Another Lifetime to go

13th February 2020

“I think I’ll pass on that” the dreaded phrase that we hear sometimes, meaning that all our hard work is not appreciated by a prospective buyer. It is a statement that raises the sap of anger in both of us, especially when we drive out to some god forsaken petrol station in Fennville, in the freezing cold, only to find that we were at the wrong place. So we then had to drive back to one that we must have passed earlier. The lady was interested in the side table that we had advertised, but she started playing with the drawers swinging them from side to side, and in and out, I thought she was trying to get a tune out of it. She announced that she felt there was too much lateral movement in the top drawer. I explained the attributes of roller slides, but she was determined not to buy it. Kelli walked around back around our truck to avoid saying something she might regret later.

We were left to load the side table back into the truck.

I didn’t know what she expected, it was only $45 not a bloody Chippendale.

We started to drive back, “ I want a bottle of wine” said Kelli, I agreed that would be a great idea.

In contrast, the next delivery was brilliant, the guy handed over the money even before he saw it. So things were not that bad, and with a bottle of wine in our shopping trolley we were determined to end the day on a high.

We got back home and immediately started work on a tall dresser that we picked up a couple of days ago. We had gone to the Habitat store to buy some new handles for it, and we were determined to get it posted.

I had to drill the new holes for the handles, and then had to find shorter screws to fit then to the fronts.

As I didn’t have any, I had to cut down longer ones, which wasn’t an easy job, but I made a jig to hold them securely whilst I cut them.

Kelli came into the garage, saw me struggling, and suggested that I use the screws that were used with the old handles.

As I explained (trying to make a convincing excuse, which was weak and pathetic) that I was saving them for another job.

I conceded that it was a good suggestion, and tried to avoid looking at the smug look she was giving me.

I can’t think of the bleeding obvious all the time.

Kelli has other people interested in the side table, so she sent out text, and set up a viewing tomorrow.

The day started well, we managed to sell the matching pair of pedestals that I had put a lot of time and energy into.

12th February 2020

This was a workshop day.

I needed to finish the pedestals and progress the dining table project.

I completed the staining of the underside, of the table sections, and once they were sealed, I could re-assemble the skirts.

I attached the new tops to the pedestals and Kelli painted the fronts.

For many days nothing seemed to have changed, then suddenly, things were complete and it looked like we had made progress.

11th February 2020

The air is getting colder, but in the garage things are hotting up.

Kelli had concerns that the last dresser had attracted little interest on Marketplace. According to her, action is required.

I thought the natural oiled cedar was a pleasant change from all the dark stained furniture we had done recently, but with little activity she was determined to change it.

She went through our stock of tinted oils and decided on a dark Walnut finish.

The oil gave it an antique look and killed some of the red in the clear finish.

Once she was done, it had to be carried back into the living space to be photographed.

I had my own list of objectives to meet, which entailed sanding, staining and finishing. I finally got to working on the dining table staining project.

I sanded the backside of the two half sections and stained them. The finish was okay considering the material, so I set them aside to dry before applying the finish.

When I checked the tin the lady supplied it was super thick, like a yogurt. According to the instructions it was three times thicker than ordinary polyurethane, and was hell to apply.

Kelli was also on the hunt for more JustEgg. We had exhausted the supply in Holland and Grandville, so it meant going further afield to Grand Rapids. Oh, and quite by coincidence she had accumulated more clothes to take to Plato’s Closet, so that is where we had to go.

10th February 2020

I was completely freaked out this evening.

Kelli was trawling through her Facebook and came across a post that claimed that the earth’s axis was in the perfect position to allow a broom to stand up straight without any support.

Of course I said that the story was crap and went off on a rant about the junk that was on social media. To make my point I went into the laundry room to get our broom, determined to prove my point.

I placed the broom on the floor and let go, expecting it to fall down, but it didn’t.

I jumped back, not believing what I was witnessing. Kelli was jumping up and down laughing hysterically, it was true.

To my amazement the broom stayed vertical.

We tried it with paint brushes, and another brush but with no success, so I know it is a joke and it’s got nothing to do with the earth, or the moon, but it was amazing that it happened

The day started ordinarily, we had to meet a person outside Zeeland at a petrol station to pick up another dresser and side table, like we need more. Sure enough we met up and transferred the furniture from their truck to ours. We headed back with our new things rattling in the back.

We had to go a visit Kelli’s mum, so I took the opportunity to start moving out some of the machines from the basement.

The first one was a disc sander. I thought this was the lightest one, I was wrong. I could not carry the thing up the stairs without serious injury. I had to dis-assemble the motor from the table and even that made my eyes water. But I managed to carry all the individual items up the stairs and into the truck.

I also came across a very old tape recorder and a reel of tape. Nobody knows what could be recorded on it, so I will see if I can get it going again

9th February Sunday

Snow was falling again as we got up. Over breakfast I read about the storms in the UK, and checked with Louise that everything was good in Bradford-on-Avon.

Kelli had agreed to go shopping with Greer who came down from Grand Rapids for the afternoon. As I was not included in the girls shopping expedition, I locked myself away in the garage to do some staining. Oh how I hate staining. I have watched countless videos on different techniques with smug looking guys in immaculate workshops applying colour to a perfect piece of timber. They wipe off the access leaving a perfectly coated sample, their satisfied smile makes me want to scream.

It is the same with other woodworkers with top of the range numerical controlled machines, they talk like everybody should have them. I wonder how they get enough work to ever make a living.

The best video I’ve watched showed a guy go out into the woods chop down a tree, split it into strips using wedges and an axe. There was not one machine used in the entire process of making a bed frame. This was woodcraft at its purest. It probably took over a year to make it.

I know what we do is not challenging, although if there is a difficult way to do something, I will find it.

8th February 2020

With the dresser finished, it was off to Goodwill to look for more stock. Not that we are down to the bare bones, but as we’d been holed up at home for the whole of Friday some quality time outside was needed. Not that a trip to Goodwill is quality, it is the place where you can meet fellow hunters, otherwise known as “the competition” and share stories of finding the gems.

It amuses me to listen in to the conversation that Kelli has with them. There have been occasions when others have pipped us to the post on some things, and we have our revenge at other times. Each has their own style, and of course we are the best, we do tend to make more effort in making the furniture more appealing. There is an underlining vibe of “you bitch I wanted that piece” and “yes we are doing really well at the moment” but the proof of the pudding, and all that.

We found a tall pine dresser at Goodwill on the south side, but nothing on the north side except a few candles. This place is the best source for those, other that church, but as we don’t frequent, it works for us.

I am getting closer to the stain colour I want for the pedestal tops, so they should be finished tomorrow.

There was a fresh flurry of snow this morning followed by sunshine, it is a mixture of all sorts.

7th February 2020

The garage disappeared in clouds of sawdust.

I had my goals for the day. The pedestals had to be stained, and the dresser had to be finished ready for listing on Marketplace for the weekend traffic.

I applied the first coat of stain to the tops and set them aside for four hours to dry before I could apply another one. It’s going to be tricky to match the dark finish of drawer fronts, so it will take time to get it as close as I can.

I then sanded the dresser drawer fronts back to the bare cedar. I made sure that I had my mask and cap on because as the day progresses I change colour.

Kelli painted the carcass and I cut out a upstand for the dresser top.

What I didn’t know was Kelli had painted the doorway with the bright red paint we had left from painting the front door.

It looked great, it framed the entrance way perfectly and continues the theme of forever changes(which is a great album title)

6th February 2020

All aboard for the drive to Zeeland to deliver the small dresser. The sat nav led us to a new housing estate on the outskirts of the town. Everything is set out so perfectly, like a film set, slightly unreal.

Kelli had her list of things to buy including Habitat for Humanity to search for two handles to finish the next dresser on the production line. She had bought eight the day before but realised she needed ten. So we rifled through the bins finding everything but the design we needed. Then we found one, our hearts raced, then it got frantic looking for the last one. I went through everything in the bin with no luck. Out of sheer desperation I looked in a smaller tub and there it was, the last handle. It was like winning the lottery but with less money, but with equal calibration.

There was a quick trip to Goodwill, Menards and Aldi and our chores were done.

There was our box from Unnatural Foods waiting for us as we pulled up. This has so far proved a good idea, sure the vegetables are a little mis-shaped but the taste is good.

I went into the garage to get something done.

I had to finish sanding the pedestal tops ready for staining, and complete the sanding of the dresser top.

Kelli came in to strip the red paint off the drawers, it is a mindless, boring job especially when the first layer comes off easily but the base coat doesn’t.

I would follow on with the sandpaper to scratch off the primer.

With my fingers sore, I stopped, that was my lot for the day.

We sat and watched a house renovation programme on the television. One idea that stuck out was someone had painted the inside of the doorway bright red, Kelli looked at me, and I looked at our entrance way. That is what it needed to lift the doorway into the living space, and keep our house evolving.

5th February 2020

I began to reassemble the extension leaves so that I could set them aside and get on with other parts. Unfortunately I damaged the hinge putting it all together, I blame the soft metal that the parts we made from, but now I had to find a replacement.

I first port of call was the Hafele catalogue.

I managed to find something that looked identical, the only difference this was made from German steel, and therefore indestructible. However the price, holy shit it was expensive, but I had no alternative.

I got on with stripping down and sanding the extension cradle. This was difficult and time consuming, the stain took differently to the many parts, but I couldn’t worry about it, black is not my favourite colour.

We had two ladies turn up to look at a dresser we got free a couple of weeks ago. We had decided to advertise it as a project piece, this is for those who might want to paint it themselves. We had quite a backlog, and couldn’t face the thought of painting this one.

The older lady loved the piece, but asked us to paint it for her, so the whole thing backfired, and we will have to paint it anyway.

Kelli had posted the little dresser on Marketplace and got someone on it straight away, that is due for delivery tomorrow.

I was able to get the tops for the side tables cleaned up and I machined a radius all round.

Kelli was able to finish painting the pedestals, so the race is on to finish.

4th February 2020

I disassembled the extension pieces of the dining table, taking pictures as I went to ensure that I put it back together again correctly. I managed to strip the top and under surface, so I was able to stain the underside with the black stained that was supplied.

I also put a coat of paint on the desk pedestals that will become side tables.

I was bouncing around the garage working on one piece and then another.

We had been working on the multi-coloured dresser that had morphed into an attractive blue grey number with the cedar top oiled to a smooth finish. There had been a bit of damage to the back corner that I had filled, but it didn’t look good enough. So I made a simple up-stand for the back edge that hid the repair and gave it a bit of interest.

At the end of the day I was tired and hungry, so what better place to go but New Holland.

But first it was a good hot shower, and afterwards Kelli wanted to do a bit of grooming to my eyebrows. At the same time trim the growth in my ears. The trimmer sounded like she was scalping a hedge. Afterwards she was poking away with something, I didn’t see with what, but I certainly felt it as she yanked out a rogue hair with a pair of tweezers. My eyes watered, as they do with anything to do with tweezers.

This male grooming routine for me is torture that frightens the begeebers out of me, respect to all the ladies.