May/June 2024 Island Trip – Day 2

I woke up to rain with spots of blue sky. It went down hill from there… Every time it stopped raining enough (coupla hours) for me to think I might be able to mow, it started raining again. So I got up to other things:

• I finished my class quilt as best I could without being able to actually finish quilting or binding it (stitches in my thumb). My tenant, also a quilter, helped me out by taking a picture of me with the quilt. Then I was able to upload my last two images to the instructor’s website.
• I walked into the upper barn to find water all over a piece of the floor. Not the roof, thank God. Water was seeping in at ground level from behind the west wall. Exploratory surgery discovered soil over the barn siding in areas, and sheets of metal siding laying on the ground right at the edge of the building. There is also a downspout that needs further excavation… After removing the siding, the barn floor started drying out. I’m hoping the siding was acting like a spillway. More research is required.
• After sweeping down parts of the walls in the lower barn (yes, sweeping walls), I started priming them. I painted as far as I could reach, saving ladder work for the next session. The difference, even with just the primer, is kind of amazing! While painting I wondered why my dad went through all the effort to sheet rock the building, and then never painted it. It came to me that walls were what was important. Paint/finish wasn’t. The sheetrock holds the insulation in place. Makes the building easier to keep warm while making art. Paint on the walls didn’t matter to him. Paint matters to me as it protects the sheetrock in a building that is not weather tight.
• I had lovely dinner and conversation with my neighbor to the east. Once home my DH and I caught up on our days and enjoyed our virtual backgammon games.