Stucco Story

You are probably tired of hearing how busy I am with the art show, so I won't mention it again :) My mind seems to be void of anything else, though. As I type, Jesse is at the kitchen table touching up her painting and signing it (very important). I had been framing some paintings (also at the kitchen table), but I was shaking the table, which was frowned upon by Jesse. So, I'm back on the computer - any excuse to keep me from doing what I don't want to do, and that is framing.

Speaking of framing, Toby and I did some more work on the outdoor kitchen over the weekend. We got the pergolas finished. We are now ready to wrap the house in chicken-wire on so that we can stucco. Here is a story from our last stucco job on Nov 7, 2005:

Bo came this weekend to help blow the stucco onto the house. I say "blow" because Toby bought a special tool to shoot the stucco on the wall (Toby the Tool Man). Picture an airgun with a bucket attached on the end. The gun was hooked up to two air compressors. One of us would mix mud (cement), one of us would shovel mud into the bucket, one of us would shoot it onto the wall, and one of us would trowel it smooth. If you pictured the big mud gun correctly, then you know that someone was bound to get shot with cement. Three evil Baggetts (I am not included in that list because technically I am a Barker) just could not pass up such an opportunity. It was all just a matter of time and who would shoot whom.

It took a while to get all of the equipment working. The cement mixer had to run off of the tractor – don’t ask. The mixer also needed a little "fixin" to get everything working well. During this time, Jesse baked an upside down apple cake (a new recipe from Southern Living). About the time the cake was hot out of the oven and ready to eat, it was time to work. The cake would have to wait until later that afternoon when we stopped to eat lunch/supper. The cake was wonderful, but it would have been great if we had eaten it while it was hot. Toby commented that the apples seemed "old". Bo, being the typical brother, added that the apples should have been caramelized not rubberized. I thought they should just have been happy that someone baked them a cake, but then, they are smart Baggetts.

Have you guessed who got shot and who did the shooting? Late in the afternoon, Toby handed the empty gun to Jesse (the meanest most 'onriest Baggett of 'em all) to hold while he did something. She pointed it at me like "stick em up." I put up my hands – playing the part, but not dreaming she would really shoot. When she pulled the trigger and mud hit me in the face and chest, the look on her face was pretty priceless – it was a good thing I could not see my own face. She thought the gun did not have any mud in it (sure). Toby tried to snatch the gun away from her because he knew what was coming (we have been married 29 years – he knows me well). She would not let go of the gun figuring I would not hurt the gun (expensive tool that it is) or her while she had hold of it. The three of us went round and round. I did not get the gun away, but I managed to give her a big hug with my muddy front and rub my muddy cheek to hers. Toby managed to save the gun. Jesse was still a little too proud of herself – I feel revenge will be mine.