My mind's in the gutter...and other things...

As of today, my house is totally, completely, and 100% finished on the outside. The only things that had prevented it from being so before were the rain gutters. The brick guy left behind a problem that Sonny--my heroic painter (!)--took it upon himself to solve. Problem: how to reinstall the old rain gutters now that the brick was in the way?

I'm telling you, I wish every painter, brick guy, contractor, etc. could have a work ethic like Sonny. After some experimenting, he used a hack saw to cut the gutters and reposition them around the brick. Two of the gutters even needed to be moved to one side, which he also did.

When that was done, he painted them the color of the house. ALWAYS paint your gutters the color of the HOUSE, not the accent color. They're gutters, after all. They don't need that much attention.

And, because cutting them also meant eliminating some of the length, he bought some pieces to add to the bottom. Part of the dilemma is that these are the older style of gutters, which don't have all of those bendable parts like the new ones. And, yay! They're all done.

The finished product

This one had to be moved over a few inches to the right. The original spout was exactly where the bricks are down the corners of the house. That meant cutting a new hole and patching up the old one.

And this next thing has nothing to do with gutters, but it is still really cool. This afternoon I was getting cabin fever and offered to chauffeur my mom around town on some errands. She's having an old O.W. Lee table restored and powder-coated and we had to stop at San Marino Tile and Pool to pay the bill before it is delivered tomorrow. Cool store! And very nice employees. Inside I saw 2 things I have been needing for my backyard: an outdoor clock (mine died months ago,) and a light for my umbrella.

The umbrella light is SO cool!! I've never seen anything like this before. I don't know why they aren't available everywhere patio furniture is sold. It is like a donut that opens up and then clamps around the umbrella. It has 6 LED lights and a rechargeable battery + the charger. I love it!
And that concludes the adventures of my exciting day.