Another Lifetime to go

24th February 2022

It was a sunny day, almost a good spring day if it wasn’t so cold.

We had a couple from Ludington (95miles away) to pick up the pair of side tables we posted yesterday. There was a last minute problem with a top surface attachment block glue failure occurred. Not the sort of thing you want to happen just before a customer arrives, so this meant a quick repair was needed. I threw off my coat because I knew I would get a little warm. Kelli sped off to get the tools and fixings I required enabling me to make the repair and everything was ready in time for the pick up.

We had a trip out to get some supplies from Menards, it had been a while, but necessary.

The grass looks very sad at the moment, it is in its dormant stage, I hope it will spring into life as soon as it gets warmer. The ground is still soggy trying to soak away all the water from the melting snow.

The problems in the Ukraine dominated the news, as expected, I don’t think many Americans actually know where it is. I was impressed that Parliament are all in agreement with the actions taken by the government unlike over here. It’s always an opportunity to criticise Biden, whatever he does. Who would want that job anyway, you cannot win. He is being blamed for the rising fuel prices that fluctuate everyday. If Americans had to pay the price the UK does they would have a stroke. But the idiots continue their bullshit, and I expect them to learn nothing from this, not even to find it on a map.

23rd February 2022

There was another sprinkling of snow overnight, delaying the thaw for another few more days.

Between the piles of snow that are left, the garden looks like Armageddon has occurred. I’m itching to get working on it, digging up the old grass and restyling the space. I want to build a three bay composter, so I have been working on the cutting list for that. As soon as Menards have their 11%off everything I’ll be do getting the timber. Kelli kids me, calls me tight, but if they are giving money back, I’ll be there to take advantage of it.

We collected a large corner display unit that was offered for free. It had a bit of damage to the plinth and lower door, apparently the owners dog liked the flavour of pine wood.

It was a large piece, we didn’t really have the space for it, but it was free so suck it in.

We still have a number of pieces that haven’t sold yet, causing Kelli to have doubts about the finish.

We did finish the two bedside tables and got them on Marketplace, and sold them a few hours later.

22nd February 2022

There was nothing exciting going on in the garage today, I was sanding tops, repairing drawer box sides and putting sealer on some tops, whilst Kelli was stripping paint and painting drawer fronts and dresser carcass.

Now I know I’m not that good at multitasking, I try to do as much of that as I can, but I look in wonder at Kelli sometimes, and I am amazed at the length of telephone conversations she can conduct. Today in particular she was talking with Kim her ex-sister in law. Being an observer, I could see the complexity of the conversation. I could only liken it to railway lines close to a main station. The topic for discussion leaves the platform then comes to the first set of points. The train then goes off on another set of rails until it gets to another junction, and so on. It went on for about an hour covering every subject under the sun, nothing is exempt from this fantastic railroad journey, all the time she is stripping paint, and talking as if it was normal breathing.

It is a wonder there is anything left to talk about.

The snow is rapidly disappearing with all the rain we’ve had, it is good to see the green.

21st February 2022

Today was the first day we could have the garage door open, the sun was out, the snow was melting, it was a great day.

It was good to breathe fresh air for a change, and the warmer weather should last a couple more days.

The stitches fell out of my gum signalling that the healing process is complete.

I tried using a toning spray on one of the drawer fronts of a large dresser that was a complete disaster. I now need to remove the finish right back to the veneer and start again.

I was bloody annoyed, I’ve used a toning spray before, but for some reason this had far more colour in it, meaning it was like I was spraying full colour rather than a blending tint.

The two bedside tables are coming along, I cut and stained the tops whilst Kelli completed the paint job to the carcasses.

We carried the dresser we got yesterday in from the truck, there was a bit of de-lamination of the plywood side panels at the bottom, so that needed a repair.

20th February 2022

We had to collect yet another dresser from Hamilton, or some place out in the sticks that claimed to be Hamilton. It was definitely in the crop growing area that still have Trump flags aflying. In other words an area of extreme dumbness.

The dresser was nothing special, the kind we’ve had a few times before, that get a rapid makeover and straight out the door.

We completed another dresser with the stripped wood fronts, dragged it into the house, took pictures and posted it.

We were expecting a customer for the dresser that I made the new drawer for, as well as the new solid top. She was originally due at 1.00pm, but messaged to say it would be more like 2.00pm. By 4.00pm we were getting concerned that she wasn’t going to turn up. A quick message to her confirmed she was still on route and would be with up by 5.00pm.

We continued working on a few projects when just after 5.00pm she turned up.

Now I’ve seen some vehicles that should never be still on the road, but this one should have been in a scrap yard.

The lady had a good sense of humour as you would expect diving a truck in that condition.

She already had a large dresser in the back, so with a bit of repositioning created enough space for the ours. However the bed of the truck was full of bark and crap. The truck belonged to her brother who used it for work, god know what that was. I got a shovel from the shed and scooped up a bin full. Then she got a tarpaulin out from the cab, it was the size of a hot air balloon, but we used it to line the bed so that our dresser didn’t get dirty. We then wrapped the rest around the dresser to try to protect it. We then noticed there was no tailgate, so nothing really to stop the furniture sliding off. The only solution was to stretch bungees across, not that they would do anything, other than provide a psychological barrier. We tried to secure the other dresser with more bungees, but giving the strength and rigidity of the truck itself I wasn’t sure what we hoped to achieve.

Anyway once we did what we could, she reversed out and headed back to Bloomingdale about forty five miles south.

We heard from her later to say she, and the tarp made it home.

That was a fun ending of our day.

19th February 2022

We received a couple of offers on the dresser, so in line with our first come first serve process, it will get picked up Sunday.

There was another short flurry of snow this morning, I hope this is the last as the temperature is due to rise next week.

Another visitor was a cardinal, it’s red body standing out against the white wilderness.

I had an email notification that my passport application has been approved, I should be receiving the new one soon, that will be a huge relief.

There was an amazing display of wild birds in the garden. There were many Robins flying around from our pine trees to the fence and back again, a very unusual occurrence to see so many at one time. The little sparrows that occupy the holly bush were darting out and back in doing their circuit of the garden.

It is magic to see the amount of activity at close quarters, why do they like our space so much? Could it be the amount of bird seed that we buy each month? Yep! Probably, it may have something to do with it.

I was helping Kelli with the small dresser, sanding all the drawer fronts whilst she painted the carcass. We needed to move quickly on this, to make room for the one still in the truck from yesterday, and we need the space in the truck for the dresser we’re picking up tomorrow. The whole process never ends.

18th February 2022

We carried the dresser that had the replacement drawer into the house to take pictures. It turned out good with the solid top made from the left over desk worksurface.

Additionally we finished the upholstery for the bench and took pictures of that as well.

To make the day complete we had to go to Zeeland to collect a free dresser. The house had a massive barn that was full of stuff. The owner was moving and trying to get rid of as much stuff as possible, and I’m sure if the truck was any bigger Kelli would have filled it.

The piece was okay, a quick paint job will be needed, and then out, I hope.

If Kelli finds anymore furniture, I might have to lift the roof of the garage as we are up to the rafters on this one.

During the evening, the dresser received a bit of attention but no offer yet, I guess people like to sleep on this kind of decision.

17th February 2022

Thawing snow is great, I can see grass again, the downside is all the dog poo that has been hidden is finally exposed. The back garden looked like a zoo, it filled two, five gallon buckets, what a wonderful experience that was.

There a trip to God’s township, Zeeland to collect a small dresser. We entered what could only be described as Heaven’s trailer park. It was perfectly laid out, and each mobile home was immaculate, not the usual trash pile that we have collected from in the past. The dresser was compact, just what Kelli wanted to compliment a headboard that we have been sitting on for a couple of weeks. It is hoped to sell them as a set which we have done in the past.

A lady came to collect the small side table that went quickly.

We also started on the upholstery for the bench, the fabric was some of the big roll we were given by a friend of Mike and Lesley. It is a mixture of cotton and wool, the wool part is very thick and a bugger to cut.

I measured out the piece, and Kelli hacked through it with the sissors.

I had bought an electric stapler specifically for this job, I learnt from the last upholstery job a manual one is painful to use on this fabric.

I had a delivery of a lead paint testing kit, this was something we should have had a long time ago. It was the pot belly baking table that prompted me to buy it, as the piece was around a hundred years old the paint was bound to be lead based, and sure it was. As I rubbed the swab on the paint, it turned purple, a sure sign. This means the table will have to be stripped very carefully, probably with a chemical stripper to avoid an airborne particles. Along with protective clothing that would have to be disposed of easily, the table was not the super piece we hoped for.

16th February 2022

Well a thaw is on the way, first we had the big winds then some rain, and the gutters started to overflow. Within a few hours most of the snow has gone from the roofs of most houses. The noise of the wind woke Kelli up, so that ruined her sleep, and her mood for the whole day.

I got on with sealing the top I stained yesterday. There was good news, we sold the wardrobe/dresser that we got let down on, we are due to deliver on Friday.

We also finished a small side table, took pictures of it and sold it straight away.

Whilst Kelli painted the dresser with the new drawer I got on with re-assembling the bench that we had stripped down. The original was a real piece of shit, that I wanted to rebuild differently, but Kelli wanted to reuse the reeded panels. I found a better way to fit them making the inside a more acceptable.

I still have my swollen gum, it only hurts when I sneeze, and boy does it hurt. It happened a couple of times today, it scared me in case the stitches broke.

We unloaded the desk and I proceeded to take it apart. Typical of that type of furniture it was held together with glue blocks and nails, so carful tapping with a large rubber mallet soon dealt with that.

15th February 2022

Another day for old crater mouth. Fortunately there was no pain just the swelling, but that didn’t stop the work.

We had to collect a desk from a house just along South Shore Drive. Kelli had to message them when we arrived so they could restrain their dogs.

Being savaged by a German Shepard is not a good look, and as we walked to the front door there was the sound of a large animal trying to get out.

The desk was made of solid wood with a terrible stained finish. As always our plan is the remove the two pedestals and make them into nightstands.

I managed to stain the large top for the dresser that had the missing drawer. Kelli made a good job of the drawers with just the carcass to paint. It’s a large beast so it would be great to finish this and get it out.

There was a little disappointment over the wardrobe/dresser that we thought we had sold, that was supposed to be collected last Sunday. Kelli was messaged to say they had a family emergency, and couldn’t make it, but despite other requests they failed to respond, not even reading the messages that were sent.

We have had that before, there are strange people out there, they say how it was just what they’re looking for and they were so excited, and then this happens.

Therefore back on Marketplace it goes.

I did some veneering to three drawer fronts from a mid-century style piece we have. I was pleased to have matched all the drawers vertically, but when I came to fit them, what I thought was the top drawer was in fact the middle one, so all the veneer match was all wrong, bollocks!

I guess I will have to do them all over again tomorrow.