Author: peterb51

9th February Sunday

Snow was falling again as we got up. Over breakfast I read about the storms in the UK, and checked with Louise that everything was good in Bradford-on-Avon.

Kelli had agreed to go shopping with Greer who came down from Grand Rapids for the afternoon. As I was not included in the girls shopping expedition, I locked myself away in the garage to do some staining. Oh how I hate staining. I have watched countless videos on different techniques with smug looking guys in immaculate workshops applying colour to a perfect piece of timber. They wipe off the access leaving a perfectly coated sample, their satisfied smile makes me want to scream.

It is the same with other woodworkers with top of the range numerical controlled machines, they talk like everybody should have them. I wonder how they get enough work to ever make a living.

The best video I’ve watched showed a guy go out into the woods chop down a tree, split it into strips using wedges and an axe. There was not one machine used in the entire process of making a bed frame. This was woodcraft at its purest. It probably took over a year to make it.

I know what we do is not challenging, although if there is a difficult way to do something, I will find it.

8th February 2020

With the dresser finished, it was off to Goodwill to look for more stock. Not that we are down to the bare bones, but as we’d been holed up at home for the whole of Friday some quality time outside was needed. Not that a trip to Goodwill is quality, it is the place where you can meet fellow hunters, otherwise known as “the competition” and share stories of finding the gems.

It amuses me to listen in to the conversation that Kelli has with them. There have been occasions when others have pipped us to the post on some things, and we have our revenge at other times. Each has their own style, and of course we are the best, we do tend to make more effort in making the furniture more appealing. There is an underlining vibe of “you bitch I wanted that piece” and “yes we are doing really well at the moment” but the proof of the pudding, and all that.

We found a tall pine dresser at Goodwill on the south side, but nothing on the north side except a few candles. This place is the best source for those, other that church, but as we don’t frequent, it works for us.

I am getting closer to the stain colour I want for the pedestal tops, so they should be finished tomorrow.

There was a fresh flurry of snow this morning followed by sunshine, it is a mixture of all sorts.

7th February 2020

The garage disappeared in clouds of sawdust.

I had my goals for the day. The pedestals had to be stained, and the dresser had to be finished ready for listing on Marketplace for the weekend traffic.

I applied the first coat of stain to the tops and set them aside for four hours to dry before I could apply another one. It’s going to be tricky to match the dark finish of drawer fronts, so it will take time to get it as close as I can.

I then sanded the dresser drawer fronts back to the bare cedar. I made sure that I had my mask and cap on because as the day progresses I change colour.

Kelli painted the carcass and I cut out a upstand for the dresser top.

What I didn’t know was Kelli had painted the doorway with the bright red paint we had left from painting the front door.

It looked great, it framed the entrance way perfectly and continues the theme of forever changes(which is a great album title)

6th February 2020

All aboard for the drive to Zeeland to deliver the small dresser. The sat nav led us to a new housing estate on the outskirts of the town. Everything is set out so perfectly, like a film set, slightly unreal.

Kelli had her list of things to buy including Habitat for Humanity to search for two handles to finish the next dresser on the production line. She had bought eight the day before but realised she needed ten. So we rifled through the bins finding everything but the design we needed. Then we found one, our hearts raced, then it got frantic looking for the last one. I went through everything in the bin with no luck. Out of sheer desperation I looked in a smaller tub and there it was, the last handle. It was like winning the lottery but with less money, but with equal calibration.

There was a quick trip to Goodwill, Menards and Aldi and our chores were done.

There was our box from Unnatural Foods waiting for us as we pulled up. This has so far proved a good idea, sure the vegetables are a little mis-shaped but the taste is good.

I went into the garage to get something done.

I had to finish sanding the pedestal tops ready for staining, and complete the sanding of the dresser top.

Kelli came in to strip the red paint off the drawers, it is a mindless, boring job especially when the first layer comes off easily but the base coat doesn’t.

I would follow on with the sandpaper to scratch off the primer.

With my fingers sore, I stopped, that was my lot for the day.

We sat and watched a house renovation programme on the television. One idea that stuck out was someone had painted the inside of the doorway bright red, Kelli looked at me, and I looked at our entrance way. That is what it needed to lift the doorway into the living space, and keep our house evolving.

5th February 2020

I began to reassemble the extension leaves so that I could set them aside and get on with other parts. Unfortunately I damaged the hinge putting it all together, I blame the soft metal that the parts we made from, but now I had to find a replacement.

I first port of call was the Hafele catalogue.

I managed to find something that looked identical, the only difference this was made from German steel, and therefore indestructible. However the price, holy shit it was expensive, but I had no alternative.

I got on with stripping down and sanding the extension cradle. This was difficult and time consuming, the stain took differently to the many parts, but I couldn’t worry about it, black is not my favourite colour.

We had two ladies turn up to look at a dresser we got free a couple of weeks ago. We had decided to advertise it as a project piece, this is for those who might want to paint it themselves. We had quite a backlog, and couldn’t face the thought of painting this one.

The older lady loved the piece, but asked us to paint it for her, so the whole thing backfired, and we will have to paint it anyway.

Kelli had posted the little dresser on Marketplace and got someone on it straight away, that is due for delivery tomorrow.

I was able to get the tops for the side tables cleaned up and I machined a radius all round.

Kelli was able to finish painting the pedestals, so the race is on to finish.

4th February 2020

I disassembled the extension pieces of the dining table, taking pictures as I went to ensure that I put it back together again correctly. I managed to strip the top and under surface, so I was able to stain the underside with the black stained that was supplied.

I also put a coat of paint on the desk pedestals that will become side tables.

I was bouncing around the garage working on one piece and then another.

We had been working on the multi-coloured dresser that had morphed into an attractive blue grey number with the cedar top oiled to a smooth finish. There had been a bit of damage to the back corner that I had filled, but it didn’t look good enough. So I made a simple up-stand for the back edge that hid the repair and gave it a bit of interest.

At the end of the day I was tired and hungry, so what better place to go but New Holland.

But first it was a good hot shower, and afterwards Kelli wanted to do a bit of grooming to my eyebrows. At the same time trim the growth in my ears. The trimmer sounded like she was scalping a hedge. Afterwards she was poking away with something, I didn’t see with what, but I certainly felt it as she yanked out a rogue hair with a pair of tweezers. My eyes watered, as they do with anything to do with tweezers.

This male grooming routine for me is torture that frightens the begeebers out of me, respect to all the ladies.

3rd February 2020

I started stripping the large round dining table using my trusty half inch chisel. I have been apprehensive to start in case the lacquer is armour glaze, fortunately the piece was made in Malaysia so not only was the finish thin the wood is soft also.

I had the whole round top stripped in about an hour and a half. All that is left is the extension pieces and the under frame.

We drove to Harbor Freight to buy a skill saw. They sell some of the cheapest tools around but the quality is very good. They may not stand up to construction site use, but for me they are perfect. I was recommended them by a few friends who uses them for their projects.

Unlike the tools in the UK the blade is not included, fortunately I saw the notice on the box before I left, so I was able to buy one, or two as it happens, because two packs were stuck together and I didn’t notice.

Kelli dropped me off before going on to another store, so I had to wander around until she returned to pick me up.

I must have looked at every item on the shelves at least twice. I felt the staff looking at me checking I wasn’t “casing the joint”. More than once someone came up to me asking if I could find everything, if only they knew I probably knew where more about where things were then they did.

Eventually she turned up, and I was able to escape.

The new saw made a good job of cutting the tops for the pedestals, so just sanding and edge machining to do.

2nd February 2020

We had a lady coming over to look at some of the small items Kelli had put on Marketplace.

I was in the garage giving the pedestals a second coat of primer, and marking out the new tops ready for cutting to the correct size.

It was supposed to be a casual day, but like most times there is always something to work on.

We took the dogs for a walk along the beach, the water was high leaving a lot of debris on the sand. The wind was biting, and even the coat I was wearing had gaps that the cold breeze could pass through.

There were areas of sand that were very soft, and I sank down to the depth of my shoe, which was a bit of a shock.

We got back and I lit a fire to burn up scrap wood that was littering up the place. Now walking around the garage with be a little less hazardous.

The weather has been remarkably mild compared to what it should be, and the longer evenings helps wave goodbye to winter.

1st February 2020

Not much done today apart from going through the various forms I need to apply for residency.

It’s all so boring, and I printed out all the instructions so that we could go through them line by line, making doubly sure we filled them out correctly.

The instructions have more pages than the forms, the printer was red hot, and it nearly used up a complete cartridge of ink.

We noted all the other documents we would need to copy, and printed all those, the whole episode was exhausting.

The most depressing aspect of the whole process is learning I am only 5’ 9” and not 5’ 10” which is what I always thought I was. Learning I was short sent me into spiral of self doubt.

Kelli’s rock hero, Justin Hayward is over six foot, so I would need heels of over four inches to even compete.

I will be in the garage making something out of some old scrap wood.

We had a fun evening with Mike and Lesley playing dominoes and drinking wine. They had just returned from Canada freshly stocked with packets of Walkers crisps, Kitkats and Curly Wurlys, a taste of old Blighty.

31st January 2020

Kelli had a clutch of sales to set outside the house for the people to pick up. I think the neighbours are used to all the cars turning up, stopping for a few minutes then leaving.

At last we had our first delivery from “Imperfect foods”.

The FedEx truck turned up and deposited the box outside our front door. This is no surprise, because there is often a courier, or mailman dropping off a box or two. We have more “Priority Mail” boxes in the garage then anything else, if there is a shortage of cardboard, then we caused it.

Anyway the food box was due yesterday, but it didn’t arrive, so Kelli was on the phone trying to sort out when we would expect it. She was told of a delay in Chicago, but they gave her a $10 refund and took away the delivery charge.

That was a good result, I didn’t fancy driving to Chicago and sticking my face in front of their fists.

I finally got some primer on the two desk pedestals, and took the new top blanks out of the clamps.

Kelli went off to deliver the bookcase/ storage cabinet we finished yesterday.

It really has been a good month for sales, nearly doubling last years number.

We had another person who wanted our free doors, so once again I carried them outside and leaned them against the wall.

It was getting dark, so once again I carried them back inside thinking dark thoughts about we could not give things away without being let down.

About nine the guy turned up, I was in the shower so Kelli had to help load them into his car.