Over the Christmas break, HWCFA meticulously deconstructed, restored and reconstructed the first half-size snooker table made in Cape Town in 1957, which has stood in the corner of a shed for about 15 years. The slate top is about 3/4 inch thick and we had to manoeuvre it with the hydraulic lift from time to time, but it is now as good as new, as is only to be expected. However, the next thing he has made is a cabinet for his snooker cues. from no less than teak with brass fittings and - wait for it - a bevelled glass front! He has quite rightly kept this well hidden from my direct line of sight and has in fact tried not to draw my attention to it in any way.
The reason for my displeasure - which you might wonder at - is that I have been waiting for 32 years for a bathroom cabinet and cupboards, 17 years for the shower to be fixed, 32 years for a light fitting in one of the bedrooms and five years for the last few boards above the sliding door onto the balcony to be nailed up. We lived in this house for 12 years before I finally gave up and hired a cupboard maker to install kitchen and bedroom cupboards. Before that, the double eye-level oven had balanced on a small wheeled cupboard - no doubt for ease of dusting behind it.
They say a plumber's taps always drip. Well, as HWCFA is a jack-of-all-trades, there is a fair selection of dripping taps, unmown lawns, half-installed irrigation systems, etc.
On the other hand, I myself have a fair selection of half-finished paintings, books-in-progress and half-knitted jerseys, but I still think a magnificent teak and bevelled glass cabinet for snooker cues is pushing his luck in view of the aforegoing!
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