(or at least I think that’s what the weird bird thingies are).

Anyway.

I’ve been working on this summer cover for what seems like an eternity. Actually, that’s a lie. If I had been working on it, I’d be done a long time ago.

It started out like this:

The initial strip revealed this:

And then it sat. And sat. Half finished. I finally brought it outside, switched the stripping method from the milder PeelAway to the more toxic (but faster) ZipStrip (hence being outside) and got a bit more done:

While it’s still not done, the griffons look far more regal without the orange paint.

The design of this summer cover is fairly common. The griffons and the bowl of flames are fairly common in houses nearby built around the same time. What makes this one different, is that the cast iron seems to have been gilded with something. It was a copper-y color to it, and some of the stripped sections are tarnishing green. Usually the covers are just black, even the ones that are not painted to look black.

I’m really excited to see what this looks like once all the paint is gone. Sadly, I’m not equally excited to pick the last bits of remaining paint off.