My kitchen table and chairs, bought at an antiques shop in Harrison, are working out really well. The set is far from an antique, however — according to what’s printed on the underside of the solid-oak tabletop, it was made in Malaysia in 2010.
And it’s not perfect. It shows wear from use, and one of the four chairs is broken — or it was. I repaired it yesterday morning over coffee.
The issue was with two rungs bracing the legs. One dowel had popped out, and a larger turned rung was both broken off and split (probably the outcome of a previous repair).
I set up my folding work table in the bath-laundry (anyplace can be a workshop), gathered the supplies I’d need, and got the chair situated.
I wanted the repair to be secure but simple — there would be no fancy joinery. I applied wood glue to the displaced parts, popped them into place, and clamped them for a half-hour with a couple of ratchet straps.
That gave the broken-and-split rung little more than a cosmetic fix. To reinforce it a bit better, I drilled and countersunk a pilot hole from the outside, then drove a deck screw through the joint.
It didn’t repair the split, but it gives this chair a fighting chance of staying together for a while.
All it cost me was a little glue, a few inches of masking tape, a deck screw, and time. Very satisfying.
I intended to make a trip to Yellville yesterday, and I had four stops in mind. One required a bit of preparation here before I left.
A number of small items still in the camper were of no use or interest to me, but they were too good to merely discard. I filled two good-sized boxes with that stuff and set them on the passenger seat of my truck.
Then I headed for town. This view, by the way, no matter the season, never gets old:
My first three stops were the post office, the smoke shop, and Harps. (Freschetta pizza and JJ’s fruit pies were on sale.) Then it was on to the Marion County Thrift Shop, where I dropped off my boxes of stuff.
The shop’s volunteer staff were all smiles, delighted that I’d brought a donation.
I couldn’t leave without doing a little browsing, of course. I ended up with a grater (a dollar) and two bowls (50 cents each, and they match).
Now that was a productive trip to town.
As I filled those boxes in the camper earlier, I came across something I definitely wanted to keep — and I mean a real prize. I don’t know how I missed it before.
In the corner behind the dinette was an unopened 12-can flat of Wellness dog food.
This is The Good Stuff. Suggested retail price is $60 — five bucks a can. Well-known discounter Chewy sells it for almost $50. I had no idea it was in the camper.
Scout and Smudge always have dined on quality kibble, but top-shelf canned food isn’t something they know. And since Scout had just missed a couple of meals (after inhaling her breakfast Wednesday morning), I brought The Good Stuff into the cabin, opened a can, and split it between them.
Smudge already had eaten all of her breakfast, so she had only the spendy canned food (and absolutely loved it). I spooned Scout’s portion on top of her untouched kibble, slid the bowl in front of her, and stood back to watch.
That (pictured) is one happy girl Scout. She attacked the food like a dog possessed, devouring every last morsel (breakfast kibble included). And she bitched at me when I took the empty bowl away.
I’m pretty sure it made her day. I know it made mine.
The audit of my solar stake lights is complete. Seven survivors have been deployed.
Two I’m certain of, four I’m fairly confident about, and the other is a what-the-hell. Those that tested best went down by the shed. The rest I planted at the opposite end of the driveway, near the fire pit.
This has been a good time to evaluate these lights’ capacity — long days, short nights. We’ll see how they fare.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable