saturday sprint

according to the weather man, i have a few precious hours of sunshine to accomplish anything of any substance outside, and this morning i think i'll work on the rocking chairs.

originially, there were six... now there's four. a lot of my memories of my childhood are twined up in these rocking chairs. i was sitting in one when i was four and my grandmother told me she wouldn't love me any more if i continued to stutter. i stopped stuttering. There. On the spot. i don't really recommend my grandmother's application of such a tough love technique on a four-year-old, but it worked.

my mother was sitting in one of them, vast with child, when she asked me out of the blue one day if i thought it looked as if things were going well her pregnancy. i remember how i looked at her startled, and afraid that i should tell her what i Knew - that my brother was going to be born with Down's Syndrome. But all she really wanted to know was if she looked fat, and so i relaxed. well, you ARE eight months pregnant, i remember i said.

my grandmother used to sit for hours and hours on the porch, in the summer, watching the world and the traffic go by. it helped that she lived on one of the busiest corners in ocean city. i think its why she liked the location - in the summer it was like living above a carnival - there was always something to see. i wonder now how content she would've been in a quieter place.

now my intention is to gather the four remaining chairs, like four old ladies, and paint them bright colors instead of the dull green my grandmother preferred. one's going to be light pink, i think, one purple, one hot pink, one a dark burgundy. it's hard for me to settle on colors when i like them all. then it occured to me i didn't have to. i think the four colors will look pretty against the blue house.

i might finish them all off with a coat of white and a crackle finish - but i'll see. i have some fabric stored in the attic - white with a pink windowpane check - that would complement all the shades i have in mind - especially if i put the white crackle coat on top. i know there's more than enough for cushions.

i need to do some cleaning and some vacuuming - the rest of the house has suffered from my painting. i'll post some photos of the bedroom in a bit - assuming Beloved will put his laundry away! the thing of it is though, that no matter how much i do, my mother will make me do it over - or she'll do it over when she gets here - and so i almost hate to put out the initial effort. but i guess i can't have her tiptoeing through dustbunnies and holding her nose, so some sort of heavy-duty housekeeping effort is required.

what's on your agenda, gentle readers?

and furthermore, the war will end. blessed be.