Disasters Breed Resourcefulness.

Sounded kind of like that.

Hmmm,  Something appears to be missing.

Last night we were awoken by what sounded like the total collapse of our apartment.  I was in one of those "half awake" stages.   But the really freaky part was that the bedroom light was on.   And we only have one cat who does not know how to turn lights on or off.    Upon further investigation, we discovered that one of the bookshelves/cabinets pulled out of the wall.   Crash!

I wonder where it landed?

Did my thread holder always look like this?

With a groggy mindset,  I could see that the actual IKEA cube was not damaged...But,  the drawer set below it was severely damaged!   It also broke the light switch and my favorite thread holder.   I had to go to bed with the thought of how I would have to fix/clean up that mess.

So basically I got no sleep... However!   I formulated a plan.

Cabinet is back!   Thought slightly "off."

Time to recycle the old coffee table top

Apparently the anchors were enough to hold the cabinet up there for 7 months on their own.   I could not find a stud to screw into, so I relied on the heaviest duty wall mounts we could find.   My one error:   I only put in the two that IKEA had supplied.   With a couple extra on the bottom and a new hole to tap into, I was able to put the shelving unit back up....   fairly easy.   I also unloaded several of the books it was holding.   ( A little less weight can't hurt.)

Cracked top removed.

Drilling holes in the rough cut board.

Then came the time to repair/replace the drawer set.    Being always in some state of poverty,  I thought that repairing it would be the cheapest.   I had a board in the shed,   borrowed a Skill saw from the neighbor and Boom! Fixed!  Sure it is not as pretty,  but it is functional and will do the job until we replace it properly.  Perhaps after the Christmas season.

Finished!  Not pretty, but it works.

Good thing my Dad was Swedish.

I think my Dad would be impressed.   Not in the craftsmanship or anything....but the resourcefulness!   And the fact that I was able to repair two damaged household items with no money spent.  (He was very frugal.)

My job when helping Dad.  

 There are moments I catch myself becoming him.... including all the things that bugged me about him I was growing up. (He would forget where his tools were while he was working on something.  My job was to hand him stuff.)

 Cheryl is supposed to hand me my tools as I need them,  but she was busy today.   So I had to rely on my own failing memory to remember where I laid the hammer and screwdriver.    Even then I still "lost" them.

Still a few little jobs to tackle.

I still have to repair the light switch,  but that will require replacing it.   In the mean time, we will simply have to use the shortened stump that remains.

Tomorrow is Farmer's Market again.  Cheryl has been working feverishly and we will want to get their earlier than last week for the best spots.   Apparently, there will be music and BBQ along with a free raffle.    Perhaps it will draw in a larger crowd.... or not.   Either way,  Cheryl wants to be prepared.