Another Lifetime to go

23rd February 2026

The start of another week, the same agenda, Nature’s Market and Aldi, filling up the cupboard and fridge, same all, same all.

I wanted to go over to Randy the upholstery man to change out the legs and to add wooden slats.

Fortunately I had everything prepared, so the change over was quite painless. We agreed the construction of the seat which will be medium springs covered with a down blanket. Kelli doesn’t want to use foam which would have been less expensive, but we try to use natural materials where we can.

I had the run of the shop while he went off for a meeting, which was great, because I don’t like people looking over my shoulder.

We had our usual walk, it was still bitterly cold,   by the time we got back both our eyes and noses were stinging.

It these times when we wish for summer, lounging in the pool wishing it wasn’t so hot, we’re just not satisfied.

22nd February 2026

In one weeks time I will be flying across the Atlantic, and I’m looking forward to it. It’s not that I don’t like my home here, I need to keep connected to my roots. 

I have the shed to complete and a dishwasher to attempt to repair, but the rest of the time will be for family and friends.

It will be good to get away from the cold, but it will be difficult to leave little Winnie who is growing so fast. 

Although it will be only three weeks, and it goes really fast, it will be a chance to refuel, and be ready for a busy spring and summer.

Talking of the cold, it was bitter today, the windchill took the temperature down to 16 degrees F, not good when we went on our walk.

It wasn’t a work day, but I did cut up the timber  for the shelves for the bookcase, so not a complete loss.

Kelli did well, she sold some items she bought at Goodwill yesterday. She has a good nose for cool stuff, so long may it sniff out the bargains.

21st February 2026

In an attempt to calm Winnie down in the evenings, we decided to take her to the dog park that is not far away. This would be an opportunity for her to run unharnessed to her hearts delight. I took a couple of brightly coloured balls that I could throw, and for her to chase. 

Of course it was bitterly cold, having snowed again. There was only one other person there with her old dog, so they eagerly got acquainted and chased each other around the area. There was also a bit of ball throwing, but she hadn’t got the hang of returning it to me, needless to say I did a fair bet of running myself.

However the atmosphere was disturbed by the arrival of a large lanky dog of some strange breed I had never heard of, immediately he started to throw his weight around.

Winnie and Phoebe took an instant dislike to this lout, and even the older dog was not interested.

At one point it slammed into Kelli’s leg, forcing it to  twist awkwardly, that was our cue to leave, which was just as well as my fingers were numb.

Before settling into our warm home we walked around the block, we really wanted to tire them out.

Earlier in the day we went to collect a buffet that Kelli saw on Marketplace, it was a bit of a wreck being painted in black with stickers and odd handles, this will not be a quick job to do.

Then whilst we were out we did the rounds of both Goodwills, nothing had been added, but Kelli made a new thrifting friend, a lady who engaged her in conversation of things she was buying for her garden. In the short time they chatted, no doubt their life history’s were shared as well as their phone numbers. I’m amazed how these things happen, I guess some people just like to talk to strangers, so I’m sure they will meet up again to rummage through the shelves to find the hidden treasure.

20th February 2026

The lady arrived early to collect the dresser we posted yesterday, a great start to the day, now we need more stuff to work on.

Marketplace has been lean on low price or free dressers so we drove to Goodwill to see if they had any.

The result was no, the only thing we found was a bookcase without shelves for three dollars, so being desperate we bought it, I had some thick ply that would make suitable shelving.

We also drove to the other store on the north side, but they had even less. 

Whether it was the weather that was slowing down the supply we can’t be sure, but it has been a cold one.

And talking about a cold one, the snow came back, not a lot, but everything is white again.

Winnie has been a bit lively lately, around early evening she goes crazy, racing around the back garden, refusing to listen to my call for her to come inside the house. I have resulted to squeezing a toy to get her attention, but that doesn’t alway work.

I have  made the rule that if she doesn’t settle, she goes into her cage for ten minutes, Kelli doesn’t like to do it, but we would not get anything done, we would spend all our time checking where she was, and making sure she hadn’t pissed somewhere.

19th February 2026

Another spring-like day with temperatures up in the fifties, when will the snow return?

I was in two minds if I should put the snow blower back in the shed, but I’ll make that decision next week.

I continued on the door for the combination unit, which has been sold by the way to Nancy, but we have to repaint it to match other pieces she has in the room.

We also finished a three drawer dresser that we were given, all it needed was a guide rail on the top drawer which I knocked out in record time.

We took pictures, posted it, and someone is coming tomorrow morning at 11.00 to view it.

Now we have nothing left in the garage to work on.

There was some strange goings on over at Larry’s place. There is a dumpster at the front where all the stuff that wasn’t moved was filled.

There was a guy looking through it, taking out any metal bits, no doubt trying to get a few bucks for it.

The whole thing has been strange, Larry wasn’t the neatest person, is garage was filled with stuff and the house had ample things in it also.

Instead of holding an estate sale to get rid of it, the daughter arranged large trucks, that turned up in the evening, and they worked all night loading all the contents into them, they did it three times, not sure what was done with it, maybe dumped in the lake, there wasn’t much of value, it was just an accumulation of a lifetime of junk.

Which I’m sure we all have.

18th February 2026

It was back to the barn, the weather was glorious, the warmth was rapidly thawing the snow, it felt like spring.

I was a little early, but John was ready with his water bottle in hand.

We arrived at the barn, the thick snow that I had to plough through was gone, all the piles of timber had emerged from their white shroud, the place looked different.

The inside looked different as well. Gone were the stacks of hickory and cherry, all of it had been machined into flooring, and stacked waiting for collection.

What also was waiting for collection were barrels of wood chips that I helped him filled when he had the last blowout. Finally, the chicken farmer arrived to take them back to the farm as bedding, so more space was gained.

Today was going to be assembly day, this was when the enormity of the piece was going to be revealed. I made a few adjustments so the parts fitted tightly together, then drilled the pocket holes.

Then each piece was slotted together, and clamped holding it firmly whilst I added a few screws into the pocket holes.

Then I stood back, “ Shit! That’s a big bugger”

I double checked the drawings, they matched the physical parts. There was no going back now it was there in front of me.

This new sofa is exactly the same footprint as our current one, but because the mass of the arms are considerably less it looks bigger. 

The last major part is the base frame, that will be tackled next week.

As we were leaving, John handed me a sheet of paper with some numbers scribbled on it. This was the cost for all the flooring he had completed and needed to get paid for.

This is when I realised he didn’t have a clue about coatings. 

We talked about the process, the milling of the lumber, the kiln drying, the cutting into planks, running it through the moulder that produces the tongue and groove feature.

He told me that he needed four blades for the milling station, that was $600, the kiln cost $2000 to run for two weeks. In total he had run 945 feet of flooring, with an amount for labour and overhead we arrived at $7.00 per running foot giving a final total of $6615.

I have agreed to help him set out a costing model, rather than some guesswork on his behalf, that should be an interesting exercise.

17th February 2026

I didn’t go to John the wood’s barn today, because, there was something we had to do, and I hated it.

Today was the day when we had to pay the property tax. Thieving bastards I call them, maybe not to their face, but I dislike handing over a lot of money, and get no tangible asset in return.

We gritted our teeth and did the deed.

The next thing on my list to hopefully lift my sprit was to remake the twisted door for the combination wardrobe/ dresser.

I looked around for some timber that wasn’t twisted or warped, and finally found some oak in the shed. I ran it through the jointer to flatten it then planed it to the correct thickness.

I managed to machine all the joints, started the reassembly.

We sold a nylon stringed guitar that we bought a few years ago when Kelli had the urge to learn, but that never happened, so we felt it was time to let it go.

She posted it on Marketplace and the response was immediate.

Early evening, Jason turned up, he was a guitar teacher and wanted to get it for one of his students. He liked the feel off the instrument, he quickly tuned it and started playing.

Okay he was better than me, a lot better, well actually light years ahead of me, in fact I was glad when he left, I was intimidated by his skill.

16th February 2026

It was President’s day, a time when every crooked leader of America is celebrated, which just shows how gullible they are. With everything that has been coming out, the satanic worship, pedophilia and fraudulent fortune making activities, you’d think the people would rise up and ignore them, but they carry on as normal.

That what they want, normality, they flaunt it in everyone’s face, code words like pizza, jerky hiding the abuse and torture of children.

It will all come out, people will look more intently at their own children, and just imagine what could happen, IF.

Kelli had an appointment with Brandon, another doctor in the practice, she was not happy with her sleep pattern and wanted to discuss some treatment. We knew what treatment she was talking about, the dreaded stomach push.

This is where downward pressure is applied above the stomach area, then wham! Down it goes. I can’t imagine what that must feel like, but apparently, once the initial discomfort has subsided, it makes a huge difference to how she feels.

Let’s hope the sleeping improves.

It was also shopping day, as usual.

There was more activity over at Larry’s. The lady next door to the property had a go at the builder for peeing up against the barn, this was the same guy we saw do it the other day. We have named him Slash, apparently she threatened him with the police if he did it again. I bet he wished he never took the job on.

15th February 2026

It was a horrible night, for whatever reason, Kelli got three hours of sleep, and I, maybe a bit more, but it wasn’t good.

I can deal with the lack of sleep, Kelli can’t. 

It’s not the case of staying in bed longer, that doesn’t work, and I had arranged a recording session with Chris.

The atmosphere in the house was not great, so it was difficult to hold things together. The dogs sensed the unease, and I did my best to keep them busy.

Chris arrived an hour late, that meant that we only had four hours to create a musical masterpiece.

Recording music is like starting a painting, starting with the rough outline, but importantly keeping to a strict tempo. This might seem easy, but it’s the hardest part, as I often find out working with Chris. It’s important because when it comes to adding more instruments, everything has to sound tight and precise . Some say the music should flow like a stream, speeding up and slowing down in a natural pattern.

That’s okay for a single singer instrumentalist, but when a piece is complex, adhering to beat is crucial.

Well in four hours, we got several guitar tracks down, as well as a cup of tea and a few chocolate biscuits. So success all round.

14th February 2026

The latest situation, by Phoebe

Well the little invader is still here. Every morning, when I think everything is calm and as it was, my peace is interrupted by Winnie getting in my face.

I can’t seem to get away, even at poo time she is alway there dancing around me barking, like some native ritual. It’s getting on my nerves, there is nowhere I can be alone, I even try to tune her out, but she get through that.

I sometimes get separated, and then I have the bed all to myself, the little squirt can’t get to me.

I say little, but she is almost as tall as me, I hate to think how big she will get, I’m not looking forward to that. The only satisfaction I get is getting a bigger treat.

The latest statement from Winnie.

Well I am trying, I’m trying to play with the aloof one, she doesn’t want to join in, I don’t think she knows how to play.

I have this special dance that is supposed to get everyone going, but I just get growls and barks.

Phoebe is so disorganised, she poos all over the place, whereas I have one place where I go, it’s far more civilised. I don’t know if we will ever be friends, but you can’t blame me for trying.

The old git likes to play ball, he thinks it will tire me out, but it does a better job on him. 

He does his best to kick the assortment of balls about, but I get most of them. I like to think that I’m helping him keep busy, and fit.

The annoying thing is he puts me outside every fifteen minutes to have a pee and poop, most of the time it’s most inconvenient. Usually I’m having a nap, then he lifts me up and carries me outside, it’s bloody freezing, he then expects me to place my warm arse on the cold snow, he must think I’m crazy.

I’ve nearly got them trained, I get a treat whether  I’ve done anything or not, mind you, the treat itself is the size of a pea, whilst Phoebe gets a massive biscuit, but, soon I will have the same because I will be bigger than her.