Our Olde House: November 2025

It was time to wash and paint the front porch again. For some reason, the porch gets mildew and just plain dirty over time, maybe because it has no rain to rinse it occasionally. This is a several days project because it is tedious and I am slow. Miss Sherry and I took down all of the items hanging on the walls of the porch, and I used the step ladder to put plastic bags around the electrical connections and cameras. The next day had no wind so I could start washing.

I used a mildew remover in a hose adapted bottle to wash the ceiling first. This is particularly fun with the water pouring down on me while I try not to trip over the hose. The high gloss paint definitely is required for the ceiling to allow several washes, instead of having to paint it every time; painting over your head is the worst type of painting. I wash it and rinse it, and then I wash and rinse it again which leaves a very clean ceiling that looks freshly painted.

Next, I washed and rinsed the walls which are flat paint, and the semi-gloss white trim around the windows and door. Two passes for this too, and it does not need repainting this year. We had a little water damage to one of the porch pillars, so we had that repaired, and repainted. I decided to paint the window trim while I had the correct paint handy; you can’t have too much paint.

Now for the porch floor; I wash and rinse it, but it does need to be painted every time anyway. Before we paint the floor with high gloss paint we add some grit from the paint store which keeps the porch from being as slippery as ice when its wet; this is great stuff and indispensable. I paint the floor perimeter first and then use a roller to fill in the middle. This is done on a Sunday so the mailman does not need to walk on the porch to reach the mailbox. The next day we were going to put everything back on the walls and replace the other ‘stuff’ that lives on the front porch, but since I was the one doing the putting and replacing, it actually took three weeks, or so.

I was looking out the back window and saw a cat that looked a little funny, like it was wearing a Shakespearian collar. Apparently, this cat stuck its head into a bottle, which stayed on, and it managed to break off most of the bottle. This is not a cat which we can simply catch and remove the bottle, so we needed to use a live trap. Miss Sherry baited the trap and we watched for the cat to find it. Fortunately, after a few minutes of circling the trap and putting a paw through the wire, the cat went in and the door closed. The cat was not a bit happy, and on our way to the car to go to the vet the cat banged the bottle on the side of the trap hard enough to break it, and it fell off in four large pieces. I released the cat which quickly ran away. The next day this cat came to our back door and sat for awhile, apparently not wanting anything other than to say thank you; it was our pleasure to help him.

The workmen showed up to remove and replace the back deck. We decided to have this professionally done since it would take me too many years to complete, and besides I am retired. So far they have completely removed the old deck and set the new posts in concrete; after the weekend they will return to work on finishing the deck. I really enjoy watching them work and doing my part, which is to stay out of their way and not help; if I help I am told that the price will increase significantly.

My outside motion sensor ‘go away’ light that was not working is now working, with no help from anyone. We did have a few seconds power outage courtesy of Entergy, which apparently ‘fixed’ the sensor. It works great now, comes on when anyone starts down the driveway, and both bulbs are working. Sometimes doing nothing works, which completely validates my tendencies to procrastinate, when I get around to it.

Miss Sherry and Fuzzy are still playing Cat Fetch, but Fuzzy seems to have mellowed out a little. Some days she does not move a mouse or rat, and she only panics until Miss Sherry throws the rodent back out into the hall every week or so, instead of every night. Some people’s children. Happy Thanksgiving to all, there is always much to be grateful for.