My blogs have different titles, but I could name them all ‘Seize the Day’, because that’s what my life is all about. Taking each day as it comes and great appreciation for the smallest things. Due to a cancer diagnosis with poor prospects in my family this year, I realize once again: I’m still here.
The consequences of the diagnosis/treatments confront me every day, which makes it hard to forget, but after four years I can put it into perspective. Without my cancer diagnosis, I would grow older with other health issues. I realize that I can still do a lot and that my will is not necessarily less. I’m only limited by my lack of energy. Therefore, my strong will regularly makes me go beyond my own limits. For example, doing a little woodworking in and around the house literally costs me blood, sweat and tears, but the result makes it worthwhile.
I want to prove myself that I can still learn new things, even though I often feel physically and mentally (my brain works slowly) very old…
In the summer I didn’t want to do any woodworking, because I don’t have a workshop and have to work outside. I can’t leave my work bench in the garden overnight with the risk of rainy weather and I also wanted to enjoy the summer without noise and dust. In the fall I can clear my canopy to do some DIY. Not ideal, but it’s dry. I can’t leave my wood outside for too long in the damp weather, but that is a matter of planning and a lot of walking back and forth. The only disadvantage is that I have to get my (heavy) tools out and afterwards put them away again. That takes more time than the job itself.
It all started with a broken tap washer…
After the summer I started my DIY again and it all started with a broken tap washer. My mother-in-law had trouble closing a somewhat stiff fountain tap in the toilet room. My husband thought the solution was to replace the washer, but then something broke and the entire tap had to be replaced. The fountain had to be dismantled for that, but it was so firmly glued to the wall that I had to knock it off with a hammer (quite fun!). The new tap and washbasin were a lot more modern in design and then everything else in that little space looked off.
So a matching, streamlined cabinet had to be built for the towels and toilet rolls. I had it already assembled when I discovered that I couldn’t slide it against the back wall, because the door frame protruded 5 mm…
Yes, DIY is a big learning process. I’m quite a perfectionist and used to be less forgiving of myself. Now I think ‘Okay… that wasn’t very smart, but then again I’m not a carpenter’ and then come up with a solution. I dismantled the cabinet and then attached it to the wall in parts, where I discovered that the walls are crooked. I saw a small deviation and knew that I couldn’t unsee it anymore. I want everything to be square and perpendicular, so it took some adjusting, but – if I say so myself – it turned out really neat.
Then I got the taste for it and thought ‘If I can do this, I can also make that builtin cabinet in the hallway’. Something I had wanted to do for a long time, because I hate the mess of coats, bags and shoes in the hallway. I made drawings and calculated everything very precisely so that everything could be sawn to size as much as possible. I have quite a few power tools but I still haven’t decided whether and if so, how I want to saw the long pieces. Power tools are still somewhat intimidating to me. I don’t mean sanders, but tools with sharp metal parts that rotate at high speeds; when using them you really need to focus. I don’t need another hospital visit!
I have now been working on that builtin for over two months and it is turning out beautifully, exactly as I had hoped. Progression is slow, but that’s how it is. How ideal it is to be able to make with your hands what your brain thinks! You can come along way with IKEA cabinets, but you can’t buy a 43 cm deep cabinet ready-made anywhere.
I can now adjust hinges well, so that the doors hang super tight next to each other. I’m going to make drawers with guide rails for the first time and I gained enough self-confidence to know that it will work out fine. I want to make our house even more beautiful and cozy and… I want to show my men that I am still able to achieve something and that giving up is not an option.