Author: peterb51

7th November 2025

One thing we did yesterday was pull out all the small pieces that we acquired but never did much with. 

There is always a trade off between the amount of work required, and the reward we get from doing it, and quite frankly they are not worth the effort. 

So we hauled it all out, set it up and took pictures, Kelli then posted them on Marketplace.

There was a lot of interest in most of the stuff, and today there were a stream of buyers arriving to collect their prize.

I decided to tackle Matt’s guitar.

I had made a routing jig over the past couple of weeks, now was the time to see if it worked.

Everything was clamped down firmly, I had set the depth of cut on the router, and prepared to commit. The router roared and the first bits of rosewood flew out, the duration was less than a minute, then it was done, a cavity was created.

After squaring of the corners I was ready to cut the piece to fit in.

I had found a piece of rosewood in the basement of the family home, Dave had collected all sorts of wood offcuts, and this one was perfect.

I cut a piece to the thickness I needed on the bandsaw, and then squared it up on the disc sander.

After fine tuning the fit I finally added the glue and stuck it in. The next challenge was shaping the fret which had a slight curve.

I made a template, and carefully scraped away until the template matched the shape.

I was relieved, okay it is a different piece, and it shows, but once the strings are refitted it should be hardly noticeable.

Later we had to collect a dresser from the north side, it is a decent piece that just needs the kickboard refitted, then we will sell it like it is.

6th November 2025 

It was breakfast time with Lloyd at the Southside inn. This was originally set for 10.00am, but delayed because we had someone coming to collect the dresser. 

Like most places that serve breakfasts the clientele are of the older generation, which, of course I forget that I am a member.

Happily, I still don’t consider myself old, and at least there is a spring in my step which is more than I can say for the majority of the customers.

Anyway with my Farmer’s Platter with sourdough toast, in front of me, we began. The quality of the food is good in my view, and ample in size.

The coffee is always plentiful, as Lloyd is an avid drinker of the stuff.

We usually start off with the topics from the news, Lloyd from the mainstream and I from the alternative media. This topic was the result of the New York Governor election. For the first time in history they have a socialist, who is promising free this and free that, and to pay for it, he will tax the rich. Lloyd pointed out that all the rich people will migrate to Florida, moving their wealth and businesses out of the city.

Yes there is going to be problems, but one has to understand that many things are said to buy the votes that conveniently get forgotten once in power.

It like Trump saying that with all the savings DOGE were making he would give all taxpayers a thousand dollars refund, well that all went quiet, typical political bullshit.

With the breakfast settled in my tummy, we parted agreeing to meet next week for our beer session, my social life is booming.

I came home and started to do some repairs to the bodywork on the truck, having a new nose was the excuse to tart the old girl up a bit.

I had bought a bottle of touch up paint at twenty four dollars, that has to be the most expensive liquid on earth.

I did a bit of filling, sanding and priming ready for a finish coat, that I have yet to buy. By the time I’ve finished I would have doubled the value of the truck.

5th November 2025

I’m confused, there is so much support for Israel I just don’t get it. If you come right out and say you that you disagree with what’s being done in Gaza you are labeled as an antisemite. 

I don’t get when “ Christians “ come out and support what Israel is doing, how can that be right? Jesus never preached about killing women and children, about destroying the lives of innocent people, how can all that be squared up?

Why are most countries sucking up to them?

Is it that the world banking system is controlled by the Jews?

Can it be that most of the media in the world is owned by the Jews?

Are most of the political parties in the world funded by the Jews? You bet they are.

The film and music industry have always been run by the Jews.

These people are very cunning, they manipulate others to do their bidding, the wars in the Middle East, we’re all examples of a bigger plan.

It has taken all these years of my life to realise that I’ve been played. Everything I read, every thing I’ve watched, every thing I’ve listened to, and everything I’ve was taught have been designed to not question, now I question everything.

To those who give a damn, it’s all out there, they can’t help to let slip what they are planning, it’s all done in plain sight.

I have said before, it’s all about distraction.

Covid was the awakening for me, if governments lie about that, they lie about everything, it’s to keep us scared, if we are in fear, we can be controlled.

One day I will comment on the masons, that is another story that will blow your mind, I thought it was just a gentleman’s club, oh no it’s much more than that.

Phew! And now for something completely different.

We VC sold two furniture pieces this morning, one a cedar chest and other a dresser that Kelli was just finishing, a good start to the month.

I took time to give the truck a good wash. I can’t remember when I did it last, but I did discover what colour it was.

I also fitted a new cover that protects the front of the vehicle from stone chips, the old one was pretty ropey. Kelli found one on eBay which arrived yesterday, I had the pleasure of fitting it.

I also discovered why one was fitted in the first place, it was to hold the front on.

Some of the brackets had broken on the sides and the cover did the job of holding it all together.

Fitting it was a struggle, a bit like trying to stretch a cow over a barrel. 

Once done, it made the truck more respectable again.

4th November 2025

It was back down to John the wood’s workshop for another instalment of Pete’s chair build. I had high expectations of what the day would hold, unaware where that would lead.

I didn’t have to pick John up from his home this time, and drove straight to the workshop.

He had a lot of timber that had been taken out from the kiln that all had to be machined, it made my little stack look insignificant.

There were also panels that he had laid up for his church project on the bench that we had to move before I could start on my job.

I had decided to cut a different angle on the front of the side panels, the original was not visually strong enough, and I wanted the cushions to be more visible.

This is where things went wrong.

I set the guide for the saw, no, John did not have a track saw.

As the piece of wood fell away I saw to my horror, bits of the biscuit showing.

Oh no! I exclaimed, I’m not sure if John knew why I was suddenly pissed off.

Unfortunately I was committed, I had to do the other side as well, and yes, the same happened.

The only way I could get over it was to find the piece that I had cut off and make a small wedge from the same area where the biscuit was. John was looking in amazement, carefully I chiseled out the bit of biscuit and inserted the wedge. I was pleased that the piece matched perfectly, and with glue and sawdust became virtually invisible. I then did the other three, John must have thought I was a magician, “ Well I’ve never seen that before” he said with his wry smile

.

This took up quite a bit of time, but I gave the side panels a good sanding, but by then it was time to take John back home.

The next thing on my list was to pick up a dresser from Zeeland.

The address took me on a dirt road to very nice house, with two young boys playing in a pile of leaves, what simple enjoyment can be had with autumn debris.

With the dresser loaded, I got back on the dirt road heading home.

Kelli had been busy, she had painted a long dresser, and all the handles, and, she announced that someone might already be interested to buy it.

On my was to John’s I did have a call from Henry where we discussed the trimming in his house, I gave him my rate, and he didn’t seem bothered about that, what was more important was my availability, that I need to sort out.

3rd November 2025

We sold two pieces this morning, the bookshelf and the small dresser. It was a bit of a challenge getting it into her car, but after a bit of a shuffle we managed it.

All this happened before our weekly shop, the same old routine of finding out what we want is out of stock

The trees are particularly beautiful this time of year, I took pictures of Larry’s trees, I’m sure, this will be the last year they are standing, once the place is sold they will be cut down.

Changes can be a time of sadness, when a landmark is no longer there to be appreciated, it leaves a hole.

I had a job to do on one of the new dressers that we picked up last week.  It required a good scrapping,but it was a solid pine top, and should come up a treat.

We now had some space in the garage for the other dresser that we kept in the truck. This will be a light sand and a new paint job,  that’s Kelli’s job.

I did a bit more to the router jug for Matt’s guitar repair, I’m hoping that will be tackled this week.

Now that it’s getting dark early we have to rush to get things pictured, we finished a cedar chest, as the sun was disappearing, but we got it posted.

2nd November 2025

Well no one told me the clocks changed last night, I was oblivious, it was only when Kelli mentioned it that it sank in.

But life continues, I was relishing in the fact that it was earlier than I thought.

I was able to get in the garage to get the dresser ready for collection, that was until Kelli came out with the phrase “ I hate people” the signal that the buyer had pulled out, and offered a lame excuse. We know most of those. Why can’t people be honest and tell us the truth, it doesn’t matter, because we have done it ourselves. If they have second thought, it’s okay, it’s their prerogative, we don’t like it, but life is like that.

Anyway, after that letdown, I had a job for Elaine to do. Yesterday she brought over two wooden corbels that she wanted something added to.

There were two options, a wooden ball or a cone. She preferred the cone, but I suggested the bottom part of the ball with the cone on top.

So with skill and sandpaper I proceeded to sand the mounting surface so that the cone blended into it, I was quite pleased with myself, I just hope Elaine is.

Then Kelli called me in, it was time to go to her mother’s for ice cream. I quickly changed, and off we went. 

It wasn’t until we got there that Matt, who looked surprised, said, “ What are you doing here, you’re an hour early” 

Yep! We forgot to change the big clock in the house, duh!

1st November 2025

A miserable day, grey and rainy, summer is long gone, and the change is very noticeable. 

I wasn’t planning any furniture work, as Saturday is my “any other things that I want to do” day.  Today was recording day, and Chris was coming down to work on the stuff we started last week. I have transferred all the data to the Mac Pro from the laptop, so now things are more stable. I was hoping to start at 12.30pm but as alway he is alway late, it wasn’t until 2.30pm that he actually arrived. I had told him that I want to finish at 5.00pm so time was limited.

We got into things straight away. 

Now Chris is a professional musician and performs in care homes, so he is constantly playing guitar, but for some reason once recording starts he falls apart. This is known in the trade as the “Red light syndrome”.

This is where the concentration is so great it causes brain fade and you overthink the playing.

We scrapped all the tracks from last week confident that today would be perfection.

By the time we got to take six, it was not improving, so we had a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Starting again, he managed to get through it okay, but when we listened to it through the speakers the start of the song didn’t sound right.

I suggested that he worked out a different start, something that would lead in to the main body of the song.

After a bit of plonking and plinking he can up with something that sounded fine, and made the introduction more logical.

Kelli had gone thrifting with Elaine, so it was just the dogs in the house, but they didn’t care, all they do is sleep.

The timing was just right, the girls turned up just as we were finishing. I have to be pretty firm about finishing otherwise Chris would keep talking, but it was a good time, and I’m finding my way around the software now.

31st October 2025

It’s the time when you feed children all the bad things you tell them to avoid, yes it’s Halloween.

Like all good and kind neighbours we put out a bowl of goodies. It was a last minute deal, I rode along to the corner store on my bike with a purse full of quarters, that was the only cash I had left.

I grabbed two of the closest bags of sweets that were left, and rushed to the register. I was hoping that no one would be behind me, and have to watch patiently as I counted out my stash of coins. Typically, a queue quickly formed, now there were a whole line of people all looking to see what the hold up was.

I tried to justify my predicament by saying I stole my child’s pocket money, but that didn’t sound good in a god fearing land, so I told the truth instead.

Transaction over, I left and rode back, by now the temperature had dropped to its evening levels, I was glad I wore my scarf.

We set out a bowl on our wall with a little note, waiting for the little angels to descend.

By the end of the evening, most of the treats were still there, maybe the lessons in heathy living has got home.

The day started well, a good breakfast, and a drive to collect a dresser that Kelli had seen on Marketplace. As we drove along her senses picked up the site of a free dresser on the side of the road. I suspected something was happening when I heard her neck crack, and the truck spun around. Concussed by the sudden change in direction I realised what was happening, and prepared myself for another salvage operation.

The dresser wasn’t in bad condition, a good scrub up and maybe a stripped top, and it could be out to be sold. This meant that we had to go back home to unload, then retrace our steps back to the original place we’re were picking up the original purchase.

This one had to be carried down the stairs, but it was a good make and in good condition,

We loaded the carcass and the drawers into the truck and headed off for our next appointment.

Up in the wilds of West Olive,was where Henry lived, you know the one who forgets things.

I had offered to give a quotation to trim out his newly renovated house overlooking Lake Michigan. When we arrived the place was buzzing with activity, roofers were busy laying new sheets of plywood ready for new shingle.

Henry greeted us and led us into the house which looked like it had survived a hurricane.

The rooms upstairs had been gutted and drywalled, and he wanted all the doorways and skirting boards redone.

This was a preliminary visit because they didn’t know what they actually wanted, Henry had one idea, and his wife had another. There was no guessing who would win this argument, but I agreed to give them a few sample ideas when I return in a couple of weeks.

This would be a nice change from furniture and probably more lucrative.

We did a bit of a conversion to a piece that wasn’t getting much attention. I cut a couple of shelves, drilled some holes, and added some shelf supports, and now it’s a neat bookcase.

30th October 2025

Once breakfast was done we drove down to the garage to collect our truck. We were lucky to have borrowed Kelli’s mother’s van overnight, otherwise it would not be easy to get to.

After paying the three hundred and forty dollars bill, I climbed into the truck and started to drive home. What a difference, no droning, it was comparatively quiet, and almost pleasant to drive.

I had my meeting with Lloyd in the afternoon, I arrived a bit late, he was already there with the drinks on the table, although not our usual one.

A group of people had the audacity to use our regular table for themselves, I was not happy, well you get used to things, and our alternative table rocked. That is another thing that I don’t like is a rocking table. It required a folded beer mat to stabilise it, then we could get on with the serious matter, putting the world to right.

After our usual couple of drinks, Lloyd had to leave early, just as well because I was bursting to use the toilet.

I then had to drive back to the garage to retrieve my glasses case which I left there, I bloody hate having to wear them, and it’s not the first time I’ve left them somewhere.

Kelli, in the meantime had finished painting a three drawer dresser, that went straight on market place.

29th October 2025

We took the truck to the garage to get the wheel bearings replaced, it will be refreshing not to have the drone all the time.

If only we had a clear garage, I might even be tempted to fix things myself. I used to do all my own repairs back in the old days when I had little money. A car in those days was essential, being a contract draughtman I always had to travel long distances every day, so car repairs took up most of the weekends. The tools I carried around in the boot were quite extensive, I could change out the swivel joints and track rod ends by the side of the road. I changed wheel bearings, and constant velocity joints, well, I drove a British made car, so this was things I did often.

I’m still working through the software issues on the new computer, there is something weird with safari that I can’t get to the bottom of. When I want to go to a website, it just shows a blank screen. However using a different browser I managed to load another software package, another tick, only one more to go.

I have been a bit distracted recently with all the software issues, I haven’t been so attentive to the furniture side, but I did a chunk of work today. The cedar chest is ready for painting and another dresser should be finished tomorrow.