminescence, shadowing allowances, edges.

My abstract mural, laundry, toilet, sink, lines, dots, reflections.




Why does the cat sit on the edge? She huffs,

"It's a cat thing, you wouldn't understand. I'm not explaining."

Alrighty then. She knows all the best corners. For her.

The foam blocks await completion. Once brightening the dark basement.



They will cover this floor. And positively glow. So comfy.

Gleaner 25/100

Finished cleaning the foam blocks last night, laid them out.

Not dry this morning. Figured, windows good for this.

Using old, ill learned, card house building lessons, balancing loosely.

Foam needs time to dry, apparently. Moved them for contractor.

I hope I amuse more than annoy. He seems bemused.




New data out on skin color. We pale folks are

Basic apes gone naked. The colorful people are more sophisticated.

This makes sense to me. Also a study on Ainu

Another corner that fascinates me. Eternal soft spot for the unregarded.

Natural gleaner, picking up the fallen, lost, discarded small treasure.

Colors 24/100

This is a platform built from the salvaged floor joists.

And the extra chipboard. Contractor willing to cut the wood.

Then simply offered to slap it together for us, done.

The washer and dryer will sit a bit higher upon.

Better than what we'd have done, a rough beauty, functional.



And as for the rest, take a look. So close.



Functioning toilet and washtub sink. Cleaning the colorful foam blocks

Up from the basement after 5 years good service, dirty

But brightening up beautifully with bleach, soap, scrubbing, sorting out.

A large, simple puzzle, soon solved in a sunny room.

Insides 23/100

And the "before" images are after I'd removed the windows.

We have not lost any net light. Illumination increasing some.

Tiles down, cheap but effective and to be covered anyway.

Some details matter, some don't, important to know which count.

Invisible attention for god, or botched cathedrals? Eh. Good enough.


Feeling the grim determination of survival. Trudge mode, get through.

My Basic mantra. No way out but through. To completion.

Latissimus Dorsi complaining of yesterday's painting the ceiling. Dylan rubbed.

Cats keeping us both grounded and engaged. Furry therapists, professional.

Paint and tools. Dust and rags. Color and light. Soon.

Stage 22/100

Painting a ceiling is a messy proposition, spattering everywhere, me.

Extension pole, roller. Salvaged, leftover, free and mistinted paint together.

Previous owners left in basement, yard sale freebies, Ace Hardware.

Colors... artistic! White mostly, for the sake of light. Bright.

Reminds me of stage set painting, the illusion of depth.



Cleaned the plaster dust off the bricks, for eventual fauxing.

Will need to clean the windows tomorrow, scrape off paint.

Finish sticking down the tile. It's getting so close now.

Had to wait for dawn today, no lights or outlets yet.

Feels so solid now, so grateful for the craftsmens' work.

Corner 21/100

The last bits always take the longest, details, cleaning up.

Painted plasterboard and patches, bottom half. Stuck down vinyl tiles,

Cheapest ever, so beige. Color to be added later, atop.

Also vacuumed the boards beneath. Avoiding fiddly bits, until later.

Washed kitchen floor. 0700 Meeting at work, new miniC-arms training.


Moby's blood pressure is lower, but not quite enough, not yet.

Dosage adjustment. I was on the floor helping hold him,

Not a happy cat. Much complaint, duly registered, acknowledged Sir.

Made catsoup, adding taurine, K+ & eggshells (powdered), kidney diet.

Made our dinner, lunch for work, too much kitchen time.

Solarium 5/100

Someone painted these bricks. And getting paint off bricks is

Not a reasonable project for amateurs. So, I checked online

Found a video, and much like make-up, with paint

It can be faked. More paint, roll, stipple, blot, highlight.

Well, that* I can do. Old girl gets a makeover!


Very hot, but Porch is fine, not done being insulated

Even so, moderate. Eleanor explores. Moby sits close, not in.

Why? Cats, who can figure 'em? Planning a door flap.

Litter box out there. A way up to windows, sun.

Multi use room. Laundry, toilet, solar. Everyone welcome. A chair.






*A whole year of theater make-up, long long ago.

Windows 4/100

We have windows now. I stand in this space now,

And it is a room, a part of House, secure, solid.

I'm impressed with the craftsmanship, appreciate the work done well.

A worthy project, not cheap. Eager to decorate it well.

Much more than we'd planned, but - feels like a bargain.






Moby casting about, I sat him on the sheepskin chair.

He didn't settle, so I sat him beside me, he took arm.

I got up, he moved down. Eleanor hopped in beside.

They've been there hours. "We voted. We get the chair."

Ok then. Who am I to deny a proper democracy?

Progression 2/100

I wanted to think, or read, but she wanted to

Talk. And talk. I stayed polite, mostly. While wanting to

Tell her to just be quiet, please, stop, I'm not

Answering, adding, encouraging, nothing but barest civil acknowledgement but no.

She needed company, I needed solitude, not a good mix.



Got soil to plant lettuce in the raised bed.

Green leaves in autumn is the hope. We shall see.

Nearly every day, visible progress. A bit more wood here.

A new doohicky there. Evidence of attention and care.

Moby more comfortable with Eleanor lately, his old weak eye obvious.

Hidden

Coming along. Down to the plumbing and electrical that doesn't much show.

The windows await.



Hard week, 4 straight days. Last night, vomiting, for hours. Exhausted and sore today, but feeling better this evening, keeping food down.

Trying to keep pragmatic, doing the job in front of me. Sustaining emotional food, to stay strong.