The Daylilies

Individual pictures of them are great.  But they don't show the whole of the row.

Left half...

 Right half...

And the whole of it.

I'm going to stick a color label at the base of each plant.  Because they are large enough to want to be divided this Fall.  I never object to free plants, and lilies are very hardy.  I think they will make a nice border along the drainage easement (think "artificial creek along property line") because they grow thickly enough to smother weeds and tolerate almost any conditions.

The "BAD" Room

There is always some room where the junk goes, right?  For me it is the computer room. 

I'm changing things.  But things look at their worst before they get better.  I moved a bookcase that had been in place for 32 years.  And the cheap carpet I had installed there was awful.  It faded fast.

Proof:

The middle part is the carpet that was covered by the bookcase for 32 years.  The bottom part is how it looks today in spite of vaccuuming and even a few "steam" cleanings.  The top is all the awesome gross dust and grime that settled behind the bookcase all those years!

I am replacing the carpet of course.  And with linoleum.  It is the computer room, after all, and having a solid surface easy to roll a chair in makes sense.  I haven't decided on a color/pattern...

I could go with anything from jet black to solid blue too speckled.  Need to wash the walls and repaint too. 

But it was astonishing to see the difference in the original carpet and the current look!

I bet I end up with soothing greens.  What colors and floors are YOUR computer rooms?

Matching Paint, 2

So I went to Lowe's because Home Depot said they had the same (Duron Aztec Rouge) paint color in Valspar.  Well, of course Lowe's had no idea what I was talking about.  According to their computer, they had no such color.

It was maddening!

But I had info with me...  And all I wanted was a color card.  Lowe's sells Valspar paint.  I had the closest Valspar color name with me.  They couldn't find it!  Not the color sample card or even the color.  And Valspar had it on their website.  But Lowe's couldn't find it in any of their colr sample cards.

I showed the paint guy  the formula for the paint, but he didn't understand it, which was frustrating.  Paint color is defined in 3 numbers.  Hue, Saturation, and Lightness.  All paint companies understand that.  That is HOW they define their colors.  If *I* worked in paints, I would make sure to understand that.

My original color was Hue, Saturation, and Lightness 4, 46, 84.  I found that Valspar "Hearts Afire" was only one number different.  But they couldn't even find that in their own line of paint.

But I also had a Pittsburgh paint name of the litterally same color with me.  One number different in a different category.  Lowe's could find THAT!  They mixed a quart of paint for me.

I probably don't even care much if there is a slight color mismatch.  Its a black-out bedroom and the color hasn't faded much after 25 year but maybe some.  Better a close match than bare plaster patch, right?

But this experience of color matching is really reinforced my conviction that even the "experts" in retail sales haven't the slightest idea of what they are really doing.  They just learn "the system" and are good little employees.

Don't Shop For Colors On A Rainy Day!

OK, I'm a guy, I can remember about 16 colors in my head when I shop (but interestingly, I know 64 compass directions).  But at least when I'm looking at them in a store, I can tell slight differences.  So there I was deciding to get a new bath towel to (sort of) fit with the  shower curtain with bright colors and the green floor mat.  I thought a generally olive color would look OK.  I selected one a computer color chart says is "dark moss green".  I got it home and hung it on the towel rack.  It looks gray with a hint of blue!  I can't even FIND that on the computer color chart (well computer monitors are limited).

I also wanted some deep green casual button shirts and found one that was definitely green but pretty dark, but I thought it would do.  At home?  It looks charcoal!  Maybe it will look OK outside in sunlight...

One of my first post-college jobs was as Manager of a department store shoe department.  One aisle was of ladies fashion shoes.  I ALWAYS used to insist that they bring the shoes they chose to the front of the store to see the real color in daylight.  I would have done that myself today, except the Menswear Dept of the Target store is about 1/4 mile away from the front of the store, and it was raining anyway. 

I should know better.  Men buy things one at a time and hope they match.  A mat here, a curtain there, when some item needs to be replaced, etc.  Women buy "outfits" or "rooms".  Someday, I will learn to do that. 

But for now, I am cursed with bluish-gray towels that SHOULD look moss green.  Well, the cats don't mind.  Maybe I will buy real-daylight bulbs to put all over the house.