It all started when we lived in Minnesota. You see we lived in a big house. Not big by American standards, but there was plenty of room for the two of us. Accordingly, we bought furniture to match. A big couch that now lives down stairs in our family room and three oak and leather chars. Originally they were recliners but the move was hard on them and they didn't recline any more. OK let's be honest, they were on the high side of ten years old and were showing wear everywhere. The leather was in decent shape, but there were a lot of scuffs and dings on the wood. Most importantly though, they were just a bit big for our Canadian house. Oh we have enough space and all but they just seemed to take over the room. We decided that it was time to replace them with something a little more svelte, a little leaner, a little less bulky.

We'd been checking out furniture for a few weeks, most of what we saw had two issues, they were too big, and too expensive. I mean really we weren't looking for anything fancy, just a simple couch with a fainting couch on one end. This way we could put it in the corner of the living room and both of us can lay down on it. Sears and the other places had couches like we wanted but they were big. I mean we had a space 103 inches long for the couch and many were in the 110 to 115 inch range. Part of this was due to the three foot long and six foot wide fainting couch. I mean I've slept on beds that were smaller than this. Then most of the couches were in the $3k-$5k range. Sure they were name brand, and leather but I mean really. It's not like we're made of money. We just kept looking. Finally last weekend we stopped by Dodd's Furniture. I wasn't too hopeful. The times we'd wandered into Dodd's they'd had nice stuff but nothing that really grabbed us. I'd not have even suggested it but literally we were going to drive right by the store on the way home.

We wandered in and after a bit were greeted by the cheeriest, chattiest, salesman I've met in a long time. We talked with him for a while (during which he missed at least half a dozen of my best one liners and puns), and then he showed us a couch that was perfect. It was 98 inches long, has usable arms that did not have big pillows sewn in place, was up on legs adding to the leanness of the piece. Best of all, they did the fainting couch in a very clever way. One of the cushions is very long and they have a custom made ottoman to hold up the front of it. It works well, is very comfortable, and best of all we can use it on either the right or left end. My big fear was that we'd get the piece made for a left hand corner and then down the road rearrange and find we needed it on the other side.
http://www.doddsfurniture.com/sectionals.html

It's the sofa with chaise in light grey on the page. We liked that it was Canadian Made (even better, it's made in BC) and that, because it was made to order we could choose the fabric. This is why you can ignore the prices they say on the page. They don't include fabric. It's kinda' like the GM cars where wheels and seats are optional. Oddly enough the two throw pillows are included, but if we didn't select a fabric they would just be a couple plastic bags of stuffing. We took home some swatches and settled on a pattern we liked. Now, upholstery fabric comes in several grades, A through D, with D being the most expensive. After looking at the options and talking to Mr. Chattyman again we found one we love. It's a brown microfiber that looks like aged leather. Best of all it's an A, the cheapest one. We were so impressed that we added a matching chair and still the total cost was still covered by our tax refund.

It was a good week.

While at Dodd's we did notice one odd thing. In years past you could always count on some of the recliners having “cup” holders. You know the little plastic inserts sized for those 12oz aluminum “cups” from Stroh's or Molson. This time I noticed that none of the chairs had them. I assumed they must have just been a passing fad and that had faded away. Finally in a corner we found two that had “cup” holders. They were on half sized chairs with Spiderman and My Little Pony prints intended for children. I found this quite amusing. Then Marsha noticed that not only did these children's chairs have “cup” holders in them, but each cup insert had “Not An Ashtray” engraved in the bottom.

Apparently Canada has seriously hardcore children.

Once the new couch and chair were ordered we had a problem: What do we do with the old chairs. They were too big for our cars, so we had to find someone that would pick them up. Our first thought was to call ReStore. They deal with second hand building materials but they do handle a bit of furniture. They even took our old “Bowflex” type exercise machine. But before we could call them we got a flyer from the Lantzville Volunteer Fire Department asking for donations for their garage sale. It's a fundraiser they do every year. They use the proceeds to get new equipment and cover expenses. We thought this was an even better solution as it would benefit our home town. We called them and the next day they showed up and took the chairs away. You know, you can tell it's a small town when the Fire Chief shows up himself. He was assisted by one of the volunteer firemen, and I chuckled to find that he was the town's chiropractor. After lugging the heavy, bulky, awkward chairs out to the truck I wondered who HE'D get to massage his sore back. The chairs may have been old, and the recliner part wasn't working but they were thrilled to get them. They figured they could get several hundred for the set, more if they sold individually. This made us feel good. Of course now we are very short of things to sit on in our living room, but it's only for a few weeks and then we'll get the new stuff.

So a short letter this week. We've been very busy with the furniture, and my treatments, and Marsha's work. Spring has arrived here. We've started hearing birds in the morning. Buzzy insects are in the air. Several small spiders have taken up residence in the greenhouse. The cherry tree is rapidly budding out and the apple trees are starting too. Almost every day has been a mix of warm rain showers and sun. Geiger did get caught on the deck once when it went from sun to driving rain in a matter of seconds. He was not happy.

So things are going well here.