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Wednesday 21 January 2009

Break Out the Toboggan

Sarasota, Florida


Happy days are here again,
the skies above are clear again,
so let’s sing a song of cheer again,
happy days are here again

The toboggan sits in a little consignment shop in Tampa, Florida. It's one of those useless things that people drag to Florida when they move, like the snow shovels that I've found dumpster diving.

I ask about the price and negotiate it down to almost nothing. The wood strips are alternately dark and light. It has a detachable green canvas cushion. The bottom is a little scraped up from running over rocks, I think.

I take it into my workshop and sand it down and then apply dark and light stain to restore the appearance. I finish it with three coats of varnish, use pumice to smooth it out and reattach the cushion. It's a beauty...a little extra Christmas present.

The toboggan stands in my grandchildren's living room for over three years. I guess they like it well enough to use it as sort of a room decoration.

The oldest called me yesterday. He wants to show us the four inches of snow on his Skype program. Break out the toboggan!

1 comment:

  1. Funny, when I first began reading this post, I thought you were talking about the tobaggan one wears on the head. Thought it had gotten very cold in FL. LOL Then when you started talking about sanding, etc...well you get the idea.

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