Author: peterb51

5th June 2023

The dreaded day draws closer, the day when the kitchen will be transformed. The clock counts down to Wednesday when the worktop will be installed. I dread it because I will have to disconnect everything. My track record for doing anything with water is poor, and everywhere else that I’ve lived it’s always been done by a professional. Why didn’t we do that this time? I don’t know. I got someone in to do the electrical side of it, but not the water.

I suppose the reason is that all the new stuff will go in the same place. The tap will attach to the same pipes, it’s only the waste that will change from a double drain to a single, and I should be able to do that.

All this had been in the back of my mind for many weeks, I just want it to be over.

Even once the corian top is in I will still have to finish the wood top section, but I’m happy with that, that will be a Labour of love.

We had our usual shopping day, plus a quick trip to Menards where we spotted a sick potted flower arrangement, of course Kelli saw it and wanted to save it. I was embarrassed to carry it around in the cart and even more when I had to pay at the checkout. I wouldn’t have minded, but I had to pay full price for the bugger. It better come back to life or I will not be a happy man.

The job we earmarked for today was painting the rocking chair, that has been a difficult job, the original finish was like tar, and so hard to scrape off. There are a few repairs to the arms, but I hope this will be out by the end of the week.

4th June 2023

A bit of a lazy day, but we did sell the small cabinet to a lady from Grand Haven. I had to get up early to fix the top on and give it a good waxing. Then I fitted two new doors in the kitchen, now it’s just the drawers to do.

We had planned to go to Saugatuck with Greer and Dylan to mooch around the shops. I found a pair of sandals I liked, just the sort to tan my toes, so I bought them.

It was a lovely warm day, just the kind of day to sit at a cafe table and watch people, which is what we did for a while.

There are times when doing nothing is a real benefit, it’s like refilling the tanks, staring into the distance not actually thinking of anything .

Often Kelli will see me doing this and say “what are you thinking about” and my answer, though she doesn’t believe it, “is nothing”.

I can’t explain it, the mindless stare is used for many other things, like working out a problem, or trying to remember where I left a tool. I never really thought about it before, is it an age or a man thing? Whatever it is, must be totally normal and I enjoy the silence, so I guess I will do it some more.

3rd June 2023

Well that was a big waste of time. Even after the DeWalt customer service person wrote that I should return it to the store, it wasn’t that simple. Apparently there was just a thirty day warranty with the store and a ninety day with the manufacturer, so a bunch of crap all round.

We spoke to someone at DeWalt and they gave me a phone number to call to arrange for it to be shipped to their warranty/service centre near Chicago. This is not a small light item it would cost a bloody fortune to send back. We asked if there was an approved repair place near us, so he gave us a local number to call, there is a lesson to be learned I suppose, and that is to take out an extended warranty.

Once we got back we asked Larry to take a look at it, and he was sure it was the switch that was the problem, that would be a simple job to do, so I ordered a new part on eBay.

We went for a bike ride before the expected rain, that is when we came across a garden that was full of lilies. Kelli couldn’t help herself and went and complimented the older guy who was working on planting even more. He obviously didn’t talk to many people because he told us that he planted over a thousand bulbs, and they are so closely packed that even weeds can’t find any space to grow.

Then she made the mistake of mentioning the metal roof he had. That made him go off about how he changed the roofline, and all the structural changes he did to his house. This went on for a long time, and we were aware that the rain was drawing in. Finally there was a gap in the conversation leaving us the opportunity to escape. There was no doubt that he was passionate about his garden and his lilies, and we will be keeping an eye on them as we pass on our rides.

2nd June 2023

Disaster!

My DeWalt table saw crapped out on me. I was cutting some half lap joints when it stopped working. Every time I pressed the on button it would turn, but not latch. I tried everything I could find, the brushes, the thermofuse reset, nothing got it going. The evening was spent looking on line to see if I could fix it. In the end I contacted the manufacturer to see if they could help identify the fault, but they just said return it to the store where I purchased it from, so I will do that in the morning.

We did have a fun packed day, apart from that.

We collected two furniture pieces from an address in the sticks, there was a two drawer unit and a single drawer with two doors, a strange combination, but I’m sure we ca do something with it. Next it was a visit to Stacy to see a sample of a handle she ordered.

It was more copper colour rather than the dark bronze sample we already had. It looked much better, so we decided to go with that.

Then we ordered the tiles that will run above the upstand of the worktop.

Finally we drove to Zeeland to a small metal fabricator that Kelli had found to order copper trim for the tiles. Now I think that is everything for the kitchen, thank goodness.

We had our first dip in the pool, the temperature hat reached 90 degrees F, the water was great.

It was then as I started work on the kitchen stuff that the saw trouble happened.

All in, a mad day in Holland.

1st June 2023

After my comment yesterday about the weather, Kelli confirmed that there was no rain forecast for the next ten days. She said that as I heard distant rumblings and the sky darkened. Ignoring the signs, we both continued with our tasks, me cleaning down the rocking chair and Kelli inflating our floating chairs for the pool.

I felt a few drops, but thought nothing of it, then it got a bit heavier, and I moved the bikes undercover, then harder still and I moved the rocking chair inside the garage. Then it became torrential, and I thought “ no pool today then”. I check the weather on my phone, there it was, out of nowhere “Thunderstorm” for the next hour followed by light rain, mmm, bring back the seaweed.

Once that was over, the roads began to steam, the humidity rose, and soon we were back to being hot thanking that air conditioning had been invented.

We did manage to get a bike ride in this morning, and we moved our bistro table and chairs outside, (how’s that working for you?)

So not a total loss

31st May 2023

Off on an early bike ride, and no disaster, we rode to the cemetery water the plants and retrieved the small flag that that we planted.

However some bugger stole it, or the city crew gathered it up with all the official ones.

Then it was back to do more jobs. I wanted to add the doors to the sink unit. This went better than I thought and ended up looking quite good.

It was a hot day, so warm that it takes a lot of effort just to breathe, but I love it.

The dry weather takes a toll on the garden, the lush green of the grass has now patches of scorched Earth, so needs regular watering to keep it from disappearing altogether. With no rain in sight for the foreseeable future, the hose is vital.

30th May 2023

A quick drive to town to get the puncture repaired at the bike emporium. It is a popular place, mainly with the older clientele. I’m not sure if it’s the last ditch saloon for most of them, but good on them, going out in a burst of speed is the best way, I say.

We left it for them to do the repair, and headed home, we had a dresser to deliver.

Back in the truck, we headed to the north side, to an estate of condominiums. These are even more uninspiring than most new housing estates. These are run by a council of home owners who set strange rules, like all garage doors to be close when not in use, no loud noises, no unruly gardens, all the things that we would not be welcomed at.

Anyway, we delivered the dresser, then headed back to the bike shop to collect my machine.

I was determined that I wouldn’t be caught out in the future, so I asked the assistant for an emergency repair kit, like the stuff they supply in new cars instead of a spare tyre. It is horrible stuff, in the time I had to use it, when I had a puncture, and took it to be repaired, the white goop was all over the floor, not popular with tyre fitters.

It was amusing to see the emergency kit was called Goop, so clutching the canister we left the store.

Once we were back home, and before we started jobs we went on a bike ride so that Kelli could deposit her cash in her bank’s cash machine. It was quite a long ride, and we only had to cross one busy road.

My aim for the day was to work on the under sink cabinet. It needed cleaning out and painting. I removed the doors and dummy drawer front and prepared the frame ready for paint. I was impatient, and wanted to fit the new doors, but that has to wait for another day.

29th May 2023

I have one memory on this Memorial Day that I won’t forget, I had a puncture in the rear tyre of my bike. We were planning a ride to the cemetery to take pictures of the flower arrangement. We got halfway when I felt the back wheel go squelchy, disaster. Of course I didn’t have a pump or an emergency puncture repair, I was marooned.

I turned the frame over and checked the tyre for the cause. I slowly rotated the wheel and eventually found a metal staple embedded in the tread.

That put paid to our ride, whilst Kelli cycled home to get the truck, I started to walk back.

When we met up, I loaded the heavy frame into the back, something that I have become an expert recently, and drove home.

That episode did put us out, I had plans to do a lot. With the hot weather comes a routine of watering everything, everything get so dry very quickly, and even the mulch doesn’t help.

I managed to fit another drawer front in the kitchen , and Kelli found another free desk for conversion.

I finally washed the deck, getting rid of all the grime that had built up, then it was getting out of storage any remaining items that we wanted on the deck, like the large umbrella and the fire pit, now we are all set for summer.

28th May 2023

We took a trip to the cemetery to plant new flowers on Dave’s grave. His plot is situated close to the edge under a large tree, which is well shaded. We planted a small flag which is the tradition on these special holidays.

Then it was back to the house for a bike ride down to the park. There was no activity in the garage today as we were invited for dinner at Chris and Jill’s. Kelli had made an amazing artichoke dip and salad, whilst Chris grilled some Scottish salmon to perfection. I managed to drink the entire bottle of Chardonnay that I brought, not my fault, I didn’t want to waste it.

We had a lot of fun sitting outside with Morgan, their super active daughter running about excitedly and talking at a hundred miles an hour. I think it was my turn to keep her attention. We talked about Greek mythology and world travel, all the things I’m an expert at.

It was a fun, the wine certainly played its part, I shouldn’t have much trouble falling asleep.

27th May 2023

It was time to get the pool out. It’s the time of year when you have to remember where things were stored over the winter. The pool was stored in a large plastic box that was underneath a load of stuff, meaning everything had to be moved out in sequence. Finally I got it out, then I had to put everything back again.

After all that I was ready to set out the pool. But first I needed to find the tarpaulin to go underneath. I thought I knew exactly where it was, I remembered it when we cleaned the garage out, but I couldn’t find it now. I looked in every possible place it could be, it had disappeared. My only option was to buy a new one. Kelli was champing at the bit to start filling it up, so I got in the truck and headed off to the store. I was expecting the roads getting there to be clogged with cars because it was Memorial Day weekend, when everyone works on their garden, but even the store wasn’t crowded. I selected a medium grade tarpaulin, because I wasn’t cheap, and it would last a decent time. Just for a laugh I went to where all the mulch was stocked, thinking all the piles of bags I had seen yesterday would be gone. I was surprised to see some of the black stuff still there, so I loaded four bags of that into my trolly.

I had to stop off at the corner shop to buy some milk, that place was heaving, I guess the locals are happier buying food, than buying mulch, and it does taste better.

Once the tarpaulin was laid out, the pool could be positioned and the filling began.

With the temperatures due to be in the eighties next week, all the effort will be worth while.