Author: peterb51

5th July 2023

Thank goodness that’s over, after a much better night, the day was less daunting.

The sun hit you as soon as you walked through the sunroom, and breakfast on the deck was a delight. The flowers in the boarders look amazing, and if you squint in a particular way the lawn looks lush and healthy.

We took a ride out into the country and as we came back along Southshore we stopped at a pop-up roadside lemonade stall for a drink. It was run by a couple of kids, obviously trying to make a little money, at what they were selling it for would not leave them much profit margin, but I wasn’t going to tell them that now, would I?

There is still a lot of noise from the lake as the traffic is heavy. The deep throbs of the large cruisers and the high pitched scream of the jet skies seem constant, as gallons of precious fuel gets consumed for no real purpose.

Of course it was a pool day, the water was just the right temperature, so no sudden shock getting in.

I had to ride to the corner store for a couple of things including bread made from almond flour. This is supposed to be much healthier than bread made from American flour, which is supposed to be the most contaminated on the planet. I rode back home eager to have some for breakfast. When Kelli opened the packet the bread was covered in mould. This is not the first time it had happened, but we thought the store would have cleaned out the old stock and replaced it.

I quickly rode back and told an assistant of the problem. I selected another pack, but this time I checked it, and sure enough that was mouldy too.

Having alerted the manager of the situation, I was forced to pick the bread with a cinnamon flavour, not my favourite, but it contained no mould.

4th July Tuesday

Another bad night, I really don’t understand what is happening, this is the forth disturbed night in a row. Nothing seems to work, even though it was after midnight when we went to bed she couldn’t settle, and became more agitated because she couldn’t get to sleep.

This is how it went on until either I drifted off or she did, but we had a total of about four hours, certainly not enough for her. It did however set the tone for the day, but we did get a bike ride in, and we collected some strimmer spools for a house in the next road. An interesting lady with a broad Chicago accent and an interesting garden which she enjoyed showing us around.

I managed to go in the pool to cool off, but not Kelli, she was in a huff over something I said, and was making it known that she wasn’t happy. I did what I alway do in situations like this, try to stay out of her way, which infuriates her even more, so I can’t win whatever I do.

The tension eased by the evening, although there was plenty of noise around reminding us of the holiday. These went on longer than permitted ( there’s a surprise), but gradually they petered out leaving us to try to get a better nights sleep.

3rd July 2023

Well the run of bad nights continue.

The previous day resolved itself up to a point, however staying up later did not make it easier to sleep. I don’t understand.

During the day we completed another pair of side tables and Kelli repainted the other set in a safer white colour. There has not been much activity on Marketplace, usually these sell quickly.

I started finishing the mid century dresser unit drawers, hoping that this piece will get interest.

It was a warm day and we managed to get some pool time, but no bike rides.

In the evening there was plenty of fireworks going off all around us, it was like a war zone.

Apparently the day before Independence Day is firework night, as most people have to go back to work after the fourth, so all hell breaks loose.

The family across the road had a display that was quite impressive. There were the weak and feeble ones for the young children and the spectacular loud ones for the grown ups. We walked down the driveway to watch, which was a momentous effort for Kelli who usually sits on the chair all evening recovering from the hard days work.

Their display went on for ages, they had started mid afternoon, but there must have been some serious money spent.

2nd July 2023

Oh the fireworks, the fireworks on into the night. It’s not just the forth it occurs, it’s every night up to it. It was driving Kelli crazy, she couldn’t get to sleep, but then awaken and couldn’t get back to sleep, it was hell, it’s alway hell. After only five hours sleep, it was hell for the rest of the day. It doesn’t bother me that people let off fireworks, I would do it myself if I had a thousand bucks to set fire to, but for Kelli it is torture. The tension got worse through the day, and if it hadn’t been a rainy day I would have taken off on my bike for some peace and freedom, as it was she took off in the truck, wheels screeching, fuel wasting tempers flaming, then the peace was noticeable,

the dogs noticed it too.

These are difficult times, there is no pattern, other than a few down days, but better days usually follow.

1st July 2023

Phew! It was hot, not pleasant, no sun just humidity, it drains you of moisture and energy, and we had a birthday party to go to.

But first Kelli went shopping with Greer, and I spent time with Dylan.

The party had been marred by a birthday cake issue, both her mother and Cameron had refused to buy their own cake even though it had been a family tradition, after all, I bought my own bloody cake, and half the people failed to turn up and I had to eat most of it myself.

Anyway, that aside, I think Brenda, Matt’s wife made a selection of bakes, so the celebration was saved.

30th June 2023

We had to drive to Zeeland to collect one of Kelli’s supplements, not ideal, but we all have to make sacrifices to heal ourselves.

This was an excursion that I didn’t want to make as I had a lot of things on my list to do.

Due to the miserable results for June I wanted to make up for it fo July, so I wanted to strip the paint off the latest pair of side tables and to examine the roughly repaired end panel on the mid century dresser, and of course complete the last drawer in the kitchen.

We also had word that there were more fresh eggs ready along the road, that meant a quick trip on the bikes to collect them.

I have been listening to interviews with Robert Kennedy junior who has thrown his hat into the next presidential election in 2024. He is a democrat in the old style and is critical of how money and corporate contributions have polluted politics in America. He also has strong views of how the Covid pandemic had been handled and how the pharmaceutical companies have cashed in on it. He is passionate about dismantling America’s war machine and use the billions of dollars to help the American people. He has a common sense approach to most things and is therefore unpopular with the majority of the mainstream media which is obvious. This is the major failure of these outlets that speak of the division between the right and left and yet do nothing to address the problems. Kennedy is listened, and respected by both sides, the first time I have encountered this. It will be interesting to see if his messages filter into the upcoming debates.

29th June 2023

It was the Birthday for Cameron and Kelli’s mum Georgia, so a quick stop off to give them greetings and leave them with a bunch of our wild flowers each. Not sure what Cameron would do with them, but they were in a glass jar, so should last a few days. His record for keeping plants alive is pretty short.

There is still the haze, although stonkingly hot, the sun is hidden. My exposed legs are certainly popular with flying insects leaving their marks, I guess I’m still considered as fresh blood.

We bought more dirt to fill in more holes in the garden, I swear we are just moving soil from one side of the town to the other.

Another drawer has been fitted into the kitchen, only one more to go.

I’m trying to balance the furniture business with the kitchen, and failing dismally, this has to be the worst month for sales since we moved, and there are no signs of any change soon. Side tables used to fly off the shelves even before the paint dried, but not so now.

Even though there is the forth of July holiday coming up it buying fireworks can’t be the reason why they’re not buying furniture.

Maybe the mid century piece will rejuvenate our enthusiasm.

28th June 2023

We had a visit from the local turkeys who had discovered the bird food dispenser hanging on the edge of the wild area.

Busily they pecked at the seed spilled by the bird filling their bellies. It certainly wasn’t the full flock, possibly the hungriest.

There was still the haze about, and the sun was hidden, but the temperature was up making the morning bike ride pleasant.

We took a slight diversion to see how things were progressing on a mega house close to the Macatowa Yacht Club. A large lawn was sold to build this structure. It is very modern with floor to ceiling windows and a flat roof, it will have commanding views over the Yacht Club car park.

Our ride took us part the house that sells eggs, and although we scratched together some change, there were none to buy. Shame, as I was looking forward to getting more blue eggs.

We completed our five mile circuit, then it was time to get some work done. We have had two bad months in a row, mainly with the work needed on the kitchen, I’m hoping that will be finished by the weekend, as we have friend over on Sunday.

27th June 2023

The weather outside was hazy caused by the forest fires in Canada. There were warnings on my phone of poor air quality and advising people to stay inside. I was planning a big bonfire to get rid of my timber offcuts, so I guess I better not do that at the moment.

We had to look after Morgan the hyper girl for an hour or so whilst her mother went to the dentist. Kelli had her making blueberry scones and various craft exercises. The scones turned out good, a little flat, but tasty.

Then we had to drive to Hudsonville to collect a free desk, it must be desk dumping time in Michigan.

Then it was back home so I could start replacing the drawers in the last kitchen cabinet. I was able to use some of the timber supplied by the fridge manufacturer in the packaging, thanks SMEG.

26th June 2023

Today all the handles came in. That eight year old child in India certainly pulled the stops out to get them to us. We also collected the two length of copper trim from the small engineering company in Zeeland for the tiles, they only charged us forty dollars for both pieces.

I couldn’t wait to get started fitting them. It was a cold miserable day, ideal for drilling holes and screwing on handles.

It took a while, but soon the bits of looped string were redundant and replaced with shiny coppery coloured metal things that did what was required. They do not shout out against the dark paint of the doors, instead they harmonise with the sink. I still have the four drawer unit to finish, but they are all drilled waiting for their embellishments.

Kelli was working in the garage, and managed to spill the paint that she had warned me of in case I did it. I’ve never seen her move so quickly as she rushed to clean the paint off her feet and sandals.

The weather had turned cold meaning that bike rides were off the agenda, this will last a couple more days before we get back to some summer temperatures.