I worked hard and polished furniture today. You know, the old kind of polish, not the stuff that you spray on and wipe off.
Well, not polish, exactly. This, Howard’s Feed-n-Wax Wood Preserver. It’s not a polish, exactly, but more nourishment for the wood. The small print on the label says, “A penetrating feeder and preservative for all furniture finishes and natural woods.”
As you know, I’ve got two heirloom pieces of furniture in my room. One grandmother’s secretary desk, the other grandmother’s cedar chest. I don’t know that they’re particularly valuable, other than being solid pieces with a great deal of sentimental value, but since there is the sentiment and I certainly loved their prior owners, I’m rather attached to them.
I’m also a lazier housekeeper than I used to be. I used to clean, dust, scrub, and vacuum every Sunday without fail, but these days I’m a lot more cavalier about these things. And doing anything more than rubbing a microfiber dusting rag over the furniture? That’s pretty rare. Not to mention that I gave up using things like Pledge years ago because they’re generally bad for the environment and not all that good for the furniture, either. I used to use Lemon oil on the Secretary, but that always seemed to be so much work … and then I read that that wasn’t supposed to be good, either. (No idea if this is true, mind you, but it made for a good excuse.)
But, still … both these pieces deserved some TLC. The cedar chest, in particular, hasn’t been polished in years because it’s had things piled on top of it for almost as long as I can remember, even a television for a few ages. And while I keep smaller, lighter things on it (since I want to be able to reach the spinning fiber I’m storing in it), it also lives under a window these days and sunlight can be seriously drying for furniture.
Well, between the nourishment of the Feed-n-Wax and the scratch-covering of the Old English Scratch Cover furniture polish that Kim recommended months ago … the difference is astounding. You can still see the scratches if you look closely, but the top has an actual shine to it.
The Secretary desk isn’t exactly a high-gloss, but it’s got a depth of color to the wood grain that hadn’t been there before. I only did the front and the inside of the lid, but am now feeling guilty about the hutch and the sides…
But that wasn’t all. I did the top to both of my dressers, too, and Mom’s dresser as well.
But, do you know what else I have in here that’s wood that deserves some extra special TLC?
My Majacraft is spinning like a girl in a pretty party dress with ribbons and a flouncy skirt, she’s feeling so wonderful. I haven’t touched this wheel with anything resembling polish since I got it, and oh … what a difference.
I can’t get over how rich the color looks, and keep imagining it feels like my hands do when I put on lotion … even if they hadn’t felt particularly dry before hand, afterwards, they feel moisturized and soft. Kind of like the difference in Chappy’s fur after a bath, which is somehow, miraculously softer than it was before.
The Majacraft isn’t my only spinning wheel, though.
I pulled out my Journey Wheel, too. And, good heavens, this wood just SOAKED in that polish and immediately rewarded me with this wonderful honey-golden glow. Wow.
Polishing all the moving parts on the inside was obviously a little harder, but … those too. You could practically hear it saying, thank you, thank you, thank you as I rubbed it in. I know, you can’t really see in the picture because I didn’t think to do a “before” photo, but trust me. This wood is much happier now.
Now I’m thinking about how sad and dry the breakfront downstairs looks. I mean, it sat in direct sun in our dining room for 34 years, and hasn’t been properly polished in forever. (Although, considering there’s about 12″ of room there, the logistics are challenging.)
Speaking of spinning wheels, here’s what I’ve been working on.
I took the flyer off while I was polishing the wheel because, somehow, I thought the Corriedale really didn’t need beeswax and orange oil, you know? But it looked so pretty nestled into the waiting fiber, naturally I had to take a picture. This is a Grafton Fibers batt that I bought at Rhinebeck … last year? Or the year before?
I think part of the reason I haven’t been spinning as much lately (other than the writing thing) is that I’m uninspired. I have lots of beautiful stuff, but it’s either delectable and undyed or dyed but not calling to me at the moment. So … no spinning. But I pulled out this one batt and am already on my second bobbin because I’m enjoying it so much.
Now, I COULD try dyeing some of the fiber I have to make it more interesting, but that’s a scary preposition considering I’ve never dyed anything other than my own gray hair. Nor have I ever wanted to. Or, I could just be responsible and start spinning from my stash, inspiration or not. But …. really? I’m tempted to buy more stuff, which is naughty (especially considering last week’s book-buying spree).
You’ll be glad to know that this little guy is having a good weekend, though it had an iffy start. His tummy woke me up yesterday morning making all kinds of noises. Gurglings, grumblings, squeaks. It was LOUD. We got up at our usual Saturday time, though, and while I was making my breakfast, I tossed his vitamin on the floor … but he didn’t run to get it. Okay, he looked all kinds of comfy, maybe he figured he’d pick it up on his way to his breakfast. I offered him my oatmeal dish to lick out (tradition), but he ignored that, too … which was a first. And when I put down his breakfast? He looked at it and then turned away with an “Um, no thanks” kind of look on his face.
That was practically unheard of, but when I called him over to his dish and told him he should eat his breakfast, he did … slowly. But he still mostly wanted to just be quiet. So Mom and I stayed home instead of going out for coffee … meaning I missed my chance to knit in public, but for a good cause, right? Then I got my netbook and my sock-in-progress, and sat in the living room with him for most of the day.
That worked out fine because there was a writing challenge yesterday called “Write Your A** Off Day” where you were supposed to write 3,000 words, and this gave me the perfect chance to participate. I wrote just over the limit and finished the chapter of my book, so, yay for me, right? And by lunch, Chappy was acting like himself again. So, all’s well that ends well, right? Right?
There was an open-house at a townhouse across the street from us today, so Mom and I went over out of curiosity to see what some of the other floorplans were like. I’ve got to say, we loved the layout of the main level, with the living room and the kitchen–both bigger than ours–and the open stairway. The two smaller bedrooms were both bigger than my tiny ones, too. But–no full-basement level like the ones where Mom and Dad’s desks and my library are. A lot more stairs to get into the unit, too, since the front door opens onto a landing half a flight down from the main level (and the garage is half a level below that). Loved the patio in the back, though. It’s the one thing I’d change about this unit if I could–the grounds between streets are beautifully landscaped with grass and shrubs and trees, and we kind of miss that. All we have are two wooden decks that don’t even have stairs down to the ground. If we were on the other side of the street, we’d have a “backyard” (even if we’d have to share it with ALL our neighbors). Still … we like this one, and that’s what matters, right? It’s not like I could afford to buy that one anyway!
Hope everyone has had a great weekend. The only real negative for me? It looks like my Battlestar Galactica season 3 DVDs are on their way back to the West Coast instead of being either forwarded on here or held at the post office to be picked up. Sigh. This means it’s going to be at least another week before I get them, I think, and that’s kind of frustrating. But, at least, I haven’t watched the S2 season finale yet … because I know it’s a cliffhanger. At least this keeps the frustration level down, huh?
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