NOTE: There are four (4) photos, with captions, in this moderate length post.
Monday 26 & Tuesday 27 August 2024 — Clocks, tanks, colors, and furniture
Monday 26 … It’s about time (clocks and septic tanks)
Glenn Williams, the owner of Tenor Clock, arrived right at the appointed time and carefully carried the mechanism for our grand-father clock in from his car. He explained what he had to do to clean and repair it. Besides cleaning off the oil that I had incorrectly applied to gears and some other parts, he replaced quite a few tiny (sleeve) bearings. He had the mechanism mounted on a stand in his home workshop and had adjusted the pendulum to keep time. He also adjusted the winding mechanisms for the three weights so that I could not overwind them and cause them to jam. He then set to work re-installing it in the case. Once mounted, with the pendulum and weights hung, he made fine adjustments to the clock hands and to the strikers for the chimes to get them to sound just right. (It’s a Westminster Chimes set.) The chimes now sound precisely at the quarter hours as they should and sound wonderful. True to his original estimate, it had taken about two (2) months for him to fit this into his work flow. We were happy to wait, but equally glad to have the clock back in working order.
Sometime during the day, I called Ewers Septic Service to arrange the pump-out of our two septic tanks. Based on my last conversation with Phil Jarrell, our driveway/septic/foundation/grading contractor, I knew we were overdue to have this done. The women I spoke to at Ewers reinforced that we were waaaay overdue. I promised to do better in the future.
Tuesday 27 … A visit with our interior design consultant (daughter); staging a furniture donation for the local HfH ReStore
Our daughter (Meghan) came over during the morning and spent several hours helping us with interior design issues. She has done a lot of remodeling on their house, and well-acquainted with many websites for design ideas, materials, furniture, lighting, and appliances.
Top of the list was choosing a color (stain) for our red oak floors. We want them stained darker, but not too dark, but figuring out the correct tone/tint (warm, neutral, cold) relative to our existing hickory cabinets was proving to be a challenge. Added to the mix was that we would be getting new dining room furniture and were trying to arrive at a style, shape, material, and color that would work well with the existing kitchen cabinets, appliances, and refinished floor. Here is what we were considering:
Existing floor (red oak) and kitchen cabinet (hickory) framed by dishwasher (white, left) and range (white, right) with the floor sample we like (dark, large, Superior Red Oak with Praline finish) from Michigan Hardwood Distributor) and the table wood (hard Maple) and finish (not sure of the name) we are considering.
BdW guest Bonnie & Randy D were scheduled to leave tomorrow but left today instead. They had found a buyer for their motorhome and today was the handover to the new owner. This was set to take place at a credit union in Brighton, where money, title, and keys would be exchanged. They would then check-in to a suites motel in town for about a week until the closing date for the house they had purchased. For most of the time there were staying on our property they were cleaning out the MH and moving their possessions into a storage locker in town. Their activities were never intrusive, even the day the RV inspector was here (most of the day), and we were glad that they stay worked out well for them.
Tuesday is grass-mowing day so, as usual, Keith was here.
After Meghan left, I moved the F-150 out of the large bay of the garage to make room for the dining room furniture we were donating to the Habitat for Humanity (HfH) ReStore nearby. The buffet/China cabinet was especially difficult to move. Even with the drawers and custom glass top removed it was still heavy and awkward to handle. But we got it done as shown in the following photo:
The DR buffet/China cabinet and drawers in the garage, waiting to be picked up by the local HfH ReStore. The DR table and chairs have yet to be moved to the garage.
With the Bassett DR furniture moved to the garage, we set up our folding card table and brought up the three folding chairs (with padded seats) from the basement. Linda is seated at the table, which is not directly under the pendant light, as we think the proper location for the new table will be slightly to the left (north) of the existing light fixture. Here’s a photo:
The dining room area looks very spacious without its usual furniture, but it is not that large of a space and we will have to be very thoughtful about what we put in here next in order to ensure good traffic flow with adequate clearance around the DR table. The DR table sits at the intersection of the kitchen (with its door from the library/garage), doorwall to the deck, Linda’s desk (to the left of the refrigerator) and the hallway/foyer (to the bedrooms, and front door / basement stairs, and living room).
Here’s another photo over the color and wood grain palette we are considering:
Existing red oak floor, proposed floor color (large, dark sample of Superior Red Oak with Praline finish), proposed DR table sample (hard maple /warm brown) and fan-pack of stain sample photos on red oak.
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