Another Lifetime to go

21st April 2023

The slow month continues, we still have the mid century dresser and the small dresser, but we did have someone coming over to view the mid century.

We continued to paint a few parts of the drawer fronts, I wanted to get the first front assembled by the end of the day.

Kelli had started on one of a matching pair of dressers. One of the end panels needed some help, the ply had blown at the bottom edge. We attempted to inject glue and then clamped it, with moderate success.

With a hot iron and some eighty grit sandpaper it smoothed the surface out.

I put the finishing touches to the leg extensions to the dining table, I made the best of a difficult job, no design awards for this.

A lady came to look at the mid century dresser and liked it, but it was to go in her son’s room and first she would have to check to see if he liked it.

She messaged back later to say he didn’t, what does a kid know? half the time their clothes are all over the floor, if fact, it was too good for a boys room, I bet he was a six foot snotty nose brat, who plays games on his phone all day, wasting his life away.

The dresser will find a better home, and be appreciated, and not covered in stickers.

Well no rant there then.

20th April 2023

There was a minor panic over the new oven unit and it’s position in the kitchen. Because we are not changing the cabinets but replacing the stove with a wall oven with a hob on the top. In building the enclosure for the oven I followed the plan supplied by the manufacturer, I was happy that everything would fit.

I was thinking about the worktop templating that was due in a couple of weeks and it suddenly occurred to me that the new oven carcass would not align with the microwave that is mounted above, it would be out by three quarters of an inch, which is the thickness of the side panel. It may not be much but it would annoy me, so I had to have a solution.

I explained the problem to Kelli, and the best option was to remove the end panel from my new unit and build on from the cabinets that is already there. Rather that continue the panic I will start that job at the weekend.

I had more pressing things to sort out, firstly adding height to the dining table. We found some old legs from an old table that I decided to cut the end section off, and because it had facets it needed to be rounded off to match the end of the legs.

Several months ago I was given a small lathe, I gave it a good clean, and it worked.

I wanted to use it to smooth the ridges off the end pieces.

The first one went okay, I used rough sandpaper and was pleased with the result. The second one was going well until the motor stopped. That threw me into a rage, I had another three to finish and no other way of doing it. In my anger I grabbed a hammer and struck it against the motor casing, suddenly it started up again, then it stopped, another blow, off it went, and so on.

I managed to get all the leg pieces finished but only by hitting the motor constantly. So with one hand I held the sandpaper, the other the hammer. It was very comical, and to others it must have sounded like I had a steam hammer in the garage.

Amongst all this commotion we finished the short dresser, and I even managed to paint the first set of drawer front components.

19th April 2023

Today was a treat, a trip to Byron Center to meet the guy who is making our wood countertop.

After a twenty minute drive we arrived at large red barn surrounded by stacks of air drying timber. John, was loading planks into a customer’s truck.

He showed us round his yard, tons of timber of every species was there. He mills the trees, of which he had dozens lying about, and the best was still in store.

Inside his barn, which was three stories high, he had a sixteen foot ceiling completely done out in tongue and groove pine which he machined himself. There was masses of the stuff, all finished in marine varnish. His floor was oak held down with over thirty thousand screws, each was covered with a walnut plug, it looked a work of art.

The best of it was he doesn’t run it as a proper business, he loves working with wood, and that’s why he does it. He does make table tops, mainly for people he knows, but he works alone with decent equipment.

His left hand shows a lot of wear, tips missing and scarred, but it hasn’t deterred him from what he loves, and I guess he knows the quickest way to the hospital.

I went there to clarify what top I wanted, I had sent sketches, but when I spoke over the phone I wasn’t alway confident that he fully understood, so a face to face meeting was essential. He showed us the beech planks he had selected for us, which looked great, and we are looking forward to seeing the final product.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing off the large mid century style dresser ready for collection. We had two customers due early evening to collect both pieces, which was welcomed.

The First Lady arrived and was all over the mid century one telling us that she needed it for “their cottage” but it was not able to fit into her vehicle because of a fitted child seat.

She then said that either her or her husband would be round would be round to collect it tomorrow. Then she added, “ but if anyone else wants to buy it in the meantime they can have it”.

Now if that’s not a statement of purchasing intent, I don’t know what is.

I don’t understand these people, they gush pleasure one minute, then go cold the next, I don’t think they are genuine people at all.

The next couple arrived just as the first was leaving, they were a bit indecisive, that had seen one other that had more drawers, bla, bla, but wasn’t painted, bla, bla, but ours had nicer knobs, bla, bla.

“JUST BUY IT LADY!” I was shouting inside, in the end she offered less, I just said “YES” just for them to go, I guess I’m not the most patient salesperson.

18th April 2023

There was excitement in the house, we had a buyer for the kitchen table, and they were due mid morning.

We dusted it off and set it up just outside the garage.

Right on time a red truck turned into the driveway and out stepped a couple. He was tall, and she wasn’t.

They both liked the colour of the table, but the lady noted that it seemed a bit low. We put a tape over it and it measured twenty eight inches, about two inches lower than it should.

This was a setback.

We then started talking about them getting us to refinish the table they already had, plus some chairs they were thinking about buying, so there was the potential to do work for them.

It was about then that Kelli remembered that the table had inserts in the bottom of the legs for castors, that would have taken it up to about thirty inches, so the mystery was solved, although it didn’t help us much with the sale.

In a last ditch attempt to snatch a victory out of defeat, I asked if we could add something to the end of the leg to increase the height, would they be interested? and to my astonishment they said they would, as they really liked the colour. So we grabbed a sale, and they paid in advance, now it’s down to me to come up with something suitable.

Kelli decided to change the handles on the small dresser, it hadn’t attracted much attention apart from a couple of no-shows, so she decided to replace the handles with wooded knobs. This meant filling the holes and repainting the fronts. Fortunately the weather was warm and everything dried quickly, but it was a lot of work.

We also finished the mid century style dresser.

We took new pictures of the small piece and the mid century one and Kelli posted them.

Then some activity started.

17th April 2023

Snows back! What a surprise, and with it is the cold. It was back on with the fleece shirt, and woollen jumper.

There were a number of things on the list of jobs to do, including a drive to Zeeland to collect two small tables Kelli bought for the deck, and get paint mixed for the kitchen cabinet fronts.

The drive was risky, the sleet was blowing across to flat fields, it felt like being sand blasted. The place in Zeeland turned out to be in Olive, a place out in the back and beyond.

We also had our weekly shop, and a good chance for me to get annoyed at big people blocking the isles.

It’s like the Mr Bean sketch where he’s walking down stairs, but he is blocked by an old lady walking in front, out of desperation he takes the fire escape and rushes down one flight of the back stairs and emerges though another door only to find the old lady still in front of him.

The same situation arises here, at time I feel they must think I’m stalking them, and at times I’ve pretended to scan the shelves, or look at my invisible watch.

There wasn’t a lot of desire to work in the afternoon, it was too windy to do much spraying, I just managed to machine a radius on the edge of a new worktop I’m making for a side table. The cold will be around for another day then it should get a lot warmer, I can’t wait.

16th April 2023

The fire engine parked outside Larry’s house, and, as they are “first responders” we suspected that he had a problem. His health has not been very good, with his lung, and now his heart issues causing concern amongst the neighbours.

We walked over as they were bringing him out on a stretcher, he was still sucking air, and smiling as they loaded him into the ambulance.

We try to keep an eye on him and he was proud that he finally quit smoking after his last scare, we know that he won’t get better, he will drift on until the inevitable happens.

The weather was wet and windy, so back to typical Michigan weather.

There was another no-show from a person who wanted to buy the dresser. This pissed Kelli off, and there is always a lame excuse that follows that makes it even worse.

Why people have to make up the reason for not turning up and just be honest with us.

15th April 2023

I had a response from American Meadows this morning effectively offering to replace all the bulbs, unfortunately I will have to wait till September.

Kelli was on the buy again, this time she found a pair of dressers that match, not that we needed more products, but matching stuff usually sells quick, which we need at the moment, as the month has slowed a bit. We still have a table and dresser that needs to go.

The afternoon was warm again, so I was able to machine more timber outside, creating a lot more wood chips. I emptied the extraction bag and filled another black bin liner, that was just one session.

I wish I could think of a good use for all this waste, maybe mix it with glue and compress it into boards and make furniture out of it, nah, it would never take off.

14th April 2023

There was an amazing discovery in the flower bed this morning. Last September I planted seventy five English Bluebells in a neat series of concentric circles around a tree in the front garden. I was excited to see green growth poking through the soil as soon as the snow melted.

Every day I would check progress, looking forward to the blooms. Imagine my disappointment when the blue flowers I was expecting turned out to be yellow.

Yep! I had planted seventy five daffodils.

So an email was rapidly sent to American Meadows asking them to send me the correct products.

Scott the guy down the road stopped by to drop off box of wire wool and various furniture fittings that he collected from his mother’s house. I think it is her plan to transfer the contents of her basement to our garage. He is becoming as regular as Amazon.

13th April 2023

Kelli had a doctors appointment in Zeeland, and as usual we saw a dresser at the side of the road marked free. It looked like it survived a drive by shooting, with various parts missing and drawer fronts damaged.

We still has the tyre in the back that needed replacing, so getting the dresser in the truck was tricky. By now we were running late, Kelli had more clothes to sell, but we couldn’t go to Plato’s Closet on the way like we usually do.

Half an hour of bending and twisting and Kelli was back in shape, and with a lot of her questions answered to drove back towards Plato’s.

This was a good excuse to get the front tyres looked at.

I went into the tyre shop office and explained my situation, and inquired what the wait time would be. The young chap muttered that it would’ve likely a two hours, not good.

Then I asked him about wheel alignment, he said they didn’t do it, as it was mechanical and they’re not certified to do mechanical stuff.

Then I asked about balancing, “Oh yes we can do that” he proudly announced.

“Isn’t that a bit mechanical “ I smugly replied.

That drew a blank look, and he handed me a card of a wheel alignment centre. Is there no one stop shop in this town?

The waiting time was too long, even with an appointment it would take an hour, an hour, these guys would make a rotten pit crew.

Then it was back home to do some work.

Kelli has been trying to sell the dining table that is taking up valuable space, at the moment it looks like a dead elephant with its legs sticking up. The perspective customer, who showed an interest is a bit flighty, and not decisive, the people we hate. The last thing she messaged was for us to deliver it to Grand Haven, about half an hour north, but we asked for a deposit, and things went quiet.

12th April 2023

It was my son’s birthday, he is forty nine today.

Ryan was born on the evening of Good Friday, and, at the time he had to struggle to survive. The staff at the hospital warned us that he may not survive the night. We had to give him a name.

In between the tears I suggested Ryan, named after Ryan O’Neil the actor.

The night was long, I think I ran out of tears, but as the sun rose up, he was still with us, he was a fighter, and he had a purpose.

He has grown into a kind and generous man, he has given me two fantastic grandchildren, and he has been a good husband to Louise.

Ryan is so different from my other son Damian, as different as chalk and cheese, but they both share a wicked sense of humour, usually at my expense.

It was another warm day, a bit too hot for my flannel shirt, but I cannot trust this Michigan weather yet.

My new saw was working overtime, I managed to cut pieces for several doors and drawer fronts, doing the necessary additional machining and even applying a grey primer.

A lady arrived to bring the rocking chair that she wanted refinishing, I was secretly hoping that she had forgotten, but although a week or so later than we agreed, there she was.

We were also close to finishing a dresser, but I needed to make new guides and repair the wooden runner that had worn away over the years.

There was a present walk down by the lagoon with the hounds, stopping to talk to two older ladies sitting out on their deck.

I was ready to chill out for the rest of the evening, feeling guilty because it was still light, but I soon talked myself out of that, and put my feet up.