I Heart Foosball

I just wanted to put my love foosball out there. This post is, in no way, shape or form, related to foosball; this post is about painting. I recently painted this cabinet/chest thing of mine and it reminded me of my grandmother. Painting always reminds me of Granny.

Granny wasn't exactly a Domestic Diva; as illustrated in this post when she gave me a raw hot dog for lunch. Thanks Granny. Even though she wasn't known for cooking, or cleaning, or grocery shopping, there was one thing she did more often, and better, than most everyone else. And that thing was painting.

Nearly every year, Granny would paint her kitchen. Other rooms too, but for some odd reason she was painting kitchens more often than not. One time she was 'house sitting' when my mom was out of town for a week; she painted. My mom came back to a blue kitchen... hope you like the colour, Lolo.

Needless to say, it was very common to see Granny with a paint brush in her hand while we were growing up. Kids being kids, and always sticking their noses in where they don't belong, naturally me & Danny wanted to help.

She always humoured us and let us. She'd give each of us a paint brush and we'd go to town.

Granny loved it, I swear. She would always say admiringly how we had 3 generations of painters in the family. Granny called us "The Three Painters". Very original, I know.

I think painting appealed to Granny for the same reasons mowing the lawn appeals to me:

1) Fulfillment from a hard days' work - you work hard, but it looks so much better afterwards, it was worth it. Granny was always talking about 'elbow grease' and things that build your character or put 'hair on yer chest'

2) Instant gratification - you can see the difference as soon as you put the roller to the wall, or the mower to the lawn. You can also see where you left off, which is helpful, considering...

3) Beer breaks - you can have as many as your little heart desires, providing you still get the job done* (*neatly when painting; *safely when mowing)

After we completed enough work for the time being, Granny would announce a beer break. We'd all put down our brushes and rollers and take a break. Granny would crack a cold one and start drinking; me & Danny would... well, ask for some!

She always humoured us and let us. She'd give each of us a glass (with 'just a wee bit') and we'd go to town.

Eventually, we came to like the taste of beer, and even though we had a combined age of 9, we managed to figure out:

One day, she was painting and we were helping (big surprise), Granny announced it was time for a beer break, so we all gathered around the table and had a glass of beer. When we got back to work "the roller had barely touched the wall when..."

Danny declared it was time for a beer break. Granny was never one to turn down a beer, so she played along and we had two beer breaks in a row. Epic day! Danny (being the lush he is) tried to pull it again. Granny was of the "fool me once..." mindset, so she didn't play along the second time.

Granny retold that story time and time again; I think it was her favorite memory of The Three Painters. My favorite memory of The Three Painters, doesn't even involve The Three Painters painting. Wrap your head around that.

One year at Christmas, Granny was decorating the house; me & Danny came out from playing just as she was getting off a ladder. Granny had strung up a silver garland across the living room ceiling; she asked us how it looked, we said it looked good. I don't think she took us very seriously though, because the next time we came out from playing:

Granny: So - how does it look?

...

Danny: Oh - we saw it already.

Me: No - it's gold now!

Danny: Oh - you changed it.

Me: No - she painted it!!!

...

...

Granny: So - how does it look?

 

 

Big thanks to EliseArt for providing illustrations