With another good night behind us we tackled the large dresser that Kelli had sold off plan.
The customer wanted it black ( there seems to be a trend for the dramatic colours) Kelli loaded up the spray gun and she was off. Once all the painting had been done it was down to me to put the wax oil on the top. There is a lot of physical effort in applying that finish. It has to be rubbed well into the grain, and then buffed to remove any surplus, it plays havoc with the fingers.
At least it was warmer than yesterday, so the door could be left open.
We have two pieces that will leave us tomorrow and one in the truck to get out and start on.
The issue of the laptop was playing on my mind, but rather than to jump and go crazy, I will wait.
I have another laptop back at the cottage that I will bring over, that has the same software, that might be the best solution.
It was a much better night for both of us, I slept like the dead, not a long one, but deep and restful. As the early sunrise lit up the room, so our spirit lifted, this could be a good day.
The cold weather had returned, a sprinkling of snow overnight was not a surprise.
After a good breakfast and a twenty minutes bumbell exercise we were ready to start on our jobs.
First was to complete the dresser repaint commission, then we wanted to prime the other long dresser that Kelli managed to sell “off plan”
This was the one with the plastic moulded drawer fronts.
The cold slowed down the drying process, but we managed to get done what we wanted to do.
On top of that Kelli found another free dresser that we had to collect, fortunately it was close so didn’t take long to get there and back.
Then it was a quick walk with the dogs and then back to the warmth of the house.
I had plans to do some CAD work, but the laptop would not open up. That was a bloody drag as I had started a project and saved files to the hard drive. I’ve had bad luck with technology, not sure what to do next.
No amount of pillow patting and repositioning was going to improve the forthcoming nights sleep. It was horrible, just four hours of disturbing slumber, we were fortunate to get that.
I was due to see Kelli’s doctor this afternoon, but with all this night upheaval I gave my appointment to her, because her needs were greater than mine. I just knew we couldn’t carry on this way.
The appointment was later in the day, so I managed to do a bit in the garage.
We got to the surgery early, a quick Look around Goodwill and then into the detail.
He already knew what her problem was, and also mine, mainly because I was falling asleep in the chair.
He hit a pressure point on Kelli’s leg, she let out a shout, he gave her a capsule to place on her tongue and did the same test again, this time there was no response.
This all pointed to the liver. The answer was GI Stability, a supplement that tasted of rotten sprouts. She had taken them before, but with the recent bount of antibiotics plus the tetanus jab, it was giving her organ a bit of a bashing.
It’s not getting much better at the moment, sleep eludes Kelli again, I almost hate bedtime.
She finally went off to sleep at 3.00am and awoke at 7.00am, meaning we both got four hours. Despite that, it was a sunny day, and I had plans for a productive day.
There was a story about a dresser that was advertised on Marketplace for twenty five dollars that Kelli responded to. She asked if they were fixed on the price. The reply from the seller was “Yes, isn’t it cheap enough” a curt response, and then they blocked her. That doesn’t happen very often, although we’ve done it a few times.
Anyway this morning I found the posting, but the price had changed to “Free”, so I responded.
After a while I notice the posting was now “ Pending”. In the meantime Kelli, using another account had a response that if we could pick it up within the hour, it was ours.
Now breakfast was on the go, so I had to go solo.
I drove to a storage facility on the North side. Kelli had written down the code to get through the gate, so I punched in the numbers, but up came “invalid number” I tried it again, but the gate would not open. Luckily there was someone coming out, so I sneaked in whilst the gate was up, a flaw in the security, I discovered.
Driving around the rows of lock ups, I came across the person who was selling the piece.
It was six feet long, which is the maximum length that will fit in the truck, but taking the drawers out made it a bit easier to load.
As soon as I got back home breakfast was ready, I needed that.
Afterwards I was keen to inspect the piece a bit closer. It was a good make in America, very thick looking drawer fronts typical of old traditional dark stained furniture. Kelli noticed that the front face of the front with all the thick details was a plastic moulding. I have come across this before, but I was really surprised that a reputable manufacturer would use this method, and get away with it.
This was the first job, remove the plastic moulding, with a lever and some wedges I was able to ease the moulding off. It was held on with nails, applied through a plywood drawer front panel, which was in decent condition.
With a few nail holes filled, the plywood now becomes a neater drawer front, which will transform the piece.
It was an early start to the day, not that we intended it, Kelli woke first, and couldn’t get back to sleep. We heard the neighbours leave around six thirty, by which time it wasn’t worth even trying to get more sleep.
We had the weekly shop to do, not that it needs strength, but you do need to stay awake to pay attention the end.
It is alway a different kind of day when Kelli is not on her game, the craziness is not there, it’s like the sun is behind the clouds.
It didn’t help that the Dyson was playing up again, and that needed stripping down and removing the hair that gets wrapped around the rotating brush. I’m getting quite good at taking them apart.
I did a bit of work in the garage. I succeeded in replicating a bit of broken trim with some modelling clay and Bondo. I made a mould with the clay and packed in the Bondo. Once it cured, I peeled away the clay to expose a perfect pice of trim, once that is bonded to the drawer and painted, no one will be able to tell.
We finished the Jackson Pollock, posted it and it was sold within a couple of hours and picked up. Now that doesn’t happen very often.
As Kelli was getting it ready, she commented on three drawer bottoms that were a bit dodgy. There had been a self adhesive sheet in the bottom that she removed to reveal a stained plywood floor panel.
I had just over an hour to remove and replace. Fortunately I had some ply to make two and then scratched around to find material to make another. With a cool head I did the job, and the dresser was ready to collect.
It was just as well that it was a warm day, 49 degrees C, almost tee shirt and shorts weather, that helped.
To get that sold and out was a great boost, now we have to finish the commission piece and another long dresser, that needs a lot of work, it should be good for another day, so the garage door will remain open.
Dharma, the oldest dog, the one older than dirt, had a funny five minutes. Kelli came out of the bathroom and saw her standing completely still looking straight ahead with her tail thrust firmly between her legs, a sure sign that something was wrong.
We tried to get her attention, but she continued staring.
Oh no, I thought, the ground is still too cold to dig a hole. Gradually she came round and climbed into her basket, but it was worrying.
It so happened that we had an appointment with the local vet to give both dogs a rabies jab.
By the time we got to the vets, via picking up some supplements for Kelli, and going to Hobby Lobby to buy some modelling clay, she was back to her old self.
Phoebe had to have a lump on her shoulder checked out, it was a small benign cyst, so nothing to worry about.
Once all that was done we came back, and took them for a walk.
Dharma was fine by then, it was strange, who knows what dogs think, and see, maybe she saw a ghost for the man that lived here before? They can be sensitive to stuff, but I’ll keep the spade by the back door, just in case.
It was a better night, we both only had one bathroom break, at the same time, fortunately we have two bathrooms.
I couldn’t be bothered to do much in the garage, I checked to see if the sealer I had applied to a stained top had dried, it hadn’t, so I brought it into the house. Then I kicked off my shoes and got on to the computer to play around with my CAD package.
Kelli started making the Shepherd’s Pie soup, which is ideal for this weather.
It was then bath time for the dogs. It wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been, there wasn’t a major discharge of water outside of the tub, they both accepted that they needed it, and it was painless. Of course they couldn’t wait to get out of the bathroom, and find somewhere warm to dry off.
We then went up to Kelli’s mums for ice cream and cake, which was nice, the ice cream seemed warmer than outside which was strange.
Then we made the mistake of taking the dogs for a walk, then we realised just how cold it was.
Not a good start for the day. I had to visit the bathroom at 6.00am, thinking that I managed to leave the room and return without Kelli waking was wishful thinking. Now she was awake, she could not get back to sleep. It was like I had kicked her grandmother’s bunions, I had done something wrong and I was going to suffer for it. I didn’t bare to bring up the number of times she wakes me up at unearthly hours, oh no that was definitely off the agenda.
Instead I went into the cold place from another cold place and got on with some jobs. It was pleasant watching my breath until the heaters warmed the place.
I did a few more repairs to the dresser that has to be painted black, now I’m left with replacing more trim, that I cannot make without some careful thought.
There was an early morning changeover of dressers. One newly painted, and one poorly painted example that we have to turn into a masterpiece.
It’s funny what people put up with, this one had broken trim all over it. There is nothing worse than trying to do a decent job with gaps and missing bits.
Straight away we contacted the customer asking if they wanted it repaired, and gave them a quote to do it.
The missing trim was all the same on the cabinet, but slightly different on one drawer.
My first reaction was to remove the trim, but Kelli didn’t think that was a good idea. Next plan was to remove one piece of trim and use it to repair all the other areas, then all I would need to do is replicate one piece, a brilliant idea, unfortunately it wasn’t mine. I reminded my wife that I couldn’t think of all the great ideas all of the time, so I gave her a chance to shine,
I was able to repair two drawers for the Jackson Pollock dresser, although it’s not a Pollock any more, that’s all been swept up and thrown in the bin.
I made two doors for another dresser, I was on a roll. Kelli stripped the paint off the top, it was a large area which took her quite a while, a fitting reward for having a good idea.
It was still bloody cold, we have to endure this until next week when the temperature will rise ten degrees, which will be slightly more pleasant.
Another Lifetime to go 