Covid Journal, Day 232: Hiatus

50, warm and bright this morning. We've had exceptionally warm weather this past week. Have to admit, I love it. 

I've been MIA for the past week, haven't I? For several reasons.

The election first, of course. To say I am pleased with the outcome would be putting it mildly. I'm elated. But I'm also realistic enough to know that it's not over yet, and that a Republican majority in the Senate will undoubtedly keep us gridlocked as far as anything getting accomplished. That said, I am so hoping for a return to civility, and an end to outright racism and general nasty behavior. As a "blue" living in a "red" state, it's been an uncomfortable and also at times unwelcoming four years. I would not wish this on anyone and my hope is that we can all move ahead and not keep looking back. However I might hope for this, my logical self doesn't see it happening. There is too much bitterness and division now. So, onward we go, come what may. I pray there will be no violence. 

Aside from that tumultuous election, I've been focused on painting furniture. The weather is perfect for the outside work that needs to be done to get pieces ready, like sanding and staining. Here's a look at few things I've been working on.

First, this dresser. It's ready to go, as soon as the wax dries. I am so pleased with this piece. 

After:

And before:

Then there's this table. It was a right mess, and needed a lot of loving care. The top had a bad place where it had been left out in the weather, with another table on top of it. So, we flipped the top boards, sanded and stained, then I filled the screw holes with little tacks. It gave a nice rustic touch.

Now look at it:

Up on blocks for painting, distressing, and waxing. And done.

I have four chairs in progress to put with it, painted white and distressed. The one on the right is one of them--needs distressing and wax. The other little chair is a stand alone, which I'll display in the booth with Christmas items.

Here's one of the chairs before painting--the only one I have left to do. It's in the workroom, with my begonia and rosemary plants behind it.

Three more projects in progress: I fell in love with this primitive "make-do" cabinet at a flea market. I'm sure I paid too much for it to make a decent profit. Larry put boards on the back as it didn't have a back at all, and I painted and sanded them to give them a rustic look. Then I sanded the whole cabinet, added some paint to the inside, and now I need to wax it. 

Has such character, I think.

This was a sewing machine cabinet. No machine in it when we bought it. So we adapted it to be just a stand. It was a rather terrible green; I painted it bright "Holiday Red" in hopes that someone will want it for Christmas. If not, I may just keep it as I really do love it.

This one is Larry's project right now. He's stripping the top, sanding and re-gluing--and then he'll have to repair the drawers too. Once all these repairs are done, it will come to me for finishing up: stain on the top, paint on the rest. It's a beautiful piece that has been badly treated, but some work and love will make it shine again.

This coat tree needs only some new hooks to replace the two broken ones. I have the replacements hanging on it. It's waiting for Larry to do that little job. He's been working on so many other things lately, but this one will get done today, I think.

And a cedar-lined blanket chest, which will be my next job. Since it has been painted with that awful 70's "antiquing" stuff that's almost impossible to remove, I'll sand and repaint, probably white and distressed. 

That's about all I've been doing, beside the usual housework, and of course ebay. More about that in my next post.

As for Larry, thank you all for your kind comments. He's doing better. He had a beer last week that once again had him woozy to the point that he very nearly fell. Fortunately I was right there and caught him. He is slowly accepting that he has to leave it alone. I really wanted to pop open some champagne to celebrate the election, but did not because I also have to remove alcohol from my life for him to be successful. His ribs are slowly healing, although he is a terrible patient--because he's so impatient to be better and get on with all the tasks he can't do right now. But he is getting better, and hopefully in a few more weeks will be back to his normal busy self.  

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