Another Lifetime to go

26th March 2022

I did today what I haven’t done since my twenties, and that is sitting and listening to an album of music. Mostly what I listen becomes audio wallpaper or accompaniment to a long drive.

Matt, Kelli’s brother brought along a copy of the latest Tears for Fears album that he had been raving about. So I turned the amplifier up loud and gave my B&Ws a workout.

It was a refreshing change from working in the garage and something I would like to do more of.

We have music on in the garage but you can’t do any serious listening when drills and saws are operating, it becomes sound between all the louder sounds.

The two side tables were picked up today, it was good to see them go for the full price advertised.

We have started priming work on the large corner unit that had been a meal for dogs.

I removed the tongue and grooved back panel material carefully marking each piece so they go back in the original place.

As usual there was more snow this morning, with more expected over the next few days, great, can’t wait to freeze my ass off again.

25th March 2022

I carried the old sewing machine table that has been converted into a desk high side table into the house to take pictures. The top colour looks a little different than what we usually do, but I think it works.

I had to put another coat of finish on the six drawer dresser, and then get down to some serious sanding on the tall corner unit.

It can be very satisfying getting the imperfections out, although I create a lot of dust in the process. I do wear a mask when I’m sanding inside, but I sure can’t wait until the weather is good enough to have the door open all day.

Another job I needed to do outside was to add some strengthening pieces to the raised bed.

This is belt and bracers solution, but once I finish filling it up with dirt I don’t want to go out one morning and find the bottom dropped out, I wouldn’t ever live that down.

It reminded me of working on my old cars, I’d be on the ground working on something under the vehicle, usually when it was cold and wet, and yes, it was exactly the same today.

Kelli was out in the greenhouse filling the shelves with all the pots and general gardening stuff. She started planting seeds in a few trays that we will be watching over the next few weeks.

24th March 2022

The nerve of some people. Kelli had just posted the latest dresser on Marketplace when ,apart from the usual scammers (who just need your phone number to cheat others) we had someone offering sixty dollars less than the asking price. I just about blew my stack, although there was no way we would accept that, Kelli went back with a polite response, which is far better than what my reply would have been. After that, the person came back and agreed to buy at the full price.

We had more snow this afternoon, fortunately it didn’t settle as the ground is too warm, but oh Michigan weather, it is a mystery to me.

Kelli started on the tall corner unit that we picked up for free a few weeks ago. It had been attacked by the owner’s dog, all the front plinth panel had been chewed badly, it looked to me that it had been attacked by a pack of wolves. This will require a lot of Bondo to patch that up.

I did a solo run to Menards to get bags of sand and abrasive paper. Now I am all set, once this bloody weather decides to co-operate I can get some serious outdoor jobs done.

23rd March 2022

I made a concerted effort to get the shelf finished in the greenhouse so that Kelli can start growing seeds. We are avid followers of Gardener’s World, and good old Monty Don, and that has given us encouragement to start growing our own vegetables. We have the seeds, the trays and the dirt so what is stopping us.

I’m sure we’ll have some challenges especially from the squirrels. I have noticed that the buggers have been playing in the dirt of the raised beds. All over there are holes in the soil, and I can’t think of any other pests that can do that. I guess I will use chicken wire to deter them.

I cut a new top for the now repainted sowing machine table, I used a grey stain which looks cool and is different from other finishes we’ve used in the past. I hope our customers will like it.

We also took new pictures of the side tables with a new knob colour, it’s an interesting experiment to see if it will now sell.

Another dresser is also rolling down the production line, this has a red maple stained top, another different finish for us.

22nd March 2022

It was a damp day which scuppered my slab laying day, so instead I got on with building the bench for the greenhouse. I had made the support frames a week ago, and the bench top would hold it all together.

We had a bit more space since the furniture had been collected. Kelli was working on an old sowing machine table that was flipping heavy. We took out all the internal brackets and decided to remove the top which was eighty percent of the weight. The plan is to make a new one and give it a grey stain.

We were disappointed that the two side table hadn’t sold yet, normally they fly off the shelves. Kelli thought it might have been the bright knobs that were putting people off, so she repainted them black. It was a shame, but maybe the buyers in Holland aren’t ready for colour.

21st March 2022

I have barely the strength to tap the screen on my phone because today has been frantic. The temperature was set to hit the high sixties meaning I planned todo a lot outside.

First I had to remake the floor frame for the greenhouse. That didn’t take long, just a few cut downs and re-screws and it was done.

The next job was laying more paving. I decided to lift up what I had already put down as I wasn’t happy with it. Therefore it was starting again, this time I wanted to make a better job of it.

I mixed the cement a little sloppy this time and spread it out evenly, I dampened down the back of the slab and set it down, to my amazement it was level in all directions. Whilst on a run I laid more, and they all went down level. Then I ran out of readymix, all I had were two bags of cement that I must have bought in error as they were in a similar colour bag.

I managed to lay about a quarter of the area so that was okay.

Just to finish me off, I carried ten bags of hardcore that I had left over to fill in the frame of the greenhouse.

On top of all that we had people collecting furniture and handing over money, a great day.

20th March 2022

It was working outside day, and the sun was shining. We wanted to put the plastic cover over the greenhouse frame, it looked pretty simple according to the instructions, but we all know how rubbish these really are.

It should have been like putting on a sock, and so it was, but only if it was one size smaller.

We struggled for quite a while until we thought it was as best that we could achieve. Then we tried to re-zip the door shut. There was no way it was going to happen without some serious damage.

I decided to remove the wooden frame that I had made to control the size and squareness of the greenhouse, this would allow the sides to move in so the door would close. I would the then re-size the wooden frame to fit.

The other job I wanted to finish was the raised bed.

This required lining with landscaping fabric and filling with dirt.

The fabric is very light and difficult to control when there is a breeze, so I did all the cutting inside, and carried it out to fit.

That went surprisingly well. In between all this Kelli kept needing help with her tasks, so I was flirting around back and forth trying to get things done.

All the grasses had to be cut back at the front of the house, that has improved the curb appeal, now just waiting for the lawn to make an appearance.

Last job of the afternoon was to start filling the raised bed. That consisted of filling a barrow with dirt and wheeling it to the area of the bed.

God that was tedious, I decided to add a few inches of dirt first, then empty the five bags of compost into this cavernous pit, then call it a day.

19th March 2022

The cold dreary weather has returned. I had started sanding a top for a six drawer dresser that had a powder coating which was proving difficult to remove. It was impervious to heat and chemicals, so the only option left was sanding.

I still had a drawer to repair, this one was pretty bad. As well as the side the back had the bottom grooved section had broken off, and someone had glued the floor into the remaining side pieces with hot melt. How do people think that’s a good solution?

I replaced the missing portions with new wood and cut new grooves, so now I was ready to reassemble. Now if I were an octopus it would be easy, but my fingers were cold as Kelli had the garage door open to give plenty of light in order for her to paint drawer fronts. My numb digits did not work very well, coupled with the floor panel being wavy, made it hard to align with the groves in the drawer body. There was a lot of bad language, and feeble attempts, but eventually I managed to get it all together.

Several nails later to hold everything together and I was done. Our customers will never know the pain and suffering I endure, and I doubt they even care which is one reason why I get pissed off when they try to get a deal on our furniture pieces

18th March 2022

I had the letter informing me of the date for my residency interview, that was a relief, I thought that they had forgotten me. It’s the middle of next month, so a bit of time to get my shit together. It may still be difficult for Kelli as we have to go to Detroit which is about three hours away, we might drive down the day before and stay in a hotel, just so we don’t have to set off too early, but I am excited to get this over.

We finished a couple of pieces today, one was the stacking drawers, the other was the matching side tables.

We are nearing capacity in the space we have.

The two mid century dresser have yet to be collected, plus the new pieces all make moving about perilous. I had an encounter with a broom that nearly ended badly. I caught it with my clown shoes causing it flick up and hit my chin. This has been the week for injuries and cracked thumbs, and I’m fed up with it all.

17th March 2022

Another early spring day, the sound of birds chirping away against the noise of the paint spraying pump. Kelli was on a roll. She was busy painting a cluster of drawers and side table carcasses. I, on the other hand was trying to stretch chicken wire over the base of the raised bed. I was successful in sticking a piece of wire in my finger, suddenly the stapler looked like a murder weapon. There was blood running down the handle, it’s amazing how much blood comes from a small wound.

With my finger wrapped in a shop towel, I soldiered on.

It is not easy trying to pull the wire taught, but I did the best I could.

When I fitted it into the frame of the raised bed it did stretch.

We managed to sell the two mid century dressers to a single customer, oh the sound of cash registers echoing in the garage.