Enchanted Signs

Posted on October 10, 2017 by TJ

Our cat Tesla was so old that she didn’t have many teeth left so a couple of years ago we started to buy canned cat food for her. After she died last year, we kept buying the canned food. Every morning I put a dab into four portions for the inside cats, and then take the remainder to the outside cats. The rest of the day they have dry food. The inside cats love the canned treat, and they are so eager to get it that they have begun waking us in the mornings by leaping on us like trampolines. Sometimes they leap from one to the other. Silly cats.

We have discovered that Madeline is an excellent mouser. In the two weeks that she has been with us, we have found at least five dead mice in the garage. Annie has always killed a mouse now and then, but the bodies haven’t piled up as quickly as they have since Madeline has been here.

My goal this week was to finish my signs and get them put up.

The last step was to cover the boards with a protective coating. EJ read the instructions for the can of spar varnish we had, but it said that it could not be used with any type of glue which meant that we couldn’t use it since I had glued my wooden letters to the boards. EJ was going to stop at Meijers for some clear spray paint on his way home from work last night, but he was tired and forgot. I had the use of the car this morning since JJ didn’t have school and he didn’t have to be to work until mid-afternoon so I decided to drive to the hardware store. It’s less than 5 miles away but I wasn’t sure how to get there. Besides the fact that I’m severely diretionally challenged–which means I can get lost anywhere, anytime–usually EJ drives when we need to go to the hardware store. Although we’ve gone many times, I am usually looking at the beautiful scenery we drive through on the way. But EJ told me the way to get there and–surprise!–there were only two turns! I found the store very easily.

When I entered the store, a woman employee asked if she could help me. “Yes!” I said. I explained my project–painted wooden letters on boards that I needed to cover with a clear coat of something that wouldn’t dissolve the glue I used. We went over to the spray cans and we found cans of clear paint and we both tried to read the info on the can. I finally confessed that the print was so small that I was having trouble reading it. “So am I,” she said. She finally found a telephone number to call on the can, so she went to the phone, called the company, explained my project, and asked if it was ok to use with glue. The woman at the company check and said it was ok. So I thanked the hardware lady and bought two cans.

When I got home, I put all the sign boards out on the deck and sprayed them several times with the clear paint to protect them from the weather. I used all of one can and most of another.

We share a short segment of our driveway with our neighbors because our properties were originally one 10 acre property before it was split in two. Our neighbors driveway turns off first while our driveway continues up the hill so every now and then a package gets delivered to our neighbor’s house by mistake, especially if there is a substitute delivery- or mail-person. We have needed a sign with our house numbers on it, so I’ve been making one. I chose an old board that looked like it was pointing up towards our driveway. I nailed the address board to a short-ish post and then set it up at the bottom of the driveway just before the driveway curves around. I think it looks very “enchanted forest.”

I waited until EJ got home from work tonight so he could help me with the other sign. He fastened all the boards to the post for me. Since he used an electric drill to quickly drive in screws it went lickity split. Once he got all the boards fastened to the post, he carried down the sign dow the driveway while I carried the post-hole digger and sledge-hammer. When we had decided on the location for the sign, EJ dug the hole, I set the sign into the hole, then he held the sign while I stood back to make sure it was in a good spot. Then EJ filled in the hole and used the sledge-hammer to pack down the dirt firmly around the post. We think the sign looks splendid.