Another Lifetime to go

27th October 2021

A drive to Zeeland to deliver a dresser. The lady was delighted, and in a very loud voice told us it would go very well in her “cottage”.

This was another good sell, we then set off to look at a free dresser close by. The warning bell started ringing as we pulled into a mobile home park. That is not to say all mobile home parks are “dodgy” but this was. Everything looked a bit tired and well past it’s sell by date. We found the dresser outside, and looking at it from a distance it seemed okay. But looking at it closely there were bumps and blisters all over it, some of the drawers were missing bottom panels, so on my advice we left it there.

Arriving back home there was lots to do. First was giving a clear coat to the chair that went with the desk that we are delivering tomorrow.

We loaded the desk into the truck to give us a bit more space and reduce the risk of me tripping over things.

26th October 2021

This is the time of year to treat the lawn ready for winter. I applied a nutrient that should give a good feed and is part of a program that sends me the organic supplements at regular periods to keep the grass in good condition.

We poster the first dresser of the week, this was painted in a dark teal, which is a little outside our comfort zone. We found the paint on the “cheap” shelf at Menards. This is where customers return paint that had been mixed and was the wrong shade, anyway we have a tin of this colour now, so get ready to see more furniture in teal

The dresser was sold in a few hours which was brilliant, I wasn’t sure it would go that fast, but I was proved wrong again.

25th October 2021

I finally have a date for my dental appointment. Kelli called to arranged a session to have my teeth prepared for a double crown.

This is something I am not looking forward to, I would far rather beat myself over the head with a stick. I have made sure there is nothing happening to my gums since I had a flare up soon after I had the root canal.

Kelli had a big clear out of all the packaging materials she had collected from all the deliveries she gets. It got to the point where the incoming was greater than the outgoings.

She posted on Marketplace as a freebie, and sure enough someone came and took it all.

There were jobs to do in the garage, we are aiming to get two pieces finished and posted this week, so the pressure is on.

24th October 2021

Once there is a paintbrush in her hand Kelli becomes a painting machine. Two carcasses were subject to her activity. I was struggling with a top for one of the dressers. I had to replace the front with a new piece of oak salvaged from another piece we had earlier in the year.

This meant setting up my skill saw to zip it off.

Things were going well until “Zing!” I hit a staple, bugger. Fortunately there was only one, the rest of the cut was uneventful.

I laid up the new front strip to the top and left it to dry, which takes an age in the new cold temperature.

The garage is in a mess, there is paint scrapings over the floor, I try to clean up as I go, but because I flit around from piece to piece I end up depositing crap everywhere I go.

23rd October 2021

All finished and collected, the chairs have gone back to their home. I did a final check, and then Kelli did the final final check.

The owners came down as soon as they knew they were finished, and gave me more cash than I was asking for. They loved the result, and I was glad they were happy.

But there is no time to sit around, (the chairs were no longer around) there are three dressers ready to be worked on, and plenty more things to be sanded, so I won’t get bored.

Today was the first day working in the garage with the door closed with the heaters on, all downhill to winter now.

Later we went up to Kelli’s mums to celebrate Matt’s (Kelli’s brother)birthday. It was time for a slice of cake and ice cream.

22nd October Friday

It’s been a long time since I went to Menards, well a long time for me. I needed materials for all the projects that we have stacked up in the garage. I did make a bit of a boo boo regarding the price of timber for the tops for the side tables we have been commissioned to refinish. I thought it would be about twenty bucks but it was more like forty. It will make some nice pieces, but Kelli has to pass the new price on to the customer.

Finally finished the last chair, and not a moment too soon, not keen to take on more chairs without charging double.

This is a steep learning curve, what price are people prepared to pay? How desperate am I to take on projects just to have some work?

The answer to the first question is, the least they can get away with, and the second one, I’m not that desperate, with the cold weather coming I can’t work outside, there are other limitations, the paints and lacquers take longer to dry even with the heaters on

21st October 2021

It was really autumnal today, the morning was dull and quite cool. I have started wearing thick shirts with long sleeves.

The squirrels are constantly running around grabbing the walnuts sitting on our berm munching though the shells leaving the remnants all over the place. It is ironic that the same tree that gave us grief when we lived next door still haunts us in our new home.

The other outdoor jobs I have to add into my weekend time is leaf sweeping. There is already a good covering that I need to work on. The grass is still growing, and that needs cutting, I will be able to suck up, and chop the leaves at the same time. I can load the composter and the large wheely bin we have for garden waste.

We finished the small desk and chair and took pictures, just before it rained.

We finally sold the white dresser, the buyer was looking for a piece for a coffee bar, and was delighted at finding one.

I’m nearly finished sanding the last chair, just the edge and underside of the seat to go. I should just finish before the cold gets to the joints of my fingers.

20th October 2021

It was a day of Therapy, doctors and furniture collections with a little work in the garage to make the day complete.

First stop was Holland hospital to check with the physio therapists to find out how Kelli had been doing since the last visit.

They tested her, just to confirm that she was cured, and that was successful, she is now on a four week hold period as a precaution, great news.

Then it was a drive to collect a dresser close to the town centre. It was waiting on the porch for us, which we quickly loaded into the truck, and back home for lunch.

After that was the doctors appointment. Yet again another positive improvement. She still needs to get her strength and stamina back, but the supplements she is on is helping with her hormone imbalance.

After that it was a drive to collect the second dresser from Zeeland.

Getting back late after noon there was just enough time (and strength) to do some work on the chair whilst Kelli started stripping the paint off the first dresser. It is typical that we often start work on the newest piece rather than the ones we have stacked up, but it gives Kelli something to do.

19th October 2021

“We’ve got a leak in the furnace “ said Kelli. That’s not news I want to hear with a new appliance still with the labels on.

She was on to the company straight away.

The leak appeared to be around the water pump that takes the condensation to the outside of the house.

They agreed to come out as soon as they could get an engineer out to us.

It took the man about half an hour to fix it, something about wires becoming disconnected, shoddy American workmanship.

We had another let down from a buyer of the white dresser. It was due to be collected at 4.00pm which was the time they called to say that it would not fit into the space they had.

This piece is becoming difficult to sell, the preverbal white elephant.

This did not stop us working on the other stuff in the garage.

Kelli on the desk and chair and me staining the desk top. On top of that was more bloody sanding of the last chair.

I had to drive to look at a small unit that Kelli had found. When I got there, and it wasn’t easy to find because the house numbers are so difficult to see from the road. I would have needed the Hubble telescope to read this one.

I had to drive right up the driveway to finally read it, luckily it was the right house, so no embarrassment.

I took one look at it and decided not to bother, it was shit, thin laminate top, and drawers that were made of Weetabix.

However by the end of the evening she had found two more dressers for us to collect tomorrow.

18th October 2021

We had taken on another private commission to refinish two side tables. The customer had bought a dresser from us a few weeks ago.

The lady reversed her truck up the drive and opened the rear door. Inside were the two tables, I lifted one out to inspect.

Kelli had been in conversation for a while and had seen pictures of the side tables, and due to the condition of the tops had advised not to buy them. But due to some confusion she bought them anyway. This was my first chance to see the condition of the tops, and they weren’t in good shape. At some time they must have got damp and the veneer had bubbled.

There is little chance of doing much to the tops.

We have had interest in the white dresser, but none has come to a sale. It gets frustrating when the inquiries go cold, but luckily we managed to secure one, but at a reduced price, but this is Holland, full of the Dutch.