Strange Men Outside Our Bedroom Window

...and look at the mess they've left!

Well, I guess it's kind of hard to tell from this view. You have to know that the house has been blue for about 20 years.

Here is a little closer up view
Our lovely old 1911 Portland Foursquare is not so lovely these days. Of course, it hasn't been lovely for some time since it has been WAY overdue for a new paint job. So, now it is on its way to getting its new coat of paint.

I understand that the wood has to be prepared first. And I understand that, in these days of high temperatures in the 80's and 90's, that the crew doing this work might want to start early in the morning when it is still cool. But, I was just NOT prepared to be awakened at 6:45 a.m. to the sound of men's voices outside my bedroom window. And, not prepared to go into the bathroom and find another one looming outside that window. And, then to try to get clothes out of the spare bedroom and - yes, again - guys outside my window. These are all on the second floor of a big old house, mind you - not a place you expect to find people lurking. Well, maybe lurking is not really what they were doing. There was also the noise of equipment being scraped across the siding and torches getting the paint all heated up. So, I know they were working and I know the house REALLY needs it. But, cheesh, wasn't I just waxing philosophically about how much I appreciated having time to myself again in the summer?

And, don't even get me started on how much this is costing us - just to have them work on two sides of the house plus the rafters on the other two. It is just obscene. But, Rex (our mailman) said he's never seen such a good job done on a house and he's seen plenty of this type of work on his route. So, Grady will finish the other two sides (which are not in as bad a shape) and then he will do the actual painting. And, maybe by November (!), we'll have a beautiful new greenish blue foursquare again.

Thank goodness we are leaving on our road trip on Friday so I won't have to wake up to men standing on scaffolding right outside my window after tomorrow. They'll be done by the time we return. I can make this trip drag on if necessary to ensure that is the case.