Watching Paint Dry

I decided to celebrate the end of the unluckiest, crappiest, worst month that I've had in Korea by painting my kitchen. I mean, gee, I've had such a wonderful time this July, what with a motorbike accident on vacation, being denied entry to a Communist nation, and other little things that I haven't blogged about, like losing a very pretty $40 barrette the first time I wore it out, and my necklace from India (that I totally haven't taken off since January) breaking, so how could painting be risky at all?

Funny sidenote: Far from our computer calibrated colours in Canada, here, they make coloured paint by mixing a bit of what looks like ink or darker paint into a gallon of white, then stir by hand!

I started by moving everything out of the kitchen and into the other room. Using this as a great excuse to do a major cleaning, I also stripped the bed, and piled a bunch of crap on it. I started painting, armed with a big old style wooden paintbrush - no rollers??? - and was literally slapping the paint on.


Then, I heard a noise: Maybe, Alex's cat, had discovered a container of catnip in all the stuff I'd thrown on the bed, had managed to open it, empty it, and was now rolling around in it. Right... To get an idea of the magnitude of the mess, why don't you pile a bunch of stuff on your bed, open a jar of dried spices (oregano, basil, whatever) and then drag a feather duster through it??? Then, shake the feather duster around the room.

I just kept on painting, assisted by Jakob who, naturally, wedged himself behind the fridge, then stepped in some paint and ran through the whole apartment. He tried to clean himself up, started foaming at the mouth, and had to be held under the shower, then locked in the bathroom, where he howled for a while, but didn't die of paint-poisoning.

Undaunted, I continued painting, made a huge mess, became a huge sweaty mess, but finally ended up with a nice effect - as long as you don't look too closely, since the wall was kind of pock-marked and scratched and dinged. Here are some pictures, yes this is the tiny apartment where I live, decorated with treasures from my travels.... The last picture is a special one for Alex, just to show him that Maybe and Jakob are really getting along (finally).

p.s. Those of you who saw my apartments in La Pocatiere and Montreal will recognize that blue as the same colour blue that I always use...