It is interesting to come back to a place ... in this case specifically a rather large sheet rock patch and see how much better your team is able to do then you were back then.
This is sheet rock work ... the mud, while lots of fun to slather on actual represents how much sanding you will be doing to get a seamless finish.  It is impossible to write or even think about this without sounding a tad prissy.  But ... sheet rock done well is very prissy work. Good sheet rock very softly requests finesse ... brutishness simply won't cut it.  This is patient work ... fortunately that is my strong suit,  patience.  I apply the least bit possible and let it dry completely ... I may or may not sand between application of wall mud ... joint compound.  I don't wear a mask while I sand, though I know I should.

In the corner, near an AC vent, I find tiny fissures popping the paint away from the wall board. Tiny spider veins which I eventually figure out are a result of rust ... growing ... on the nail heads which originally hung theses walls.  Rust on metal ... moisture ... condensation from the vent my husband says.  I say this corner of the house is a cold spot.  This corner is my perch ... the rest of the house may be warm from a clothes dryer which seems to run almost continuously ... or the oven ... or the dishwasher ... this corner is an oasis from all that.  The cool is good ... it comes at a cost.  I turn the sharp edge of my hand tool perpendicular to the fractured surface ... a probe which becomes a blade ... layers of painted surface slide away.  The surface of the wall underneath has a layer of powder ... exactly like baby powder, and I smile as I recall Two dusting the fish aquarium with sweet Johnson & Johnson talc ... she wanted the fish to smell good ... what a mess, like this is a mess.  I wonder if I should replace the wall in this corner.  There is the tiniest bit of dark dry ... maybe mildew, I don't know.  I slide the tool in to it and it falls away like a morning shadow.  The board underneath seems un-compromised.  I decide to work every loose bit away and decide what to do when I see what is left.  I'm thinking about what my friend said about am I a perfectionist ... and I'm thinking about what my husband said about how much money this is saving us ... he named a number ... it doesn't seem like enough to me ... and I'm thinking that a sheetrock professional would not do the job as I do it ... someone who feeds their family with their hands has to keep an eye on the clock.  They make choices that I don't have to make.  My husband says this would be a two day job ... max.  He says the guy would come in and do the mud and leave ... go to another job.  I conclude that I would be a perfectionist were perfection an option ... the wiggly line where wall meets ceiling is imprecise.   It will bother me when the paint goes on ... and no, that blue paint tape doesn't help much at all ... .

Maybe it's because I am reading HOUSE (Kidder) that I am thinking of this ... maybe it's just how I tend to be ...

As I am working along I don't hear the clock ticking, I just want to finish the task at hand as well as I can. I like that I am doing this work rather then paying a stranger.  It will take a while longer but ... it will be done as right as I can get it.  

I'm thinking about how the building of souls is a bit like this.  Tiny cracks ... caused by what ... oh, yes that ... and ever so carefully the damaged material is identified and cleared away ... the rusty nails holding the whole shebang together ... hmmm, what to do?

I know what I am going to do.  It may not be the right thing, but it is the best I know right now.  I am going to sand the rust away from those nail heads ... and I'm going to seal them with clear nail polish (Or maybe the turquoise that I'm sporting on my toes).  Then I am going to apply the sheetrock compound and finish it out so smooth that no one will every know it was in need of repair ... maybe even better then new.  Then ... I'm going to paint it.

taken yesterday ... might let ole Sam come in and help me with the sneezing
he is amused by loud rock and roll music
... an excellent helper