"It seemed like a good idea at the time"...... part 94

Ever decided to do one of those little jobs that fit this post's title perfectly, only for it to go, if not exactly 'horribly wrong', then certainly 'not according to plan'..............?

Today, having engaged in thinking about the usual morning chores of keeping the galley ship-shape, taking out the ash, emptying the compost bin, fetching wood, doing the water etc etc, indeed all the minutiae of little jobs that keep things ticking over, I, for some reason (which no doubt the Public Enquiry will discover), decided to strain some primer through an old and unwanted pop-sock of Jackie's to remove lumps and bits of detritus that were rendering it unusable.

The rationale behind this was perfectly sound: Primer is very expensive stuff.

I had 2 1/2 litre tin which had properly 'gone off'. Well, waste not want not, there's a global down-turn on, you know...... A couple of weeks ago I had hacked my way through the dried out crust on the surface and extracted the toffee-like gunge underneath. This was decanted through an old sieve into a 1 litre tin, and, once a quantity of thinners had been added and it had been stirred very thoroughly for absolutely ages, it began to resemble a grey admixture which did indeed resemble primer, only still rather 'bitty', the sieve having a fairly coarse mesh.

So today, between thinking about getting the car MOT'd, booking a vist to the accountant on the same day, and of course, starting to deal with the usual daily jobs aboard, I put out plenty of newspaper, and set about straining the paint through the aforementioned discarded garment..

What could possibly go wrong?

W-e-ll.............

Let me make one thing absolutely clear: what ever one thinks is sufficient unto the day as far as newspaper and other protective coverings are concerned, it is simply never going to even approach being enough.

(Why, you might well ask, did I not simply go and sort it out outside?

Well, hindsight is 20/20, I say, so don't get smart with me.

And I was in my pyjamas............)

Anyway, I've got about a litre of nice usable primer.

However, I now have to clean the table top, the floor, me, and virtually every other surface on board.

Before Jackie gets home.

Just popping out to get some more White Spirit.........

I may be some time.