Author: peterb51

24th August 2023

Another oven day, making it difficult to breath,

I know in a few months we’ll be complaining that it’s too cold. The reported temperature was ninety six, much higher than the expected eighty four.

A lady turned up to buy the heavy dresser in the later afternoon, I had added an extra coat of wax oil in the morning, but with the high humidity it took ages to dry.

Kelli had found another dresser in Jenison, close to Hudsonville. The address was in a housing complex, which are often like a rabbit warren, where apartments and blocks have letters and numbers that don’t make sense.

We drove around trying to message the person for directions. “Just look for a crowd of kids playing outside” came the reply. Sure enough we spotted them outside an open garage.

As we pulled up a lady carried out the dresser. “She must be strong” I thought as the two of us struggled to lift it into truck, “better not get into an argument with her”.

We stopped off at the corner shop for some urgent supplies. Kelli bought thinly sliced turkey and some Black Forest ham for me. This is still strange to see this, buying meat, real meat after all this time and eating it, enjoying it, without guilt.

As soon as we were back Kelli started stripping the dresser, but it was hot, and she was using a heat gun to remove the paint, I’m sure we could have left it outside in the sun for an hour, and that would have done the job.

23rd August 2023

Phew it’s hot today, it’s like opening an oven, but without anything to eat at the end of it.

I had to apply more wax oil to the heavy dresser, this is hard work. The oil has to be pushed into the grain with a non abrasive pad, it certainly gets the muscles going.

Then I had to work on the commissioned work.

That is when I discovered I had made a cock-up with a door I had laid up yesterday. I had made the Relationship of stiles into the rails and the rails into stiles, the wrong way round, not sure how that happened. Now I could make the second door exactly the same, or start again from scratch. The only problem with that was I had cut up all the remaining wood ready for assembly.

I need to get more wood from Elaine.

I did make a jig for cutting tenons and bridle joints that will make the new door frames quicker. This attaches to the saw fence and slides along so the joints can be cut perfectly square, I guess I will try it out soon.

Within a short time my shirt was absorbing moisture from my body, it was very uncomfortable, I would have to go inside to cool down. However going back out caused my glasses to mist up, another reason why I hate wearing them.

Kelli finished painting the bed frame, and decided to repaint the drawers on the dresser that was not getting much attention.

So we had a marathon photo session, two dressers and a bed frame that now joined our two bar stools as finished goods.

The heavy dresser got a bit of interest, someone is coming to look at it tomorrow.

22nd August 2023

I scrubbed the top of the heavy dresser because I was not happy with the finish. Wax oil is a bastard to remove, I had to scrape it off inch by inch then sand with a fine paper that got clogged, it was hell.

I allowed the surface to dry off in the sun, before applying another coat of oil, thankfully it turned out better. I also finished another lattice floor for another drawer.

I started making the doors using the table saw. I have seen jigs made to cut tenons for table saws but I have made one yet, I had to improvise.

Kelli picked up a queen size bed yesterday, she unloaded it and started to prepare it ready for painting. Beds are not a great seller, but hopefully someone is waiting for one.

We had a bike ride that took us to the house with the secret garden that we found last year, unfortunately there was no one around, but the flowers booked beautiful.

There were more eggs outside the house on Southshore, we have become a regular customers and the poor chickens are probably whipped to lay that many eggs so that we can have our breakfasts.

Larry came over to take our truck out to check on a noise we were getting on the driver side wheel. I suspected it might be a bearing, when he returned, he confirmed it. I went straight on to eBay and ordered a new part, there is always something to do.

21st August 2023

Whilst Kelli had to get a supplement she needed from her doctor, I had my old gits music playing. I finished sanding drawer fronts for the heavy dresser, and applied a wax oil to them, the sun soon dried them out.

I finished sanding the first commissioned drawer box and started on the lattice floor panel for the second.

We listen to a lot of independent pods casts now rather than the mainstream media outlets. I used to think they were pushing an alternative narrative, but recently I’ve paid more attention to what they have been saying. It is a far cry from a few months ago when I accepted everything I heard fro the “official” news. I’ve learnt a lot about the Ukraine situation and about the broken promises that NATO had made to Russia as part of the deal to break up the Soviet Union. There is so much that is kept under the carpet that it makes me angry that no one tells the truth anymore. We have the Trump/Biden saga, two old men way past their prime, both trying to hold on to power for all the wrong reasons. The two party system is not working, everything is a stalemate nothing gets done, and more money is being sent to the Ukraine than aid to Hawaii.

America is shit scared that Trump will win the next presidential election, all the indictments against him just seems to fuel his support, he is using donations to pay his legal bill and his base are too dumb the realise it.

There are a number of very capable people who could do a much better job, but they are being shunned, and to see that happening in real time has brought me to my senses. It doesn’t mean much to me because I cannot vote in this country, but I feel for other countries that do not let the real stories come out, I’m sure the whole story of the Covid vaccine will eventually come out, it has to, otherwise the lies will go on.

20th August 2023

A fruitless trip to Zeeland in search of some free furniture began the day. I hadn’t finished my coffee when Kelli announced that she found a posting on Marketplace listing several items that we could rejuvenate and sell.

Off we drove, stopping for fuel, we headed for Zeeland. She had sent a message asking what was still available, but had not received a reply, so we were travelling blind.

The address was a trailer park outside of the town. These have a bad reputation around here, and in some cases quite rightly so. We drove around passed the place, with no sign of anything. This was a big waste of time, and we were angry, not the kind of “ let’s burn the place down” sort of angry especially with the price of petrol at the moment, but from the inconvenience.

We drove back, stopping at Kelli’s mum to collect a heavy dresser that we stored there. Next was a bike ride to the park stopping at the corner store on the way back for some essentials, then back to the projects.

19th August 2023

It was the Aldi shop run with the same annoying people getting in my way with their massive trolleys and ample bodies blocking the isles. Despite all that, we managed to get most things we wanted, we even looked in the meat section but chose not to buy anything, mainly because it was multi country sourced.

Then it was off to Natures market with buy the rest of our weekly produce. They of course have all the heathy foods, so we stocked up on those. This is the only place that give a discount for seniors, which is the main reason for Kelli bringing me along. I get presented at the checkout like a voucher, and “zip!” Ten percent off.

Kelli was determined to finish the latest dresser and I wanted to make a lattice floor for the drawer boxes I’m making for Elaine. This is to allow for air flow when storing fruit and vegetables. I had some oak that I cut into strips and laid them out in a jig, it took a long time to do, but it turned out okay.

We managed to squeeze in a bike ride, there was a breeze blowing off the lake that followed us around, no matter which way we went the wind was alway in our faces, funny that.

18th August 2023

There was the early morning dash to see if any eggs were outside the gate of the house on South shore. Luckily there was, I loaded up a fresh dozen into my panniers and engaged warp drive. I passed the same lady three times, once on the way there, my speed blew her hair backwards, then again on my return

This blew her hair forward, I bet she thought “bloody hooligan”.

I rushed inside with the eggs telling Kelli to pay for them, I then had to go to the corner shop for red potatoes which is where I passed the lady again, her hair was having a busy time.

There were many things to get done today, including a bike ride and priming another dresser. I continued work on the commissioned drawers.

I also had to drive to Menards to buy wood glue and epoxy resin, I was scraping the bottom of the barrel on both. I had extended the legs on the dresser but ran out of epoxy to bond the extension piece, that was the first job done.

We went out for an early dinner at New Holland, it was Kelli’s idea, we wanted to test out our new renewed taste for meat.

We both had a double cheeseburger, for me it had been five years since I had one, and it was like greeting an old friend. Kelli enjoyed hers although she didn’t eat the bun. She couldn’t eat all of it, her plate was covered in ketchup, it looked like roadkill.

Both of us were full and needed a walk with the dogs to settle our stomachs, it was a fun change to our routine, and I hope we can do it more regularly.

17th August 2023

It was a wet start to the day with a good old fashioned thunderstorm so we had to eat breakfast indoors.

We finally took the bar stools out of the truck. Kelli had called Larry about doing a repair to one that had a cracked tack welds.

I took it over, Larry was inside his barn puffing on a cigarette. Several months he had given up because he had been rushed to hospital with breathing problems. This had frightened him so much that he stopped smoking immediately, but he looked ashamed when I called him out on it. I guess he made his own decision.

He switched on his mig welder and after a couple of flashes, it was done.

I took them back and got some pictures and Kelli posted them, hopefully they will sell fast.

I got on making the drawer boxes for Elaine’s Florida kitchen. Because the sides slope I had to make sure that the angles were cut correctly, had one close shave, but everything ended up correct.

16th August 2023

After a terrible night where we both got about an hours sleep, we had to drive to Zeeland for Kelli’s doctors appointment. We both felt like death, but somehow got through it.

The sleeping problem is often associated with the condition that Kelli is going through, and her doctor is trying to balance her hormones.

There was a question that she didn’t want to ask, but it related to the whole red meat thing.

I had raised the topic with her after watching an interview with a dietitian who said that we need the nutritional benefits of meat, and gave an example of the North American Indians who ate every part of the animal they killed.

I have alway supported the way we chose to eat, although the smell of the barbecue always stopped me in my tracks, but if Kelli should have this nourishment she should consider it.

So she asked the question.

Her doctor’s eyes lit up, “Absolutely yes” he said, and listed off all the benefits it would give her.

Over time we had added eggs and fish into our diets because they had the nutritional advantages over supplements, so adding in red meat in limited quantities would help her more.

“It should be grass fed, not grain” he added.

This is because American grain is crap and laced with chemicals, another reason why we don’t eat bread.

This seemed to go down well with her, her daily intake of supplements is, in my opinion is excessive and it gets quite expensive.

So we stopped off at Natures market on the way back and found some grass fed ground beef that we could make into burgers, which is what we had for dinner. It’s going to take of re-adjusting but if it helps her heal and get back to normal it will be a good decision.

On a personal point, I was stung by a wasp. It has been years since I last had an encounter with a Jasper. I walked into the shed to find a piece of lumber when I was attacked and stung on the forehead. I had noticed a small nest developing in the doorway but I thought if they didn’t bother me I won’t bother them, unless the nest grew too big.

So with my forehead throbbing I destroyed the nest and cursed loudly, it hurt and I could feel a swelling coming on. I was scared that my Neanderthal ridge would expand resembling a character from Star Trek, thankfully it didn’t.

15th August 2030

Kelli had bought a couple of bar stools from an Italian person, we guessed he was Italian because his name was Giovanni. He wanted to meet at a storage facility in Holland, there are many places like this that have sprung up around Holland blotting the landscape.

He came to meet us at the gate by driving his vehicle right up to the wire, this caused the gate to slide open very slowly which was ironic because there was a warning notice on it warning of injury and death. Judging by the speed it went you could be bored to death waiting for it to open. We drove through following Giovanni to his lock up. He was a short, thin man with a strong Italian accent (we were right)

Front and centre were the two bar stools, one needed a bit of repair, so we will call on Larry to help there.

We loaded up and headed for the gate, it slowly opened, my life flashed before my eyes, then we were out, and heading back home.

Apart from those, the room was empty, hardly worth renting one unless he parked his vehicle inside and slept in it, which is a cheap place to live.

Kelli didn’t have a very good night, waking at five thirty, so she was not her best.

She managed to give a second coat of paint to the desk pedestals and helped me reassemble the desk parts. It is a vast improvement over the original, the owner should be impressed.

I stripped the top of a walnut dresser, but I don’t think I can save it as there is some sand through areas, so still thinking about that.