The two door cabinet hit 1283 views, something of a record for us, but it only led to two offers, one of which was a scammer, the other was legitimate, that was picked up this afternoon.
I attempted to repair the sander that had a split in the cable. This usually not a big job, just open up the casing, disconnect the wires going into the switch, cut off the old end, and trim back new wires, reconnect, refit the casing, plug in and bingo it should work, but it didn’t.
That now pissed me off. I stripped it down again, everything looked good, I plugged it in and pulled the switch, now it worked! I put the casing back together, and tested it, but nothing happened.
I thought I should have tinned the ends of the cables, I was clutching at straws now, but could I find my solder? not a chance, I looked everywhere with no success.
I put the sander aside as I needed to work on the chair.
Kelli was working on a tall dresser, staining the fronts and top. Cedar comes in a variety of colours from deep red to straw, the wash she applied balanced it out.
Well the day I never thought would happen, happened. I had an appointment with Kelli’s kinesiologist, more out of curiosity than any problems I was having.
We arrived ten minutes early because I had to fill out forms noting any medical conditions I had in the past or current. The answer to most of them was no, so I thought he would have met his match and declared me a perfect specimen.
As soon as I was in the room he went through the paperwork, I knew he was determined to find a flaw in my profile. He talked about old traumas that can effect the body all though life, even though they might have been forgotten.
I held out my left hand and pointed to a couple of fingers that gave me problems at times, mainly in the cold. I put the index finger as having arthritis in the joint, the one next to it sometimes locks up at certain times.
He asked me questions about any bone breaks.
I mentioned that at age eight I fractured my left wrist, His eyes widened, this was a front door to my soul.
He smiled, telling me that the effect of that could cause problem in different parts of my body.
That was the start, an hours worth of muscle manipulations, tracking everything that hurt.
By the time I left the surgery my dodgy finger felt less restricted, and other tender muscles seemed calm. Time will tell if the treatment has made a difference to my quality of life, I will keep you informed of progress.
The other big event was the purchase of new appliances for the kitchen redesign.
We went to Lowes because I researched several different manufactures product offering. There were Samsung, LG and Bosch to explore. It is a little overpowering entering a large store and wading through a jungle of appliances many of which are bloody ugly.
Fortunately we had a very friendly and helpful sales specialist, he put up with my jokes, I think he enjoyed our buying experience as much as we did.
“ Don’t go with Samsung “ Greg warned, “they had a high quality failure rate last year”. That was enough to scare us off that brand.
We ended up going with Bosch, and Kelli even got a copper sink courtesy of a generous discount.
The other important thing that happened was the booking of my ticket to return to the UK for a month long visit. Kelli still isn’t strong enough to join me on this one, but it will happen.
We took pictures of the two door cabinet, it certainly changed from when we picked it up.
That is the reward we get, being part of the transformation, and watching it go to a new home, hopefully that will happen soon.
There was an interesting voice message left on Kelli’s mobile. It was for Peter, and it was regarding the termination of a lease. The massage came from a property management company in Grand Rapids.
This sent Kelli into wild conspiracy mode. Had I secretly rented an apartment ? I had to sort this out.
I called the number, first checking that the company was legitimate. I rang the number twice, but no one answered. The third call was successful.
I said that I had received the voice mail and wanted to know what it was all about. I asked for the name of the person they thought I was. They asked me my name, I told them I wouldn’t give it to them. Eventually they said the name was Peter Martin,”well that isn’t me” I shouted in reply.
Apologies all round, and a promise to delete Kelli’s phone number, and that was sorted.
It was back to work in the garage, and the objective was to finish the two door cabinet that Kelli had been working on.
My input was to make new wire mesh door panels and to remount the pressed tin pieces.
Once fitted back in the cabinet, it looked really neat.
A couple arrived at 11.00am to collect the narrow cabinet. We invited them into the house, mainly because the garage was full of stuff and it was cold. They loved the piece, thrust all the money into Kelli’s hands, and I helped them load it into their vehicle. They were an older couple, in the short distance from the house to their truck he told me of all the body parts he’s had replaced, hips, knees, the lot, I asked him if the ankles were next. Either he didn’t hear or understand what I said, but he went on about riding his bike as soon as the weather got better. Meanwhile Kelli was doing a sales pitch to the lady who had mentioned she would like a tall dresser. Quick as a flash the back of our truck was open and showing the dresser we collected yesterday. This would be perfect, so we could have a customer lined up for that one.
The rest of the day was spent sanding tops and drawer fronts, it made a change from sanding chairs, well, not really.
Kelli finished the small red cabinet, I helped to strip the top in between scraping chairs.
It turned out good, we took pictures outside and Kelli posted it straight away, within a short time someone was on to it and will be round tomorrow morning to look it over.
I finished the second chair, but didn’t feel like starting another, also Kelli had other plans anyway.
A free dresser had come up, and anything free will get her attention.
This piece was in Hamilton, a short distance away and is known as a bit of a “hick”place.
Every town or city has its dodgy area, and this was one of those.
We climbed aboard the truck and headed off.
You know when you are close because the tarmac stops and dirt begins.
We drove carefully down this narrow track. Houses were set back from the track and in between trees.
As were arrived at the address there were the collection of vehicles parked in various positions off the driveway. The dresser was set outside with the drawers stacked on top. A dog was barking loudly and probably tearing furniture apart.
The house looked in a worst state than the furniture with a tarpaulin wrapped around the chimney. There was a metal goal post set in the front garden, but there was no sign of any grass instead the surface was covered in moss, the result of living in a wood where the sun doesn’t get through.
We hurriedly loaded the dresser into the truck, just in case someone came out. I suggested that we make our getaway quickly, and reset the GPS somewhere else.
By now it was getting dark, not as dark as it was a week ago, a sign that spring was just behind the thick band of snow that will hit us again when we least expect it.
On the road again, we had to deliver the small table and two chairs to an address in Grand Rapids.
While we were in the city we paid a visit to a kitchen design showroom to look at a particular fridge that would be the statement piece for the kitchen renovation. The appliance is European and I wanted Kelli to see it and imagine how it would be used with American sized containers. She was happy with the size, and of course being Kelli her attention was drawn to a copper sink which she loved. The particular product was more expensive than the fridge, so I gave her the choice, one or the other. Although she chose the fridge I know she will be checking on line of any used ones.
On the way back we stopped off at Hudsonville to collect a single desk and matching dresser, yet again space in the garage will be pushed, but Kelli makes good progress on pieces that do not require repair, or any intervention from me, so they shouldn’t hang around for long.
At last the day had come to deliver the kitchen island.
I fitted the drawer fronts and doors as the last task, little did we know how difficult it would be to lift the bloody thing.
Having it on a trolley gives you a false impression of how easy it is to move it around, even joining the three units together wasn’t that difficult, but when it came to getting it into the truck that was a whole different experience.
At one time I thought it had beaten us, the veins in both our necks must have been bulging to the point of bursting, but somehow, through sheer bloody mindedness we got it in.
The next challenge was handling it at the other end.
We drove to the north side of town, and arrived at the address, Mary, our client was outside wrapping up her Christmas lights. Kelli reversed into the driveway. I had brought a small trolley with me to help move it to the front door.
I climbed into the back, it was my job to lift it, and then move it out, we didn’t want to drag it.
Inch by inch the island moved out.
I then got out and helped Kelli carry it out,and place it down in the garage, it was snowing and we didn’t want it to get wet.
Lifting it at one end, I could slide the trolly under making it a little more mobile.
I was able to pull it along the pathway towards the front door.
The final hurdle was the step. Now the trolley couldn’t help us, it was now down to brute strength.
I don’t really know how we did it, but I remember Kelli’s face was as red as a beetroot, I bet mine matched.
Once up the step, we carefully manoeuvred it through the doorway with an inch to spare, we then lowered it onto a floor mat, which was convenient m, as we used it to slide the unit to its final position.
There was just a quick cleanup to remove any sawdust or blood that might have been deposited, and we were done.
We left a very happy Mary, and drove back with a cheque in our hands.
I responded to a cry for help from the bathroom. I rushed in to find Kelli frantically trying to open the cupboard door, but the knob kept turning and not activating the lock.
There was only a narrow gap between the door and the frame, so access to the lock was limited.
I brought in some paint scrapers hoping that they would slide into the slot, but I was distracted away by possibly removing the door from the hinges. I tapped out the pins, but there wasn’t enough movement to lift the door off, this was a blind ally.
Meanwhile Kelli somehow shoved a scraper into the gap and popped the lock.
I looked in disbelief, Kelli smiled triumphantly.
She reminded me that she had cracked many locks over the years, so it looked like I married a master lock picker.
I started on another chair, this time a fully multi layer painted version. Luckily the scraper ripped through those leaving piles of debris on the floor.
Kelli started on the cabinet we bought from the south side of town, spraying all the carcass with primer.
During the afternoon another furniture piece turned up on the back of an open backed truck.
Kelli had bought it from a lady in Hudsonville, fortunately she was in Holland and agreed to delivered it. It wasn’t a quality piece but it did have patterned thin metal panelled doors, although two were missing. This will take a bit of creative thinking.
It is dangerous for Kelli to go off on her own, which she did this morning. She had to go to the post office but it’s where she went afterwards was the issue.
She she arrived home with a piece of furniture in the back of the truck.
Now the garage is full again.
I continued to work on the chair that had been half finished.
I wanted to get it finished and reassembled but I noticed some staining on the seat that wouldn’t sand out.
The kitchen island was connected together finally, ready for delivery as soon as the doors and fronts have dried.
The chairs arrived early, the task ahead of me is significant. Each chair is solid oak and heavy. One of the them had already been started so that was the one I would begin with.
I turned it over and saw that it was made in China which did surprise me.
We also had to finish painting the kitchen island.
The carcass turned out good, but the old filled handle holes were still visible. Although flush, the filler must have absorbed the primer and top coat differently.
Once they are dry, I will go over them with a spirit based primer.
We then went to collect an old desk from Kelli’s brother, this was a classic style with a leather look inset top.
This desk is not the easiest one to convert to side tables, so require careful disassembly, unless we can find a buyer as it is.
Another Lifetime to go 