Winter Is Coming

Up inside the plant all day, you don't always know what the weather is doing outside.   I got off work to find the wind had been kicking all day.  All my plants on the back step had been knocked over.  Well, it was supposed to be cold tonight, so I decided to bring them all inside.

Just to be on the safe side, I brought in the Christmas cacti, too.

Just for kicks, I checked the weather forecast.  Wait, what?  Low of 51'?  They changed it again.  It's not going to get down into the 30s after all, and I lugged all those plants inside for nothing!  Then, I checked the top of the page.

It was the page for my home town.  Swipe left and get to the local page.  Still in the 30s by the weekend.  Whew!

What?  Of course I have a page on my weather app for my hometown!  And one for where my sister lives, and one for where my brother lives.  Doesn't everybody?

Moving right along...One of my Christmas cacti has a bud on it!  It's got several buds, but this is the biggest one.

I know I'd said the next project will be to paint the living room, but after thinking a bit, I really need to get my mantle put back up.  Before I do that, I'm going to paint these bricks.  First thing, I've got to strip that old, gloppy paint off.  You can see how thick it is, with the drip marks and all.

I'd originally said I was going to strip them down to the bare brick, but now I'm thinking I won't. All this I'm doing right now is just cosmetic fixes anyway.  Sometime down the line, when I get the whole room remodeled, I want to get these bricks replaced.  I really prefer smooth bricks.

That'll be way down the line, though.  People keep asking me if I've got my house finished, and I'm like, "Uh, you know this stuff costs money, right?"  That is what I don't have.  I thought I was going to get my credit card paid off this year -- or close to paid off, at least.  Then I had all this dental work done, and that put an end to that.  One day, though. One day...

Back to the bricks.  You can see on the right side of the photo how there is some black showing through.  I bought some new sanding belts for my belt sander.  Last night, in a fit of insomnia, I got one of the belts and just scraped it down the bricks by hand.  Looks like it'll get the paint off pretty well.  Once I use the actual belt sander, that is.

I went back to bed, and mentally rehearsed all the steps to getting my mantle back up, including mentally going to the store and buying the hardware with which to do it. It didn't help me fall asleep, but I think I might know how to get my mantle up now. 

This post seems to have taken on a life of its own, and I didn't get much sleep last night, and I have no idea where this is going to end up, so I'm just going to jump off this train right here and say good night.

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.