i arrived in belmont via motorcycle before 10am. while my father was busy mixing the paints (purchased last year, the oil-based primer had separated since then and needed to be stirred), i was sanding down some wood-fill patches from yesterday (mostly around the doorframe).

my father had to leave before he could start painting, muttering something about maybe trying to change his shift so he can have some time to painting. so i started painting on my own, pouring a quarter of white benjamin moore primer into an easier to carry painting cup. i began on the front of the house, working from left to right, painting the fascia and soffit, window frames, and door frame. the soffit was the hardest because it involved painting upside down; i tried to do those areas first just to get them out of the way.

i'd painted my way to the middle of the doorframe when my father returned home. he scored a few hours to paint, bringing home hailey as well. he climbed up on the roof of the attached garage to prime the strip of house shingles (yellow-tinted prime). i kept on working with my white primer, stopping occasionally to refill my cup with fresh paint.

midway through the first bedroom window, i stopped (around 1:30p) to take a lunch break, eating some curry rice noodles my father had brought home. we took the opportunity to do a more detailed measurement of our old awning: 72" width x 42" projection with low side wings (12"). then we went back to painting. my father was done with the roof area and started priming the shingles around the garage entrance and the adjacent wall. i continued with my white primer work until i reach the 2nd bedroom window and the rest of the fascia/soffit.

there's something relaxing about painting. for one thing, it's easier than sanding. sanding is messy and uncomfortable (wearing mask and earmuffs) and noisy; painting is cleaner and pleasant and quiet. with sanding, even after a good day's work, there doesn't seem to be any progress; and actually, the sanding i do, the worse the house looks. painting on the other hand is easy to track my progress. it takes longer to sand something so time seems to go by faster; painting goes by faster so work gets done in a shorter amount of time. nobody likes sanding but painting is encouraged because it beautifies the neighborhood. it almost seems like painting is the reward for all those months of prep work.

after i was done painting it was time to clean the brush. in the past we'd just soak the brushes in a container of thinner, but it's a waste of thinner. i saw a brush cleaning method online that involves just a tiny bit of tiny combined with a steel brush. after 5-6 iterations, the brush is finally clean. i tried that method; unfortunately the brush i was using didn't seem to be a very good quality, and started fraying on both sides. i did clean the brush though. after my father was done with his painting, i cleaned his brush as well; he had a better brush, no fraying.

he left to return to work so my mother could come home; i changed back into my normal clothes and returned to cambridge by 4:20p. i had smudges of paint on my forearms, paint in my hair, and flecks of paint on my glasses - all badges of honor.

at this rate, if the weather cooperates, we may very well be done with painting by the end of next week if we keep up the same schedule. the beauty of painting is it can be done on the weekend as well, since it's a quiet endeavor and no risk of disturbing the neighbors. the 10-day forecast says no rain all the way into next friday, with just a small 20% possibility of rain late this friday.

back at home, i pulled out the power washer from the basement and rinsed a few more dirty spots on the deck. ana was home but by the time i finished around 5:30p, but when i came back inside she was gone, only to come back around 7:30p. i noticed the indoor temperature was a few degrees warmer than this morning; that's because ana had been using both the dishwasher and washer/dryer.

ana was busy in the kitchen ironing her clothes as it was still too early for her to eat dinner. however it wasn't early for me so i heated up the last of my mexican chicken soup, chatting with her in the progress. her bus to new york leaving alewife is friday 6pm. that's less than 3 days away!