Author: peterb51

4th October 2023

The first excursion of the trip was to see my friend in Whitney on Wye.

As I expected, there was little petrol in the beast, so that was my first stop.

The harsh reality of the cost of fuel hit me.

I pumped fifty pounds worth into the tank, that barely hit half full. “Oh” I thought, “this is going to cost a bit”

I proceeded along the M4 towards Cardiff coming off to go in the direction of Monmouth.

This was the route I had done a few times in the Jag, but not at the same speed.

I had heard that the speed limit in towns and villages had been reduced to twenty miles an hour.

When I hit the first one I realised how slow that was, I could take my foot off the gas and still exceed that speed.

Other roads that I used to open up the Jag on now had a fifty mile an hour limit, oh the trip was dragging.

Vernon Kaye was on the radio, his patronising northern tones began to get on my nerves, I had only been in the country a couple of days and already I wanted to punch him in the face.

It took me four hours to do a normal three hour drive.

I was pleased to see Martin and Liz, but not the two fully grown Newfoundlands. They were pleased to see me, forcing their massive bodies at my much smaller one.

I was spattered with dog spit before I reached the front door.

After many hours catching up and admiring his collection of antique clocks, all showing a different time, the chiming began.

It was the ultimate nightmare scenario, loud noises, all out of phase echoed around the rooms, every room had its own symphony.

Then there was silence, another hour went by, it all started again.

It was dark when I made my return drive, stopping to pump another fifty quids worth, ouch!.

Arriving back at the cottage, I bathed in the silence, planning the next adventure.

3rd October 2023

I didn’t sleep much last night, jet lag can be a drag, so I expect that there will be many more before I settle.

We dropped the grandchildren off at school then started the run back to Bradford on Avon.

It was interesting to see changes in the villages we passed, fields that were once green are now housing developments.

When we arrived at Wine Street, we walked up the winding path towards the cottage.

I stopped in my tracks at what I saw.

There were large shrubs growing out of the wall covering the front of the shed, everything was out of control. The same in the garden shrubs that had self seeded had overtaken the apple trees, it was a disaster, I wasn’t expecting this.

My plan was to work on the shed, but this had thrown a spanner into the works, and I wasn’t happy.

I admit the garden must have looked good when everything was in bloom, but now it needed some serious reshaping.

There are some small jobs to be done in the house, but Louise, my daughter in law plans to do that.

Once the extent of the extra work had sunk in, I walked to Ryan and Louise’s house for dinner and to collect the Shogun that I will use during my stay.

2nd October 2023

Finally the plane took off, it was delayed by an hour. Fortunately there was an empty seat next to me, and paying for extra legroom was great, I could stretch out my short legs in comfort.

The selection of new films was a bit dire, but I found one that I could become absorbed in.

My noise cancelling headphones are a blessing, all extraneous noise disappears including the flight attendant’s attempts to communicate with me.

We touched down at Heathrow just after 9.30am then there was slow progress to the final gate. The airport doesn’t change much, the corridors always look temporary, whereas the terminal buildings get all the glamour and huge amounts of money spent on them.

Passing through the immigration was efficient even with my virgin passport, a quick scan and photo and I was through.

The baggage claim was quick, my jumbo case was one of the first to appear, maybe it was used to stabilise the aircraft.

No problem at customs, through the arrivals lounge and outside I took my first deep breath of English air, it felt good, the fumes were what I remembered.

I called my son Damian to check where he was. I had kept him advised of my expected arrival, and he was just pulling into the short stay car park. Apparently things have changed a lot since I’ve been away. He told me you now have to pay to drop off outside the terminal, and there is no longer a pick up point unless you drive a bus or shuttle. There were also changes to the low emission zones, so you have to pay to enter that as well. So it cost him over thirty quid just to collect me, I felt bad about that. I guess the system is screwing everyone now.

We both met up on the glass bridge between the terminal and the multi storey car park.

He had brought the Rolls, mainly because it had the biggest boot, but also who wouldn’t want to get picked up in such a vehicle?

However they are not designed to negotiate multi-storey car parks, so with extreme trepidation he manoeuvred the beast out of the building and on to the motorway.

On the way we talked about the state of the world, and I discovered that he knew all about the vaccine controversy, the corruption that is going on in American and British politics and the real reason for the war in Ukraine, and instead of being at loggerheads with each other we were in total agreement with my re-educated self, this was the first time ever.

We drove down to his home where I stayed the night. It gave me a chance to meet my grandchildren George and Ethan, they had grown so much.

We picked them up from their private school.

I brought them gifts of two elastic powered projects, of course I immediately regretted getting them, as I was the one designated to build them. Typically they both wanted them at the same time, and this was a lot for my sleep deprived mind to tackle, I should have bought them flick knives.

The two wind up planes were eventually finished, but the weather was not good enough to take them outside, which didn’t go down well, I forgot how impatient young children were.

I then made the mistake of agreeing to have a kick about in the back garden, this is when you realise that old people sit in chairs watching, not participating. After half an hour I thought I was going to die, bathed in sweat I decided to let them win, but that would be too easy, the game went on, determined not to be an old git I managed to score more goals.

“Just one more ” Ethan would shout and I was praying that he would score, I even tried to kick the ball into my own net, but missed.

In the end I surrendered, promising a return match the next time I would visit, now I just wanted to sleep.

1st October 2023

Well the historic day has arrived, I fly back to the UK.

After a peaceful nights sleep and a good breakfast I was ready to pack my stuff.

I managed to cut the grass in the back and then it was time to set off for Grand Rapids.

It’s hard for Kelli to be on her own after being together every day for four years, but she is much stronger now and I think she will be okay.

The Gerald Ford airport has changed out of all recognition, it is vast, with a security section the size of Chicago. The waiting area has been moved into a small corner, which is where we sit watching the time tick down before I have to board.

I flashed my new passport and boarding card at the man at the desk, a walk though the scanner and I was on the other side.

I regretted leaving on a Sunday, I should have remembered how crowded it was, the small plane was full.

There was a young lad whose hair defied gravity. It was very long at the front that he had combed back, but after the flight, it had fallen forward. It looked like he was wearing a cap, it stayed there, not falling in his face, I don’t know what product he was using, but it worked.

I decided to get a coffee while I was waiting, and rather than waiting in the Starbucks queue I found another outlet. The assistant placed my beverage on the counter and I handed over the money. He tried to scan his badge many times to book into the system, but to no avail.

In the end he handed back my money and said my drink was free, not something I ever expect in the USA. If I had known that was going to happen I would have bought food as well.

There was a delay to the flight to London, apparently the plane had to be collected from a hanger somewhere in the airport, at least it should be clean, I hope it has the correct number of engines.

30th September 2023

Kelli had been complaining of a pain in her foot since yesterday, I looked at it, and saw a small puncture mark, but didn’t see anything inside.

A couple of days ago she broke a glass and although it was cleared up, there could have been a piece that she could have stepped on.

It became vital that we get medical help when she felt a sharp pain in the sole of her foot when she put her shoe on.

We spent an hour in the local medical centre whilst a young medical assistant probed at her foot. But it was typical, she felt no pain no matter how hard he pressed, so we left with no positive result. Whilst we were out we looked around in the place that Kelli once sold her furniture through. It is a maze of small booths with all kinds of tat, it’s amazing how much stuff you can cram in such a small space. Then we ventured downtown visiting a toy shop looking for something for my young grandsons who I haven’t seen for ages.

As the sun was shining we had lunch out for a change, another sign that Kelli has passed another milestone.

Then it was back to the house for me to cut the grass, because it won’t get done until I return, and to start to pack a few things. I had my super jumbo case because I will have to bring a lot back with me, but it will be quite empty and light for the journey out.

We had settled down for the evening when Kelli received a message to say that there was “Three dressers” on 17th street. It was dark, and not appealing to go out again, but we did.

When we got there there was only one, which had a drawer missing and made from crap material, so we left it. Most often the free stuff is rubbish, so we didn’t feel bad about leaving it. There was no way she could have done anything with it on her own.

29th September 2023

It was a busy day, there was shopping to do, and the tall dresser was being collected by the person who we got it from, Don, Kelli’s mum next door neighbour. Now that hasn’t happened before. However it wasn’t for him, he was collecting it for his in-laws that needed one.

First we went to Aldi, it was different, we were only buying food for one this time. The trolly certainly looked a bit empty, but it didn’t look good, as it appeared that I was the big eater, and I am not.

It was the same at Natures Market, a small basket with little in it. But there were two packs of bacon in it, now that wouldn’t happen a few months ago. We love bacon with our breakfast everyday.

Once back home I had to do a bit of work on the dresser because some of the drawers needed a bit tweaking.

Just after 4.00pm Don turned up with his trailer and a big smile on his face clutching a bottle of white wine.

“Get a couple of glasses” his voice boomed.

Don is a very loud guy, always smiling and alway willing to help, as Kelli’s mum can testify.

With the wine poured, the in-laws appeared.

A older couple (probably around my age) the gent inspected the piece, noting a few places where the paint looked thin. In actual fact it wasn’t, but Kelli obliged, and touched it up.

“Fussy old bastard” I thought I heard under her breath.

Finally he was happy, so he wrote a cheque and I wheeled it towards the trailer.

It was a heavy bugger, but with a huge effort managed to load it successfully. Once that was done they were off, and I had the rest of the bottle to finish off. That did restrict what work I did for the rest of the day.

I did pull out my large suitcase from the storeroom still with the tag attached to the handle. Soon it will be in the hold of a plane flying back to Blighty.

28th September 2023

The mornings are dark making it difficult to estimate the time, especially through my squinted eyes. We finished our big breakfast that sets us up for the day, even though half of it has gone by the time we’re ready to start on things.

We went off for our bike ride, we took a route that would take us past the derelict farmhouse.

As we approached the site we were excited to see someone working.

Making our way down the driveway, not sure if the person was friendly or not, we were shocked to find it was Nate, the guy that owns the corner shop. He had bought the place five years ago, and it has take a long time to sort out all the legal stuff. The property sits on twenty acres, mostly overgrown, but a fabulous location.

Nate was jacking up the front porch to underpin and replace the rotting structure, no mean feat.

We had a long chat, but being aware we were stopping him digging the holes for the concrete piles, we bid him farewell and promised to check on progress.

The afternoon was short because we had arranged dinner with our friends Mike and Lesley, they were picking us up at 5.15pm, and on the dot they arrived. Kelli is a bit nervous of mikes driving, we think he’s still in England. He doesn’t often stop when the sign says STOP!

If nothing is coming he just drifts on through.

I have been tempted to do the same when there isn’t a car in sight. He also takes the strangest route getting to the town, still he hasn’t had any accidents, but he’s seen a few in his rear view mirror.(joke)

27th September 2023

There was another dresser to collect in Zeeland, a very tidy maple piece that should come out nice.

The weather was cloudy with an expectation of rain later in the day, but that never came.

I was busy working on two pieces at once in order to give Kelli something to work on.

I managed to stain and finish the top of the tall dresser that we got for free from Kelli’s mum’s neighbour.

I fitted legs to the free dresser we picked up a couple of days ago, and finished the repair to the drawer front.

On the way to collect the dresser we passed a farm market that we often see on the way to Allendale. We have never stopped there until today. Of course it’s pumpkin time again, so there were examples of all sizes and colours. These I can’t really see the point of. They grow for the whole year, then they are picked, carved and generally mutilated, then left to rot by the front door, sounds like a good use of peoples time to me.

So we looked around at all the produce, most of which were not grown on the farm, but Kelli did buy some honey for another batch of elderberry syrup.

26th September 2023

Rain was expected today, so the race was on to get things done.

I had a top to stain and graft a piece of wood into a damaged drawer front.

This drawer front came fro the piece that was covered in wood filler and this front was badly repaired

There were also eggs in the cooler outside the house on South Shore, which we collected on our bike ride.

There was also a bit of activity over at larry’s.

His lodger Don’s drinking has been getting out of control. We witnessed him staggering towards the basement door on many occasions, and last week he had to shuffle along on his ass because he was incapable of walking.

So I think that was when Larry decided Don needed help, and called on his friends to find a place for him.

There was a flurry of vehicles coming and going, but today they got his van going and drove it away.

So now our source of window entertainment has gone although we still have the question of where Larry goes several times a day.

The rain finally came just after 6.00pm. There was a frantic rushing around to put things under cover.

25th September 2023

It wasn’t a good night, maybe the excitement of the party hadn’t fully chilled out. On top of that Kelli wasn’t happy with the clothes choices that she made, and like the quick change artist made several transformations during the occasion.

We had to go out to collect some furniture that was posted on a free site. This was a bit out in the wild, but when we got there it was obviously the remains of a yard sale.

There were four dressers standing, ranging from, I wouldn’t be seen dead putting that in my vehicle, to such a shame you left it in the barn too long.

We chose the least of the crap. Someone had plastered wood filler into areas where the veneer was missing, and didn’t bother to sand it smooth. We loaded this sad piece into the truck and headed home.

I made a start immediately, I wanted to get the difficult stuff done first so Kelli has something to work on whilst I’m not here.

I decided to cut off the bad areas off and made some legs for it. Hopefully it will look a lot better than it did.