The Paint Job with a Short Text – March, 2014

You might remember how the house on Agua Caliente struck my eye as soon as I saw it. In fact, that was a great selling point and helped me to decide to buy it. However, I knew that the house needed a new coat of paint as it had faded and some of it was peeling on the east side of the house. So after much consternation and decision making about what color to paint it, I bit the bullet and had it done last week. It would have been done the week before (when the weather was cooperating much better) but the Home Owners Association had to give their approval of the new color, which delayed progress a bit. I might not submit an application for the next project, but right now, I was trying to be a good member of the association and follow the rules.  After all, they are one of the reasons it’s a nice looking, well kept neighborhood.  (Don’t forget to click on the pictures to get a larger view, if you wish to do so)

The before shot

The above picture is to refresh your memory as to what it used to look like. Please note the lawn to the right of the driveway. It is no longer there. Due to high water prices and the drought, I decided to take it out and install some red rock to tie in with the reddish roof with a white rock island in the middle. You might notice some green stuff to the left of the picture. Those were ugly, scraggly dwarf fruit trees and they are no longer there. Drought resistant foliage will be planted there as soon as the weather gets better.

The colors that I chose are called French Sonnet and Sequoia Red. I thought the Sonnet was more like a cream with some yellow in it, but it’s more yellow than I thought. This is a shot of the house with the new body color on it. Note the contrast of color between the two garage doors. The pale color is the old yellow.  The painter did that on purpose to let me know what the contrast was.

French Sonnet took to the house like a fine poem. Note the rock where the lawn was and the white rock island.

Charlo, one of the painters, is doing a dance to celebrate that the new body color was done. The difference in new and old color is just above his head.

I tried to get the two pictures above to be lighter, but it just wouldn’t work. It was a cloudy, windy and cold day. I was lucky that they could still paint in those conditions.

Painting the trim on the front of the house.

Charlo is spraying the back door fake shutters.

The house was officially finished on March 31, 2014. This is the finished product.

The back side of the house with BC going for an afternoon stroll.

As soon as the weather is better and not dipping below 32 degrees at night, I will be planting some colorful plants and posies around the house and in the back. I do have some daffodils, pansies and columbine in the backyard, but that is about all I can put out for the time being. The mantra is here to not plant before Mother’s Day because of the weather. It is a whole different ball game up here and I’m learning new ways to garden very quickly.  I’m pretty happy with the way the house turned out and how fresh it looks. I copied the color from a house a few blocks away and their house looks terrific even after 8 years of being in the harsh Nevada sun.

I just had to share this picture that I took this morning as it was beginning to dawn on the Sierras. I love to watch as the sun rises in the East and lights up those mountains in the West. It never ceases to enthrall me. It snowed up at Lake Tahoe last night but we didn’t get anything here in terms of weather. Just some pretty sights that we all love.

An April Fool’s Dawn on the Sierras