Another Lifetime to go

24th January 2020

Kelli had a dinner date with an old friend that she had not seen for over twenty years, so that should keep her busy for a few hours.

I uncovered the old desk top that I had planned to cut down to make the new tops for the pedestals.

It was not a particular good board but I thought I could find areas that would be acceptable. However that was not the case.

Large areas of veneer was dry and not bonded to the blackboard core, so when I cut through it all splintered and looked like shit. That happened to the other piece as well, so basically a bit of a disaster. My only option will be to buy some timber and make new tops complete. As the desk was free I don’t mind putting something into it to make it look good.

Kelli had finished a cabinet that we bought last week, it was a simple paint job, but the top, which I had stripped, was a very figured timber, and looked pretty good.

That went straight on to market place, and was soon gaining interest. Someone is due to look at it tomorrow.

I had my first minor injury since I got here. I was using my Japanese saw to cut a block to size when my thumb caught the top surface of the saw, which has teeth, and nicked the skin. I spent ages looking for a plaster to put over it. I wrapped some toilet paper round it and bound it with sticky tape as a temporary measure. I tried to call Kelli to find out where the first aid box was, but she didn’t answer immediately.

She had an feeling that something was wrong, and when she saw my big thumb she freaked out. I explained the injury was not bad, and I just needed a plaster.

I plan to use this as an excuse to get out of some difficult jobs she may have for me.

23rd January 2020

The new garage layout is working a treat, I’m even encouraged to sweep up after every task, once I find the brush and pan.

The pan “disappears” regularly so a chunk of my time is taken up searching for the thing. I man-scan the area many times, “ nope, it’s not there” only to find it’s behind me.

The snow has turned to a slushy mess, fortunately I stay in the garage with the heater and work lights blazing.

I often open up the back door to get some natural light in.

As I was outside spraying some knobs and hinges, I heard someone calling, I looked up and realised that there was a neighbour looking over the fence at me. I walked over to see what he wanted.

“ Could you please turn off that bright light, it’s shining straight into my kitchen”.

I looked around and saw that one of the work lights was shining directly out the glass screen door. I apologised, and quickly turned the light away. Just as well it wasn’t a laser beam.

22nd January 2020

The round dining table was dropped off this afternoon. The customer wanted it stripped and stained black. Seeing it in the flesh made me realise why I didn’t want to do it.

The top was solid, but made up out of small bits of different timber. These are generally okay when left natural, but each piece will take stain differently, I may have to put a conditioner on it. The lady seemed a little obsessive over the painted base, but she supplied all the finishing materials, so it will be just hard graft.

We had someone pick up a small table, which was a Goodwill find, that just needed a bit of loving care. Everyone who comes to the house loves all the funky things and colours that Kelli had blended together, it’s great to hear all the compliments.

Progress on the old desk pedestals is nearing completion, just the painting and a top to go, these will be good to start February sales.

21st January 2020

I set up the fire pit ready for the inferno.

I had cut up all the smelly wood along with a lot of off cuts, and lit the match.

Within a short time it was reduced to ashes, but noticeably, the snow around the pit had not melted, which was odd as there was a great deal of heat.

I continued rebuilding the two desk pedestals, but the more pressing issue was cleaning up the garage, and getting rid of things that were littering up the place. This plan was interrupted by a visit to see Kelli mum.

I went into the basement to sort out some of the machines and tools I will be moving down to the garage.

Once that business was complete, we then made a start on the clean up. There were other wood bits that were thrown on the fire, and at the end of it it was the tidiest it has been since we moved in.

20th January 2020

Kelli had the day mapped out before I was even awake. First go to Aldi to see if they had any Just Egg, which is vegan egg substitute, left in stock.

Then a trip to Zeeland to pick up a free dresser, then on to Hudsonville to collect a glass fronted cabinet, then, just by coincidence, stop off at Plato’s Closet at Grandville to sell off some of her old clothes, she happened to sort out yesterday.

I feel I’m a passenger in this strange life.

Anyway at least I had a Starbucks coffee to look forward to.

I managed to do a little more to the desk pedestals before we left, so it was not a complete right-off.

We also heard that we got a job of stripping a round dining table and refinishing it with a black stain and white base.

I wasn’t that keen to do it as there is a lot of work involved, so I gave a high quote, but they accepted it, now I wish I went higher.

This has spurred us on to sort the garage out.

Since we moved I haven’t had time to make it work properly. There are extension leads over the floor that get in the way.

I need to get extra outlets on the walls, and make the place less a trip hazard.

The visit to Aldi ended in a big fat zero, all the jars had gone, damn those other customers!

We collected the furniture, and I had my coffee, so mission accomplished.

In a postscript, we stopped off at a Aldi in Grandville, and bingo we found stock of Just Egg. Kelli spotted it at a thousand yards and moved at a speed I have never seen before. She was a blur, she would have severely injured anyone who got in her way, it was like she was racing to grab the last loaf in a Russian supermarket. She grabbed as many as she could and we made our escape.

19th January 2020

The snow from the previous evening continued overnight, and there were six fresh inches to greet us as we woke up.

I tried clearing the snow from the drive but the plastic shovel that we had proved inadequate.

“ Remind me to get a bloody metal one” I bellowed, sweeping the snow off the truck with a broom.

I wanted to make a start on the drawer pedestals that had come from an old desk got last year. These have always proved to be a great seller, but when Kelli got it back home she discovered that each pedestal only had three legs instead of four, making the conversion a lot more difficult.

That was the reason they had been stacked in the corner of the garage covered in sawdust.

I had often looked at them, but the thought of all the work to make an additional legs was too daunting.

Today I was up for the challenge. I had machined up some timber to make the new legs, and I had watched how experts stripped down old furniture with a heat gun to soften the glues.

I carefully removed drawer runners, and broke apart the side panel that had to be remade to include the new leg.

I had labelled all the parts, as the experts do, machined grooves and mortises in the new leg, things were going well.

Kelli was busy in the kitchen making a vegan quiche, along with many other things that keep me alive.

I was making good progress, I was using as many parts from the desk as I could.

By the time I had finished for the day the frame was nearly complete, I just need to source some plywood for the side and it will be finished, then just another one to go.

18th January 2020

The people who wanted the dresser came to look at it. They were an older couple who wanted something for their son’s room.

There was something about their mannerisms that made me think it wouldn’t go well.

Now considering I went out and cleared the snow from the drive to make it easier to carry things out, meant that the smile on my face was plastered over seething expression.

Kelli had warned me that the lady was concerned about how the drawer moved, and they shouldn’t tip too much when fully open.

I had made sure that wouldn’t happen, so I made an anti tip device for the top drawer.

In fact I paid particular attention to the drawers, but considering it was an oldish dresser it wasn’t perfect, but it worked.

However Kelli was right, They were obsessed with the drawers and how they worked, pulling them in and out several times. They liked the piece but thought it was too good for what they wanted it for, so they passed on it.

That was a bit of a downer, but luckily the second person who wanted the bookcase went much better, and we made the sale.

The snow started again in the evening. We went into town to eat, and the fine dusty snow was swirling around the roads. It all looks wonderful, but it makes the journeys treacherous.

We were surprised how busy the place was considering the weather. But it looks like instead of staying warm at home people prefer to get cold and wet to eat out. Nowt strange as folk.

It the evening I experienced a spoonerism.

We had been watching an British tv programme “The Repair Shop” when I said something like “a clicking tock” I realised immediately what I had said and howled with laughter, I think this is the first I have ever made one.

17th January 2020

We had our photo shoot for the tall dresser, a small table, and a pair of bookend bookcases.

I started stripping the top off the cabinet we picked up last week.

That was a difficult as the paint stripper didn’t have any effect, I ended up using a rough sand paper to break through the tough skin, a square inch at a time.

There were people on both the dresser and the bookcases, they are booked for tomorrow.

There was a decent fall of snow overnight, so a pleasant sight to look out on.

I’m really in two minds about keeping the bookcase that smells of piss. I thought that stripping all the paint off would lessen the smell, but it seemed ingrained in the back panel material which was cedar. I decided to tear it off and see if that made a difference.

There was some improvement, so that stuff will be going on the fire in the next few days.

16th January 2020

The truck was ready for collection from Angel, so we climbed aboard the big ship Dave’s truck and headed over to pick it up.

Kelli was driving it, and she felt the brakes weren’t feeling right. Her foot went to the floor, fortunately the truck did stop, but was not happy letting me drive it back, so asked Angel to check it out. So we climbed into ours, and left the other.

The ravages of Michigan winters takes its toll on many of the vehicles. The other day I saw a car with the floor sagging so much you could see the seats under the doors. That would have a significant ground effect on your buttocks.

Angel later called to say that all the brake lines needed to be replaced, quoting over five hundred dollars to do the job, fortunately that is now Matt’s problem.

We did the usual rounds of the thrift stores, but not much furniture, but Kelli found a few small pieces that she could sell on.

Without Goodwill and similar outlets we wouldn’t have a business, it is a great way of honouring the recycling ethic.

I finished lacquering the top of the tall dresser, that is now ready for the pictures and posting.

15th January 2020

We cracked on with our furniture. There are three pieces in progress, but I was running short on finishing materials, but we made some good progress. We had a pair of white bookcases that had some damage to the bottom plinth that I had added a piece of trim to neaten and hide the defect.

I had forgotten that these units could be positioned side by side, but what I had added stopped them from doing this. So the first job was to remove it.

I alway have problem with dark staining the tops of our dressers. I haven’t been happy with most I’ve done, and a lot of the time I have to sand them back a number of times.

I had just finished the latest top when I found a blemish in the finish. The rest of the cabinet was finished, so Kelli was anxious for me to finish, so she can post it.

Kelli heard back from the person who had asked if we could re-finish five small tables.

She had decided to got with someone else, which pissed us off. These things will happen all the time, and although de-moralising are a fact of life.

We had given a very good price for doing it, and it would have got February off to a good start, but will will find other things to do.

In the evening we went to New Holland and had dinner with Don and Julie who are neighbours of Kelli’s mum and dad, and had to bear the brunt of the fire engines and ambulances turning up at all hours. We wanted to thank them for looking after her parents during the difficult time.

I didn’t realise how loud Don talked, it was close to being eleven on the loudness scale. He gets very excited and animated, and I’m sure the other people there could hear what he was talking about.

When he ordered his food, it was the most complex selection ever, I don’t know how the waitress managed to capture it.

He said his claim to fame was that he was pictured standing at the bar at New Holland on Google Earth. We checked it as he was right. What I don’t understand is how that could happen, it was as if the camera was inside the place buying a beer.

I made the mistake of having another stein, although I did promise myself never again after last week.

It all added to the laughter of the evening.

We had borrowed Dave’s old truck that had been give to Matt, to get around whilst our vehicle was being fixed, but it is much larger all round. You feel you have to use a phone to communicate with each other, and it’s so long it’s difficult to park.