Long Day on Sunday

I woke up at 5:00 a.m. on Sunday. I posted the Blog entry and, since it was too early for the news, did the Sunday morning chores.

When the news came on, I sat on the bed and took off the tags from my new clothes. Then I washed them.

I had another cup of coffee with my breakfast. I didn’t feel like eggs again, so I made peanut butter toast.

It was supposedly foggy everywhere, but not so much here. It was however already 65 degrees and muggy. The dew point was as high as the temperature! Hence the fog…

I hung up the clothes and then went to shave and shower. I got dressed in my go to town clothes and headed out. First stop was Meijer’s. I picked up some corn hard taco shells. I went with the “Stand and Stuff” ones, because I’d never had them before. I also got a small can of refried beans. I have a big one in the pantry, but that seemed excessive.

Then I stopped at Home Depot. I picked up another section of sidewalk rebar. Piece of cake, right? Not! I was trying to get it loose while backing up and tripped over a pallet of stock I hadn’t noticed. Three Home Depot guys rushed over and helped me up, apologizing and asking if I was hurt. I said the only thing I hurt was my dignity.

Sidebar: I believed that at the time, but later discovered I had a skinned elbow and a wicked bruise on my butt!

Back home, I put the food in the kitchen and threw the rebar over the fence.

I changed into shorts and t-shirt and went to work in the garage. I sanded down the spackling compound on the three doors and set them aside. Then I sanded the one base cabinet door that was gouged and I had filled in with wood putty. I noticed just how much smoother the finish was after I sanded it (since I was sanding, I did the whole face). So, I ended up sanding the other five doors as well.

I took a break to rest my legs (I learned from yesterday) and sat on the bed, watching a DIY show and drinking coffee. The air conditioning felt great.

Back outside, I decide to tackle the drawer. One of the drawer faces had come loose at one time and the previous owner tried to fix it with a brace, some pipe strap and (inexplicably) some of that foam insulation. There was no way to salvage anything but the drawer face.

The original drawers were made of 1/2-inch pressboard. But, I made mine out pine. Instead of the original crappy cardboard or masonite (or something) bottom, I used thin plywood.

I cut slots in the sides for the bottom on the table saw (cutting once, then moving it over a hair and cutting each again). Then I cut out the bottom and dry fit it all together.

The first bottom was too small, so I made another one. Bingo!

So, I glued it and nailed it together. I left it to dry overnight before I attach the rails.

I checked and the birdbath was dry, so I put out where it belongs.

I don’t remember if I mentioned this, but when my neighbor Rick was cleaning up for his father’s wake, he gave me eight landscape timbers. He said they were left over from some job and he didn’t want them. He left them on his side of the fence, but where I could reach them. I managed to get seven of them, but the last one fell off and onto the ground on his side. I stacked my seven under the play structure.

I needed to wait to 5:30 p.m. to apply stripper (it can stay on up to 24 hours and I think those six coats of paint will need all 24!)

So, I started to work on redoing the edges of the driveway. I pried up the first old one with great difficulty. I thought it was a 4x4 but it was more like a 4x8 beam. I replaced it with a landscape timber. I think it looks nice. I’ll work on this project in my spare time…

But, by then it was time to put the stripper on. I covered the bike with Visqueen (in case of splashes) and set up the saw horses and 2x4’s. I put on my special gloves and slathered the stripper on with a paint brush. By the time I had the last one done, the first one was changing color!

I quit for the night. I was sweaty and felt like I was covered with sawdust. So, I hopped in the shower. I started the last load of laundry and then made my dinner: tacos and refried beans. They were okay, but I think my disappointment of not eating them last night had built them up in my mind! So, I was disappointed twice…

My legs, back, butt and elbow all ached. So, I only stayed up until 9:00 p.m. and then went to bed.