{"id":6245,"date":"2021-06-13T17:01:56","date_gmt":"2021-06-13T17:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kergudon.com\/?p=6245"},"modified":"2021-06-13T17:01:57","modified_gmt":"2021-06-13T17:01:57","slug":"sunday-13-june-the-repair-shop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kergudon.com\/fr\/sunday-13-june-the-repair-shop\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday 13 June – The Repair Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was never my intention to only blog fortnightly although it has fallen that way in the last month or so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The previous reason was that I had perhaps not made so much progress, this time it was more that, as confinement is being eased, last Sunday we had a large social event to remind ourselves what it is like to have friends around again after 8 months!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My previous blog<\/a> highlighted how I had a number of ongoing projects that were repairing things which needed a little TLC.\u00a0 This has continued to be the case for some of the last 2 weeks hence this week\u2019s title.\u00a0 This is not the same as the UK programme where people buy potentially valuable items cheaply because they are broken, invent some bogus story that it is a treasured family heirloom and get it repaired by talented craftsmen(!)\u00a0 This is me doing my best to bring some items that have seen better days back to life so we don\u2019t have t throw them away and buy new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last blog showed the state that we had let a small outdoor table get into that was one of the projects I had begun.  I said that, having broken the rivets holding it together, I needed to get a couple of things to complete the job.  As confinement is slowly easing, Dave\u2019s gym was also preparing to reopen which meant Dave had to spend a few hours in Brest with the team preparing.  This allowed me to get the bits that I needed to complete a couple of tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table came from Ikea a few years ago now and, surprisingly, they still sell the same style.\u00a0 Having popped in, I saw that I was able to buy new chairs for less than it cost me to refurbish (assuming I factor in my time at minimum wage level).\u00a0 However, so as not to add to unnecessary landfill, and knowing that my time is the one commodity we have free, I chose to refurb them anyway (as well as buying 2 more to make a set of 4!)\u00a0 I think they look great and we should get a few more years out of them now \u2013 more as we will be able to overwinter them in the dry. You can compare how they looked in the last blog<\/a> (and admire my lawn stripes!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Stable table refurbished and looking good<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another project that I had started was refurbishing our old gas BBQ that we bought when we lived in London.  It had sat in the garage for a couple of years and was looking very sad with paint flaking off and bits damaged.  The gas connection also needed changing so we could use it with a French bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An old coffee table had come across with us in 2015 which we had bought on eBay thinking it would look great in a g\u00eete.  In the end it was surplus to requirement and had sat under a cover infront of Dairy since summer 2015.  Evidently the wood was pretty solid (it was one of the Indian \/ Thai style of tables which were very popular 10 years ago or so) and had lasted pretty well under its cover although he metal elements were pretty rusty.  With some sanding, staining and painting it looks great now \u2013 and certainly good enough for us to use as a terrace table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both were brought into use for our social event last Sunday which was the first big BBQ we had here since COVID came on the scene.\u00a0 This meant that most of Saturday last week was spent cleaning, weeding and preparing our own terrace \u2013 although it now looks great and should last the summer season for us.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I didn\u2019t take any pictures when people were actually here and I don\u2019t think our friends did \u2013 hopefully a sign they were enjoying themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n