Is it grape or aubergine?

It's actually "Rare Wine" from American Tradition.







At first, I was a little worried.



But it dried to the right shade with three coats. The garage door still needs a 4th coat. It was a lot of white and receives some sun in the mornings, so there are spotty areas. I'll finish that up when I'm done here.

I built the shutters from 1x6 pine. I cut the 12 foot boards to 58" x 2-1/2". I had intended to use only three boards per shutter, but that looked a little small even laying on the table in the basement. So I settled on 5. After I had all my pieces, I painted everything. Two coats on each side with a third coat on the face.



Then I used wooden spaces 3/4" thick to lay out each end making sure it was all square.



Then I attached the cross members with 1-1/4" staples driven 1/4" below the surface.



A little patch and paint, and they were laid out to dry.



Can't wait to finish the garage door. It's a LOT of purple.

Now that the front of the house is getting work done, I really want to rebuild the front porch and roof overhang. The vinyl just looks old. The metal wrapping every piece of wood is in bad shape and dirty. The steps are cracked and broken. The downspouts need to be painted to match the brick. So many plans. So little time.

6:29pm - The garage and basement door are finished. I haven't scraped the paint off the windows yet, so no close shots, but here's what you see from the street.



Lagerfeld roses have been planted in the white bed and treated for black spot. I watered all the tea olives and the lilac. I tossed out seeds from Janie in the perennial bed. Sowed seeds for four o'clocks and cosmos too. I checked on the rose cuttings from the roses across the street. The only cutting I pulled out of the soil has roots. I've got to pot up the cuttings from Plantmaven's pink brugs in the morning. They've been in water for a week and have tiny root nubs forming. I've had a full day. I think I'm ready for dinner. Pizza and pasta. Off to the grocery store for supplies.

Paint

I finally did it. I bought the paint for my front door and shutters. No, I haven't built the shutters yet. That's today's project. I'm building 4 simple shutters for the front of the house. I want three vertical boards roughly 3" x 54" with a 3/4" space between them. Two horizontal cross members will tie them together at the top and bottom. They'll be attached to the brick using Tapcon screws. The color will be revealed once the painting has been finished. It's a bold color for a single man in a small town. The lady at Lowe's who mixed the pain suggested hunter green instead. No thanks, that was the color when I bought the house. I hated it.

Other things on the agenda today include powerwashing, with bleach, the front steps and porch overhang. Spiders love this house and build webs all over the trim and brick. I'm hoping to get some of the trim painted today too. It's been a task I have put off way too long.

I'll also be sowing a few more seeds today. Annual rudbeckia that should bloom in 10-12 weeks once it germinates, two packs of Four O'clocks, and two packs of orange and yellow cosmos to replace some missing plants in the perennial bed.

It's going to be a nice day with temperatures in the mid 70s. Updates to follow.

2:38pm - Busy day. 77 and sunny.

Shutters, 3 coats of paint each side/edge. Assembled. Drying.
Front door, 3 coats of paint. Done. Need to reinstall latch and deadbolt.
Garage door, 2 coats of paint. Third coat needed.
Basement door, 2 coats of paint. Third coat needed.
Trim boards above dining room, 2 coats of paint. Done.

I've also cleaned some of the brick, which I can't really see a difference. I took down a small metal railing on the side of the front porch. I'd like to build a trellis that I have a design for in my head, but the wren in the hanging basket is having none of that. She's been disturbed enough today. I'll work on building that on my next rainy day off.

No seeds or roses have been planted yet. I'll wait now until nearly sundown to keep the stress down. Another coat of paint on the doors and I'll be ready to hang the shutters. Lots to do. I need an iced coffee.