Put the tube I bought for the wheelbarrow in. NOT easy! Could not get it in with the tire on, so managed to get one side off, using two screw drivers. Got the tube in and locked the stem in (or out, as the case might be) with a pair of channel locks. But, then, getting the tire back on the rim was incredibly hard! Finally got it (after only smashing two fingers).
Took it to the gas station to blow it up. Then did some banking and picked up a few things from Farmer Jack. Washed the car at the quarter car wash, and dried it off after getting back home (one of the nice things about living so close, I don't have to dry it off at the car wash).
The spacers I had made years ago out of PCV pipe for the wheel barrow were all worn out, so cut new ones out of galvanized pipe. Went through three hacksaw blades, and I can hardly move my right arm, but got it done and back together. Then moved on to the newest project...
Readers of my Blog, or even my poetry, know by now I love to sit on the front porch in my rocker, especially when I can't sleep. And, you may also recall, I needed a table, so I bought a real, used lobster trap from Maine (although, after two years, I still have not caught even one lobster!) However, when visitors are over who smoke, we usually go out on the porch, but only I can sit down. Not very hospitable!
So, I have been thinking about ways to increase the seating capacity. A friend offered a church pew he was no longer using, which was a cool idea, but it was too long. Then, this week, it hit me: the wicker furniture! I had two wicker chairs and a table that sat on the porch in St. Claire (although, most people, including myself, sat on the porch swing - which I miss!). When I moved here, I put them out on Jake's patio (where they were also never used) for two seasons.
Unlike the covered porch in St. Claire, on San Jose, they were exposed to the elements, and sun, wind and rain worked on them. When I put them in the attic a year ago, they were gray and rapidly becoming unwound (see photo). So, Friday night, I got out the hot glue gun and began to fix them all as needed.
Saturday, I began to spray paint them and the rocker (the rocker has also suffered from the sun and I was going to refinish it, but instead I sanded it and painted it). Murray's hardware only had 4 cans of almond (the final color I want them all) so I bought white enamel as the primer. I had to go back and get more white paint, but so far I've gone through 8 cans of spray paint, and have two more white left, then will finish them with the almond. It was a long, slow process, that leads up to:
Dinner!
