<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-13-855.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-99" title="Barn Wall Painting" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-13-855-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>I say there's only one thing worse than watching paint dry and that's putting on in the first place. I really need to be motivated to paint the house and the best motivation for me is thinking about what other people might think or appealing to my inner perfectionist.

Some years ago we had the barn walls rendered to smarten up their crumbling brick exterior but the builders we used were worse than amateurs and after 8 years the render cracked and fell off. Eventually we got our favourite builder to chip off all the remaining old stuff and re-render the walls. After allowing the walls to dry out I eventually forced myself to dip my brush in the paint and bring the walls back to a smart, white look. They do need a second coat and I also need to get some guttering up to protect the walls and it's my intention to collect the water in a tub for watering the garden. Any excess water will be run off into the pond so the pond remains full