Wow. Talk about packing it up in record time.

Yeah, we're outta here. Took a look at the weather forecast and called it a day. Or make that a season. Had a truck show up at 8am Monday, loaded up about 16,ooo pounds of paint in about 30 minutes, and it was on the road back to Franklin by 8:45am. Whew.

Of course, it took a bit longer to load all of the schtuff that we accumulated during our six weeks in the mountains. Can't forget all of the trips that Mickie made to Lowe's, Sam's and of course, Ace Hardware. (And from what I can remember, I think she went shopping once. Or twice. Or twelve times.) And that huge shipment of roller covers, frames, and power roller accessories? Yep, that had to be packed, too. And remember all of those water hoses that were bought to clean the walls with? You know, about 1200 feet worth? That had to be packed as well. I could go on and on with the details, but I can sum it all up this way: We got here in two cars, one truck and a trailer. We left to go back to Franklin with three cars, three trucks and a trailer! JoHanna, Shellie and Jan were kind enough to let us load up their vehicles as well, and follow us to Franklin on their way home. Not too far out of the way, but a little side trip nonetheless. And let me tell you, we were jammed!

We actually pulled in to our driveway about 4pm (Nashvile time). The paint truck didn't make it until about 7pm, almost 12 hours after he left. Seems he blew an oil line in Cookeville, TN, still about 100 milkes from Franklin, The repair company had to send someone to another city to get the part so that he could still make it the same day! Such service! Maybe they can teach customer service courses to other businesses. Like maybe...hmmmm....paint manufacturers? Ya think?

Well, the paint is all stacked up nice and neat in the studio, where it is nice and warm. We're still looking for another delivery, probably Monday, of the final 60 or so pails. Amazing. It has taken them more than two months to send me this shipment. And it was supposed to be two weeks. I think I figured out where my delay was.

Lots of kisses, hugs and tears amidst all of the goodbye's on Monday. Seriously, this was a great group. We would consider ourselves very lucky to have the same chemistry when we come back in the spring. Keep that in mind if you're interested in participating, probably around March 15th or so.

Unless something unique happens, this will most likely be the last of this particular blog until we start gearing up in the spring. There will be other stuff, on other projects, between now and the time we restart. So stay tuned. No tellin' what kind of adventures we'll get ourselves into next!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and a Wonderful Holiday Season!

Mike and Mickie



We'll leave you with a few parting shots...


JoHanna is trying to comfort Jan, who has literally worked herself down to the bone.


Here is the last wall in progress. Everyone really got into a good rhythm. If we had had good weather, I'll bet we could finish a parapet a day! OK, we would have needed paint, too.



Not too shabby, huh? I ran into a gentleman while I was gassing up the truck, and he asked me if I was with the crew that was applying Skimstone to the walls. I told him that those weren't real stones, that it was a flat wall, only painted. He exclaimed, "The HELL you say!!" I couldn't have said it better myself.


Some people just couldn't get enough! Here's Loralei checking out the blog, to see if there was anything that she missed during the day. Like, maybe she blinked or something.


This is right as we were about to leave, as everyone was finishing up packing, so we were anxious to get the hell outta Dodge. Still, they wanted a group shot. I guess they wanted something to remind them, that all that anxiety about faux finishing a residential 20' wall really isn't that big of a deal anymore! And where is Mickie? She wanted to save the best for last!












"See you in the spring!"

Ta-daaaa! We're back! Had some problems with computer access to the blog site, but hopefully everything is back to normal. Well...a lot of catching up to do.

We paid a lot of money to get some paint two days ahead of when it was scheduled to be here, and a fat lot of good it did us. Rained the first day, and was really cold the second day. Tried it anyway. Bit of a mistake. You can only paint down to 40 degrees, and it dropped faster than I thought, so we kinda got caught. We'll repaint that section later. Ahem.

When we got to a point where we could at least get some paint legally on the wall, it was only for a few hours. We couldn't get to the wall until after lunch because of the temperatures, and had to break about 4pm. Not what you would call a long day, but I will admit, we did get a ton painted. I'm really not surprised. Like I've said before, this is a great group of professionals. They can really get the job done.

We actually got two parapets finished these last couple of days, and started on a third one. We'll at least get paint on all of that one tomorrow, but I'm betting that that's going to be about it for this trip. It's supposed to rain Monday, then they're calling for SNOW the rest of the week! I'm thinking that the instructions on the paint cans aren't too favorable towards snow. We're supposed to pull out of here on the 22nd anyway, but we might have to wait for the final shipment of paint that for now is scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday. I'm going to see if I can either get them to bring it here Tuesday, or simply bring it to the studio in Franklin,

See, Mickie and I have really been mulling this over, and I think that we have come to this conclusion: we are going to load everything up and take it back to the studio, and simply store it until we come back. which will probably be the first of April. Her dad has a large truck and driver, and we are going to try and get him here Monday morning, load it up, and send him on his way back to Franklin. Hate to do it, but I think we're just being prudent. I figure that if we can get as good a crew in April as we have had here, then we could finish the project in about 3-4 weeks. That's about the amount of time we have lost waiting on paint. Coincidence? I think not.

Just to put an exclamation point on my thoughts, I just came back from "lighting the pod." I have to light the 56,000 btu diesel heater in the storage unit so the paint won't freeze. I can't leave that responsibility to someone else. That's why we're taking it home to our heated studio, so I can keep an eye on it.

Again, I can't thank everyone enough for all of the hard work they've put in on this project so far. And their patience. Hopefully, we'll see everyone back in April. I know some of them can't make it, so that leaves the door open for more folks who want to work on this very different project. If you're interested, just get in touch with either me or Mickie.

In the meantime, we're going to try and paint Sunday. The weather is supposed to cooperate, so we might get another parapet finished. It would be a great note to leave on.

Here are some pictures from the past few days:

We had some time to get away to play some racquetball! Seems that Shellie plays as well, so Mickie and I showed her how WE play! She'll get out of the hospital sometime in December.











Like I said before, JoHanna is an excellent cook! She took some time out and made us some homemade chili! It was fabulous! So fabulous, in fact, it will probably take my ass at least 3 weeks to recover!










Living together for weeks at a time has it's ups and downs. We learn each other's dirty little secrets. Like how Shellie really has a pretty hairy chest. And it's all gray.












I've said it over and over. You really can't tell how big some of these walls are until you stand right next to them. See what I mean!!??




















It's a good feeling starting on something new. This is some of the new color paint going on the first parapet. Everyone was really excited. It took about 3, maybe 4 minutes for the excitement to wear off and turn right back to tedium. Just kidding. They love it. Kidding again.










Necessity is the mother of invention. Well, this is the mother of all inventions. Instead of using a snap line to draw all of the guide lines on the wall, I came up with this little contraption to draw all of the lines at the same time. In chalk. Sometimes, I even amaze myself.










Yeah, it felt good finishing the first parapet, but the time comes to go on to the next one, and the next. Nothing feels like the first time.











Got to show the troops how it's done. About 14 seconds into my detailed instructions, they were all ready to grab the roller out of my hand and tell me to "SHUT UP! WE GOT IT!" I mean, really, it's not brain surgery. It's paint.










Once the walls have been painted, you have to paint the "mortar joints." I'm pretty particular (read:anal) when it comes to technique, and for the most part everyone did exactly as I instructed. Almost. Kinda. Sorta.











After the mortar joints come the shadows and highlights. That's when the stones really "jump off the wall." I have to admit, we were really getting some fabulous comments from the pedestrians. I especially like the one from this one guy: "DUDE! Look at those bricks! They look like they're really coming off of the wall! We don't even have to take Ecstacy to get that effect! Cool!" Glad we could help.







What do you do when you finish a work of art? Why, you sign it, of course! We all signed our names on the back of the first parapet that we finished. I didn't have the heart to tell everyone that they are going to backfill when we're done. Oh, well...the price of fame...

Well...it's finally happened. We're bored to tears.

The paint got here yesterday, and we unloaded it in a record 7 minutes. all 120 5-gallon pals. That's about 7500 pounds. Pretty impressive. Especially in the rain. And it rained until after lunch, so we blew the day off. Kinda disappointing.

And this morning...well...it's kinda cold. Right now it's 32 degrees. It should warm up to the high 4o's, so we should be able to get some painting in. I know some folks who are more than anxious to get back to work. You can only have so much fun in the mountains.

I'll try later to see if this thing is taking pictures to load.

The things you have to do when making executive decisions...

I just called Fed Ex, checking on the paint, and found out that it is not supposed to be delivered until Friday morning! Arrrrggghhh! So here is what I did: I got transferred to Fed Ex Custom Critical, made the $ arrangements, and it will be here Wednesday morning at 8am! They will pick it up tomorrow morning in Pocono Summit (wherever the hell that is) and have it here 14 hoours later. We could actually unload it tomorrow night around midnite, but I thought that I'd give everyone a break. Especially after such a hard day! Let's see...hmmmm...shopping, sightseeing, visiting... I'm tellin' ya, working here is such a drag.

I give credit to Loralei and Kim, who did a bang-up job on cleaning the spray units today. Paint was really gunking up the gears. And I really want to thank Kim, who replaced the piston packing on one of the units! Don't ask me how, but from looking at her collection of vintage cars, I figured that she was the one for the job. This is after the rep told me that I should probably take the unit in to a machine shop for repairs (I think that Jonny wore it out!) This is a girl who could probably build a 747 with a crescent wrench and a package of Juicy Fruit.

I met with Chris Jenkins today, the project manager from TDOT, and was informed that right after Thanksgiving they are going to start constructing the medians on the Parkway, which means they are going to move the traffic lanes to the outside, which means we will have no place to stand to paint the retaining walls. So we will probably have to wait until mid-March to come back and finish. Hope everyone is still available. Bummer. I really wanted to finish before Thanksgiving. I tell ya, if the paint had been delivered on time....

I'll try and have some more pix for you tomorrow.

Nice weekend off. Lots of folks went shopping, some went to Asheville, some stayed here and chilled, others were getting tattoos...You know there had to be a reason for me not adding to the blog testerday. Well...here it is: Dollywood. Yes, I was talked into going to (shudder!) Dollywood. Let me tell you, I would rather have...well...you understand. Tackiest place I have seen since Pigeon Forge. And the crowds! Ohmagawd. Wall to wall people. Entire families with bright red matching "Comedy Barn" sweatshirts. I swear. Hordes of religious groups with matching T's. WASP heaven.

Now, the bright note of the trip was when I was talked into going on the Tennessee Tornado. For those of you who are uninitiated, the Tennessee Tornado is rated in the top ten roller coasters in the "scream" quotient. No kidding. Upside down, twists and turns, loops, spirals, etc., all going at about Mach 7. I protested at the mention of it, because I have a real problem with moton sickness. I even have problems watching the intro's at the movies. But Mickie's sister, Judy, insisted that I go, or that she would tell everyone that " I didn't have a hair on my ass." Even Roy was going, bad back and all. Mickie, (remember my loving and considerate wife, Mickie?), said, "Oh, c'mon, c'mon, ya big sissy," So, against my better judgement, and to protect the reputations of men everywhere, I went. So we waited in line, got into the cars, strapped on the shoulder harnesses, and rolled up the hill. (to the tune of , "It's too late baby, now, it's too late..")

Oh baby is right.

Well, I tell ya, it was interesting. I kept my eyes closed for most of it, just to keep my inner ear from changing places with my outer ear. Slammed all over the place. But to be honest, I kept my wits (and my cookies) about me. I would have liked to have been able to tell you about the auditory portion of it, but it was mostly screaming, coming from Mickie and Judy. I mean, SCREAMING! The kind that you get when a boxload of scorpions fall on your face. Now, I know the whole ride took less than a minute, but the effects lasted much, much longer. And I am not talking about effects on me or Roy, who did OK himself, but on - you guessed it - the girls.

When we exited the cars, Mickie simply sat there. She literally couldn't get her legs to move. I had to push her out of the cab so they could load the next group. There is a long flight of stairs that you take to exit the facility, but Mickie couldn't walk - had to sit down and scoot her way, step by step, down to the ground. Took about 30 minutes for her to regain her composure. And Judy sure couldn't say much. She was developing the most lovely color of green. We'd take a few steps, then sit down, then take a few steps, then...OK, how 'bout some water? Better yet, where's the closest bathroom.? Poor Judy. Any hair that she thought she had on her backside is now safely residing in the women's facilities at Dollywood. And all of her breakfast, lunch, and anything else she was even THINKING of eating the rest of the day. Poor kid. I had to scramble to find her some overpriced Dramamine, which she promptly consumed. She told us she'd be alright, if we could only keep everyone from moving.

Basically, that was it. There was no way we could stay. We took our time getting back to our cars, and called it a night.

PIty. I was really starting to enjoy myself.

Yeah, right.

Anyway, you can see what I'm talking about...

Roy looks kinda catatonic, grinding his teeth to nubs, holding his heart; Judy ia trying to bury her face in her chest, knuckles completely white; and Mickie - I've never seen her face so flat! Or her mouth so big! Must be the "g's". Of course, that's me in the corner, cool and calm as ever. Like, big deal - just like riding with my wife! This is nothing! In fact, if she had been driving, this ride would have been over by now!

Just for the record, the last ones doing the prime coat were me, Jonny, Cindy and Kim. And let me tell ya, it felt good to know that we are going to be painting colors next week. I'm almost blind from all of the white!










Loading the lift to go back was a little sad. OK, not too sad, since these things are costing me over $5000 a month.










It looks so lonely and desolate! Actually, I feel pretty good. Considering that we went through over 20 extra pails of Primasil (thinner) which originally we weren't supposed to need,then I figure that my estimate as to how much white paint we would need was dead on.







Just what the hell was Ken doing??? He got caught on camera doing some dumpster diving. I'm guessing he's looking for some different ingredients for a new, bold line of wine. Or maybe he's going to recycle the 5 gallon paint buckets for a new "wine in a box" variety.

We did it! We did it! We did it! We actually finished priming the walls today!

Look. I know we're only half through, but I feel it's a great victory to have even gotten this far. We've had some very dedicated people to work on this project, and the quality of their work really shows. Even with the down time ('till Wednesday) they are all planning on staying. What a cool feeling.

A lot more folks now have some experience on the lifts. Cindy and Ken Hernder, Shellie Wolffe, Loralei Morgan - hmmm, add to that, Kim and Melissa and Jan and me and Jonny and JoHanna and...I hope didn't leave anyone out. I guess what I'm saying is that when we get back on the walls I might just get a few more lifts. We now have people to handle them!

Speaking of the lifts, I went ahead and had them picked up. They showed up to pick them up as we were filling the diesel tanks. Great timing. We're through with them for now, as the next part of the project just involves the parapets, which are only 42" high. I mean, I could have kept them around for sentimental reasons, but...well...a bit expensive just for big toys. And you can't even race them!

Last night was a bit surreal. I guess all of that paint finally got to some people. Here are some of the happenings: Mickie's sister and brother-in-law stopped by the condos. Roy is a farmer and rural postman. Judy works at a bank and helps on the farm. Not what you would call your target audience for the decorative painting industry. Pay someone to paint their walls? They'd rather go out and buy a sponge and do it themselves! Now, if it came down to spending $30,000 on an antique tractor? Well, that's another story! It went downhill from there. How about a whistling contest? Pitiful. You would think that artists, who are relatively good with their hands, could whistle. Hah! And here's a news flash: it was announced that Roy has the smallest crack!

Huh?

OK, let me explain. You see, in some tractor contests, you have to back your tractor as close to an egg as you can without breaking it. Well, Roy got his closer than anyone! And how did they know?? Well, Roy had the smallest crack!

And Melissa? Well, it seems that her grandparents are now dating each other.

Huh? (Again)

Her grandfather on her Dad's side died, and then her Grandmother on her Mom's side died, and...well...you get the picture. Strange but true. And they are really serious about each other. He's 80+, and she is in her mid 70's (cradle robber!) Soon, her parents are going to become brother and sister, which makes the kids...well...hell! I don't know!

And one of Mickie's rules for the trip was that no one was to get a tattoo while they were here. (There were other rules, but that's the one important to this story) Well, it seems that Jonny is going to take exception to that rule. This weekend he is going to get a tatoo. Now, we're not talking your ordinary, run-of-the-mill butterfly, or even some Chinese inscription on the back of his neck. Nosireeee. We're talking a custom, self-designed, six-years-in-the-making graphic, covering his entire chest! And before you ask, abolutely! we are going to have pictures. Especially of all of the crying afterwards.

I seem to be blabbering, but I feel good about our progress. Good enough that Mickie and I actually went out and played a little racquetball this evening. Shellie played with us, (trust ne. I know. I lost count of the number of times she hit me with the ball) and a few others witnessed the historic event, and even took some pictures. Hopefully Ill be able to get some of them to post.

And we got this in the email today:

So my shoes are now held hostage,

In the hopes of my return,

My tiny 6 1/2 size feet,

Their comfort they do yearn.

Yet they hold the perils of my work,

In white that was meant for walls,

Actually they logged quite a few miles,

Before this priming duty calls.

And the miles do now separate,

An article of my past,

I enjoyed my stay with them,

It really was a blast!

But duties keep me close at home,

As I remember those old Nikes,

The separation anxiety I now possess,

Plays heavily upon my psyche.

Yet I must move on and time will heal,

All I've left behind,

The memories of this past week,

And with that yet I will find.

That when one thing ends another begins,

So I now have something new,

For as fate would really have it,

I now wear a size 7 shoe!

Linda "Artesian" Huddle

Here are some pix...


Cindy finally got her chance to try the sprayer and "do the lift". Jonny looks like he's thinking, "Yeah, I know it's fun, but could you hurry it up a bit so we can get the hell outta here?"










Loraei got her chance as wel. Realy got into the spraying. So well, I guess you could say she was smokin'. Ahem...sorry.











Cindy's husband, Ken, who is actually taking vacation days to be here, took his turn on the lift as well, although to hin being up 40' was no big deal. He has been on an 85' fire ladder. Show-off.










Even Shellie did her bit up top. In fact, her first trip on the wall put her up close to 50'. She loved it! Especially driving the lift. Everywhere. Even where we didn't want to go.

After a hard day's work, what better way to relax than by just sittin' on the porch, rockin' all your cares away...











Melissa got her chance to do some spraying. We tried two sprayers per lift just to see if it worked. Here Jonny is with his spray harem.











That Jan Harrison loves to get high! Jan couldn't wait to get into the lift. Here's a great shot of her at the controls. Wait till you see the next one...



















Now you can see how high she really was! We were basically extended about as far as it would go, about 45', which makes the working height about 50'. Not too shabby, dear!




















Talk about attitude! Just being part of this team gives people a certain aura. Some hold it well, others just let it ooze from their pores...




















Here's Loralei and Jan decked out in all of their glory, preparing to ascend to the heavens. We're being gentle with the newbie's, only going up about 30' to start off with.



















I don't know what it is about people putting more paint on themselves than they do on the walls! You would think that Melissa is trying out for the Wet Paint T-shirt contest!












Here is the gang giving it their all on the last part of the last wall. They actually finished it by 10am this morning. Great job, guys! And, no, we're not using the 16' roller extensions on the 42" parapet walls.










Richard was all dressed up, but had no place to go. We were going to put him on a lift, but the pump malfunctioned, so he had to sit it out. Rather, he had to go back to the rollers. Oh, well...





















I'm not saying that the porta-johns are unsanitary, but...well...let's just say that Kim wasn't taking any chances. I guess those respirators are multi-functional. hmmm? Did you at least flush?

OK. Write down today's date. This amazing crew has finished rolling the base coat! The only thing left is for us to finish spraying the tops tomorrow, and then we're finished!!!

Well...we're finished with the white, anyway. Actually, we're getting geared up to start on the parapet colors. And I know a whole lot of people who are going to be glad to see something other than white!

That's the good news. The bad news is that the colors only shipped today. Guess they're making that stuff up in Canada with maple syrup, it's running so slow. We're expecting the next load of paint to be delivered Wednesday, so we're in a holding pattern. Again. I just hate stuff that's out of my control. Hate it. If I could I'd take a truck up to New Brunswick and load it up myself. I mean, seriously, the final shipment of paint is now supposed to be shipped next Thursday. That would mean it's due to arrive on the 23rd. Hmmmm...if I'm not mistaken, we're supposed to be out of here on the 22nd. How do you say, "Crank it up!" in Canadian?

We're getting more people experienced with the sprayers and lifts. JoHanna, Melissa, Kim, Loralei, and even Jan now have experience. Some wanted to just spray, some wanted to drive the lifts. None of them minded being up there. Well...Loralei got a little antsy, but like she said, as long as she didn't look down...

And Jan! Ohmygawd...she started spraying, but then wanted to drive. Let me tell you about That Jan Harrison, the woman loved it! The higher the better! So she drove, and I sprayed. Simply amazing. I asked this 70+ woman if being up 45' bothered her, and she said, "Of course not! This is barely a good approach altitude!" See...she got her PILOT'S LICENSE only 15 years ago!

Let's hear it for Shon - he got to put the last roller on the wall - and he and Patsy will be back next week when we start the "fun" stuff. Stay tuned.

A bunch of pictures coming shortly...they're really fun...

These guys move amazingly fast! Tomorrow we will actually be finished with the rolling portion of the base coat, and we probably only have a couple of days left for spraying the upper sections. That's the good news. The bad news is that the paint delivery has been delayed (again!) and probably won't be here until the middle of next week! However, Ken have given us some suggestions as to how we might be able to speed things up, so I am going to try it tomorrow morning. We'll see how good he really is.

Fun night tonite - we all went to the movies to see The Legend of Zorro! Fun flick. I will give it 3 stars. And I'm pretty picky when it comes to movies.

We actually had both pumps go out at the same time this afternoon, so it slowed our spraying. I fixed one of them. The other will have to wait until this weekend. Something Jonny did, I'm sure.

That's it for now. More pix tomorrow.

BTW, has anyone seen my cell phone? The Verizon phone, not the Sprint. I know where that is. It's drying out after falling into a water bucket.

These guys move amazingly fast! Tomorrow we will actually be finished with the rolling portion of the base coat, and we probably only have a couple of days left for spraying the upper sections. That's the good news. The bad news is that the paint delivery has been delayed (again!) and probably won't be here until the middle of next week! However, Ken have given us some suggestions as to how we might be able to speed things up, so I am going to try it tomorrow morning. We'll see how good he really is.

Fun night tonite - we all went to the movies to see The Legend of Zorro! Fun flick. I will give it 3 stars. And I'm pretty picky when it comes to movies.

We actually had both pumps go out at the same time this afternoon, so it slowed our spraying. I fixed one of them. The other will have to wait until this weekend. Something Jonny did, I'm sure.

That's it for now. More pix tomorrow.

BTW, has anyone seen my cell phone? The Verizon phone, not the Sprint. I know where that is. It's drying out after falling into a water bucket.

I think that I can speak for everyone else when I say...I am soooo tired. And just think: tomorrow I told everyone to report to work at 8am instead of 9am. I am such the taskmaster. But honestly, the weather has been fabuous. Why not take advantage of it? If it starts to get cold again, I'll adjust accordingly.

Well, we lost a couple today. Linda and Sherrie had to go back to work on some projects. But they said theat if they finish, they'll be back. Let's hope. They are really hard workers.

Speaking of which: Richard came back! I was so sure that he wouldn't. Hey - I've been wrong before.

Like I said - I am tired. Short blog tonite. Here are some pix, thoough...


Kim tried her hand at walking the walls. Again, it was a nice day. Nice and warm. Warm enough for Kim to take step, look for snakes. Take a step. Look for snakes. Step, repeat.











Didn't believe me when I said you'd get paint on your clothes, huh? Well, it looks like you went a step further and got your arms, legs, hair, etc. Nice job, Melissa. Ya think we can get some on the wall now?
















I told you that everybody was working well together. See? Isn't this just too cute for words? Of course, Jan will probably get me in a headlock for saying that.








Seems that Kim found this cat roaming around the condo. So what's the best way to get rid of a cat? Why, FEED it, of course! Worked like a charm. Right.

Good grief - MORE people today! Actually had a local stop by and ask to work - an artist, actually. Sculptor. He said that he wanted to work for the next two weeks. Let's see if he shows up tomorrow. BTW, counting Mickie, we had 17 people working today - fabulous!

Speaking of Mickie, (and I do quite often, don't I?) - she set up something pretty cool today. You know that place where we went to on our day off, the one where it was so pretty? Well, that's where we had lunch today! There was a picnic area, only yards away from the water's edge, that was perfect for us. Talk about picturesque! Of course, knowing us, there had to be a bit of controversy. We drove down this little road for 5 miles to get there, especially for the idyllic, quiet setting, and when we arrived, there was a couple of park employees getting ready to fire up their leaf blowers! Huge backpack, double-blower monsters! I mean, really! It's the Great Smoky Mountains! That's like trying to sweep the sand off of Daytona Beach! Anyway, Mickie prevailed upon their good nature, and talked them into blowing their leaves in another area until we left. So they blew.

Lunch was the highlight today. People played in the rocks in the river, or walked in the woods, or watched on the bridge, or did it all! Of course, Jonny had to prove his prowess and climb through the rocky terrain, up the sides of the bank, onto the bridge - sheer rock faces, slippery moss, rushing water - and, yes, it took a while for his pants to dry out!

Mickie (Again with the Mickie thing) held a meeting this evening after dinner. Something to do with organization. I don't get it. I mean, I've got everythig under control, right? Right? Helllloooo...anybody there???

Pix from the day...

We teased Shellie because her clothes looked so absolutely pristine. Like, are you sure you can get paint on these? 'Cause you will, you know. Well...she knows now.




















Patsy and Shon - our only "locals" (except for Richard the Potter, if he happens to return tomorrow.) Shon's probably the shortest of the males here, but he reaches the tallest with the roller extension. Go figure.











These guys work hard, they play hard, and...they rest hard. That sun gets to you after a while, so shade is welcome wherever you can find it.












Look real close and you can see Kim and Melissa - the rocks in this stream dwarf them! A little playtime after lunch.











Another try at getting you folks a feeling as to how big these walls really are. This is me and Kim, trying to get some paint on the top of this retaining wall. I figure we're up about 40'.









Where's Jonny? What's a little adventure during lunch? Just enough to work off those pesky little calories! Well, his footing wasn't as sure as he thought it was, but he didn't get too wet. Just enough to dampen his ego a bit.








There's something about girls and harnesses...and Kim and JoHana wear them quite well. And they're doing a bang-up job with those spray guns. Wonder if they've ever tagged anything???










Some of the girls cutting up on the bridge over the stream during our lunch break. Believe it or not, even with all of these diverse backgrounds, we are really turning into quite a tight group. Of course, mixing the Jack Daniels with the lemonade at lunch didn't hurt, either.

Ain't nothin' wrong with a little down time. Like I said, we have to wait for the flagmen tomorrow so we can paint out of traffic. I'd feel better anyway. Nothing worse than smeared artists on the pavement.

Another absolutely gorgeous day. This morning, Mickie took me to that secluded spot she found the other day, and it was so picturesque. We walked the trails and riverbanks for a while, so different from walking the sides of the highway. I was really feeling good about doing something just so different in this beautiful area, until Mickie told me that she was just building up my legs for shopping.

Two MORE people just showed up tonite. Melissa Taylor and Shellie Wolffe. Now Shellie holds the record for coming the farthest. All the way from Southern California! Wow.

I took Melissa out to see the walls up close and personal. I think she's going to have trouble sleeping tonite. Like I have been saying, there is no way to appreciate the size of this project without actually standing next to one of these monoliths.

Ive got a few pix for ya...





Here's Shellie and Melissa being welcomed by the crew in our condo. Jan is simply showing them what is required to be worn if you walk around late at night or early in the morning. Light sleepers, OK? Are ya listening, Bob and Renee??











This place we went to this morning is a favorite with fly fishermen. Great streams, quiet secluded spots...perfect for just wasting time. Almost like shopping.









One thing that has eluded us for years has been a hat that looks good on Mickie. I have her try them on just so we can have a good laugh. Well, lo and behold, we found one that works! And it's a cowboy hat! We got it in Asheville, NC. No wonder we couldn't find her one. They don't have any cowboy hats in Nashville!

Finally! Now I can download some pictures - here ya go...




Everyone needs to say goodbye to Renee and Bob. Seems Renee is going to be published! And she needs to get back to take care of the article. Good things happening to people who are working on this project. Must be the karma.










A big welcome to The Hernders! Like I said, all the way from Niagara on the Lake, in Ontario, Canada. Nice little drive. Ken said that it actually was quite beautiful, with all of the changing leaves, etc. Of course, they left at 10:30 at night, so I figure he must have had night vision goggles.











Mickie's friend Roni gets the prize for Fashion Maven of the Smokies. Actually, she is wearing the skirt that is part of a suit, and didn't want to get the jacket dirty, so she threw on the shirt. Right. I'll buy that.




















Some folks can't help but get creative on these walls, even though we're just rolling on white paint. Hey, Mike, how 'bout some white faux bricks?













Speaking of getting creative, Jonny found a way to spray the tops of the walls without using the lift. Just look out for our sunning, slithery friends there, Jonny.













Ain't nothing like a relaxing dip in the hot tub after slaving away on the walls all day. I think they were taking tickets at the door. To get in, not to watch.












You bring more than paint brushes on trips like this. Anything to keep yourself entertained. Kim brought her electric bass as well as an amp. Watch out, Wooten Brothers!

















Talk about relaxing...a few beers, and all of the sudden, your playing like Eric Clapton! Wish it worked that way with paint!

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood. Like when I asked Bob, "Are you having fun yet?"

And he said, "Yep."

"Are you lying to me?"

"Yep. I hate painting."

Oh, well...let's hear it for the special influence of wives.

Got another wall primed today, and most of a third one. Great crew, all real hard workers. Even working with 16' roller extensions. Kim Epps said it's not too bad once you get into a rhythm. That's all we need, painters dancing on the side of the highway.

Speaking of Kim, she and JoHanna were put onto another duty today. I decided that it would be faster if one of us drove the lift, while the other sprayed. Took a while to get our bearings, but once we got settled, it worked like a charm. First time up in the lifts for those two as well. Took to it like ducks to mayonnaise.

Another couple of newbies entered the fray tonite. All the way from Niagara on the Lake in Ontario, Canada! Ken and Cindy Hernder (Cindy: AKA Enhancer on M+) drove in after leaving at 10:30pm??!! How do people do that??? BTW, even though they are from Canada, they still don't hold the record for being the farthest from home. That award goes to JoHana, who actually started here BELOW sea level in Louisiana! Loralei comes in a close second, driving here from Wisconsin. Now, they couuld all be put to shame if this person who wrote from Houston decides to come!

Another great painting day today - actually knocked off a little early, because we had no more walls that were "out of traffic." We have to wait until Monday so that we can get some flagmen to help us navigate the "in traffic" walls. So we get to rest tomorrow before we start back in earnest on Monday. Also give us some time to thin down this paint a little bit. It's coming in a lot thicker than I had ordered, (read: drywall mud) so we are having to prepare each can. Not difficult, just takes more time.

Had some fun tonite - got to break out the guitars! (and a whole lot of beer) The songs were mostly unrecognizable, but it really didn't matter. We just had some memorable moments together.

Here are some pix from today:

Hmmmm...not allowing me to add pictures. I'll have to post them later. Your loss.

Ahhhh..a day off. Like I said, well deserved. Everyone seemed to take advantage of it, especially since the day was so absolutely beautiful. The sun was out, the temps were perfect, the leaves have just about reached their color peak - man, what a day.

A lot of us went to Asheville for some sightseeing and shopping. Guess who did which? I spent the day with Mickie. What do you think? Yeah, my feet and wallet are still sore, thankyouverymuch.

We got some more of our shipment of paint in today, all 12,ooo pounds of it! But with all of the help, it only took us about 30 minutes to unload all of it. Let's hear it for teamwork! (I said that before, didn't I?)

Had a couple MORE people show up today, which brings us to 11, if my math is correct. Kim and Loralei actually came in a day early (yesterday) so they were ready to go this morning. And they brought their guitars! We'll have to break them out tomorrow, maybe write some good paintin' songs.

Well, today was the first day to paint together on the "big" walls (Jonny and I had already tackled one with the sprayers alone). Same deal as the parapets - it FLEW! Now, they can only go up about 20' with the taller roller extensions, so Jonny and I came in with the lifts and sprayers and finished out the top 10-20' that they couldn't reach. Worked out really well. In fact, we finished one huge wall and got half of another painted. OK, let me be specific: everyone else finished what they could on the second wall, but we only sprayed the one wall. What can I say? It's 9 people versus two! We're doing the best we can!

As fast as we're moving, I figure tomorrow we'll finish all of the walls that are out of traffic. Monday we'll probably start working with a flagman so that we can get the walls that are "in" traffic. Now that sounds just this side of dangerous.

Here's the pix from the day (and a couple from yesterday)...


Like I said, yesterday was beautiful. The colors are really exploding in the mountains. Makes a great background for a portrait.










Mickie doing what she does best. I swear, I have never seen anyone who likes to shop as much as she does. Not necessarily buy anything, but just simply SHOP! I played the "sore ankle" card just so we could rest!










A big welcome to our Newbies, Kim and Loralei! They jumped right in today, painting up a storm! We'll see how anxious they are tomorrow!













Man, this was a lot of paint - over 12000 pounds, or about 700 gallons. We probably used over 100 gallons just today.








And this is why - look at the workers! Looked like a bunch of ants with sticks! Actually, is was a well-oiled machine. And everyone is working really well together!











It really helped when we had guys like this just drop in out of the blue. Probably feeling guilty because his wife dumped us! (Just kididng, Kim - we love you - and miss you! Try and come back for just a while, OK? And you can bring this guy, too. He sounded like he knew you quite well.)


















Can you tell which condo has most of the crew in it?













And it was Kim's birthday!! Like we all really needed another excuse to eat ice cream and chocolote cake. Isn't it someone's birthday tomorrow? Well...it should be.


















Here are a couple of shots of the scenery that you guys are missing. Mickie and her friend Roni (visiting from Nashville) found this place only a couple of miles from where we are working.












And this was tonite's sunset. I don't care if you are an artist or not, this is spectacular. And I painted it. With a spray gun. On the wall. In one night.

Today I was actually dumb-struck. At a complete loss for words. We (nine of us) all got together to paint the base coat on the last parapet, which is about a quarter of a mile long. Based upon the last couple of days, I figured that it would take us at least an entire day, maybe even go into two. But we finished the parapet in two hours. TWO HOURS! We were flying! Ahhhh, teamwork. What a joy.

So we took the rest of the day off, and we are going to take tomorrow off as well. Friday, however, we are getting in about 500 gallons of paint, so we have to offload it and then start on the retaining walls. Jonny and I have already done a couple of them, but witht he crowd we are expecting, I predict that we should have them done in a week, about the time the colors for the parapets arrive. Hopefully. I think. Maybe.

The afternoon off was relaxing. Some went shopping, Jonny went on a hike, some, like me, just hung out at the condos, reading, kickin' back, whatever. We had our usual catered dinner at 6pm, then tried to go to Winterfest, in downtown Gatlinburg. But wouldn't you know it, they shut down at 8pm! By the time we got there, we had about 10 minutes left to find a non-existent parking spot. Forget it! We went back, had a couple of beers, shot some pool, listened to some music, had a generally relaxing time.

Oh! And we got to meet another new member of the crew, all the way from Charlotte, NC. Everyone say "hi" to Melissa Terry, a recent graduate of USC, who is just now getting into murals. Maybe it's not too late to talk her out of it!

Like I said, day off tomorrow, so we'll see what it brings. What I would LIKE it to bring is some paint! But I'm thinkin' that's not happenin'.

Pix from today:


I don't think that we paid much atention to the speed limit signs. We were going 100 mph! And look at the size of this wall!










Really not too bad as far as working conditions. I mean, look at this! ON the other side of the wall, the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Absolutely beautiful.











Celebrating completion of Phase 1 - priming the parapets. We really couldn't shoot guns into the air, so I guess this is the best we could do. Still, all in all. very satisfying.










Celebrate, schmelebrate - we still got to clean the equipment. Here are some newbies taking a class in Spraying Rollers Cages 101.











Didn't really take Melissa long to get here from Charlotte, although she was running a bit late. Had a CD player installed in her new car. Was told it would take less than 30 minutes. Took over 3 hours. Welcome to my world.









Break time- literally. Kicking back after ahard day, Linda and Sherrie are giving us a marathon billiards demonstration. Say...aren't you supposed to put the balls INTO the holes??









We had to unscrew our cues on one side of the table because the wall got in theway. I still can't believe Jonny made this shot with that stupid little stick! Oh, did I mention that he was playing against me?









Had to show the boy how it was done. Actually, all of the games were really close. However, when it came down to the wire...Hey, Jonny...remember when John Daly missed that 3 foot putt against Tiger Woods a few weeks back?? Deja Vu, all over again.

Did I mention that we are inundated with ladybugs? These things are EVERYWHERE! Unfortunately, there are also quite few that have been embedded in these walls. They simply won't get out of the way! Really weird, but if you get close to them, they kind of hunker down. Even with the sprayer, they are tough to move! So now there are quite a few that are...well...never going to move. Ughh.

Got a call from The Faux finisher magazine today. Seems that they want to do a feature on this project. Come on down! We're all gonna be famous!

Two more people showed up today! A big welcome to Bob and Renee Holder! All the way from Arkansas. Wow. And I don't know what Renee promised Bob to get him to come with her to paint. Maybe I don't want to know.

Sherrie is already getting antsy. "So...what else are we going to learn? You know, besides how to roll paint in walls?" Took her exactly one day. Maybe I'll teach her how to play "House of the Rising Sun" on the guitar. Maybe not.

We knocked off a little early today. Kind of a bonus. We finished all but one huge honkin' parapet today, so we will all tackle it tomorrow. Then we will take all Thursday and Friday morning off (well deserved!) and meet at the pods around noon to help unload about 500 gallons of paint! Whoopie. What fun.

Seems that we are now going to have about 18 people by the weekend. I tell ya, bed space is getting scarce real fast. Doubling up could become an adventure unto itself. Don't think that I'll write about that part.

Pix for the day:


Now this is what I'm talkin' about! Look at this! They did a fabulous job. In fact, the local folks are really stunned that we are going as fast as we are. Hey. What can I say. We're all professionals!










Mickie is welcoming Bob and Renee to the condo. Gotta go over all the rules and regulations. Like: don't bother the snakes.












No, no, no...we don't paint on our knees! Can you imagine what that concrete would do to you? You'd end up with stubs by the end of the day! These newbies - I tell ya!










Ahhh, grasshopper...listen closely. Work the extension so that you can roll the bottom edge while still standing. Right along the paper. That's what it's for! Piece of cake. And work the leaves in for texture.












Now this is the look of a trained professional. I do want to know what combination of vitamins this woman takes. I think we could patent it!





















Lori stopped by today, just to check out how we were doing. I think at first she wanted to help. I'm also thinking that she might have to change clothes first. I'm thinking too that this is the last time we'll see Lori. Bye, bye, Lori.