Stuff In, Stuff Out

Going away is always good, and so is coming home. But then there is all the work that did not get done because I was away...not quite so good.

At the Parkersburg booth

 We had a lot to do to get our booths restocked and tidied up this week. I still have one left to do but the other three are full once again. This is definitely a stuff in-stuff out business.

We also got a new roof on the house, which we hired a contractor to do. Sometimes we have to admit that we can't do it all. We still have a lot of cleanup to do from that. Our house has no attic, so when the old shingles, roofing felt and bad sheathing were removed in the bad places dirt and grit fell right down into the house. Yuck. I suppose most people don't notice that because the dirt falls into their attic and they probably never have to clean it up. Here, it's on tops of dressers, cabinets, shelves, you name it. So today we're cleaning up that mess, while still being thankful that the job got done before this morning's showers. Those men worked hard all day yesterday to get finished; I would recommend that company to anyone.

 While they worked, we worked: me on cleaning up and sorting some of the pile-up in my workroom, and Larry on a sweet little formica-topped table he's reclaiming. Someone had painted over the green cracked-ice formica top and chrome trim with some kind of heavy enamel paint, then apparently used it as a craft table because it was caked with glue and paint drips. You can see on the left edge where he tested the stripper to see if it would work and also just to see what was under there.

The base needed sanding, cleaning and painting too-

but look at it now! We have four chairs to go with it that will need to be recovered, and I think this time we'll take them to an upholstery shop and let them do the job.

Here's another table we finished up this past week. This one was in poor shape, needing much cleaning, the base repainted and general tightening up; we added two chairs that aren't an exact match but at least they're yellow and of the same time period. The chairs needed much cleaning to remove paint and other stains.

This set is now in place in our Marietta booth.

There is such satisfaction in taking something from marginally useful to sturdy and attractive.

Like this table that was given to us because it needed a lot of TLC. Imagine it with one leaf off, the other dangling, covered in dirt and cobwebs, and wobbly to the touch. And look at it now. I'd love to just keep it, but I like the table I have too much to replace it--yet!

This one will go to our Spencer booth, with  two old oak chairs that I have almost finished painting.

When I did all I could do yesterday--make that wanted to do--in the workroom I got to work on sanding furniture for future painting. It was a warm day for January with temperatures near 60 so I took advantage of the sun and sanded for three hours straight. To say I am sore today would be a serious understatement. But I now have seven pieces ready for painting and staining, which I can do inside.

Here's a look at two of the booths we worked on this week. First pics are from the new booth in Parkersburg:

And these are from Marietta:

Today is Sunday, a day of rest; that is just what I plan to do. I hope you do the same.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.