Painting, Day four

Today was Sunday, and our work continued.   Shanda and Stephen and my dad came up in time for breakfast, and then we all got to work.  Stephen has been such a trooper -- he has scraped for 4 days straight, and never complained!!!!!!!!!  It is thankless work, but so important and we appreciate his contribution to this process so much.  He has also done intermittent jobs, but his big job all week was scraping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Shanda has handled the kitchen ably this week, and been an excellent photojournalist for us as well as a runner for whatever anyone needed. Shanda also potted some planters for us, which I haven't even seen.  I can't wait to see what they look like, and I can't wait til they have a beautifully painted house to complement.  Today, sadly, was their last day with us.They headed back to Durham this afternoon.   Daddy has worked like a trooper all week, even though there are a million things at his place that need his attention.  His sacrifice is well-noted and appreciated.  He has been an awesome jack of all trades and his advice has been invaluable.  (and he's planning to come back tomorrow :~)   Randy Spruill surprised us by showing up again this morning.  He filled in a problematic corner for us, bringing some "magic supplies :~)"  and helped do some priming, before he left to get the family and travel back to Kitty Hawk.  What a blessing he and his family have been the last two days.   Mama came around 10:00 and she and I worked to finish getting a first coat on the porch.I'm so glad she's feeling well enough to help.  She and I made a great team today!   Dale (my brother) came up just as we were getting ready for worship. We stopped at 11:30, had a devotional time and communion -- sang a lot of songs about sunshine since the weather was threatening storms.  It was nice to be together.  Mama and Shanda finished out our lunch of chicken/rice/green beans, and we lunched just after our devotional time.    Then back to work.  Dale primed, Daddy did a little of everything, Shane worked on the South wall, which has been the monster project of this process!  Mama and I continued working on painting the porch walls, including touching up some scraping, caulking, etc.  Dale taped off some items that DON'T need painting and primed until he had to go to work this afternoon.  He's planning to come back and prime some more tomorrow!!!!!    My two aunts -- Dusy and Gwen came back today and finished cleaning up the Victorian trim, with some help from my mom.  That was a big project, and it will add a lovely touch when we get to that point!   It was definitely a family day, and a busy one.  We stopped at 7, thanks to weather, as a storm rolled in.  By the end of the day, some of our goals had been met -- the first coat is on the porch except for one window frame and a couple of places where the caulk wasn't dry.  That's for tomorrow..  . .There's a section just above the foundation and below the porch that is completely done!!!!!!!  Yeah!!!!!!!!!!  We've got one whole side of the house primed, now, caulked and ready to paint (I think). . . .(in addition to the porch area-- actually 3 walls. . .) The back kitchen wall still has some prep work left -- sigh-- as do the other two walls.  The south wall will probably take Shane another day.   The good news is that when all the prep work is done, the paint sprayer will make the rest of the work much easier.  Our friends and family have helped us get the hardest part done.  Obviously, we're not going to finish by Monday, but we have a huge start, and the window to completion gets smaller each day.    I think our society has really done ourselves a disservice by doing away with these "barn raising" type activities. . . .it has been a real blessing in so many ways -- not only getting to see people we haven't seen in a while in many cases, but bringing friends and family together that don't often get to be together.  One of the coolest things is the expertise that different folks brought -- from Randy Spruill's magic corner supplies to Randy Fletcher's tricks and carpentry knowledge to Marina's quiet tenacity, Shanda's cooking skills,  and so much more.  I think people should be more willing to ask for help in projects like this.  The people who have helped us this week are forever invested in this house -- and in our lives.  Part of them lives in this paint job, and whenever they visit, they (and we) will know that they helped make it beautiful.  There's a lot to be said for barn raisings (or house paintings. . . .)    The official "painting extravaganza" ends at 5:00 tomorrow.  Of course we'll be working beyond that, so there is still time if you missed out on the first four days of fun.:~)  A million thank-you's wouldn't be enough for all those who've helped, and all of you who've prayed who couldn't be with us.  Bless you all!