Author: peterb51

23rd June 2026 

I had high hopes that the Michigan coffee table would be finished today.

I had built the base at home, and all it needed was a final sand and a couple of coats of finish.

I took down a couple of spray cans to give the top a few coats as well.

I was expecting a call for John’s friend John the Eff, who wanted to purchase some lumber. 

I did get a call, but it was much later, so that was put off till next week.

That left us with time on our hands, what could we do? I know, let’s change the pump on the saw mill machine.

Now I don’t know a lot about hydraulics, I know that usually the fluid is under pressure, so I didn’t want to remove hoses until I knew what I was dealing with. 

I gave Bob at Wood Mizer a call. I told him what I was planning, he told me that I could disconnect all the hoses without losing any fluid.

I marked everything I could with identification labels, and started to remove them one by one. 

Very little fluid escaped, so I was happy.

I had to remove the pump assembly in order to remove the screws that held the pump to the manifold. Once the hoses were disconnected I could lift the unit out. I removed the six screws around the body and proceeded to tap the body to release the pump. Gradually a gap opened up as the pump eased out. It took one final tap to remove it. That is when all the fluid that had been stored in the reservoir decided to escape through the large hole left by the removal of the motor. Now Wood Mizer Bob failed to warn me of that.

As the fluid slick moved across the concrete, I shouted to John to get sawdust to soak it up. It’s not as if there isn’t much around, he toddled off and took ages to get any. By now all the tools were covered and it was difficult to work, I was worried that the identification tags would drop off, so I was a bit angry, pissed off.

Eventually he returned with a large drum of sawdust and he started sprinkling it about. 

Soon a level of control was restored, I loosely reattached the hoses in their respective connections, I could not refit the unit because the power tag was out of position. By now time had crept up on us, and I needed to go, so we covered everything up, and called it a day.

I did try to call Wood Mizer Bob if it was possible to loosen the motor end plate and rotate it one twenty degrees, but that can wait.

I was worn out, but most of the difficult work was done, so if we can reposition the power tag it should be possible to test it next week, provided John has more hydraulic fluid.

22nd June 2026

Another shopping day, more of the same, it doesn’t change, but today I had two cubic yards of top soil delivered. Now there is a lot of work that I have to do before I will use it, so why the heck did I get it so early? That is a good question, maybe I needed the motivation to get it done, a constant reminder that the driveway is now down to a single carriageway. Whatever, I need to get my arse into gear, and get digging.

I marked out the shape using the hose, it seemed to be the most rigid, but also flexible. I took measurements from the edges of the road aiming to get everything parallel. I did this to impress the neighbours, making it look like I knew what I was doing. Once I laid it out there was the official sign off by Kelli then it was down to digging the shape into the ground. 

Why I choose to do the most strenuous work in hot temperatures I will never know, I was dripping, but determined to complete the shape.

There was elation when the last piece of turf was removed, but I was knackered. I had a drink of water, then it was time for the dog’s walk.

Oh yes, when we returned from shopping there was a lady waiting to collect the roadside dresser that we posted yesterday. A quick loading and payment, not bad for a freebie.

21st June 2026

It was Father’s Day so we took a bike ride to the cemetery to place some wild flowers on Dave’s grave stone.

I had good wishes from Greer and Cameron, which was welcomed, but this day is not just about the living, it’s remembering those that are no longer here. I think about my own father, although our relationship was not perfect, I respected him for supporting our family. There was always food on the table and summer holidays at the coast. He was a good man, I wish I would have told him when he was alive.

I’m always reminded when I listen to The Living Years, by Mike and the mechanics, it was a lyric I could have written.

On the way to the cemetery we passed the house where we found a small table that was set out on the roadside.

It was a bit chippy, but we thought we could make something of it. Well this time there was a dresser in the same place. As we were on route we couldn’t do much about it, so we carried on. 

We rode back the same way to see if it was still there, and it was.

Now that meant a quick ride back to get the truck. Kelli does not do quick, so we got back and drove back with the intention of nabbing the dresser.

Fortunately it was still there, and it was still there.

It was not a quality piece, which was surprising, because you are talking about million dollar homes on the lake side. One wonders what other cheap furniture they have inside.

Some of the cam fittings had cracked, obviously a cheap copy, I replaced them with some Titus parts which allowed a far better clamping effect.

A good clean and it went on Market place straight away.

20th June 2026

It was off to Hudsonville to deliver the dresser, as we were desperate to sell it, the customer got a good deal, I gritted my teeth as we carried it into their garage, but as Kelli reminded me that it’s now out of our garage.

On the way back we stopped off at “Chipps Landscaping supplies “ to order two cubic yards of top soil for gardening projects.

Today was meant to be gardening day. I had the trees on the driveway to clip back. I had purchased an extendable cutter, some of the branches were challenging, but soon there was a heap of rubbish on the ground needing to be piled in the yard waste bin. Another job that had been hanging around since I mover the fence was neatening up of the pebble boarder.

I had got so far when I reshaped the raised bed in the front of the house, now it was an opportunity to continue it around to where the new gate was. It wasn’t a difficult job, I had my spirit level to guide me.

Kelli had finished the six drawer dresser and sold it to a person who missed out on the previous one, a good result, and testament to her selling skills.

19th June 2026

We seem to be getting up earlier these days. Winnie lets us know when she’s awake, and that is my cue to let her outside.

She spends a bit of time on the bed ripping the stuffing out of a helpless toy, then it’s time for both dogs to eat. 

That is an event in itself, Winnie jumps with excitement, really high, Phoebe is not so energetic, she waits patiently as her dish is placed in front of her. It’s a daily ritual that I enjoy, afterwards they are calm, the ferocity of the eating process tires them out, so I can guarantee a bit of peace as I start our breakfast. 

Today I was meeting with Lloyd at the Southside inn for breakfast, it’s an interesting place, mostly older and often disabled people eat there.

When we first decided to do a monthly breakfast, we planned to a different establishment each time, but we have stuck to the same place, I blame Lloyd, he likes to take the special because it’s “good value” yes Lloyd it’s cheap. 

We spend an hour drinking coffee and chatting.

Afterwards, Kelli and I went on a bike ride, nothing adventurous, but part of a summer routine, which includes dipping in the pool at every opportunity.

We did try to get Winnie in there, she wasn’t sure about it, but I bet it won’t be long before she jumps in there herself and swims around.

We have started playing records in the morning whilst I’m getting breakfast cooked, it nice to get time to listen to vinyl again.

18th June 2026

We seem to be cursed with the tall dresser. There have been three interested parties, and all have passed or cancelled.

It may not be a quality brand, but it functions well and the paint job makes it cute.

My task today was to prepare the six drawer beast that we picked up earlier in the week.

Once I had sanded it m, I moved on to building up the Michigan coffee table leg structure.

It was all about moving from one job to another.

There were the the pedestals from the desk that need all the plywood panels replaced. Due to the design of the desk the peds only had three legs, I had stripped down one of them, and made a new leg, now it was rebuild time, one side at a time. Fortunately I had a piece of ply large enough,so I cut that to size and reassembled the side.

There are days when I’m enthusiastic about these kind of jobs, and feeling that I was making progress, was in itself satisfying.

We finish the day by taking the dogs for a walk.

Winnie hasn’t learnt not to pull on her lead, she is so strong, it’s quite a struggle, certainly when she sees a squirrel, the lead whips through my fingers and almost snaps my wrist.

17th June 2026

Is the British Prime Minister really an idiot oris he trying to be?

I have been following the story that he wants to ban under sixteens from social media.

What the heck is the government thinking of? What’s it to do with them, it is the job of the parents to control what their children have access to. How on earth can that work? how can that be policed? Is this another step to total control of our lives? Saying what we can or cannot watch.

However the resistance will flourish, whenever there are stupid rules there are people who will find a way round them, but, the whole point of government is to protect the people not control them, this law cannot be allowed.

I would be interested in what my reader thinks.

Do we still value freedom of speech or are we happy to have our thoughts controlled?

On a less controversial subject, it was a shit day, it rained, and rained. On top of that the lady that showed an interest in the dresser came round to look at it. She said it was for her daughter, and she had a lot of clothes. She decided that this dresser was not big enough, so passed. Under my breath I muttered, “ did she have a lot of clothes, or were they just “big” clothes?

Oh well, not this time.

We dropped over the goose down pillows that Randy will make the side cushions from. He is getting back up to speed on his backlog after he was out sick with flu,now he has everything to finish our job.

16th June 2026

There are days when things go right and some that go wrong, I woke up to one of these.

Today, should have been repair the saw mill day, but with storms predicted, I didn’t fancy getting caught outside, so I chose to work inside and assemble the Michigan coffee table base. John was preoccupied with someone wanting to buy some walnut lumber.

I had finished all the parts of the base the previous week, but I gave them a fine sanding intending to spray a final coat after the assembly. I set out the main piece fitting a second part, so far so good. It was the second piece that started the rot. The notches that I had cut were incorrect. For some reason I had them upside down, but not to worry I had some spare timber. I set about marking the cut outs and removed them on the band saw. I took it over to try on the base, it was wrong again. At this point I should have sketched it, but I didn’t, I thought that I had sorted it out in my head. I marked it out again, making sure the cut outs were repositioned. The previous mistake made me realise that the cut to slot over the main part of base was on the bottom, the other cuts were for the legs, and they were on the top. That was the Ah! Moment. I went back to the band saw confident I had it right this time. Nope! Not quite.

The fourth version, had to be right because I had no timber left, but this time it was correct.

John was chuckling, mainly because I was talking to myself, using all kinds of names, idiot, dickhead etc, all seemed appropriate.

With all this messing about our time was up.

I decided to bring all the parts home and assemble them, then take them back next Tuesday.

We did spend time watching the storm roll in, I talked about the electrical power in the sky, this was demonstrated by a flash of fork lightning, it was scary and exciting at the same time.

After dropping John back home, I rushed back because we had a potential customer for the tall dresser, but Kelli called me to say that the person had changed the time, but later it was cancelled.

15th June 2026

On top of our shopping trip we delivered the tall dresser to a house in Zeeland. Sales have definitely been slow this month, but we have a backlog that needs to be shifted.

I struggled to remove the dresser that we picked up yesterday. I have developed a technique that doesn’t strain my back, and do any damage to the furniture piece. I managed to get it on a trolley and wheeled it into the garage using the space created by the one we were delivering.

I ordered the goose down pillows that Randy would make the side cushion from, hopefully that would save a bit of time. 

I just want the project finished, it been nearly a year since I started the project, finding the early CAD drawing on my old laptop. This I might have started when I was still at HM, so it’s been a long time getting to this stage, it will almost be a classic before it’s installed.

Well the delivery of the dresser was uneventful, but we did stop at a place to collect some more balls for Winnie, she could wait to get her teeth into those.

 14th June 2026

I had my video call with Tim Wallace the I couldn’t have last week due to internet issues. I could only have one hour as I had a meeting with Randy the upholstery man.

That was very interesting when we arrived at Randy’s workshop, he had covered the base seat and back cushion in the chosen fabric, and it looked great. We agreed to an additional internal wrap to hide the ribbing effect that the cushion had. We also finalised the side cushions.

This was something that we weren’t sure it needed, but even though there will be scatter cushions used, I felt it needed them to complete the overall look. 

A lot of progress was made and I look forward to the project being completed in a couple of weeks. 

The advantages of the new furniture will be I will be able to see the balls that Winnie pushes underneath.