Keeping My Hands Busy

M. Ismail is one of NewsFlashMedia’s team members. She's home again in Kuala Lumpur after her six months stay in the UK. So what's life about for her once on home-ground again?

WELL…it was down to serious hours of fun for me today! I planned to make the most of my hands and using them outdoors too! A friend commented on Facebook:  “Wah! Getting busy with your hands.” Yerp, serious busy.

First, out with the goggles. There! Don’t I look like a pro? Well, semi-pro at least. It's basic but good enough for safety purposes.

Here it comes! The first tool for the day.

I got this a few years back. It’s still in good condition although I use it often. It’s not so hip and trendy but it covers well. And no, girlfriends, I don’t take it out shopping. This is a handyman’s safety goggles, which I make sure I put on especially when I’m doing a lot of drilling. Yes, this drilling business can be very messy and dusty, I tell you.

So what was the project for today? My two-seater teak garden chair bought from furniture store Barang Barang. Cost me more than RM600 during a sale but it was money worth spending on. But looking at the picture now, it does look a poor sight, doesn’t it? Believe me, it has seen better days.

My garden chairs. Yes, the plants in the hanging pots are dead.

No one will believe me when I said it is teak. But teak it is and it has been sitting out in the garden, outdoors, under the sun and gone through many hours of storm and rain. And I love it, dearly because that’s where I propped myself in at the wake of dawn, in the early evenings, during sunset, after dinner and at 2am in the morning while I take a break from work sipping coffee, or a chocolate drink. Sometimes I’m there just to look up at the night skies covered in bright stars, and a plane or two flying by. There were moments when my chair and I shared a story or two; my happiness and sadness; some laughter and tears.

I propped it just under my bedroom window because there’s a natural concrete beam that juts out from the ceiling. It gives me and my chair shade when we don’t want too much sun. It has a special place in the garden. It is always by the jasmine tree. When the weather is cooler the jasmine tree bears a lot of flowers and they smell heavenly and a few will softly fall onto my lap whenever there is a cool breeze.

Now to get the tough screws out!

However, after five years I’ve decided to redecorate the garden…soon, but it has to start with the garden chair because it takes up the most space. And because it is slightly arch-shaped, I have to compromise with the other plants.

I look at my chair today and told it that I’m removing one half of it because I’ve only been using one side of the chair all this while. So, there is no point in having a large chair that takes up all the space, which I can use for something else. Now out came my drill. It was not used as a drill today but as a screwdriver. I needed to remove the well-embedded screws in the corners of the little table that joined the seats together. And boy! That was hard work because some of the screws just wouldn't budge.  But I’m a determined handy-woman, alternating the job between the electric drill and a sturdy, long screwdriver.

Notice the old red paint? Need to scrape that out.

You know they say, in every ‘work’ the tools are most important. Having the right tools, lighten the work. But in this case, it just didn’t happen. But I managed fine. And at every successful attempt at removing a part, I raised both my arms up into the air and cried: “I am the CHAMPION!” None of my show of jubilance was caught on camera because I totally forgot about taking a few snaps. Well, I wouldn’t be such a pleasant sight though, tiny tight shorts and a skimpy spaghetti strapped T-shirt. I bet if a nosy neighbour had been spying on me he or she might have thought it was a joke that this scrawny woman was doing all the work. Oh yes, you’d better bet every sen you have on me because I am the DIY expert in my family, ever since I was a teenager.

What once was the little table.

I collect most of the important DIY gadget and I store them in the top cupboard of my kitchen where there is a huge space for them, specifically made for the purpose. There’s a Hammer Drill, a standard drill, two battery-operated hand-drills and complete sets of drill heads, spanners of varying sizes, two handsaws, hammers from lightweight to medium to heavy, high-pressure washer (jet spray that can do the painting for huge walls or stripping old paint and other general DIY jobs). In short I have a cupboard-full of various gadgets and I would love to get more screwdrivers and smaller hand tools that make work light. In fact I’d love to buy one of those sturdy work benches so I can easily prop my projects there when I need to cut and saw. In fact, I am currently planning on getting a handy electric saw. I’ve not found the right one as yet.

Okay, back to my garden chair. Look! After a few knocks here and there the table has come off! Now you see two single garden chairs instead of one. Voila!

I have two single garden chairs now.

There are a few minor damages caused by some of the bent screws embedded in parts of the wood so I will need to do some restoration first. Next up is cleaning the chairs, drying them out, stripping the old pain, filling up the tiny cracks and holes with wood filler and finally sandpapering it. And when all these are done, I will have a spanking new garden chair.

I love deep reds on my wood but would just using varnish be better for my teak? That’s something to think about.

What would the colour be, now?