We had to drive to Zeeland to deliver another dresser to one of our most loyal customers. She has three pieces already, and they look great in their setting.
Once that was done it was off to Hudsonville to collect another piece. The route used to be well worn when we had a booth at Painted Farmgirl, that seems a long time ago.
The dresser needs a bit of loving care, but it was not so bad as some we’ve had recently.
I had done a number of jobs earlier, like cutting a rebate on a panel that I had repaired.
In the US they call it a “Rabbit” which is weird.
I set up my trimming router with a guide and did the job in a couple of minutes.
Managed to stain more drawer fronts, and rebuilt a dresser carcase ready for Kelli to prime.
Larry had a meeting of the rusty van club. Numerous vehicles in different stages of decomposition turned up. The same could be said of the drivers, they milled around his yard like survivors from a zombie apocalypse, with them as the rejects from Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.
Sold our first piece of the month, a large dresser which was one that we picked up from McDonalds car park. Kelli posted it on Marketplace at lunchtime, and within a few minutes it was sold.
We might also have a buyer for the one we are currently working on, that needs a bit of work to get that one ready.
My old friend Steve Kubica stopped round for a chat, it has been a long time since we saw each other, a great surprise.
I started stripping on the second chair. I am trying different methods to reduce the time it takes to remove the finish. I have my detail scrapers, various blades, chisels and my battery drill with rotary sanding wheel, I’m sure these will help do the job so I won’t be wearing my fingers out.
The stink bugs are everywhere, this time of the year they emerge from whatever stink hole they live in to annoy the hell out of us.
They fly around with a distinctive sound and usually land on something in front of you, or worse, your head. Kelli would shout out at regular intervals. We had to check the cabinet that was being picked up today just to make sure the little buggers hadn’t got in to it, and sure enough there was one in the drawer.
Kelli had a doctors appointment today, he was happy with her progress, and pleased that her liver was responding. He went through the usual twists and cracking of joints to which she responded with a shout of pain.
We stopped off at Lowes to pick up some detail scrapers that I had ordered on Amazon.
I was disappointed that the delivery was out into the middle of October, then the Penny dropped, they were on the way to my cottage in Bradford on Avon.
I didn’t notice the delivery address had changed back to my UK one, hey ho, check next time dummy.
We sold the small buffet to a family that drove two hours to get to us, that’s dedication for you.
Today is the day I remember Michael Elliott, a man who was troubled by demons, and had no one who could help him.
There was a lot of smoke in Larry’s front yard. Some came from his sit on mower belching blue plumbs as he mowed his grass. This was only surpassed by the smoke coming from the ciggi burning furiously from his lips. This was being fanned by the breeze caused by his speed. I was waiting for the “Ouch!” As the burning tobacco hit the lips, but that never happened. He quickly lit another from the glowing embers.
We went for lunch at our local vegan cafe, a nice break from the garage, and a continued help to Kelli’s confidence. The next milestone will be an early evening dinner, not quite sure when that will be, that will be down to her.
Progress on the first chair continues, most of the old finish has been removed except for the places that are difficult to get to, I have estimated a week a chair, I should be well inside that.
Kelli is busy stripping the two dressers we picked up on Monday. I have a few drawers to fix, but these are popular, and quick and dirty projects.
We finally sold the black mid century dresser, at a knock down price. Kelli knows that really annoys me, but I bit my tongue and let it go.
The buyer was a nice lady, a widow who’s husband died of Covid in February 2020 before it was deemed a pandemic. We both stood back to maintain distance, mostly out of habit, we’ve got used to keeping away from most people.
It was good to sell that piece, we don’t like keeping finished pieces for too long as they get dirty and there is alway the risk of damaging them.
Somehow it felt like a slow month, although our sales this year topped the same month last year, meaning it was just our imagination, hey! That’s a good line for a song.
Progress on the first chair is slow, it is not my main job, but I do a bit when I need a change.
The main focus has been repairing drawers. The two dressers we got yesterday both have issues with drawer sides cracking. It is simple when I can knock the drawers apart, but a horrible one when I can’t.
We took a walk with the dogs around the lagoon which is just off lake Macatawa. Recently one house has come up for sale at the mouth where it joins to the lake. At eight hundred thousand dollars it’s a little out of our league.
There has also been one death close by. A guy who lived across south shore drive from us popped his clogs. We had seen an ambulance outside a week ago, so he must have had health issues.
Kelli was busy painting one of yesterday’s dressers, scouring though a box looking for wooden knobs. We had quite a few but not many matched. However we found twelve that were a close match, and put that down as a victory.
James Dyson came under attack from Kelli as a “crap designer”. The main point of her comment was targeted at the latest version of his vacuum cleaner. The dust release lever was accidentally triggered emptying the contents on to the floor, causing her to curse loudly. This is the second Dyson cleaner we’ve had. I had repaired the gearbox and rotating brushes, but it was the old style of uprights that made more noise than performance.
The new one works fine but it’s capacity is limited, coupled with battery life it is not at the top of Kelli’s favourites.
In an action packed day we were out and about in the trusty truck dropping off clothes at Plato’s Closet. Every so often Kelli delves into the Tardis of a wardrobe and comes out with armfuls of clothes she no longer wants.
This time it was three shopping bags that were loaded into the Toyota.
After doing that we drove to Zeeland to meet up with a person that had two dresser that Kelli had bought a couple of weeks ago. Originally we were meant to go to Allandale to collect them, but with the vertigo saga it was put off. Fortunately the person was traveling to Zeeland so we decided to meet at a McDonald’s close to the highway.
“How large are these dressers?” I asked out of curiosity.
“ One is fifty-five inches long by thirty-four inches high, but I’m not sure if the size of the other, but I don’t think it was very big” replied Kelli.
Well they were both big, and if it wasn’t for the strength of the seller I don’t think we would have loaded them into our vehicle.
She was so strong that at one point I thought that she was carrying me.
So with the truck full to the brim with furniture we headed back.
Stopping off for something else she had bought for Cameron as a Christmas present.
This was a flimsy thing for storing shoes and hanging clothes. As there was no room at the inn, it had to be lashed to the roof rack for the journey home.
It was also important for me to get a can of spray shellac to seal the blemishes on the dresser top I was having problems with.
With that purchase successfully achieved, we headed to the vegan cafe to collect sandwiches that were ordered earlier.
Finally we got home to devour the food.
Then it was work time.
We took pictures of the small side table, and I sprayed the shellac on to the cursed top.
I had to wait an hour before I could put a finish coat on, so I did a bit more scraping on the chair. I had a go on the seat area, this was hard, the factory finish that was under the white paint was like armour plate, even the scraper had difficulty.
Kelli wanted one of the new dressers out of the truck to start work on. With a bit of a struggle we managed to offload it without doing any personal injury.
Within minutes the heat gun was out and strips of paint fell on to the floor, there was no stopping her now.
By finishing time, the top and top drawers were stripped, and the other drawers sanded ready for painting.
A chap turned up to collect the cedar dresser we sold last week, giving us another small space in the garage to quickly fill up. Another piece is due out on Wednesday.
We took pictures of all the finished pieces in the hope that sales might pick up. We were disappointed that the mid century piece, formally Pinky has not attracted much interest.
We had a lady stop round to look at it, but she decided it was too good for her son and left. It happens, the new ones should sell quickly as they are more plain,we shall see.
I got a bit pissy trying to fit doors to a low side table. We had to use different hinges which meant I had to machine pockets for the hinges to fit into on the back of the doors. Then the screws were just a bit too long, so I made a packer to go under the hinge plate. When the doors were fitted they stood out to much and looked real crap.
So I did what I should have done in the first place and cut the tip off the screws and make them shorter. I found my good snippers and proceeded to reduce the length. Although it was only a couple of millimetres it was really difficult to cut. I squeezed so hard I thought I was going to have a heart attack, my eyes were closed tight as I summoned every once of strength, eventually there was a ping! as the tip flew off in some direction. “Good” I thought, “only another eleven to go”
Now reduced to a weak shadow I was able to refit the doors properly.
To calm myself down I did a bit of scraping on one of the chairs.
The lady turned up with the chairs she wanted stripping.
The garage has never been so full with nearly finished projects.
I’m having an issue with one top that seems to have something that has contaminated the finish. I think I will have to seal it with some shellac, but I have none at the moment.
The person that showed interest in Old Pinky which is stained woody and blackie, do not show up, so a pox on him.
Kelli spent the day stripping the train wreck of all its flaky paint, it looks better even though it hasn’t been sanded yet.
It is now less of a train wreck, more a minor derailment.
An early jaunt to Menards to get some supplies was the start of a busy day.
I was parked next to a fine example of a disintegrating Chevy truck.
It was so bad I had second thoughts about parking next to it in case it was infectious.
When I returned it was gone, all that was left was a pile of brown dust no doubt dislodged when the driver’s door was shut.
I loaded my purchases into the back of the truck, two quarts of paint and a full selection of sandpaper, plus a couple of lengths of timber.
The temperature was back up in the seventies from yesterday’s dip into misery, so it was a great day for drying stuff.
Kelli was in the spraying mood, we had two pieces that were primed and ready.
She sat on her mobile stool as I brought the items into her zone, turning them as required to get painted. It was almost automation, in no time we had everything finished and looking sharp, it really make spraying worthwhile when there is a decent number of things to cover.
On the road again, driving to Borculo, yes, I never heard of it as well.
We turned up at this house not sure if we had the right place. The garage door opened, indicating that we had the correct address.
I could see the dresser looking good in its brownness, and walking out was an old guy.
Kelli went over to talk to him while I opened the rear door of the truck.
As I walked over, he saw me and said “Are you a father and daughter team?”
Kelli burst out laughing, and explained who I was, I was laughing, pretending that I was offended. I could have come out with a raft of humorous retorts, but I held my tongue, content that he was deep in embarrassment.
He said he was 85, and he was good for his age, maybe his eyesight might have been a little off?
Kelli had a small feathered creature turn up outside the patio. We are not sure if it hit the glass and got stunned, but it was standing motionless on the slabs. Both the dogs had their noses up against the window trying to get out. Pushing them into the house she went outside and picked it up and held it for quite a while before it got the strength to fly away.
There is a belief that a bird can be a messenger from the departed trying to communicate, and as we are coming up to the anniversary of Kelli’s dad passing, I like to think it’s true.
Another Lifetime to go 