Snowy Days and Saturdays…

I woke up at 5:30 AM on Saturday after an unusually refreshing sleep. I had a cup of coffee, filled in the post and then watched the morning news. Next I fried up my last two eggs over easy, warmed up two pieces of bacon in the microwave and made two slices of sourdough toast. I ate breakfast and, for dessert, I put blackberry jam on the last half-piece of toast. 

Then I shaved, showered and dressed for the morning errands. I headed out in the light rain at the house. But as I drove down Inkster towards I-96, there was a gray wall of clouds covering the road at the railroad track. Uh, oh, I thought, heavy rain! Nope! It was snow!

Apparently I took the driveway snowplow markers out a bit prematurely. It snowed until I got to I-275, when it switched to sleet. Lovely. I got off on Ford Road and found my store just west of Lilley. It was called Home Goods (which is why I couldn’t find it again at work, as I was searching under Home Décor).

It was a very interesting store and I could have spent a whole lot more time in there than I did. But I was on a mission! I wanted a round mirror for the living room. I found one I like and studied it for a long time until I figured out how to modify it so it would work. Nothing comes easy, in this house (sigh).

As I said, I could have spent a grand and bought a ton of stuff I liked, but I restrained myself. I only bought one impulse buy: a picture on canvas stretched over a frame. I liked it and will have to find a place to hang it sometime…

I headed back home, but had a few more stops to make. First came Kroger, to stock back up on groceries (I had made a list before I left this morning). Then I went to Home Depot to get some grass seed for the yard’s bare spots, sisal rope and some shaker pegs for the mirror. I got the seed and the rope, but no pegs.  I asked a Home Depot guy where they were, stating I had bought them here before. He said they, too, had been discontinued as a slow-moving item. Damn! He suggested Michael’s, so I went there next. I got two sizes, not knowing yet which one (if any) I will use.

I was finally back home around 12:45 PM.. I treated the cats and then unloaded the car, put away the groceries, and so on.

I stripped the bed and put the bedding in the washer. I was hungry, so I warmed up some of the beef vegetable soup I had made in February (I thawed it out a few days ago). I threw in the rest of the cooked cauliflower from the other night. After all, that’s why soup was invented, to use up stuff.

It tasted great and after eating it, I lay down for a little while to rest my back. Next I remade the bed and started the second load of laundry. I put the rest of the soup back in the fridge.

Then I got busy.  Now, I was convinced that I needed to put on another coat of polyurethane, which is why I waited the required 72 hours to work on the clock. Why? Because it felt so rough on the face (the sides were fine). I hadn’t given it a lot of thought, but when I finally did, I realized it made no sense. I had sanded the p*ss out of that sucker. Then it dawned on me that the wood wasn’t rough, it was the polyurethane.

So, I took several small pieces of the 400 grit sandpaper and lightly went over the face. If it didn’t get smooth or turned dull, I was prepared to spray it again. But, after I wiped it off with a t-shirt rag, it was perfect!!!

Remembering Evy’s criticism regarding her truck planter, I wood-burned in my initials and the year on the back. It’s not easy to make curves with a wood burner and this would have stunk less if I had remembered to do it before putting on the polyurethane.

I needed to use two separate drill bits to attach the 1 1/2 brass screws and washers to the pine round hour indicators. These screws are not necessary, I just wanted to give the clock some bling. But, I feared that attaching them will split the wood rounds. So, I needed to find the middle of each round, use the awl to make a drill bit locator, drill to the correct depth with a drill bit smaller than the threads and then drill another larger, but shorter hole for the shank.

That’s why I built the test block. If the process split the round, I wouldn’t try it on the clock. I planned all along to just have stained rounds as the hour indicators. And I even discussed options with Jake on how to make them stand out more. I tried that and didn’t like it, as they stood out too much. But, I thought the brass screw heads and washers would be a distinct, but muted touch.

So, I figured out how deep each drill bit needed to go and added a visual stop by wrapping them at that point with electrician’s tape. I went out and got my old awl, a mallet and a screwdriver. I didn’t dare use the drill to screw them in as one slip would punch a hole in the clock face. So, each one had to be screwed in by hand.

I did the test block on my cutting block. Finding the center of the round was a little tricky, and tapping on the round with the awl and a mallet was scary, but the drilling and screwing went fine.

I took a break to hang up my pants and shirts. I folded the rest of the clothes and put them away as well.

I did the clock on the kitchen table. I would like you to believe I did it as a test of faith in my skill as a woodworker, by offering up my beloved kitchen table as my sacrifice if I screwed up and drilled too far. But the truth was, it was just too damn cold with that wind to do it in the garage without farting around moving the car and dragging out the heater and so on.

Only two were difficult. But, I persevered and got ‘er done. Next I attached the hanger. I used a standard picture hanger (I couldn’t find any “heavy duty” ones) but substituted the little brads with one-inch ones.

Finally, I unwrapped and attached the clock work. Then I put on the hands. I had to adjust (read that as bend) them a tad so they didn’t hit the clock face or each other. They were very big and very thin.

So, at about 5:30 PM, the clock was officially done. I took some photos for you and then quit for the night.

I watched the news for a while until I realized I was hungry again. I decided to celebrate the finish of the clock project by ordering a pizza (first time in a long time). So, I called Pizza Hut (just down the road) and ordered a large, hand-tossed pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and banana peppers.

The guy showed up with my food about 7:00 PM. It tasted better than I remembered and I ate too much! I let the rest cool and watched taped TV until about 10:00 PM when I went to bed, burping, but satisfied by my day.