Covid Journal, Day 178: Projects and Random Thoughts

After a lovely, rainy day Sunday, today was cloudy and cool most of the day, with sunshine here and there. So thankful for the good rain.

Besides gardening and canning, we really have been doing other things. Here's a few things we've worked on recently.

We found this buffet in Middleport, Ohio. The man is moving and selling some things he doesn't want to haul. I fell in love with it. 

The buffet had a few issues, no surprise. It needed some gluing and bracing, and the top was a puzzle. All we can figure is that at some time--quite some years ago, I think--the top got damaged and was flipped over. So it had an odd pattern of light and dark finishes on the top. If I was keeping it, I wouldn't care, but buyers can be picky. So we stripped it down, sanded and re-stained, then applied polyurethane and dark wax. It took three different stain applications to get the color right but in the end it matched beautifully. 

I have been looking for one of this vintage kitchen cabinets for the booth for quite a while. I can find them, but not at a price that leaves any "meat on the bone" for me. Finally got this one from one of my favorite pickers. It was nearly perfect--I repainted the back and the bottom shelves, and Larry fixed a couple loose pieces.

I finally finished up the orange chair. It's been waiting two weeks while I was busy with other things. I am hoping someone will want this for porch decor. Wouldn't mind keeping it myself, but as Larry reminds me, we have enough stuff.

Several other pieces are in the works, and I hope will soon be finished---if the garden and canning don't call too loudly. We have two more apple trees to plant tomorrow, and I have more peppers to deal with, even after making more pepper mustard yesterday. I found a few more quart jars at a thrift store this morning, and I need them for pasta sauce tomorrow. The rain has popped all our seeds up, which is great, and there are more tomatoes coming on--and the late cucumbers have little cukes on them, so I am hopeful I'll get enough to make pickle relish.

I am continuing to sort various drawers and cupboards. This time the linen closet and my stash of fabrics, bought to cover chair seats. I really have w-a-y too much, so I filled a huge bag with the ones I feel sure I'll never use. It's hard to part with them; I don't sew but I do love fabrics. Although I took a lot out, there still doesn't seem to be much room on the shelf where I store fabrics, so another sort is probably in order.

One thing I've enjoyed this summer is my poetry group. We meet on Zoom, usually every other week, and work on our poems. I have learned a great deal, and am glad to have such expert input on my writing. I also participate almost every other week in an online poetry swap. For some reason I like these but do not want to do storytelling swaps or online storytelling events. I turned down another offer today. Am I ready to give up storytelling? It feels that way. When I think about getting out there again, I just feel stressed. I think it is the lack of pressure from planning, practicing and presenting that makes me not want to do it now. I've gotten out of the groove, I guess, and am enjoying the private life. I haven't even sung a ballad in weeks. And yet, it seems a shame not to share all the stories filed away in my head. And I have so many resources--books, puppets, CDs, etc, etc. What would I do with all of that? Things to think about.

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