Author: peterb51

14th September 2017

For some reason I started work on the bookcase thing Kelli brought in yesterday.

This is out of sequence, but something urged me to poke away at it, and before I realised, I had stripped it down to a basic shell.

She showed me some pictures of what it could look like, and, like a complete plank said “okay, I can do that” so it’s over to me.

This scenario reminds me of a TV program that I used to watch whilst I was in India. It was called “Wheeler Dealers” and there was a slimy car salesman who finds the “bargain” classic cars, and a mechanic guy called Ed China who fixed everything, so it could be sold on at a profit, guess I’m the Ed character.

I completed the shelves for the red bastard whilst Kelli delivered the round table.

There is a great feeling of accomplishment when “the client” loves the result.

13th September 2017

There is a group of wild turkeys that amble past the garage each morning and evening, I’m hoping that the Neighbours are not eyeing them up for Thanksgiving.

The tasks for the day were to get the bedside cabinets ready to take to Lakeshore Marketplace.

Other jobs included gluing up the shelves for the big red bastard, and preparing some timber strips for some stock.

Hidden in the back of the truck was a bookcase thing that was acquired last evening. Mmm, a bit of a plain Jane, but it has some possibilities, pass me that bottle of wine.

There was a trip to Goodwill to look for more projects. We found an old sewing cabinet and some maple dining chairs.

The sewing cabinet will offer a few challenges, but that is nothing new.

I still spend a lot of time looking for tools I’ve just put down, I had plans to build a proper workbench, not that it will cure misplacing stuff, but give me more area to place the tools that I won’t be able to find.

12th September 2017

Hey it’s Guna’s birthday!!

Today the garage had a bit more space, three pieces went out, and a smaller one came in.

This was a small round table that Kelli already had a buyer for, except this one was twenty inches tall and the buyer wanted thirty two.

Fortunately Kelli had bought two stair posts some time ago, and by cutting them in half made perfect extended legs, perfect.

Not really taking notice of how the table was constructed, I set about cutting the short legs off, then by chance I tried turning one, and found that it moved. So unscrewing the old and fitting the threaded stud on to the new leg, the assembly was quick and simple.

I made two tops for the bedroom cabinets and stained them, and started repairing the back panel of Maximilian.

This should be ready to paint this week.

The saga of the window tint continues. This time Kelli took the tint film to the local police station to get the citation signed off (as they said they would) but they wouldn’t do it. “This isn’t the type of citation that allows us to do that”, so back on the phone to the court.

“You best take it to a State police station, they do it all the time” (well why didn’t you say that the first bloody time?)

The nearest station was Saugatuck, so down there she went.

As the station isn’t open all the time, there is a phone number to call.

“There is an officer on duty, we will call and get them to meet you, I think officer Miller might be there”

Officer Miller? and sure enough who opened the door but Lincoln Miller.

He remembered the occasion, and with a smile from Kelli, he signed off the citation. “Oh the court usually throw these things out anyway”

This can only happen in America.

11th September 2017

The start of the working week! (Ha! What’s work again?)

A number of jobs to do today, including paint, stain and glue.

A visit to the local Starbucks to get some mixing sticks, and a coffee.

Kelli called the court in Allegan County to get more details on the window tint issue. Looks like if it is removed, and validated by a local cop, then the citation is sent to the court, she will avoid a fine.

So armed with a razor blade and a hair dryer we started the task.

Picking at one corner, it came off really easily. I had visions of trying to peel wallpaper one inch at a time.

The “Lincoln” cabinet was finally finished and ready to go to Lakeshore tomorrow.

10th September 2017

Today I got to do some socialising, I met up with an old friend Steve Kubica. Steve worked at Herman Miller, and during late 1985 through mid 1987 came to Bath to lead the engineering of the European version of Ethospace.

I always tried to keep connected with him, even when he left HM and moved to California.

He recently bought a house in Saugatuck so I called him and arranged to meet for lunch.

He gave me directions to his new house, which was pretty amazing. Situated on the river bank it was no ordinary place. Built on three levels there was a self-contained appointment on the ground floor. There were bathrooms galore, you could go to the bathroom on the way to the bathroom.

Steve was the same as ever, smiling and full of wise cracks. We had a great lunch talking about old times. He was flying out on Tuesday to return to LA, but coming back at the end of the month, I see more beer drinking to come.

9th September 2017

Saturday is supposed to be a rest day, but it’s hard to enforce when there is a new project waiting to be worked on.

The dresser we collected yesterday needed a lot of attention, so first the loose veneer was removed from the drawer fronts, and the Bondo was mixed up to fill the imperfections.

Project “Lincoln ” was well on the way to being ready for delivery to Lakeshore Marketplace.

In between the ” Lincoln ” there were viewing of YouTube videos on removing tinted window film.

It looks so easy, yea right? 

Did a bit of a recon’ of a possible place for Kelli to sell her furniture. It is in a prime spot in the town.

It turned out to be a bit lame, plenty of tat and stuff that would not sell (my opinion) but words like “cool” and “oh so cute ” were coming out of her mouth, I was beginning to think I was in a different place.

We also saw some pieces that Kelli had donated to Goodwill a few days before on sale again in this place.

I had suggested that for small things that don’t sell she should have a “bargain basket” with everything priced at $5, it’s better to get something, than to give it away.

8th September 2017

Michigan State Officer Lincoln Miller was having a shit day. The most exciting event of the day so far was witnessing a squirrel speeding. He was a portly man with an immaculately ironed shirt, he spent his day driving up and down the township of Glenn, a place so small the library had to close down because someone borrowed the book.

Imagine his delight when, entering his sad and sorry existence was Kelli and Pete out to collect a chest of drawers.

Lincoln’s podgy fingers reached for the flashing light button.

“What the F***” exclaimed Kelli, ” I wasn’t speeding”

Concealing his excitement, Lincoln took his time, he wanted to enjoy this moment, he was in control, the master of the situation.

“Driving licence, and insurance documents please” he said stifling a smile.

“Why have you stopped me?” Asked Kelli fumbling in the glove compartment for her documents.

Glove compartments are the same the whole world over, a Pandora’s box of forgotten treasures that never seem to end. One thing after another was handed to me, like a game show prize conveyer belt, including a cuddly toy. but amongst that are the documents you need, that become small and difficult to grab hold of.

“Illegal window tint” replied Officer Miller.

“Illegal window tint?”

“Yes illegal window tint”

From then on it got a little more surreal, needless to say a citation was issued for illegal window tint. 

Confused, tired, and pissed off we continued on our journey to pick-up the chest of drawers.

It was a sorry sight, the veneer was loose and rippled, but very solid.

We decided to call the cabinet Lincoln, loaded it into the truck, and headed back. 

Earlier in the day I had attacked the severely water damaged “Chinese ” style cabinet.

By the time I had finished it looked like furniture of the apocalypse with very little of the original left.

Mmm I might have wasted my time, but I’m convinced it will turn out great.

7th September 2017

It is raining, so I’m consigned to the garage repairing the desk pedestals that Kelli wants converted into a pair of bedside cabinets.

Drawer front knob holes filled, sanded and new holes drilled ready for painting. Not the most taxing, but it clears space and has to be done.

Mid afternoon, I decided to tackle the big red bastard Maximilian.

The task ahead was to cut the unit to reduce the depth. I had purchased a double faced pull saw to do this. I have read that this type of saw gives the user more control, so I was going to find out if this was true.

The biggest problem was it’s height, at 1930 mm (76 inches) it required leaning over to tackle the top part.

The pull-saw was a great tool, I was able to follow the line with minimal breakout.

In just over an hour the task was done, Maximilian was in two pieces.

I still have to make shelves and fit a back panel, before I hand it over to the creative department.

6th September 2017

Trains going through Holland are as frequent as Haley’s comet, but they are long, very long. Today was the day when the train came to town.

This requires patience, or a good book to read, waiting in the long queues of cars, watching carriage after carriage, after carriage roll past.

Patience is something that Kelli does not have much of. Within a few minutes of joining the stationary traffic she was twitching. “I know another way”, and with that she pulled into a left turning lane. As we sped off, I’m sure there was a smug look of satisfaction on her face. Unfortunately we were going in the same direction as the train, and soon we caught up with another line of parked cars that were wanting to cross the railway track, but were also blocking the other traffic. More twitching, but soon the train cleared the crossing, and the traffic began to move. Off we sped, taking the scenic route, only to join another queue of stationary traffic held up by the same damn train.  

At the end of a day of drop offs and re-staging the Painted Farmgirl booth, it was a ride to the beach to view the sunset. Watching the sun sink into Lake Michigan is a breathtaking sight, the sky is on fire, the clouds form the curtains the sun hides behind.

5th September 2017

“I’ve sold that dining table at Lakeshore” Kelli shrieked, ” I need more stuff”.

That was the start of trawling through stuff at the Goodwill donation centre. This place can be a goldmine for furniture that can be transformed and then re-sold.

I am fascinated by the number of walking sticks, crutches and walking frames that have been donated, no-one has come up with an ideas to re-purpose those.

she came across a large coffee table that could be “flipped” quickly. This is the nature of the beast, I have to be prepared to stop what I am doing on one thing, and take on another at a minutes notice.

Within ten minutes of getting back I had started to sand back the top. Twenty minutes later I had rubbed in a dark stain, and whilst that was drying, started on sanding back another top. This was solid oak, but there was a crack that couldn’t be clamped, I will run that through a saw and re- glue. 

Sometimes there is a little beauty hidden under layers of paint, and when that is exposed, it’s really satisfying to see it have new life.

Another job awaiting my attention were two desk pedestals that were to be transformed into bedside cabinets. These were cruelly ripped away from the desk, so required a bit of repair, plus I had to make new tops.