Before I Can Paint, I Have To Dig A Ditch

These are not two separate items on a To Do list. Its not ‘paint’, then ‘dig a ditch’. It’s a cause and effect thing. Done right, painting is nine tenths preparation. Done wrong it’s nine tenths cleaning up.

We had just moved into the house and I was painting the downstairs interior and needed a space for storage and prep. Prep is mixing paint, cleaning brushes, punching holes in the rim around the lid so the paint drips back into the can and not down the sides.

We had a car port kind of thing in the back corner of the yard at the time.  I called it a car port for lack of a better term – a tin roof with a concrete floor. The yard wasn’t landscaped so when it rained the water would run onto the concrete floor. Hence the ditch. Dig the ditch so I have dry floor in my storage and prep area, then I can paint.

It just happened again. All I wanted to do was rotate a wall rack from horizontal to vertical. Simply a matter of drilling a few holes. You think? First problem, can’t unscrew one the screws on one of the brackets that holds the rack in place. When all else fails in these situations, brute force will generally do the trick.

I carefully place a piece of cardboard under the back of the hammer so I won’t mark the wall. The screw comes out all right, along with a chunk of the brick it was screwed into, leaving a one inch hole. No problem, I have some ready mix wall putty.

First I have to sand the rust off the spatula so it won’t leave brown streaks in the putty. While I’m at it I might as well fill in the other holes. Now I need a bigger trowel and have to sand the rust off that. Might as well wash the rack and the brackets while I have them off.  Plug for the fridge won’t stay in the holes in the power bar. Take that apart and squeeze the really cheap metal thingys back in shape. OK, now I’m ready to fill the hole caused by taking out the screw so I can drill some new holes and hang the rack vertically.

Hmmm…I don’t seem to have a drill bit the correct size for the wall plugs I have. And so it goes.

No matter what you are doing around the house, there is always a ditch that needs digging first.

One of the handiest things in my kitchen.