Table Refinished

Earlier this week Rus went out of town on a work trip...I found his absence to be the perfect opportunity to refinish my kitchen table! As he was flying away to the land of oranges, sunshine, and Disney World, I was taking apart the solid oak table that I had grown up with. My grandpa made it for/with(?) my parents for our large family of eight. I remember us squished comfortably around it with my dad teasing that everyone was to feed the person to his left. I remember James always sat tilted back on his chair with only two legs on the ground, and how after years of that abuse and the residual squeak/creak the chair acquired, it was always dubbed "James' Chair." (The rest of us always tried to be as cool as James, but we didn't have the nightly determination he did, and so we never fully mastered the skill of eating tipped back in our chair. *Sigh. Someday.)
Since those formidable years in the house of my youth, the table has also endured many years at Amanda's house and almost three years here in my house. Up until last Thursday it was paint splattered (purple, pink, sparkly - Bekah; green, blue, black - Jacob), pizza cutter-sliced (me), plumber's goo (Rus) and generally aged by all involved. It was referred to as the Grandpa table and the poor thing is now going to be able to comfortably enter retirement! No more dinners and food and spills! YAY! (I'll show you it's replacement when it arrives...and let you know what a sweet haggler I am). Grandpa Table will be placed lovingly in my front room to become cluttered with wonderful things that don't have to be put away at dinner time.
I sanded down all of the pieces, cleaned them with TSP, and then rubbed a sander-deglosser over the whole thing. Then I sanded everything again, deglossed it again, wiped it down with a tack cloth, and then finally started staining it. I wanted it to be dark, so I bought a "provincial" color stain and went to town. Five times. I just kept needing/wanting it to be darker, so I kept reapplying the stain.
Now the color is good, but it is very splotchy and...um...slightly disappointing. Oh well, I'm still excited to have it refinished and repurposed.And here is a bench I built with old barnwood from my wonderful friend Jackie, who actually called me and said, "We're tearing down that old barn! Come get some wood!" She is so, so great to share it with me. So Jackie, here's what I did with some of it:And now just a touch of spring to beautify your day (and my front yard...oooh it smells so good!)