The Decorator - The Tea

The decorator has a lonely job, when

climbing up his ladder.

He has to sort out all his paint, or

he won’t have enough. With

sander first he smoothes the wood, of

old paint, flakes and dirt. He

then rubs down with sanding block, to

get to corners better.

Once this is done, he ascends again, too

paint the undercoat. This

coat that will keep the paint, from

flaking like the latter. He

dabs and daubs the undercoat, with

the skill of a seasoned vet. He

smoothes the paint of all its runs, he

takes care of every drip. He

must not over do the brush, or

the paint will be quite thin.

The clouds are building in the sky, the

weather is still sunny, the

winds are picking up a bit, I

hope it doesn’t matter. The

weather forecaster said, “It

may be raining in the west, but

a shower or two may be had - today,

but definitely tomorrow.”

The decorator likes a drink, of

tea, but very strong. He

likes one every hour, to

keep him moist for long, for

he gets very dry, when

painting wood and wall, he

is like the blooming weather, both

wet and dry, forlorn.

The rendered wall is next to do, it

is cracked in several places. He

said that it is very fast, so

filling will be the thing. Re-

rendering will come later, when

more money is required. So

filler in hand, scraper too, to

fill the very job, that

the lady of the household, thought

would be the harder job.

Day two arrives, he

starts to paint the top coat, that

will define, the

colour of woodwork, Gardenia

and Sandstone for wall – sublime.

But first some tea, to quench the thirst, of

decorator, he

will need some time to

paint – this time, for quality’s the key.

Up ladder, once more to the top, to

check the work is right, then

dab and daub, smooth and slide, the

paint brush over wall. It’s

nearly done – but wait

another cup of tea!

“The job has taken two days” it’s

right by what he said. With

drops of rain now falling, “I’ll

have some tea instead.”

“The job has now been finished, the

rain held off, somewhat, but

before you pay me for the job, I’ll

have another pot – of tea.”

© Nick Rigazzi-Tarling 20 July 2009