A cheery face

Roy had the porch ceiling primed in sky-blue early Wednesday, it and was wonderful.

The fresh paint showed every place that needed extra spackle or caulk, and the laths blended against the ceiling as if they'd been there forever -- just the effect we were hoping for.

It was another of those times, and they're coming more frequently every day, when I choke up and think: Ref would have loved this.

There was another one waiting for me when I got back from lunch.

(Incidentally, it was Mike's fantastic tuna melt at Flamingo's Cafe, where Jody the waitress had a different take on the yacht crowd. "Oh, the crews on those boats," she scoffed. "Cheap, cheap, cheap. You know, they come to town with one pair of underwear and a 20-dollar bill -- and they don't change either of 'em." But I digress.)

While I was away, Roy and Darren had put a coat of tinted primer on the front, and Santos was starting on the den porch wall.

It's just tinted primer, so it's a shade or so less intense than the final color will be. "Bright," Roy said. We went across the street to take another look, and he said, "Actually, I like it a lot."