Another Lifetime to go

6th December 2021

I was working on a lot of different jobs trying to get ahead because tomorrow I’ve a appointment to get my crown fitted and that always disrupts my day. Then on Wednesday we have to drive to Hamilton to collect a dresser that the owner wants re-painting.

I also want to get the bookcase finished by the weekend if possible.

There were some snow flurries and some fierce winds that made me glad I was inside.

Kelli made good progress on the old green dresser painting the drawer fronts and carcass, that should also be finished by the end of the week.

5th December 2021

We drove over to our friend, George’s house to collect five Arts and Craft style dining chairs that he had given us. He is off to Mexico for the winter and when he returns he will purchase new, more modern chairs to replace them.

These are solid oak with leather seat pads, and in the style of Stickley, a top brand.

We got them back, cleaned and polished them and posted them within the hour, there are no flies on us.

Later we had a birthday cake celebration for Greer who couldn’t be here on her actual day.

We gathered at Kelli’s mum’s house for the cutting of a bright pink cake. It wasn’t supposed to be that bright, but we had to order it from a Mexican baker, and they only do bright colours. We should have got a clue from the name of the shop, “El Pinko bakers”

( that is a joke, and there is no real intention to depict pink is going to be always bright pink if made by a Mexican baker,……..although it was really bright)

4th December 2021

I am preparing myself for another Christmas in America, we put the lights on the tree, and we still have to go through the box of ornament.

That will add another fifty kilograms to the poor branches.

It was a busy day of sales, first there was a small spice cabinet that was picked up, then we had to deliver a buffet to a real cool house on the north side. It looked out over a man made lake that most new developments include. It’s what one would expect for a mere 500K.

In the afternoon the tall dresser with the black stained top and drawers was collected, this has created a lot more space in the garage for more stuff.

I started re-assembly of the bookcase whilst Kelli steamed on with the green unit.

3rd December 2021

The city crew were working collecting all the leaves piled on the road. I rushed out to add the contents of my yard waste bin. I was just in time before the trucks turned up and scooped everything up.

It was a different day to yesterday, it was cold and wet, just as well we didn’t want to go out.

We both worked on the green dresser keen to get it finished because there were no more bites on the train wreck. Kelli panics if a piece is not sold quickly, but I am confident there is a buyer out there. There is no point in wasting time repainting something that you don’t know if doing it will make any difference.

Anyway we took more pictures of the piece outside in another attempt to get a buyer.

I made a start on the side tables by filling and roughing up the surface ready for painting.

2nd December 2021

It was a great day to sweep the final leaves from the front lawn. It was unusually mild for a December, and it starts going downhill from now.

I packed all the leaves into the yard waste bin and placed it at the end of the drive only to be told that the city have stopped collection until spring.

The next job was to move the paving slabs from the smaller stack. This was a reminder of just how heavy each slab was. The grunting got louder with every one of the sixteen pieces that I carried through the garage and into the back space.

It was refreshing to have a break from furniture.

Kelli started on the green dresser we picked up yesterday. He efforts at removing the paint on the drawer fronts with a heat gun didn’t work out very well, she needed the power of the scraper that only I could provide. Within five minutes I had all the paint off, so just a good sanding session required to get the ready for staining.

We had another let down from someone who wanted the train wreck, so that is back on the market.

1st December 2021

Larry’s friends are much like the vehicles he works on, old and needing constant maintenance. The one old guy that turned up today was the epitome of that. He was like the typical Woodstock survivor, long white hair growing into a long white beard with no noticeable difference, I thought he was wearing a white burka.

He arrives whenever his van needs attention, so Larry sees him once a week.

So whilst the bonnet is up and being worked on the old guy wanders around with his dog, his Gandalf locks blowing in the breeze.

The completion of the job is signalled by Larry coughing his lungs up, and the shuffling of the old guy communicating with the usual grunts and groans.

We had to drive up the lakeshore drive to collect a free dresser. This takes us past some of the most desirable properties in the area. Therefore I was expecting something of interest, an Eames of Nelson piece in search of some loving restoration. What was waiting for us in front of the garage was a cheap piece of crap. I was disappointed, but amazed that they would show their neighbours the rubbish furniture they must have in their home.

For us it was to be expected, this type of dresser is the kind that we can quickly repaint and sell, and it was free.

On the way back we stopped off at a thrift store we hadn’t been to in a long while.

We were immediately drawn to a selection of artificial Christmas trees, or rather I was led to where the trees were. Kelli had been hinting that we should get a new tree, as our old one was too small. Now when Kelli hints at something beware, it is likely to be delivered the next day by Amazon.

The lucky tree chosen was tall and bushy, at over eight feet would sit well in our high ceiling . It came apart in three pieces, which was just as well because it was heavy, but we managed to squeeze it into the back of the truck. We were fortunate that it was old git’s discount day. Kelli found a number of strange items that she planned to sell, but I had the unfortunate honour of carrying them around trailing behind my wife.

I was thinking, “Is this is what my life has become, a sad person carrying tat on old git discount day?” I guess it is.

There was a lot of activity on Marketplace this evening, we managed to sell the fully restored train wreck and the buffet that went on this evening, getting sales for December off to a flying start.

30th November 2021

Well my new nickname is “Turbo jet dip shit” due to me deciding to jet wash the north side of the house. First there was a desperate search for the instruction booklet. Kelli had moved it from my pile to somewhere else, the trouble was she couldn’t remember where that was. I had hooked up all the hoses and power leads ready to go but I didn’t have the nozzles, they were with the instructions. We tried everywhere we could think of, and even places that it could never be, like right in front of my eyes. I was ready to abandon the whole exercise, but in a last ditch attempt to find the missing articles, I checked the cupboard in the garage where I keep my stains and adhesives and there it was wrapped tightly in an elastic band, success!

I read through the instructions and selected what I thought was the correct nozzle.

I turned on the water that ran through a hundred foot hose( note to self, get a shorter bloody hose). I turned on the power, pointed the wand towards the stained sidings.

Out trickled the water with the force of a sneeze, I needed the turbo nozzle.

I fitted the device and aimed it at the wall.

Now this was better, the jet was forceful but not enough to move the green stains. I had to get much closer to increase the water pressure. I was about two inches away, now it was working, and also I was getting drenched with the spray that the instruction sheet failed to mention.

I stuck to it, the siding was the proper colour, so I turned my attention to the mock shutters either side of the window. I aimed the nozzle and the green slug washed off easily, however the presser was enough to blow off the corner of the plastic shutter, so now I will have to buy another pair to replace them. (Note to self 2, do not use excessive presser on plastic shutters)

I successfully completed the task, even washing the garage doors, but I was cold and wet, I can see why more sensible people do it in the spring and summer, but that is another lesson I have learnt.

Next I will have to go to Lowes for new shutters.

29th November 2021

Back on the road again, first to Kelli’s doctors appointment and then on to collect a pair of desk pedestals that we will skilfully turn into side tables.

At the doctors, Kelli wanted to know if her current sleeping issues could be something he could treat. She regularly wakes up around five in the morning, although she goes back to sleep it is unsettling, and she wants it stopped.

The doctor, rubbing his hands referred to a book and declared that it could be spleen related, and set about tracking the various points on the body that controls the spleen.

This was quite interesting because using acupuncture points he found certain places on the feet reacted when he manipulated them. Unfortunately for Kelli this usually meant pain.

Poor girl she had to suffer all this abuse, but on the brighter side, she might be able to sleep right through the night now.

28th November 2021

Still no bites on our latest posts, maybe everybody has spent all their money on Black Friday. I can’t imagine any retail business is back in the black during this crazy time. I even get emails from HM with offers for me to buy stuff, they must be desperate to expect me to stick my hands in my pocket for misery fifteen percent discount.

I made a start to drilling all the dowel holes to rebuild the bookcase. I don’t have a lot of luck with the doweling jig I have. Although the centre points are there, by the time I drill the hole it has drifted slightly, so then I have to plug the holes and start again. It doesn’t help that the planks are slightly dished. I made my own fixture to stop the drift and it seemed to have helped, woo hoo!

It was another day of not going out, light flurries of snow occurred for most of the day.

Kelli was well on the way finishing the painting of another buffet, of course I have another top to stain.

27th November 2021

It was a day of memories being the anniversary of the passing of Dave. In fact ever since Thanksgiving, Kelli has been on the hunt for memorabilia of her children’s childhood. The problem is some of it is easy to find, others impossible. Today the search was on for a needlepoint that Greer had made for Kelli one Christmas. She looked all over the house without success, leading her to fear the worst. When we moved into our house, she had to donate a lot of things that there wouldn’t be room for, and she believes that’s what happened to the needlepoint.

She was upset that she did such a thing, and spent the rest of the day trying to locate the pattern so that it could be done again.

She also reached out, using social media if anyone had actually bought the piece from Goodwill, this may be a long shot, but stranger things have happened.

I finished scraping and sanding the bookcase, and whilst in that dis-assembled condition it would be easier to stain and finish it. Kelli got in touch with the owner who came down to discuss the idea, she agree to pay a bit more to have the bookcase finished properly.

That was a good decision, a good walnut stain would even out the colour and turn the piece into a nice item of furniture.