Painted Walls

I'm enjoying my own handiwork after a week of painting. No, not the creative kind of painting... I have no talent on that front. I'm talking about the application of latex flat finnish on the old plaster walls of my foyer, stairwell, and second floor hallway. Our house is 129 years old and is still settling, so there are cracks and lumps, not to mention old paint drips and roller marks from years gone by... oh, and all those nail holes where pictures were hung. I'm ashamed to admit that there were about three nail holes and cracked plaster beneath those hastily hung pictures and trickets that decorated the walls. I had a lot of spackling and sanding to do before I could even think about painting. Then, I had to cover all the trim with painters masking tape, as I only had a three inch brush and knew in my impatience that I would not be very careful with the edging. The real challenge was carrying up the aluminum ladder from the basement without banging up the walls and trim that will not get painted, and moving it along the slippery drop cloth without scratching the hardwood floors. Only minor dings occurred. Once I was prepped, and dressed in old clothes, I put on some Enya as background music to keep me calm and patient. I took my time alternating between brushing and rolling, climbing up the ladder to reach the high spots and then climbing down with brush in hand to crouch on the floor and paint the low spots. I thought the most dangerous part would be painting the 12 foot high stairwell ceiling as the ladder sat perilously close to the stairs, but the only danger that took me by surprise was when I applied the new roller to the holder and caught the covered skin on one of my breasts in the doing. YEOWW!!! All I could think of was, "that's gonna leave a mark that I'll have a hard time explaining." Anyhoo, I did slip off the step-stool as I vigorously rolled the paint a little too horizontally for my reach... and took off a layer of fresh paint as I slid down the wall. Other that those little mishaps, I did a pretty good job and I'm now ready to do the trimwork. I just need a few days to rest my sore muscles.