Painting

I tried to paint the front porch railing today. It looks OK from a distance, but up close you can see that I failed to completely remove all the previous 50 layers of paint. There are drip marks and bumps. It is perhaps the worst paint job I have ever done. I only got the left side done because I had a helper and because the decorative wrought iron is twisty and turny and nice to look at, but a total bitch to paint.

I am covered in paint. Tremclad is oil-based. I had no turpentine. I tried my husband's pumice stone hand cleaner and finally, in desparation, nailpolish remover. No luck. I had to go to Canadian Tire to get some stuff to clean the brushes. I got off most of the paint from my hands, but there's still a fair bit. My hands hurt.

My son has paint on his hand. He won't let me remove it. He says he likes to smell it. My four-year-old son is a paint-sniffer.