Author: peterb51

31st March 2022

It is the end of March and to celebrate, it snowed. What the heck? According to the weather forecast it was due to snow all day, it didn’t settle but still it came.

We moved on to work on the “Well that’s why it’s Free” dresser, named after the words the lady used when we asked about the missing drawer. I had already worked on the top that had been veneered over laminate.

I had made a new drawer to replace the missing one and I had glued a walnut veneer on to the top drawer front to make it a little more interesting

When I removed all the clamps I was really pleased how it turned out.

These changes should take a dull uninteresting dresser into a stylish one.

I would like to show the lady what it looks like now

30th March 2022

We finished re-assembly of the large corner unit, tweaking the doors so they fitted well and aligned with each other. It was tricky carrying it into the house to take the pictures. Fitting the triangular glass and wood shelves into the unit was challenging, there is definitely a technique getting them to fit correctly that we learnt.

I bonded the walnut veneer to the drawer front, always a stressful operation getting everything clamped down. Even with a bit of preparation, I still had to reposition the clamping boards several times. I will leave it overnight and see what happened in the morning.

We decided to go out for lunch to a small cafe just down the road. This is the place she wants to go for her birthday bash with her family, she knows the owner, and she caters for vegans. It’s a cool place , it’s close and we like to patronise a local business.

By the time we got back we couldn’t be assed to do anything else, so we skived off early.

29th March 2022

I have alway been interested in the news, I grew up watching the BBC nine o clock news and ITV news at ten. At no time did I ever think that I was not told the truth, some stories might have been less graphic in their reporting, but generally I believed that the news was a public service.

I recently saw an interview with an American journalist where the question was asked “ When did the news change?” His reply was, “during the seventies, that’s when the news was monetised” He was referring to the time when ratings became important, and producers needed sponsorship. News stories were chosen for their sensation level.

Roll forward to today’s news outlets and the situation is even worse. There are hundreds of outlets spouting their “news”.

I have spent time watching YouTube videos of various legitimate news channels of both the left and right political persuasions. Each one of these channels offer a snippet of controversial value to grab the viewers. The same goes for the crazies, and conspiracy crackpots who spout their truth as “news”, basically their only method of earning money is to grab attention using outrageous stories.

In the end “truthful news” is available to those who end up paying to believe it.

Back to my reality, we had a bit more spraying to do, and I continued work on the newly veneered worktop.

It was still cold, but got slightly warmer as the day went on. I could tell because I started to carry some paving stones from the front of the garage where they were set down last November, to the back where they will be laid.

I managed to move five of them, but the ones on the next row were still frozen until later in the afternoon. However it was still too cold to mix cement, maybe tomorrow.

28th March 2022

Sometimes it is nice just to sit looking out of the living room window drinking my coffee before we start our projects.

There is calm on Central Bay Avenue, it is not a busy street, there are the early workers who leave at six thirty and get back home at four in the afternoon, you can set your watch by them.

South shore Drive is a little busier, at this time of year it’s all about landscaping, so most of the trucks are pulling trailers with garden equipment on them.

There are signs of new growth on our front lawn, I am waiting for a delivery of the organic fertiliser that will add the nitrogen to kill the moss and boost the grass, for us spring is around the corner, to coin a phrase.

It was still bloody cold, there is a small amount of snow left in the shady areas, and the water barrels are still frozen. I hope it is all downhill to a bit of warmer weather.

The warmest place, apart from the house is the greenhouse, Kelli proudly proclaimed this as she emerged from her new refuge. It is quite home from home with all the new seed trays freshly watered.

We managed to do a bit of spraying of a large corner unit that used to be dog food. It was a bit cold with the garage door open, and it took a while to dry, but we persevered and got it done.

I on the other hand attempted to bond a veneer on to an laminate worktop.

I had stitched together strips of walnut veneer, and scuffed up the surface of the laminate.

I used a contact adhesive that I applied with a roller. Normally something goes wrong, like it falls in the wrong position and gets wrecked, but this time it was textbook perfect.

I clamped down both the ends of the top as these are the most vulnerable and left it overnight.

27th March 2022

It was all hand on deck to get the dresser ready for collection.

I had given the top another coat of finish before how I knew how low the temperature was last night. I gave a big sigh of relief when I checked it in the morning.

My task for the day was to build a drawer that was missing from a dresser that we had bought a few months ago. We had stored it in the room adjacent to the garage, but it took up valuable space that we wanted to use for something else.

I had glued up some side panels in advance that needed to be planed to the correct thickness then a groove machined for the bottom panel.

The final job was cutting the dovetails to match the existing back piece, one of the only two pieces that had survived. That was an interesting job, and proved that my chisels were sharp.

The last job of the day was gluing up the drawer box.

The couple that had bought the dresser turned up, they loved the piece, and even though they had first offered a ridicules offer I didn’t hold that against them, I even helped them load it into their vehicle, that was very good of me.

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26th March 2022

I did today what I haven’t done since my twenties, and that is sitting and listening to an album of music. Mostly what I listen becomes audio wallpaper or accompaniment to a long drive.

Matt, Kelli’s brother brought along a copy of the latest Tears for Fears album that he had been raving about. So I turned the amplifier up loud and gave my B&Ws a workout.

It was a refreshing change from working in the garage and something I would like to do more of.

We have music on in the garage but you can’t do any serious listening when drills and saws are operating, it becomes sound between all the louder sounds.

The two side tables were picked up today, it was good to see them go for the full price advertised.

We have started priming work on the large corner unit that had been a meal for dogs.

I removed the tongue and grooved back panel material carefully marking each piece so they go back in the original place.

As usual there was more snow this morning, with more expected over the next few days, great, can’t wait to freeze my ass off again.

25th March 2022

I carried the old sewing machine table that has been converted into a desk high side table into the house to take pictures. The top colour looks a little different than what we usually do, but I think it works.

I had to put another coat of finish on the six drawer dresser, and then get down to some serious sanding on the tall corner unit.

It can be very satisfying getting the imperfections out, although I create a lot of dust in the process. I do wear a mask when I’m sanding inside, but I sure can’t wait until the weather is good enough to have the door open all day.

Another job I needed to do outside was to add some strengthening pieces to the raised bed.

This is belt and bracers solution, but once I finish filling it up with dirt I don’t want to go out one morning and find the bottom dropped out, I wouldn’t ever live that down.

It reminded me of working on my old cars, I’d be on the ground working on something under the vehicle, usually when it was cold and wet, and yes, it was exactly the same today.

Kelli was out in the greenhouse filling the shelves with all the pots and general gardening stuff. She started planting seeds in a few trays that we will be watching over the next few weeks.

24th March 2022

The nerve of some people. Kelli had just posted the latest dresser on Marketplace when ,apart from the usual scammers (who just need your phone number to cheat others) we had someone offering sixty dollars less than the asking price. I just about blew my stack, although there was no way we would accept that, Kelli went back with a polite response, which is far better than what my reply would have been. After that, the person came back and agreed to buy at the full price.

We had more snow this afternoon, fortunately it didn’t settle as the ground is too warm, but oh Michigan weather, it is a mystery to me.

Kelli started on the tall corner unit that we picked up for free a few weeks ago. It had been attacked by the owner’s dog, all the front plinth panel had been chewed badly, it looked to me that it had been attacked by a pack of wolves. This will require a lot of Bondo to patch that up.

I did a solo run to Menards to get bags of sand and abrasive paper. Now I am all set, once this bloody weather decides to co-operate I can get some serious outdoor jobs done.

23rd March 2022

I made a concerted effort to get the shelf finished in the greenhouse so that Kelli can start growing seeds. We are avid followers of Gardener’s World, and good old Monty Don, and that has given us encouragement to start growing our own vegetables. We have the seeds, the trays and the dirt so what is stopping us.

I’m sure we’ll have some challenges especially from the squirrels. I have noticed that the buggers have been playing in the dirt of the raised beds. All over there are holes in the soil, and I can’t think of any other pests that can do that. I guess I will use chicken wire to deter them.

I cut a new top for the now repainted sowing machine table, I used a grey stain which looks cool and is different from other finishes we’ve used in the past. I hope our customers will like it.

We also took new pictures of the side tables with a new knob colour, it’s an interesting experiment to see if it will now sell.

Another dresser is also rolling down the production line, this has a red maple stained top, another different finish for us.

22nd March 2022

It was a damp day which scuppered my slab laying day, so instead I got on with building the bench for the greenhouse. I had made the support frames a week ago, and the bench top would hold it all together.

We had a bit more space since the furniture had been collected. Kelli was working on an old sowing machine table that was flipping heavy. We took out all the internal brackets and decided to remove the top which was eighty percent of the weight. The plan is to make a new one and give it a grey stain.

We were disappointed that the two side table hadn’t sold yet, normally they fly off the shelves. Kelli thought it might have been the bright knobs that were putting people off, so she repainted them black. It was a shame, but maybe the buyers in Holland aren’t ready for colour.