Another Lifetime to go

4th March 2020

Kelli spent the whole day rubbing down and repainting the chairs, both of us hate painting them especially around the spindles.

I was busy repairing the new desk pedestals and re-joining the top together. I raked out the tongue and groove and applied new adhesive, satisfied I’d done a good job.

My mind was wandering, it was Stein night at New Holland, and I could taste the amber nectar even through the sawdust.

I went to start the Audi in preparation for being picked up, but the battery still didn’t have enough charge in it to start it, so out came the jump leads.

After a few turns, it spluttered into life, so I left it running on the driveway.

Midday came and went with no message from the guy that he was running late. Just as well, as I saw steam coming from under the bonnet.

Bloody typical, I remembered that the car used to overheat a bit, so now I had to contend with a car with no coolant.

About mid afternoon we gave up on the idea of the guy coming to pick the car up, so now it’s going to the scrap yard as soon as we get the log book.

The evening at New Holland was great, the beer was cool, but I was intrigued, where did all the liquid go? I would expect to be using the toilet all night.

Once we were home I attempted to make a cup of coffee in my buzzed state.

I boiled the kettle, but instead of putting the ground coffee in the French press I emptied it into my mug. I topped it up with hot water and almond milk, and looked forward to relaxing.

My first sip told me my mistake. With a mouth full of gritty coffee grounds I raced to the sink to spit it out. I have never made that mistake before, and hopefully won’t again.

3rd March 2020

The mid-century dresser was snapped up.

I needed cut back the top to remove a few dust spots then re-coat the top before the buyer turned up.

Fortunately it went well and the top was as smooth as a baby’s ass.

The lady turned up and loved the piece, so Kelli an I carried it out to her vehicle, which was a just a little bit small for it. This meant we had to remove the leg frame which was no problem. Safely loaded she left happy, we went back in the house extremely happy.

Kelli had finished painting the side tables, and then started on the upholstery for the dining chairs. “Where are the staples we bought on Saturday?” She inquired, having no idea, I proceeded to look around, not knowing what the box of staples looked like. I figured that if I looked hard enough I’m bound to find them.

“where did you last have them?” An obvious question, but one I felt was appropriate. Having established that she had no idea,

I tried to re-visit the scene of the crime. The stapler was found, staples were taken out of the box and loaded into the appliance, but where the box with the rest was still a mystery.

Kelli looked in all the obvious places but to no avail.

I felt I was on a road to nowhere, and resigned myself to going back to Menards and buying another box.

Whilst in the garage I happen to look in a box of crap that Kelli had left, and lo, and behold I saw the box lurking there.

I sneaked them into the kitchen and placed them on to the worktop, convinced that Kelli would see them, but still she didn’t. In the end I had to give a massive clue about them being right in front of her eyes before she saw them. There was a whoop of joy, and soon she was engulfed in a massive upholstery exercise.

The other event that was happening was trying to dispose of Greer’s old Audi. Kelli had seen a request for a cheap car on Craig’s list, and had responded. It had been sitting on our drive since she moved out, and it was about time something was decided on it.

We decided it needed to be started so that it could be driven. There was also a flat tyre. I had a foot pump that I used for inflating the bike tyres. It took nearly two thousand leg strokes to make any significant difference. My thigh muscle, in my left leg was as hard as rock, but my right was still flabby, so at the moment my walk is a bit strange.

The battery was totally flat, and needed the jump leads hooked up to the truck.

It took many attempts to get the car to catch, at times I thought it would never start, but surprisingly it did eventually.

Kelli drove it round the block a few times so it was encouraging that the car would be soon gone.

We heard that the guy would be over tomorrow at mid-day to collect it.

2nd March 2020

We had a person contact us on a recommendation from another customer. They wanted a pair of side table that we had just sold. Kelli advised her that we were working on another pair and invited her over to look at them. So I frantically painted one in a white primer to make it look better.

The lady came over and immediately fell in love with them, which was a good result. She loved the colour they will be, but wanted a light wood top. I need to try to sand off the stain to see how light it will go.

Having a customer lined up, it was full speed ahead to get it all painted, Kelli worked in the sunroom, whilst I furiously sanded the drawer fronts.

We brought the Mid Century dresser into the house, I coated the top again, and once dry, took photographs, then Kelli posted it on Marketplace.

1st March 2020

I had to walk to the corner store this morning. The temperature was in the mid fifties, and the sun was shining down. The pavements were crowded with walkers and joggers, this was the most crowded the street has been so far this year.

The lake was looking bright and ready for the onslaught of small crafts that will soon be navigating their way towards the big lake.

I collected some mushrooms, courgettes and a bottle of red wine from the shelves and walked slowly back.

I did a little work in the garage, nothing to raise any dust as I wanted to put a finish on the mid century dresser. I also took the green desk apart. This is solid oak, but the top had split into three pieces. Fortunately the glue had failed along the joint, so a bit of cleaning up and a re-glue and it will be whole again.

I had bought a can of tinted polyurethane to help disguise a mark in the top. I had learnt the trick from people on YouTube, and excited to try it for myself. I had to stand on a stool to get some height, this was not the safest platform, but as long as I didn’t get too animated with the spray can I should be fine.

Happily it went well, the colour differences were blended and, although the shallow dip was still visible if looked at against the sun, you had to look hard to notice it.

So with the top drying and the desk now separated into the two separate pedestals I stopped my work for the day.

29th February 2020

What a interesting day it would be today.

At 10.30am the first customers arrived to collect the two short side tables. We learned that they have houses that are holiday lets, and they needed bedroom furniture. This is a good opportunity for future business, so Kelli was straight on it.

The next customer were due to collect the black stained dining table that I have been labouring over for the last three weeks.

I was really nervous, because I wanted a wonderfully smooth top, and I have been plagued with grot issues at every turn.

I even put an extra coat last night, my last ditch attempt to get the finish I wanted.

We set it up in the living space and waited for them to arrive.

I was more nervous than I had been yesterday at the dentist. Just after 1.00pm they arrived, Kelli was still drying her hair when the doorbell rang. I opened the door and invited them inside. The younger lady gasped as she saw the table in front of her. The other lady was her mother who was equally delighted.

This went a long way to relieve my anxiety, it seemed that every stage there was something that didn’t go to plan, but all that evaporated under all the praise.

We loaded it into the back of their vehicle and they drove off happy customers, the best ones to have.

The final piece we had to deliver was the dresser with the mud colour stain. That was a challenge to find, but yet again she was delighted with the result, and with a wad of notes in our hand, it was back to the homestead, stopping off at Goodwill.

We found a dresser in good condition so bagged that, it was a little more than we would usually spend, but hopefully not too much work to do up.

28th February 2020

Having a tooth removed was not my idea of a fun day.

I had been in a little discomfort because of a gum infection caused by a tooth implant that had fallen out a few months before. I would have had that taken care of when I was back in the UK in February, but the whole residency thing had changed all that.

However my appointment was at 10.00, so in solum mood we drove to the clinic.

After a short wait, I went into the treatment room and “wham, bam, thank you mam” it was done and I was out.

The dentist laid out the bits of my broken tooth on the tray all bloody and unrecognisable. He pointed out the infected area then he was off to the next victim, er, patient.

We came back and started work as if nothing had happened.

We had a buyer for a pair of low side tables Kelli had posted last night, which was great, along with the two other pieces that will be delivered tomorrow.

27th February 2020

Up early again as someone was coming to collect a side table Kelli posted on Marketplace last night, and was snapped up before we went to bed.

I put the final coat on to the centre leaves of the dining table, I just want it out of here now.

I worked on another staining job for a dresser that goes out at the weekend.

The stain that the customer supplied was like mud. The first coat was a bit light, even though I let it sit for five minutes, but after a second one it was more like a rutted dirt track.

Kelli was busy on a couple of side tables that she hoped to post this evening.

We have good success with these, which is why we have a pair of modified turquoise pedestals (not the final colour) and the free desk that we picked up yesterday that is still in the truck.

There is a mid century dresser that is causing us a dilemma because we can’t decide what colours to paint it. We were hoping to leave it as a stained wood finish, but there was a mark in the top that I steamed and sanded out. Unfortunately as soon as the stain went on it stood out again, so we need to think again.

26th February 2020

It was an early start to get to Hudsonville to pick up the free desk.

This was a route we used to take regularly when Painted Farmgirl was trading. We followed the directions of the GPS until we got to the address then things went a little haywire.

The location was a labyrinth of turnings, leading to many identical buildings. We drove around for a while searching for the blocks that contained the house with the open garage. When we eventually found it there was a truck sticking out, with the desk behind.

After that had been moved, we loaded the desk into the truck and set the destination for the next place.

It is alway a surprise for me to find out all the many deals Kelli makes. This time it was a set of brightly coloured mixing bowls from somewhere in Zeeland.

The GPS took us to a crossroads of dirt tracks, so we drove up and down the track trying to find the place with no success. Frantic messaging ensued with the person not really answering the questions Kelli was asking.

After a while with my patience wearing thin we found the road that took us to the correct dirt crossroads.

As we approached the house two large dogs bounded towards us. We stopped the truck at the bottom of the drive because the dogs wouldn’t get out of the way allowing us to pass.

What was needed was a decoy to distract the dogs and collect the bowls. In true mid western style Kelli handed the money to me.

I ventured out of the truck and the dogs immediately circled me. Fortunately they were friendly and didn’t eat my leg. I walked up to the house where the lady appeared carrying the bowls, another two small dogs rushed out the house and joined the others to encircle me.

I handed over the money and carried the purchase towards the truck. Now there were four dogs running around us. This made reversing a nightmare, especially trying to keep track of the little ones. Kelli was freaking out, scared that she would flatten one.

The lady didn’t seemed bothered, maybe she didn’t like them very much. Eventually we managed to turn, and head off without killing anything.

25th February 2020

I moved the dining table out of the garage and assembled it in the sunroom. This project has been a problem since the start. Just when I think I’ve put the final coat on the top I find another blemish.

This was my last attempt, so I rubbed over the surface with a scouring pad removing the dust. Then with the best brush made from the finest unicorn tail I applied a final coat.

It looked smooth and even, I made sure that I hadn’t missed anything, hoping for the best.

The garage is now full of furniture, which require careful movement to avoid knocking anything over, especially with my big feet.

We had a lady due to bring over a tin of stain for a dresser we both had lovingly stripped.

This was to match other pieces in her son’s bedroom, alway a dodgy scenario, but hey ho, we’re up for anything.

Kelli worked on the single side table, whilst I did some repairs to the turquoise buggers.

These had been nailed together, which gave me a lot of fun removing.

I finished the repair to the chair, with the new cross brace fitted it will blend in well with the others.

Last on the list was assembling the base for the mid century dresser ready for painting.

Kelli had been searching Marketplace for free stuff, and found another desk in Hudsonville, another bloody desk, another heavy oak desk that will strain our greens getting into the truck.

Oh joy for tomorrow, is there room in the garage? No, which means I will have to try to strip it down to store until I can start work on it.

In this business you have to be constantly looking out for new stuff, there is no pattern,

and certainly you can’t be complacent. These desks give a good return, so even my moaning cuts no ice with Kelli.

24th February 2020

The task list was long and I was determined to get as much that I could do so that Kelli had something to work on.

There is the mid century dresser that needed the legs tightened. As usual this was not that simple. All four legs were loose, but I had to remove, and split the whole leg frame apart, re-glue each part and re-assemble. At some time in its life someone had tried to repair the legs by driving three inch screws into them. This actually did very little other than split the wood, this meant a lot of repair before I could put it all back together.

Whilst waiting for glue to dry, I fitted the new the cross rail into the chair. I had carefully whittled it down and bonded it back using epoxy resin, another one bites the dust.

It was also time to start dismantling the turquoise desk that we got from a thrift store a couple of days ago.

These will become a matching pair of bed side tables, but first they had to be separated.

The side panels were very bad, the plywood had blown and had to be replaced.

Once the top had been removed, I cut the front and back rails leaving the pedestal separate.

I was able to remove the old plywood, and made new ones out of some off-cuts I had in stock.

I had just finished when Kelli arrived back from her errands. She came into the garage looking a bit sheepish, I asked her what was up.

She opened up the back of the truck and inside were a pair of matching pink side tables and a single light green side table.

She had been to Goodwill and spotted them, so that was that, straight into the truck.

I worked through to 7.00pm, I staggered back in the house exhausted, this retirement is hard work.