Notice

 Notice- Contrast of Red Rocking Chairs on Snowy Porch

2/21 Photograph Notice

See / Take In / Observe

Today's photo was taken last Saturday when we went out to breakfast and I thought it fit in well with today's prompt. I had the camera with me since I had brought it snow shoeing. As I came out of the restaurant, I noticed the snow on the chairs, along with the contrast of the chairs and railing. Last night I had used it for practicing some photoshop stuff and boosted the color from this original to the right along with adding some texture to the one below. For today's photo, I took out the texture but left in the colors. It makes it more dramatic. 

I was glad to use a photo from my reserve since I ended up staying the whole day at my "stripping" job. The steamer rental was good until noon and I got there early to get as much done as possible. I finally figured out the routine of how to use it efficiently. I did use the water and fabric softener on the walls first to wet the paper then used the steamer from the bottom to the top, then hold it on the top and start tearing off the paper in as I moved the steamer down the wall;t he width of the paper = the width of the steamer. It worked, but it's very physical and it helped that I can use my right and left hand to either hold steamer or scrape the paper. 

In the afternoon, I tried the chemical equivalent to the steamer, Dif which needed to be mixed with warm water. The walls need to be scored first and then the mixture can be put on the walls with a sponge. I did not have the "official" scored, and used a razor blade to lightly score the wall. Then I used a sponge to apply the solution, not once, not twice but at least 4 times. There is a waiting period of 15 minutes after application and luckily for me, I had two other rooms on the same floor to strip and they were simple "scrap and pull off". I would move between rooms and work on the wet stuff for awhile, using the scraper to scrape the paper, then the glue layer. Honestly, the steamer did work better for this particular room and it took 4 hours to get 1/2 wall done as I had to keep wetting it down. This is the same room that I melted off the paint with the steamer. Guess they all can't be easy like other two rooms today. That was a bonus! Here are some pictures of my work (damage). Next week I move upstairs and I am hoping for easy rooms. 

The second best part of today was going to lunch at the Concord Co-op. They have the healthiest buffet and today all of my favorite vegetables were there, roasted brussel sprouts, asparagus, roasted potato with leeks along with a seafood casserole. Now the worst part of today was the minor work accident that I had when I stepped off the stool and put my foot in the bucket of water and fabric softener. I ended up having a cold foot all day!