I’m battered, bruised, sore and tired.
Last week, a colleague of Jay’s retired, sold his house and is moving somewhere with no winter. He told Jay we could have all his yard furniture for free if we could just get it off of his property by Saturday. He lives about 15 miles from us, so Jay and I drove out to his place on Wednesday to see if we even wanted the stuff. It included a gas grill, a dining set and a swing with an awning. It was nice stuff, if in need of a face lift. Tyler was more than willing to lend us his pickup, so time was the problem. Between my painting class and Jay’s obligations, we were sort of figuring either late Friday (rush hour: boo!) or before dawn Saturday, when Jay has a morning class.
Ty, Megan and the kids brought the pickup into town on Thursday night and we all had a nice dinner together. Jay missed it: he had other school functions to attend to. As usual, the first words out of Babalouie’s mouth were “Where’s Coach?” That kid loves his grandpa.
Anyway, my painting class Friday morning was cancelled, which suddenly made all the pieces fall into place! Jay and I took the pickup, the van and a bag full of tools and went to collect our windfall. It took about an hour to haul all the furniture out of the back yard and fit it into our vehicles. We had to dismantle the swing to fit it all into the bed of the pickup. Jay’s not as good at visualizing that sort of thing as I am so I had to show him which screws needed to be taken out, twice and which could be left in place. While he did that, I hauled the four chairs down to the curb. They all fit easily into the van. I know from experience (you learn a lot about packing furniture in 40 years of estate saling) that I could have gotten two more chairs in if needed. We used the old cushions as padding. The swing came with seat cushions, too, so we had plenty. Loading the van was easy but figuring out how to get the swing, awning, legs and seats and the glass topped table into the pickup took a bit of planning. We managed. We got it all home but had no time to unload anything but the van before we both had to run off to other things we had to do. I went to Menard’s and bought a giant drop cloth and seven cans of flat black spray paint.
Katie had invited me to come up for dinner with her and the girls. The traffic between us was horrific, even for a Friday evening. There were two multi car fender benders on the highway I chose. One involved four vehicles, the other three. Lots of crushed fenders but it didn’t look like anyone had gotten hurt, thank God. It did slow traffic to a crawl for nearly half the distance to Katie’s house. What usually takes me 25 minutes took an hour ten. But it was worth it!
I hadn’t seen BoopityBoop in a week and at their age, a week is a very long time. They’re growing and developing at a breakneck pace. They’ve nearly outgrown their rock-n-plays and the swaddles that help them go to sleep. What hasn’t changed is their happy dispositions and their delight in company. Katie and I fed them, bathed them, sang to them and played with them. I played peek-a-boo with Boopity and she laughed so hard she nearly choked. Boop is equally easy to entertain. Both laughed at all my baby jokes. When your audience thinks sticking your tongue out is gut-bustingly funny, it’s easy to be a comedian. Boopity has a new trick: when she’s laying in her boppy, if you take her hands and gently pull, she’ll stand up! She’s giggles and looks so proud of herself, standing there on her fat little legs! Boop, on the other hand, is far more interested in what you’re saying to her and how you’re moving your mouth than standing up. Their personalities are quite different although they’re both sweet, fun and pretty easy going. They both love to be snuggled and we spent a lot of time doing that and singing Jimmy Buffet songs to them.
I got home around 11:30 and fell into bed. I was asleep by 11:35. Jay had to be at school early in the morning, so Zack helped me unload the pickup.
It took me and Jay an hour to take all that stuff apart and figure out how to fit it all in the pickup. It took me and Zack five minutes to get it all out. Ain’t that always the way? One big advantage was that I had a step stool to help get up into the truckbed. Jay and I hadn’t thought to bring it with us when we picked the stuff up. I’m not as limber or light on my feet as I used to be. I tend to forget that. I have a big, ugly bruise on my arm to remind me.
I moved the cars out of the garage, spread my new drop cloth and got to work turning the new furniture from an old, slightly beat up champagne finish to a sharp, clean, contemporary black. The seat cushions were in good shape but completely faded from the weather and butt ugly.
We took the table apart to make spraying it easier. Spray paint is an easy way to redo furniture but the dry time still makes painting five large pieces a multi-day job.
After I’d gotten the first coat on all the chairs, I drove the pickup back out to Tyler’s. I arrived in time for lunch with everyone. Megan made us chicken biscuits and gravy and it was delicious. Saturday was the third or fourth gorgeous spring day in a row. We spent a lot of time outside, so the kids could show me the new horse (Clifford) and the new calves. Jay came out and joined us after his class was done.
We were at the back arena, looking at the calves. Babalouie was on the fence, next to me. He pointed to one of the calves.
“My Uncle Owen roped that one.” He told me. “I don’t think you know Owen.”
“I know Owen.” I told him. “I’ve known Owen longer than I’ve known you.”
“Oh! Owen roped that one. He roped it and tied it up.”
“When you get big, like Owen, are you gonna rope and tie calves, too?” I asked.
“Yep.” He said.
I’ve seen video of Babalouie roping and tying the stuffed cow his cousin Andy gave him. But if rodeo conflicts with baseball, there may be a problem. Babalouie wants to do everything: football, basketball, baseball, golf and rodeo. He’s going to be a very busy lad.
When I told Xena that on Sunday I was going to the Arboretum to paint crabapple trees, she immediately asked if she could have the painting. Of course! I could never say no to that.
After we left Ty’s place, Jay and I stopped at Loew’s. We found some seat cushions for the new dining set but none for the swing. Not yet, anyway.
Sunday, I got another coat of paint on the chairs and started on the table. We also got a lot of the other deck furniture out. Slowly but surely, the deck is being turned from winter deck to summer. Jay thinks we need to sand and repaint the whole thing but I’m hoping we can get away with just redoing the spots that need it. We’ll see. It definitely doesn’t need to be sanded down. If I have to recoat it, that’s okay. The biggest problem is finding a week with no rain.
The new furniture looks fabulous. I can hardly wait to see it all set up.
Class at the Arboretum started at 5:30. I parked my car just before the apple trees and hiked up the hill to find the rest of them setting up their easels.
It was about 70 degrees, the sun was lowering in the west and the apple trees were in bloom. Five of us set up our easels in the shade of some apple trees with a view of a gorgeous pink crabapple tree with the demarcation of sun and shadow just begging to be painted. We all painted the same tree, which made it very easy for Rick, our fearless leader, to show us step by step what to do.
As I stood there, painting in one of the prettiest places on the planet, I thought to myself that this was about as good as it gets. A free dessert table with a wine bar are about the only improvements I could think up. And when I get my outdoor studio set up at home, it’ll have both those amenities!
My painting turned out okay. I’m sure Xena will be pleased with it. The longer I look at it, the more problems I see but that’s okay. I’ll get better.
If I’m ever going to get my outdoor studio set up, I’ll need to earn some money, so it’s time to get back to work. My axe is very sharp and I’ll be able to knock some orders out in no time.