I'm cleaning out my camera files and thinking.
Thinking about the lovely Valentine progressive dinner we had, with poetry and other romantic readings, and with fun appetizers served here...
.
.. followed by a delicious entree and dessert served elsewhere.
I'm thinking about the little impromptu Valentine's lunch with some of the grandshoots...
...and the just plain love-them-to-pieces days with other grandshoots.
I'm thinking about the many jigsaw puzzles which have been put together over the (LONG) winter months...
...and some of the really good recipes I've discovered lately (more later).
But, mostly, I'm thinking about paint.
Lots and lots of paint and painting has been in my life over the last two months.
I finally started working on the room Prince Charming plans to use as a recording studio.
I was pretty happy that the big drop cloth covered the floor from wall-to-wall in one direction and was only a foot shy of doing so in the other direction.
However, because of the truly amazing amount of painting I have done over the course of the last 35 years, I am extremely skilled at it now and I was able to knock the loaded paint tray off the top of the ladder in such a way that it dumped a significant amount of paint onto that one foot of unprotected carpet. (Don't try this at home, kids; I am a skilled professional with years of experience in this line of work.)
Now, we're not talking about some blend-in color here, either, Dear Readers.
No.
No.
I painted this studio a nice, masculine, deep gray-brown (Warm Stone by Sherwin Williams).
My dear friend, Able Baker Dana, was here at the time and narrowly escaped a Warm Stone shower, herself.
Would you like to see the big mess on the carpet?
This is it:
Though it's perceptable up close like this, when the room is taken as a whole it's hardly noticeable (which is good, since new flooring for this room is pretty much not on the priority list).
Since Able Baker Dana was so astounded that I was able to salvage that carpet, I'm going to share a trade secret.
Three words.
WATER and ACT FAST.
I got a bucket of water and, after first scooping and wiping up the globs and puddles of paint, I simply started pouring large amounts of water on the carpet and then soaking it up with old towels.
Over and over again.
For quite a long time.
But, you see, it works well most of the time.
I have a similar story, with a sadder ending, which I will tell you when my currently on-going painting project is finished.
THAT project is why I am thinking mostly about paint as I look through my camera files.
One day, when I went upstairs to fetch my camera before leaving for another day on that job, I caught a glimpse of myself in the hall mirror and snapped a photo so I could remember...
...what February really looked like on me.
Keeping it real, folks, keeping it real.