Let the Amish Do It

In addition to the home improvement projects that I mentioned in my last post, I am also in the market for some new furniture.  In the living room there are a couple of end tables which were purchased by my parents decades ago.

They look rather outdated.  Although they were not cheap pieces of furniture, they are not built of solid wood, so I doubt that they would ever have any antique value.  In some places the veneer is chipped off.  It is time for a change.

A couple weeks ago, I went to a half dozen furniture stores, and I could not find anything that I liked.  I wanted something fairly traditional... neither too old-fashioned and fussy nor so trendy that it would quickly go out of style.  Size was also a problem.  Everything that I saw was either too wide or too narrow.  Ideally I wanted the tables to be a few inches narrower so as to make the room a little less crowded, but still wide enough to place a few family picture books and treasured items.  (The fudge dish next to the lamp, for example, belonged to my great-grandmother.)  

After a fruitless search, I returned home and looked at Google Maps.  I found a store not too far from me which makes custom Amish furniture.  I figured that although it might be much more expensive, having the pieces custom-made would probably be the only way to get what I wanted.

A week ago Friday I drove to the store.  The place is only open four days a week since the owner is frequently traveling to the workshops in the Amish country south of here.

Inside I saw a floor model that I liked and which was on sale.  The price was not much higher than what you would pay at any other good quality furniture store for an item that probably would not be solid wood.  However, the color and the size were not right.  The owner said that he could have the tables custom-made, and that he would sell them to me at the sale price.  I picked out the finish, gave him the size specifications, and placed my order.  The only downside is that I will have to wait for about two months.

While I was there I also asked about having another piece of furniture custom-made.  Some years ago, I had purchased an inexpensive, assemble-yourself, rack for storing my CDs and DVDs.  My collection outgrew that rack, and I bought a much larger and more expensive unit.  I still have that little rack and I use it to display some knickknacks from my travels.  

  

However, I wished that I could find a nice piece of furniture similar in size to it.  (A bookshelf would be much too large for that corner.)  So, I showed the owner the picture and gave him the dimensions.  When he goes down to Amish country, he will ask the woodworkers how much it would cost to make a similar shelf that would match my end tables.

Home Improvement

 Like many other people, I am using this "stay-at-home" summer as an opportunity to do needed improvements on my home.  Earlier this summer I had new siding installed.  Now I have shifted my focus to the interior of the house.

The water in my community is infamous for its corrosive effect on metal.  As a result both my bathroom and kitchen faucets were corroded.  The kitchen faucet had reached the point where it had sprung a pinhole leak.  So last week I went to a plumbing store.  I asked the guy if there was any type or brand of faucet that is better at withstanding corrosion.   He told me "no".  However, he said that Moen faucets have a lifetime guarantee, and that if they became corroded they would be replaced for free.  So I picked out two Moen faucets.  This past Monday the plumber from the store came out and installed them.

Project #2 on my checklist is accomplished.

For longer than I care to admit, the spare bedroom has been off-limits to visitors.  The carpeting in there must have been nearly fifty years old, and was disgusting.  The room also needs a fresh coat of paint.  During the last couple of weeks I have been ripping out the carpeting and padding and prying up the tack strips along the perimeter of the room.  As I removed the carpeting, I moved the furniture around to see how I would want it arranged.   

The sofa bed is too big and heavy to get out of the room.  When I bought it, it barely made it in, and in the process the woodwork of the doorway was badly gouged.  For that reason, I am going to have laminate flooring put in.  That does not require adhesive that must dry before furniture can be placed on it.  So the installers will be able to do one half of the room and then move the sofa bed and do the other half. That work is now complete, and probably next week I will go to a flooring store that was recommended to me.  A friend told me that he would be happy to paint the room after the flooring has been installed.   Probably by autumn I will have a brand new room.

As I told my Swiss cousins, when they come to visit me someday they will have a nice place to stay!

The End of Summer School

Since the end of June I have been giving English lessons to Alejandro's nephew, Ezra, via Skype.  Twice a week we would get together and spend about a half hour practicing English.  It's been a fun experience for me especially with such a sweet and intelligent kid as Ezra.  Ezra has been studying English since the first grade, so he already knew much of the material that we covered.  However, there were always a few vocabulary words that were new to him, plus he had the experience of listening to a native English speaker.  I think that when I finally am able to return to Mexico, he will no longer be so hesitant to converse with me in English. 

Next Monday is the beginning of the new school year.  Ezra will be entering the fifth grade.  However, because the pandemic continues unabated in Mexico City, the classes will once again be on-line.  He will be on the computer each day from 8:00 A.M. until 1:00 P.M., and then in the afternoon he will be busy with his homework.

So, today was our last session together.  He seemed genuinely sad that we would not be meeting on Skype for our English lessons, but I told him that if he needs any help with his English homework, I am here for him.

He sent me this drawing with a rainbow and happy faces as a thank you for his lessons.

And thank you, Ezra, for being the kind of student that makes teaching a pleasure.

I hope you have continued success in the fifth grade and that you soon will be able to return to the classroom safely!

At Dawn

 I know, I know.  You're probably thinking, "He's showing us webcam pictures of the volcano yet again!?"  But I couldn't resist posting these photos of Popocatépetl which I found a couple mornings ago.  The volcanic peak looks almost golden as it is struck by the rays of the early morning sun.  In the second picture you can clearly see the tree line below which the flanks of the mountain are heavily forested with pine trees.  If you were to drive through the national park you would find it hard to believe that you were in Mexico and not some northern clime as you pass the stands of evergreen trees.

Late Bloomers

 My garden is at its best in July.  Now that we are in mid-August and autumn is around the corner, many of the perennials have finished blooming.  However there are still some flowers that are late summer bloomers.

Rudbeckia are better known as black-eyed Susans.

The obedient plant is really not that obedient.  It tends to be somewhat invasive, which is not surprising since it is a member of the mint family.

Cleome is sometimes called a spider plant.  Although it is an annual, the seed pods which develop along its long stem insure that you will have plants come up from seed each year.

Summersweet is a shrub which flowers in the late summer.

The name is apt since it is very fragrant.

The Rose of Sharon bush is in full bloom.

Some of the phlox is still blooming.

The hardy hibiscus is now producing its showy flowers.  The blossoms are bigger than my outstretched hand.

On the Square

 As you know, since I cannot travel to Mexico, I have frequently gone there vicariously by looking at webcams of Mexico.  Since the pandemic began in earnest, the Zócalo, the city's main plaza has been fenced off and closed to the public.  However, yesterday afternoon when I looked at the webcam I saw that the barriers were gone and that there were people on the square.

It is not difficult to practice social distancing on the vast expanse of the Zócalo, but in less than a month Mexico will celebrate its Independence Day.  Traditionally hundreds of thousands of people jam the square on the eve of Independence Day when the President appears on the balcony of the National Palace, gives the "Grito de Independencia" (Cry of Independence), and rings the independence bell.  The President has announced that, in spite of the pandemic, the "Grito" will be held as always.  However, from what I have read, it has not been announced whether or not the public will be allowed onto the Zócalo.   Hopefully, the President, who has handled the crisis badly, will have the common sense to prohibit the usual mass gathering on September 15th.

The Snail is Moving Faster

 I have written a number of times about the painfully slow Mexican postal service.  I have been sending postcards from Ohio to Alejandro's nephew Ezra in Mexico City.  I sent one in March which arrived nearly four months later in July.  I sent another card in late May.  That one arrived last week... about two and a half months.  The most recent card was sent on July 15th, and Ezra received it on August 14th... just under a month!  Wow!  The pace seems to be picking up.  

I have to go to the post office to send a thank-you card to my cousin Brigitta in Switzerland for the birthday present that she sent me.  I may as well send off another postcard to Ezra.  We will see how long this one will take.  Maybe three weeks?

Sunset on Lake Erie