Author: peterb51

19th March 2023

More snow landed last night, but the sunshine made short work of that, but the cold was still biting.

I was determined to finish the assembly of the two kitchen units so that I can have that crossed off my list.

I have to go back to the blessed dining table, that needs to go as soon as possible as it is taking up a lot of space.

I have a lot to prepare for this week, on Wednesday I have the dreaded visit to the dentist, which will mean difficulty in eating for a few days, which is no real hardship as I could lose a few pounds, but it will be a struggle.

18th March 2023

Still more bloody snow. Is there no end to this weather?

There was about an inch that fell overnight, a wind was whipping up a blizzard and the temperature had sunk to seventeen degrees.

It was back on with my fleece lined work clothes to continue work on our projects.

This has been a continuous theme for the last few years, and I’m sure whoever reads my ramblings will roll their eyes yet again.

My only variables are the collection days and my trip to Menards for materials, but that gives me a pleasant reprieve from the repetition.

I did manage to assemble the base unit for the new oven, and it is big. Of course everything is that much larger in America and that includes kitchen appliances. The washers and dryers are huge in comparison to the ones in the UK.

Over here they could solve the housing shortage, by just living in the fridges. They are so big things get lost, and then get rediscovered many months later. We have decided to downsize ours to more modest proportions, I hope that will reduce the tendency to overstock.

Kelli finished another dresser to post on Marketplace keeping the production line going.

17th March 2023

The cold snap is back. I had more plywood to cut outside and it was really cold, the wind cut through me like a cold cutting thing.

It was one of those days when things went right. The cutting was perfect, and even using the hand saw my cuts were straight and true, it was a good day.

I managed to finish the side panels for the new kitchen cabinets, so tomorrow will be carcass assembly day.

Kelli painted another dresser using the last of the paint. It’s not often that we get low that. That means a trip to the Habitat for Humanity or Menards to see what colours they have in the returns section.

On day like these it great to come into the house and feel the warmth, a nice cup of tea always goes down well

16th March 2023

Get the accident book out! After many years of accident free furniture repairs I fell foul to a sharp chisel. It was my own fault, not clamping a piece of wood down, but tried holding it with my hand, I won’t be doing that again.

It just goes to show how a lapse of common sense can bite, anyway once I recovered from fainting at the sight of my blood, Kelli was ready with the antiseptic cream and plaster.

Work continued, Kelli painted another dresser whilst I finished doors for another piece.

A lady came to collect the dresser we posted yesterday, and we had a visit from a couple who wanted us to renovate an old rocking chair.

It was a fine old piece with loose arms and a well worn seat. I gave them a rough estimate and suggested they bring it back in a couple of weeks when we will have more room in the garage.

15th March 2023

I spent the day trying to correct a mistake I made by using a stain on the dining table I had stripped. The stain I was using did not react very well with the wood grain. Instead of turning golden it went too red.

I tried everything I knew to try to dilute it but it was deep into the wood, and although I sanded it I couldn’t remove it. Now I’m left with a decision of more sanding or putting on a stain to disguise it.

We finished another dresser, quite ordinary, but should make a few dollars.

There are two more on the production line, the one with the twisted drawers is being re-purposed by adding doors instead of drawers, the other is the mock pine, abut more challenging.

It was great to work outside in the sun, can’t wait for the heat to follow.

14th March 2023

Today was shopping day, a quick burst around Aldi then it was off to bloody Hudsonville to collect another dresser.

On the way I had to return the replacement lamp I bought for the truck. When I tried to fit it I couldn’t get it into the housing. The part number on the back was not the same, hence my problem. The confusion occurred because I did not know what was a high beam and a low beam. I was use to a dual filament, but I had to ask the difference. The guy behind the counter was older than I, and was new to the job, so it was a case that the blind was leading the blind.

I explained very slowly what my issue was.

“ Have you the packaging?” He asked

“ Ah no, I threw it away, sorry” I replied.

“I need to scan it for the replacement “

“I didn’t think I would need it”

The conversation when on a bit until it dawned to him that he could scan one from the rack.

All this was taking an age and using up our precious time.

By now the old guy was confused, I was confused, the manager was confused, and it was all my fault.

I had tried to fit the original lamp bulb I had bought into the wrong light, in my defence I was rushing, so I had the correct part all the time, but to help resolve the matter, and to save anymore embarrassment I bought another lamp bulb for the other light, now I am ready for the dark

We collected the dresser from the person’ garage, the one good thing was, the drawer fronts were wood, the rest wasn’t, so a bit of creative thinking will be needed.

We had to get back quickly because we had someone coming to collect the buffet, the one that we had hidden away in the garage. We sold it as a “project” piece, meaning it needed finishing.

The lady had traveled some distance, but she wanted it, so we loaded it into her SUV, and it just fitted with very little room to spare.

The only piece of ancient stock left in the garage is a mid century style radiogram, I guess one day we’ll get to it, or flog that one as it is.

13th March 2023

Kelli had a bad night, which was a shame as she had gone three weeks without a problem.

I suspect she was buzzed by Jill and Chris’s daughter Morgan, who is a sweet child, but she is super hyper. She talks at warp speed, and it could have been enough to dwell in Kelli’s brain stopping her going to sleep.

I had to go to Menards to buy some timber for the drawers and bins for the kitchen, and it had been snowing overnight, so there was about three inches everywhere.

I took it slow and collected the wood I needed.

I felt like I inspected every piece of inch by four in the rack, there were many that were bowed, twisted and warped, it a wonder that anyone can use any of it.

On the entrance to the store there used to be two large areas of undeveloped land that belonged to Menards, they were prime sites, and for sale for a while.

One was eventually bought by a car wash that turned the green grass into a concrete slab, like the town needs another car wash.

The other patch of green has become the Menards personal storage facility, for people who hoard stuff and pay fifty bucks for the privilege, like Holland needs another storage facility.

The number of wonderful green spaces that have been lost to development is terrible, and it will never come back.

12th March 2023

The clocks changed last night, and we forgot all about it. It was only because Kelli noticed the time on her phone that we were any the wiser.

She only noticed when the time was three fifteen, and we were due at a friends for dinner at four thirty, that was lucky, it wouldn’t have looked good if we turned up an hour late.

In our ignorance I was happy that we were making an early start, as we had to collect another dresser, and we had one to finish, picture and post.

There was more snow overnight and flurries during the day, and it is so cold with the garage door open, but Kelli likes the light.

We were expecting someone from Grand Rapids to view a project piece we were selling, but that never happened, there was an excuse about having a car accident,(one that had been used before more than once) so we wrote that off.

We went to dinner with Jill and Chris, they had bought a lot of our furniture over the years.. They invited us a few weeks ago, and we were eager to see their home.

I didn’t realise just how much they had bought from us until we had a tour of the house. In total there were nine pieces, it was surreal, it was like our personal showroom.

11th March 2023

There were plenty of things to do today. The latest snow was disappearing fast, the sky was blue and the sun gave a bit of heat.

I removed the clamps from the drawer that I glued up yesterday. I tried to fit it into the dresser, but it was stiff, and difficult, taking it out again I could see the problem.

The whole drawer had a twist that I failed to notice. The two other drawers that Kelli had repaired had the same issue.

So we had three twisted drawers and no apparent solution to correcting them.

This was a real bummer as we hoped this would be a quick job, and it would keep Kelli busy whilst I worked on the kitchen units.

Instead my work load has suddenly increased.

10th March 2023

There was a good amount of snow during the night. The trees looked fantastic with the thick shroud, the branches bent almost to their breaking point.

What was different about this covering was it was wet, and almost ready to melt, that was promising.

There was plenty of things to get on with.

I started stripping the table, made a repair to the two middle leg assemblies. There was a cross brace missing, I had a piece of doweling rod that I intended to use, but getting the angle and shaping the end so it matched the taper of the legs was a real challenge. I used every bit of creativity I had in me to achieve it. Including clamping my drill in the workmate with an abrasive wheel set at an angle to form the radius. I used a paint tin and a couple of bits of scrap wood to support my bit of dowel.

It really was crude and rather Heath Robinson, and possibly dangerous.

I also had to rebuild a drawer from the dresser that we had collected from Hudsonville.