Author: peterb51

21st December 2021

Kelli’s head almost rotated 360 degrees as we passed a dresser by the side of the road. We were returning from another scavenging excursion when we saw this piece, but we couldn’t stop, as the back of the truck was full.

We sped back home to unload the stuff and for Kelli to visit the bathroom.

We had started the day by driving to the north side to collect some free stuff, but when we got there only a coffee table that was worth taking. There was a bookcase that turned out to be vinyl covered chipboard, and a red velvet ottoman that wouldn’t look out of place in a brothel, so we didn’t take those. Next stop was to our side of town to collect a two door cabinet, that wasn’t free, but in a good condition.

This led us to be on the road with the roadside dresser.

We hurriedly unloaded the truck and drove back to see if the dresser was still there, it was. There always seem to be a rush to load roadside stuff, maybe it’s because we don’t really like to be seen, well that’s my excuse.

It was a heavy bugger, but we made it, and drove off victorious.

There is nothing better than free stuff, and to top the day, the five arts and crafts dining chairs that we were given, finally had a buyer, and she was driving two hours to collect them.

These were good examples of reproduction Stickley furniture, a top American brand, and the lady was happy with her purchase, and we were happy that she was happy, and I was happy that there was a pile of dollars on the countertop.

20th December 2021

It was out picking up two furniture pieces this morning, one from the north side of Holland, the other from Zeeland. They were not that exciting, one will require a lot more work.

This meant that we had to unload the dresser we picked up yesterday . I was able to study the condition, apart from the missing drawer that we knew about, there was a lot more structural work required. The whole unit dipped in the centre, and the previous people put a screw through the top to try to straighten, but that did nothing but mess up the top. This was put in the “Requires a lot more work than we thought” category.

I made a start preparing the mid century piece for painting, it was a wretch, but that’s what the customer wants.

19th December 2021

The black and white dresser went off to its new home this morning. The whole transaction lasted minutes, money handover, load up and off.

They didn’t even feel the top that I spent time(before they arrived) waxing.

Then we had to drive to Allandale to collect another dresser. Unfortunately there was a drawer missing which is why it was so cheap. We had been led to believe that the drawer pieces were included, obviously that was not correct. When we pointed that out to the seller, she smiled and said “ Well that’s why it’s free”. Having driven all this way we decided to take it anyway.

This will be the second piece that I will have to make new drawers for.

I had a fire going outside to burn all the off-cuts that had built up and causing me to trip up all the time.

My part of the garage has become a health hazard. I have a stack of off-cuts that occasionally decide to slide out when I pass. These booby traps alway get me, Rambo couldn’t do a better job setting them.

18th December 2021

“We missed Steve’s party!” I exclaimed, as I sat up in bed and saw what the date was.

“It was on the seventeenth, and I thought today was the seventeenth”. Kelli was equally shocked, “ I should have known, but I didn’t do my blog yesterday” was my feeble excuse.

This happens a lot where we lose track of the days, but it was disappointing.

We had a number of collections this morning, so the log jam has been eliminated, and replaced by a stack of dollars.

However Kelli has already trawled Marketplace for new projects, finding a couple of pieces to pick up over the next few days.

Also news that we have a buyer for the white dresser with the stained black top. Only a few days ago we were concerned that we had three unsold pieces, now there is a large hole in our production that needs filling.

There also was interest in the five dining chairs, now that would be a good cash injection, I might even take the rest of December off.

We finished the bedroom set of single headboard and dresser, this turned out to be pretty good, I hope there is a customer out there who will appreciate it.

17th December 2021

Well I have been proven wrong again. After bringing the dresser and the two side tables into the house and taking new pictures Kelli posted it. Within a short time they sold! I was gobsmacked.

This means that I will probably be wrong on that decision as well, so I plan to button my lip and just get on sanding in future.

We finally got round to picking up a mid century dresser from Hamilton that the customer wanted painted white. It will break my heart to do this as the condition is good and could be renovated.

16th December 2021

The wind was pretty bad last night, it was nothing that I had eaten. It blew the rubbish bin over scattering the contents over the driveway. On top of all the nasty icky stuff we’re some disposable syringes that I use for injecting adhesive into cracks in the furniture.

Of course anyone walking by looking at our spilled rubbish wouldn’t know that. They would immediately jump to the conclusion that I was a junkie and give us a very wide birth in future. If they took the time to notice the thickness of the needle, they knew we don’t have a pet rhino.

Progress was moving at a good pace, the mid century piece had another coat of finish on the top, and the black and white dresser also had another finish coat on the top.

Kelli finished another small dresser and then decided that the single headboard that we got a few days ago would be painted to match. Her plan was to sell it as a bedroom set.

During the evening we sold the mid century piece to someone who actually communicated. There had been two other people who wanted it but just failed to answer to Kelli’s messages.

Building on this success she hatched a plan to combine the train wreck and the two side tables as a bedroom package. Both these pieces had failed to sell in the usual time and were becoming white elephants, which by coincidence were the main colours.

I was not sure that would work, but I agreed to take new pictures tomorrow.

15th December 2021

The stress of trying to get all members of the family in one place is starting to tell.

We decided to hold Christmas at our home so we didn’t have to suffer the horrible lighting and dismal atmosphere of her mother’s home.

I likened it to a morgue, but without the marble slab. It saps the fun and enjoyment that should be associated with the season, no music, no drink not even tea and coffee, how is that fun?

At least with having it at our home I can quietly drift into drunkenness in comfort.

Unfortunately none of Kelli’s children could join us on that day which is where the stress has descended upon us.

We have tried to go for the weekend before, but that’s not convenient for all of them. It’s not like their time is so precious, but it’s up to them.

We carried the mid century dresser into the house to take pictures, it has change a lot since we collected it.

We had someone inquire about taking a look at it but didn’t follow up.

14th December 2021

We were on the collection run today. First stop was a friend of Kelli who has a large stock of furniture that they never seem to get to. They negotiated a price that was within our range, so we settled on a six drawer dresser that had a few issues like a cracked end panel, nothing that glue and clamps won’t fix.

Off loading the piece back home we set off for the next collection Hudsonville.

This was a tall dresser that on the face seemed in good nick apart from a chip off one drawer front and a missing knob.

Suddenly we were up to the limit again.

The mid century piece is just waiting on the top, and the one we started yesterday had the top stripped and stained.

The lady came to collect the bookcase and thankfully she was delighted with it.

For dinner this evening I did a good old favourite, mashed potatoes, meatless sausages and sauerkraut. I would have substituted baked beans, but we had plenty to use up.

13th December 2021

Another doctors appointment for Kelli, more pain for her, this time in her index finger on her right hand. I’m not up in the acupuncture theory but it was something to stop her waking up at 5.30am every morning. These ancient Chinese had a point for everything. If that is the case what must I trigger everyday in the garage, maybe I’ll live to 100?

We then drove to Zeeland to collect a small wooden headboard, I’m sure it will be wonderful when she gets her hands on it.

I finally finished the bookcase by nailing the back panel on. It sure is different to when we started on it, I’m sure the owner will like it.

There are a number of long dressers in progress, and of course Kelli is concerned there isn’t enough, but as I only have one pair of hands it’s fine by me.

12th December 2021

The weather was suitable for some slab laying.

I didn’t want to go crazy, I wanted to at least make a start. I had forgotten everything I had learnt about laying paving so the first one took some time to get right. As these stones were a slightly different colour from the others I had already laid I purposely left a larger gap between them just to emphasise the difference. I managed to lay six stones before we had to go a pick up a record cabinet that Kelli had bought.

There was a bit of a change around in the garage, we dug out a large dresser that we got back in June. This was made by Dixie, a good brand, it came with a mirror which we gave away months ago.

Kelli needs things that she can work on, and they don’t need any repair work, although there is usually something that needs fixing.

The wind got up and put paid to me laying any more paving, which was not a big disappointment, as I had carried one eighty kilo bag of cement and that was enough for me for one day.