Ready for Prime Time

When Alice was here we put up some insulation in the dutch barn to help insulate the floor of my sewing loft.  We had to move a bunch of stuff around just to get room to work !  Yes, there were at least 5 sewing machine cabinets in the barn.  I deposited two  at Steven's rental house in his garage there.   I would have taken three but there wasn't room in the car.   The treadle irons were in pieces in the barn. Time to finish that project.

 I had company, briefly.  I guess the pitch of Steven's old Makita electric drill was too much for them to stay close by. 

I love this old Sears work table.  I have had it for over 20 years.  Steven hates it. He is a real carpenter with real tools.  I love it because I can stabilize my work.  Steven has wanted to throw it away for YEARS.  I think that I finally acquiesced; luckily he didn't toss it. I dug it out of the trash shed.    It is the perfect tool for this job.

I had started stripping this piece back when.  I vowed to finish this weekend.  It took HOURS to strip the old paint and dirt from these irons.

Once I was finished (I thought) with the wire brushing, I scrubbed it with some degreaser.  What a filthy mess.  Finally, I took a break.  I had to go fetch some primer for it.  While I was in Cooperstown I stopped downtown (foolish me, on the last day of the season!) to pick up a bottle of wine.  I like Pioneer Wine and Liquors.  It is a small business and the sweet young man is friends with Betsy's kids.  I figure I will give him the business.  So I asked for some suggestions.  He offered a red wine with "An unusual nose, and I am not going to tell you what it is.  It's complicated.  There are some berries and a hint of chocolate."

I had no idea that wine had a nose.

It's tasty, for sure.  I had some with dinner.

Oh, yes.  I did get these irons ready for prime time.  Almost down to the bare metal.  I declare it finished.  I just have too many other things to do.... Tomorrow I will work on the other side and the foot pedal.