Random 5 for May 23, 2021 – Peaceful, hot, decks, painting, spellcheck

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My happy place!

The best part of waking up – This has become my happy spot. It’s my therapy and in the hot weather, my cool spot. I can walk there easily and it’s never crowded. Most of the time, I’m alone. I always wanted to live with a stream in my backyard. This isn’t exactly my back yard but I’ll take it!

And blip it was summer! – We’ve hit 90 degrees (32 C) after spending a spring of below average temperatures. Seriously Mother Nature?

Ah yes decks – Now I remember why I’m not a fan of decks. They are heat sinks. We have a tree that shades a small corner but for the most part it’s uncovered and gets stinking hot fast. The heat from the deck comes up through your shoes. Yeow! Revisit deck options is on my list for next year. It needs a roof.

The psychology of painting – Maybe this only applies to me but it happens every time. I spent considerable time choosing paint colors. I get sample cans and paint foam board and place them around the room. I check the color in different lights. My current dysfunctional tan has a rosy tone and around 2 in the afternoon it looks like flesh with a slight sunburn. The new shade doesn’t have a pink tone. When I paint, I question my choice (and my sanity) all during the painting process. Wet paint is a different color from dry paint. Splotchy paint (dry in some areas and wet in others) also does not have a good look. I spend time lamenting on my terrible choice. The next morning I wake up and it’s gorgeous. All the splotches are completely dry and it finally looks like the sample. It’s nerve wracking and I know it happens, yet I go through the gnashing of teeth every time.

It made no sense – Friday I got an email from a friend. He either dictated it to his phone or spellcheck was involved. I didn’t understand it. He is “swaggering” this weekend. I suspect he is camping but I’m not sure.

So how was your week?

 

64 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 23, 2021 – Peaceful, hot, decks, painting, spellcheck”

  1. I really like your stream – just like Anne’s creek! It’s a perfect way to start your day everyday. I occasionally message on Facebook with my neighbor. He never proofreads what he writes and a lot of his words are autocorrect … it’s a challenge sometimes and unlike when you can’t understand what someone is saying and you just nod or smile (which is lost these days beneath a mask), there is no nodding and I have to “like” (which is about as comparable to a nod as you can get).

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  2. Every time I try to pick a shade of white paint, I’m so overwhelmed with the hundreds of shades of white, I usually just groan and go pull weeds if something needs to get done around the house. Love your happy/cool spot. I felt the zen vibes through the laptop.

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  3. Your happy spot is a wonder! I’d be there every day, too! And I think if you are going to continue to work so hard on painting and all the decision making that goes with it, you’ll be very glad for the opportunity to live with water therapy! 🙂

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  4. Your happy spot is a wonder! I’d be there every day, too! And I think if you are going to continue to work so hard on painting and all the decision making that goes with it, you’ll be very glad for the opportunity to live with water therapy! 🙂

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  6. When I lived in California “everybody” put up those patio covers that are pieces of wood with gaps between them. I can’t remember what they are called. They shade the patio, but they don’t completely cover it like a roof. Would that work? I understand you are saying a wood deck is worse than a concrete patio. That photo is soooooooooo peaceful.

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    • Pergola. I’m hoping to either put a real roof or a pergola with clear plexiglass on top so it’s somewhat rainproof. The wood gets really hot but then again so do pavers or concrete. Maybe it’s my dappled trees I really miss.

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      • I can’t believe I just read pergola. I just came from an email from my mother. Somebody stole all the wicker furniture from the pergola at her senior community! Now they have nowhere to sit this summer :(. Dappled trees are beautiful!

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  13. Love your happy spot. It looks like a nice place to wade on a hot day.

    I’m not very good at typing with my thumbs, so I usually at least start with the voice option. Then when it makes a mistake, I switch over. Even on the computer, my typing skills have gone downhill. But can your friend really blame spellcheck for “Swaggering”? Anyway, I hope he had fun.

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  14. It is kinda scary choosing paint. When I had my apartment painted a couple of years ago, I went to a totally different color from what I had, and I was a bit worried. But it looks great! I love the way it changes with the time of day.
    I don’t have a deck, but I do have a balcony. The floor is cement and the building is brick and faces west, so I get sun from late morning until sundown. To say it is hot is an understatement.

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  15. Maybe he is “sweltering” this weekend? That’s my best guess.

    It’s been ages since I painted a room a new color. I can’t decide if I am envious of you or not.

    Our brick patio can get pretty hot, too.We have an umbrella, but it’s battered because sometimes the wind carries it away.

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  16. We’re having the same weather plus add in wind and humidity – yuck. I’m glad your painting is still going well. Maybe you need one of those awnings you push the button and out it goes to shade the deck. 🙂 I really wish that every piece of technology that wants to provide spellcheck would just highlight the word so you could decide what is correct. Some days, it takes me three tries until the word I want stays put and isn’t changed to what some program thinks is correct. Oh well, I guess that’s life today but you sure have to reread things before you hit send.

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  17. Can totally relate to your painting uncertainties, and I suspect that most of us do the same. There is a reality that a little 2″ square sample of a colour will look rather different when a wall is covered in it. I think somebody once said that once you have the perfect colour chip selected, then order the paint two shades lighter. Makes sense to me, but I’ll still question the colour as I apply it on the wall! I’ll still question the end result while it is in that partially dry state! 🙂

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    • Many years ago I wanted to paint a pale yellow shade on my bedroom walls. I picked the lightest shade of the color strip. Yikes! It was sunshine yellow. I wondered what it would look like if I selected one of the brighter ones. Now I pay attention to formulas and things like that. I also look for undertones. If you can’t see it, sometimes you can see it in the formula. At least now many stores will make an 8 oz. paint sample for you to try. That’s the best.

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  18. Your happy place made me happy just looking at it! How lucky you are to have that within walking distance.

    I completely understand about your deck. We are in the same position (but without an HOA so we have options). We used to have shade sails, which I loved, but they needed to come down after several years and lots of wind issues. I’m hoping we can get new ones in time for our summer heat (usually by late July). The other options available are amazingly expensive.

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    • I’d like a regular roof which I’m sure is amazingly expensive. It may even be break the bank expensive. I’ll start thinking about that in the fall. This summer we’ll have to “rough” it. We have an umbrella but it’s not the same.

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  20. “I always wanted to live with a stream in my backyard.” ~> ME TOO!

    We love walking to waterfalls and listening to rushing streams. There’s a place not too far from you we used to enjoy. Dingman’s Falls. A great place for swaggering!

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  21. Our deck thermometer reads over 80 mow and the railings are hot to the touch. I too wish we had a roof there. We did try a big roll out awning that is now stuck and harboring old and new bee houses.

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    • Awnings may help but they aren’t near as good as a real roof. Most neighbors here have the roll out awnings and I rarely see them outside on their decks/patios before 6 p.m. and sometimes not even then. We lived in our porch because we planted trees for breezes and to break the hot sun.

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  25. I am glad your paint turned out gorgeous and you love it. I agonize, but in truth unless it is a big goof I am usually delighted. It’s a miracle our indoor paint doesn’t clash with anything in the house… so many things that could have been scary contrast. The outside of the house was the brain-buster!
    Your happy place would be my happy place for sure!
    Just curious, what direction does your deck face?

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    • Deck faces east. That’s actually a blessing because the west sun in the afternoon is brutal. Our big window above our front door gets the heat and we can’t plant a tree in our driveway to filter it. The upstairs gets warm. Fortunately we don’t sleep upstairs. Our unit is an end on the north side so we get light from the north windows but the sun doesn’t come in.

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  26. I like the idea of spending the weekend “swaggering”. LOL!

    I feel the same way about paint. I will agonize over my choices too, and yet they almost always turn out the way I envisioned. I guess I need to trust myself more.

    I love your happy place, Kate. It would be my happy place too.

    Deb

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  27. Your happy place/stream is really beautiful and calming….nice to have a place to go for that kind of feeling these days. We plan to get a new deck with roof and screened in – next year but the deck we’ve had since we moved in is HOT in the summer….We purchased a big market umbrella for our deck table and it SORT of fixed things….at least we have a cool spot out there to eat or sit now but I’ll be happy to have the screened porch. Teddy will love it too! Yep summer is here alright!!

    Hugs, Pam

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  28. That place with trees and water looks fabulous. All it’s missing is a large flat rock close enough that you can sit on it – and that would be total relaxation! And yes, decks get hot! An awning or roof will definitely help, but if you don’t get any airflow through the space, it’s still going to feel hot. However, they are perfect in the early morning or late evening when the sun has gone to bed for the night!

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    • The heat was coming off of the flooring. I doubt you could go barefoot without a lot of hopping! There isn’t a flat rock but there is a bench set up. Haven’t done that yet but you could take a book and read. Peaceful, cool and the sounds of water.

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  29. That walk looks wonderful. I need to find some good shade places for Gracie walking during the summer. With our semi-retirement approaching I’m hoping for a bit more time for walks with her, though it all depends on the temps! Glad the paint worked out.

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