Another Lifetime to go

11th November 2017
Today was the second day of the Painted Farmgirl Christmas open house weekend, and by the time we got there and checked out the space it looked like the scene of a robbery. For Kelli, and Bristol Cottage, these are great events, the place was heaving with people looking for unique gifts for Christmas. So much of the small stuff was missing including a mirror in a rustic frame that I had made earlier this year. Yes, the things I make fly off the shelves! I had made the frame from some pallet wood that Kelli had found, and kept for future projects. It started out as an oiled piece and went to Lakeshore where it languished on a shelf for several months before going to Farmgirl, where it hung for a couple months more before Kelli, in desperation, took it home and painted it white. It was returned to the booth, and sold in less than two weeks. Now, of course there is panic to re-stock for Monday, so Sunday looks to be a busy day again.

Earlier in the afternoon we went to the opening of a new handmade chocolate store called Marzec Chocolates in Washington Square. This is a pure indulgence place where you gain weight the moment you walk through the door.

We selected a token purchase of a packet of dark pecan bark, mmm one pack is never enough.

On the way back we made the customary stop-off at Goodwill to look for new items. I walk around in a bit of a daze, not really sure what I am looking for, but Kelli is off and running, collecting all manner of stuff that she will later transform into cool item for her booth. It’s a good job someone has vision.

10th November 2017
There was no sign of the snow that fell last night. The morning was bright but bitterly cold, so I dressed up warm with a woolly hat pulled down over my ears. I am not sure that I have the proper shaped head for these type of hats.

As the day progresses it moves up my head until it sits on the top of my hair, making me look like the Pope.

I broke up some kindling and started a fire, I needed some heat to make things bearable.

The one thing I have an abundance of is firewood, within a few minutes flames were licking out the chimney of the stove like a picket line outside a car factory in the nineteen seventies.

I had a wood top to finish for the cabinet that Kelli was working on indoors. This turned out pretty good, but it’s really heavy.

I was playing around with some off-cut to come up with ideas for tee light candles holders that could be sold at Hudsonville, not that I haven’t other things to do, but it was an interesting divergence

9th November 2017
32 degrees Fahrenheit today, and it’s really cold. White stuff is expected, so snowman building is on the cards. Hard to imagine that just a couple of months ago it was in the 90’s and people were complaining, now it’s the opposite, and they complain about that too.

Needless to say it was difficult working in the garage, but I set the planer up to thickness some ash timber, and managed to draw on the heat generated from that.

The main activity of the day was to get things to Hudsonville for the weekend sale. Kelli gave the kiss of life to some returns that were laying in the garage covered in sawdust. With a quick wipe, and some festive accessories they were ready to go.

As usual, it was never just taking the things there, and dotting them around the space, it was a full replan.

By the time we were finished, it was dark, and it was only five thirty.

“What shall we do for dinner?” 

” I don’t know”

“New Holland?”

“Just what I was thinking”

That was an easy decision to make.

We arrived there about six fifteen, which is about time when all the old farts eat, so that there is still time in the evening to fall asleep in their chairs.

The table next to us filled with some good-time girls. They shrieked and laughed at such volume that we were glad that they got their food first, so that we could hear ourselves.

8th November 2017
So it’s one hundred days since I retired, and it’s been an interesting time. I have not thought about HM at all in all this time. I would guess if I were grieving, I would be over it by now.

I have thrown myself into my new life, and it has been the most natural transition I could have imagined.

One of the main jobs of the day was to prepare timber for the top of the two drawer unit Kelli started painting. We decided to change the top, which was a bit ordinary, to a solid one. I had some pallet runners that I had been saving.

These were old ash pieces which were hard as rocks, and the nails screeched as I pulled them out.

I took them up to Dave’s to trim, and square up the faces. The saw was playing up again, so some time was spent fixing that. By the end of the day I had managed to glue up some slabs to thickness tomorrow, once the bin man has been, then I’ve a place to dump more of the wood chippings.

7th November 2017
In the newly cleared workspace I threw myself into three projects that I need to complete this week, I oiled the top of the semi-detached dresser, which came up really well, although I have been battling with the drawers to get them to close properly, but as this is an old piece with no guides, maybe what I have is the best possible? 

The second job was to complete the floor for the Fifteen bucks unit. I also have a lot of things to fill and sand as it has been badly treated, but I’m still confident I can make it interesting, but will it sell? that’s will be the question.

The last job was cutting the middle out of the small double door top, that was a mock leather inset panel.

The other double door unit was manhandled into the kitchen for painting.


It is now noticeably colder, although I still have the garage door open, there will soon come a time when that will remain shut.

We have been talking about ways of selling off things that Kelli removes from her booths. There are lots of small items that still have some value, and at a time of low sales we need to balance the books somehow.

Often Kelli puts items outside for free, just to get rid them, which she did last night. By morning everything had gone. There must be people out at first light scouring the district for freebies, guess they might appear in a store near us soon.

6th November 2017

We managed to take the new bookcase and some small items to Hudsonville to fill the space left by the big bastard. This also means sorting out the items that were displayed on the shelves. These are usually re-distributed around, but not always thoughtfully.

Our visits are a good reason to revise the space, and to search for the small bits hidden from view.

As soon as we got back, it was all hands on deck to clean the garage.

Just dealing with the recycled junk opened up the space, so that I could set out the work in progress, and make it enjoyable to work there. Once I clean up the wood store, we might be able to put the truck away.

5th November 2017
So the clock went back. Gaining another hour, meant nothing as we needed to restock in both places.

I had great expectations to have several pieces for Kelli to paint.

I fell at the first hurdle when I tried to fit the drawers in the semi-detached dresser. As all the parts had been loose, and I meticulously assembled everything back together, I did think it would be a walk in the park. As I aligned the bottom drawer and pushed it, the bloody thing jammed about two inches in. I had no success either when I tried it in the other two positions. Suddenly a walk in the park was a much more attractive alternative. I was no more successful with the other drawers, which led me to get the big guns out and sand the buggers to fit.

Eventually I managed to get them to slide, but this took most of the daylight hours.

I did some work on some other units that we bought yesterday, but I kept on stepping on bits of wood and tools littering the floor. This made me angry, I was shouting, calling myself every name I could think of, and if anyone had been passing they would have thought I had escaped from a mental institution, but I decided that tomorrow I need to tidy the garage. This was one of those days when I should have stayed in bed.

4th November 2017
Wow! Where did that day go?

Okay, so I got up late, it was wet and miserable.

Kelli made fantastic apple breakfast nachos with sliced apple, almond butter,homemade chocolate sauce, and crushed almonds.

A text came through from Farmgirl that we sold the big bastard, what a great start to the day.

Then we went to check out the sale event at Lakeshore. A couple of pieces had already sold, which was really encouraging, so we celebrated by going to Goodwill and buying two new pieces to work on.

There will be a intensive effort over the weekend to finish new pieces to fill the gaps in both places.

In the evening Kelli, Greer and myself went to the Saugatuck Brewing Company for dinner and to watch our friend Chris Slone perform his music. Over the years I have helped him record his songs by using my portable equipment then working on them back in the UK. It was fun, because I knew most of the songs.

3rd November 2017
This morning we moved completely different things from one place to the other. I had oiled my biceps to move the big beast, instead only several smaller pieces were chosen, Hurray!

It was a wonderful autumnal day with the sun shining on the avenues of maple trees, this meant that I could work outside. I began by loosely assembling the “Fifteen bucks project” for the first time. Dimensionally it was good, so I need to make something to disguise the join. 

I also started the semi-detached dresser repair.

The returned bookcase has now been completed,and ready for painting.

The “creative studio” has now been moved inside the house, as it is a bit too cold for her to work in the garage, this is just for me and a couple of penguins.
Something that has been bugging me for a while is the number of glue sticks I have been using. It is the only reason I have coffee in Starbucks is to grab the stirring sticks.

I start a job, glue something up, turn around and do something else, then go to use the adhesive again, and, no glue stick. Sometimes I find it on the floor covered in crap, but other times it’s easier to use another stick.

However the adhesive was difficult to pour, I thought I was running out of the stuff, and made a mental note to buy some tomorrow. As I was probing the dregs in the bottle, I noticed about six glue sticks inside, that’s where they go!

2nd November 2017

Things have settled a bit, although I still have a lot of projects in progress.

The Fifteen bucks is moving along, although I do not have the space to build it yet. Space is another issue, I seem to block myself in to a corner by the end of the day. As each surface is created it becomes a new work bench, so I go deeper into the corner.

I started to work on the semi-detached dresser, I picked up a drawer, and that fell into five pieces, the auto destruction continues.

As October was a disappointing month for sales, Kelli had been planning to move some of the big pieces from Farmgirl to Lakeshore to take advantage of a special sales event at the weekend. This means my muscles will be required to move some heavy things. I was thinking that my continued yoga practice would help me, but I can’t think that my downward facing dog will help at all.