Aug/Sept 2022 Island Trip – Day 12

Today’s to-do list directed me to tend to the walls on either side of the new tile installation above the fireplace. I was instantly and utterly defeated. There’s rot in the car deck ceiling on the right side, OSB bits stuck to the wall, mold (fixable), on and on… I had a shopping list for the lumber store (an every 36-hour occurrence) and decided retail therapy was better than despondency.

I recognized immediately that I was upset/triggered at being confronted, again, by my parents’ dysfunction. Why, when the resources are available, do you let the roof leak? Which leads to the degradation of your home?? Why do you allow wood smoke to pump into your home for decades? To the point where your grandchildren relate the smell of a campfire to their grandparents? And the walls and ceiling were brown. And this BEFORE the were ill?! AND! This is surely what causes my compulsiveness about SO many things. My DH is a saint to patiently listen and understand why I need things done just so. My MO is the antithesis of my parents’. I am a control freak, and I know where, in a large part, it came from!

Shopping was mostly successful. Gassing up the truck was very exciting at $127. Yes, there is a fuel premium to pay on the Island, and I try not to buy gas here. There was a quarter tank left and that’s a quarter tank less than I’m comfortable with. On my way back to the property I paused to return my eastern neighbor’s pruners to her. She’d left them in my truck after our blackberry escapades yesterday. She invited me to join her and a friend on her deck.

I put my latest lumber store acquisitions away, along with a few groceries, changed out of my work (camouflage) pants, and walked over to join the girls for a lovely respite on the deck. When asked, I shared my dissolution over the wall remediation situation. My neighbor offered a solution that bypasses 1,745 steps, plus sanding, and it will work! This lifted my spirits tremendously! We are home improvement besties.

I was able to move forward on a few things at the house after the deck visit ended. Washed down the kitchen and bathroom walls in prep for painting. Washed the floor behind the big cabinet, currently pulled out from the north dining room wall. Trust me, it needed a wash! Dusted closet walls in prep to paint, and am getting real with myself that I may not paint the closets… Closets are a stretch goal.