A lesson in painting

Or maybe not....maybe it was just a lesson for me.

 

2 weeks ago I undertook an endeavour to give the fence panels a coat of fence protector and paint the concrete posts and panels a lovely warm cream colour. 

Last year, we had managed to save enough money to have a gardener clear all the debris out and lay a patio of indian stone paving.  The fence panel on the left of the photo is a 'before' - as you can see the cursory coat given last year by the gardener leaves a lot to be desired and I was confident I could do a much better job.

 

Having 4 dogs, who like eating plants, dictated that we needed a large area for them and I wanted a raised patio area that the dogs could not get too.  The gardener put a little trellis fence and gate up for me which will be replaced because my Dad took one look at it and started with "What you need is....." So I am guessing I can put a weeks worth of annual leave to one side to help him with that as Hubby has palpatations at the mere mention of anything DIY related.

The new patio was all well and good except we didn't have the money for garden furniture.  This year we bought the garden furniture, just in time for the heatwave and I can report I am a nice brown colour (well, the front of me is) as a result of the sun lounger and many cosy BBQs Hubby has manned over the last 4 weeks.  Now it was time to tie everything together, paint the fence panels and put some plants in.  Ribena Tina to the rescue!

 

I am sure that the last time I decided to give the fence panels a coat of protector it didn't take me as long.  This year, along with the concrete panels, it took 2 days and a total of 20 hours!  I didn't mind seen as I may have overdone the sun bathing on my front half the two days before.  Facing fence panels all day meant I could keep my tender face out of the suns rays but still be in the sun - that was my compromise....Hubby was thrilled at my attempt to stay safe as you can imagine! 

Engaging the common sense part of my brain, and trust me that does not happen very often when I am at home, I used I don't know how many garbage bags and masking tape to protect the indian stone paving we paid a fortune for last year.



Took me ages just to put the garbage bags down!

The time it took to place those garbage bags where they needed to go was ridiculous.  The swearing at the gusts of wind that blew them everywhere just after the masking tape had been put on was a waste of energy and would have been comical for someone to watch.  I almost needed a vodka, lime and lemonade to recover but 8am was really too early to start drinking!

As you can see, the time spent laying the garbage bags was well worth it - I am not the tidiest of people when it comes to painting.  Let's just say it is a good job I didn't decide decorating would be a great career to embark on.

It must have taken me nearly 2 hours to paint the first 2 panels but it was well worth it!  You can see the difference between the nasty grey concrete panel above and the nice cream colour in the photo below.  Off course, the cream paint covered up all the splashes of fence protector I managed to get on the concrete panels....

 

Now the trellis fence is left and as it's replacement is at least a year away that is the next job.  I am not convinced that I could paint it quickly and completely without having to cover most of the garden in garbage bags.  Each individual square obviously has a top, bottom and sides that need painting on the inner square and I can only imagine how much fun that will be.

 

Engaging the common sense part of my brain the fence will come down, be taken in the nearest alley way and painted, dried and then put back.  The dogs will need monitoring that day because they will think all their Christmases have come at once when they can get to the top part of the patio and Hubby may just lose his mind that day corraling them back in the house.

 

Except...the removal of anti-inflammatories has gotten in the way and I am struggling to hold a book up when reading at the moment so the idea of holding a paint brush all day is pain enough.  I wonder if I can convince Beautiful B that it would be a brilliant idea to help mum out by painting it for me.....