Have you ever decided to do a little project which seems simple enough but ends up a mess?
I decided to paint the top of the square end table that sits next to my recliner. Everything is dark in the living room and I thought since the top was pretty well scratched up anyway I would paint it a creamy white.
I went to town and bought a can of satin finish spray paint, sand paper, masking paper and tape. Even got one of those trigger tops for the paint can (I've used them before and they work great).
John took the table out to our shed (one of the perks of being a campground host) and I spread out an old sheet and got started. I sanded the top and washed it down and let it dry. I wiped again to make sure I had all the dust off the top. Masked around the bottom and started painting. It became obvious early on that it was going to take a lot of paint to cover the dark brown finish. After multiple thin applications I noticed a lot of what I can only describe as "paint dust" all over the floor....and I ran out of paint. I decided to let it dry overnight and paint again the next day.
John offered to go into town and get another can of paint and to finish the painting. Well...it was a disaster. The paint was rough and uneven and frankly a mess. And...he'd used all the paint....for just a table top!!
So back to town this morning to get yet another can of paint. They were out of the satin finish and since I was not happy with the results anyway I got more extra fine sandpaper and a can of gloss finish in the same color.
I sanded the top smooth....nice but really needed more paint...cleaned everything up and re-masked. As soon as I started painting I knew it was a bust...the paint just sort of turned into a grainy mess. John of course, trying to be helpful, took the can of paint and said he'd do it....now if you know me at all you know I hate having someone take over my project, so I stormed out and after an hour of cooling off John said he figured out what was the problem. It was the trigger nozzle which the paint spray was hitting as it came out of the can and dropping a fine mist of drops...whatever....I am fed up and as of now the table is still in the shed and John is in the dog house. SHEESH...what a mess. I'll take a look at it tomorrow and decide if I can salvage it or junk it and get a new table.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Cove Palisades State Park
We left Champoeg State Park on Sept. 1st and drove south east to Cove Palisades State Park, where we will be campground hosting for the month. The park is a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the 5 mile drive down a winding canyon road, across a narrow bridge and up to the other side. The park has two campgrounds; Crooked River and Deschutes. They are several miles apart. We were assigned A loop of the Deschutes campground, which has approximately 40 full hook-up sites. B loop is for tent camping and C loop is a combination of tents and RV sites.
The first weekend we were here was Labor Day so the campground was full. There were a lot of boaters as well as RV campers and lots of families. Then, on Monday, it emptied out. We had 35 campground sites to clean...yikes...it took us most of the afternoon. Our duties include watering the grassy areas but we couldn't do that until most of the sites had emptied out. The last two days we have spent watering and there are only a handful of campers here now. The campground will be closed for the season at the end of the month.
The weather has turned cooler and it feels like Fall. Most of the trees here are evergreens but a few are not and are dropping leaves....our patio is covered with them. The dogs love the cool weather and spend most of the day outside following the sun on the patio.
The first weekend we were here was Labor Day so the campground was full. There were a lot of boaters as well as RV campers and lots of families. Then, on Monday, it emptied out. We had 35 campground sites to clean...yikes...it took us most of the afternoon. Our duties include watering the grassy areas but we couldn't do that until most of the sites had emptied out. The last two days we have spent watering and there are only a handful of campers here now. The campground will be closed for the season at the end of the month.
The weather has turned cooler and it feels like Fall. Most of the trees here are evergreens but a few are not and are dropping leaves....our patio is covered with them. The dogs love the cool weather and spend most of the day outside following the sun on the patio.
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| Lake Billy Chinook |
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| View of the lake |
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| Our park transportation...fun driving a Gator |
Finishing up the month at The Cove
We took a day trip to Sisters Oregon last week on one of our days off. It's a small town between Bend and Eugene and is best known for their annual quilt fair as well as a large blue grass music festival which was taking place the weekend after we were there. We spent the afternoon walking Main Street, browsing the shops and having lunch. The weather was perfect and there wasn't a lot of tourists. It's a really cute town, and we did a little shopping and bought a new yard spinner; it's a parrot riding a bicycle. I also got a wood sign that says "Whatever happens at Grandma's never happened". I put it up over the window in the bedroom.
When we lived in Sacramento we used to go to a restaurant we called Ben's...a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that had the old style chow mien with the crispy noodles and lots of crunchy bean sprouts and celery. They closed about 10 years ago and we have never found that style chow mien again. Since we have been in Oregon we have gone to two different restaurants and had the very same chow mien....absolutely delicious. We went again last night to a little restaurant called Ding Ho...in an old car hop style building...and filled up on pork fried rice and chow mien again.
Maybe it's an Oregon thing; whatever, it's been fun to have an old favorite again after so many years.
We are going to miss the no sales tax shopping when we go back to California; so nice to not have to add almost 10% to everything you buy. John has been wanting a navigation system for the truck and so we took the opportunity to get it without sales tax while we are here. He ordered it from Amazon and so they don't charge sales tax when they deliver it here. He found a local shop to install if for $40...what a good deal. Now he has hands free bluetooth for the iPhone as well as a navigation system; it was a plug and play system and the installation looks like it came from the factory.
The park is almost empty now. We have two or three RVs come in every afternoon and then they leave in the morning and the only people here are the other campground hosts. There are lots of deer who come down to graze on the grass now that there's not many people here, and I'll see 5 or 6 at a time. They aren't afraid of people and even the dogs barking at them doesn't send them off.
We will be packing up next Tues and leaving for Grants Pass a week from today. We'll be spending the night at Valley of the Rogue State Park...using our host pass for a free night....and then going to Brookings on the coast for a week.
When we lived in Sacramento we used to go to a restaurant we called Ben's...a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that had the old style chow mien with the crispy noodles and lots of crunchy bean sprouts and celery. They closed about 10 years ago and we have never found that style chow mien again. Since we have been in Oregon we have gone to two different restaurants and had the very same chow mien....absolutely delicious. We went again last night to a little restaurant called Ding Ho...in an old car hop style building...and filled up on pork fried rice and chow mien again.
Maybe it's an Oregon thing; whatever, it's been fun to have an old favorite again after so many years.
We are going to miss the no sales tax shopping when we go back to California; so nice to not have to add almost 10% to everything you buy. John has been wanting a navigation system for the truck and so we took the opportunity to get it without sales tax while we are here. He ordered it from Amazon and so they don't charge sales tax when they deliver it here. He found a local shop to install if for $40...what a good deal. Now he has hands free bluetooth for the iPhone as well as a navigation system; it was a plug and play system and the installation looks like it came from the factory.
The park is almost empty now. We have two or three RVs come in every afternoon and then they leave in the morning and the only people here are the other campground hosts. There are lots of deer who come down to graze on the grass now that there's not many people here, and I'll see 5 or 6 at a time. They aren't afraid of people and even the dogs barking at them doesn't send them off.
We will be packing up next Tues and leaving for Grants Pass a week from today. We'll be spending the night at Valley of the Rogue State Park...using our host pass for a free night....and then going to Brookings on the coast for a week.
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