Clary Sage

Last year, when we got a new roof, the sloping wall-to-ceiling wall in our bedroom got cracked in places, and for a year -- a year -- I looked up at it from my (south) side of the bed) and said to myself*, "I have got to fix that wall."

*Actually, I said it out loud.

So finally, last month, I scraped it.

I love scraping. I love getting my scraper under the errant paint and just pulling it away. It's so visceral and satisfying.

Plus, it results in a map of the Antilles.

And then........

....I spackled.

I love spackling, too. I love how it goes on pink and dries white, I love filling in the scraped-out empty spaces and making the wall whole again . . . .

. . . and I love the Pink Antilles.

And then I sanded.

Ooof, I don't love sanding quite so much.

Sanding is hard.

It takes a lot of prep . . .

. . . and it is messy.

. . . but I like how all the furniture looks like it's dressed for Halloween . . .

. . . and although I make a holy mess . . .

. . . I'm good at cleaning.

Voilà!

I looked at that scraped and spackled and sanded ceiling for a month, from that happy south side of my bed, and tried to figure out what color to paint it. I knew I wanted a green, but what green? Mistah kept telling me it was my project; I should pick what I wanted, but it's his bedroom too. Well, at least the north side of it is.........

I finally went to the paint store and had an argument with the worker. Sherwin-Williams herself.

We went back and forth; Amanda offered colors and I dismissed them. She told me what to do and I told her she was wrong. I told her I wanted a green-gray and she told me green-gray would clash with the pale yellow of the other walls. She grabbed a sample of pale yellow, she grabbed a sample of our purple sheets, she grabbed a sample of Clary Sage and said, "Look how good this looks."

"Fine," I said, "I'll take it."

 I went home and prepped . . .

. . . it was a little less festive than Halloween . . .

. . . and cutting in around the edges took forever . . .

 . . . but then . . .

Voilà!

First coat done.

And the next day?

Voilà!

Second coat, finished.

Amanda was right. I called her to tell her so and she said, "I knew you'd like it." Amanda likes to be right.

But what about that glaringly white plate on the wall, against the Clary Sage, you ask?

Oh, don't you worry about that for one second . . .

. . . the second coat goes on today.