Are You Handy?

Were your parents handy?  Were they Do-It-Yourself-ers?  Mine were.  Mom cooked, sewed (with and without a machine), knitted, crocheted, painted, gardened, etc.  Dad worked on cars, built shelving units and boats and put together a Heathkit television.  It's in my blood.  I've always been pretty handy.  Sometimes I'm nervous, but I am willing to give something a try if I have a few instructions.

Well, my aunt and uncle are not what I would call handy people.  They are good as gold, but they are no Do-It-Yourself-ers.  They are the type who have to hire people to do things.  And up here, that means expensive.  

They live in what is called Gros Ventre West (GROW VONT WEST) which is full of really REALLY  nice, big, expensive homes.  

They do not live in a big, expensive home.  Well, maybe expensive.  They bought this property when the area was first opened up years ago.  It's up on top where you can see forever in just about every direction.  There are neighborhood guidelines about how high above the ridge your house can go.  Can't block anybody else's view, you know.  Anyway, they live in a tiny cabin where only the top floor is level and the rest is half below ground and down the side of the hill.  From the road, you can't see much and it appears to be absolutely TINY.  It's a big joke. When they tell people where they live, all they have to say is the tiny cabin up top and everybody knows.

It's been wonderful visiting them through the years and they have been wonderful hosts.  Vance leads all his guests on wonderful hikes to see out of the way lakes and waterfalls, bugling elk, and wonderful vistas and wildlife.  Ann treats everybody like they are family.  She makes you feel so at home and she cooks the most wonderful meals, almost always from scratch.  What apple pies!

Well, they have lived here well over 20 years and I don't think the few (non log) interior walls have been painted since they moved in.  They still have their original sink and stove and oven and all that.  They are people of normal or below-normal means (teachers) who live in a resort town where literally everything is expensive.  They re-use everything and I am sure that they never throw anything away.

Anyway, while I was here, I wanted to do something for them, but I wasn't quite sure what it would be.  I mean besides my house-sitting chores of filling the bird feeders, keeping the pond filled and filtered, whipping up hummingbird feeder syrup, watering the trees, watering the lawn, feeding the cats and giving Tipperary his pills.  

I was noticing that there were stained places on the walls that would not come clean, so it came to me that I could paint the kitchen for Ann.  I was a bit nervous about this, so I called Mom to see if she thought they would freak out if I painted.  She told me to go for it, so off I went to Sherwin Williams.  I brought a drawer from the kitchen that is close to the current color of the kitchen and used it to pick paint.  Also picked up a brush and blue tape.  Even though everything had to be trimmed, it didn't take near as long as I would have expected.  I'm pretty sure I did a good job.  I sure hope they like it.  I'm considering doing more tomorrow.  We'll see.

So that was my day as a handy person on vacation.