Author: peterb51

3rd September 2022

House cleaning is never enjoyable, and at four in the morning it is even less when I’m trying to sleep. Kelli had a bad night, so she took out her anger by cleaning the house.

Of course when she has a sleepless night so do I, and the next day is torture, but we tried to finish a couple of pieces.

I pulled out the dining table we picked up the other day from the back of the truck. It was heavy so I stripped off the legs and under frame to make it easier.

The damage was then made obvious because it looked like the legs had come from something else and crudely attached to the frame with pocket screws. Some of them had split the legs, so some extensive repairs need to be done to this bad boy.

I took a drive to Menards to buy some paint, and bird food, stopping off at Starbucks for a black coffee, this was just the kick I needed

2nd September 2022

The air was thick with the sound of workmen re-fitting the last fallen cable, well no there wasn’t. True there was a bunch of yellow dressed men standing around our house talking, whilst their three big vehicles, still with the engines running lined the road.

Eventually something caused the men to jump into action and go an do their jobs.

I never got round to cutting the wire, so that was winched back into position on the pole, the last remanent of the Sunday night storm.

We had a couple of pruning jobs to do whilst I had fun making some short legs for a mid century side table that’s been hanging around in the garage for ages.

Later we went on a bike ride, or an adventure to find a house that had a fantastic garden full of flowers.

The trouble was Kelli couldn’t remember where it was. I thought I knew the direction, but after riding up and down the road we couldn’t find it, or it would only appear on even days of the week. Finally she looked on the GPS and we headed in the opposite direction to which I had suggested. I had the excuse of being a newcomer.

We finally found the road and the house.

The owners were just reversing down the drive as we arrived, and seeing that we were interested in their garden gave us permission to look around.

It was a garden of amazing flowers and shrubs, a wild assortment of height and colours, but as we explored the path, it led us to another secret garden with strange objects and wind chimes hanging from trees.

To the furthest point there was a small cottage, a beautiful secluded hideaway full of fairytale character and charm.

Along another pathway was a seating area made from old round shaped windows reminiscent of a Greek temple all this was hidden in a Holland suburb.

Everywhere we looked there was an unusual object. A coloured snake was positioned at the base of a tree, to anyone unsuspecting it could give them a heart attack.

1st September 2022

It was going to be a chilled day, we had planned to wash the garage door. It was decidedly dirty and my little test clean area didn’t help, but that didn’t happen.

Kelli arranged to show the lady who wanted matching side tables, our latest creations.

The time was set for five thirty, but there were things I still needed to do. The tops had to be fitted and oiled, there was a drawer runner missing that had to be made and fitted. Plenty of time for that I thought, and making good progress I then discovered that the drawers wouldn’t close properly. That I couldn’t understand, because I had done nothing to the carcass except for some repairs at the back.

Anyway, I had to trim the back of the drawer front so that it cleared the cross rail of the carcass.

I managed all that without any more surprises, so to celebrate we had lunch at the Way Cup cafe.

It was warm enough for a dip in the pool, a great relief.

The lady came for the side tables, and was happy with them, more money in the bank and a happy customer, getting September off to a flying start.

Kelli also found a free dining table with a damaged leg, so we went off to collect that.

This was successful which is more than could be said about our other attempt to collect a dresser.

We were returning from our bike ride when we noticed a white dresser in the driveway of the house that was having a garage sale because the owner was moving, this was obviously not sold, so was out for free.

We rushed back to get the truck, but in the time it took someone else had got there before us. That was a blow, but all’s fair in grabbing free stuff.

31st August 2022

I noticed that the temperature is down in the morning as I have to wear my work coat until it warms up, a sure sign that the autumn will soon be here.

I had two desk tops to cut down to fit the side tables, that was going to be my limit because I had to use a chemical stripper to remove the old finish, a dirty and smelly job.

We still have a wire hanging down across the back garden, so Kelli was on the phone to the power people again.

They sent a man round to survey the situation.

After a quick glance he said “It’s not one of ours, it looks like a phone line, you will need to get on to your phone provider for them to reinstall it”

That is all well and good if we knew who the phone provider was, as we don’t have a landline.

Kelli then got on the phone to AT&T who agreed to send someone round.

The man from AT&T arrives and I showed him the wire,

“That’s not one of ours, that looks like a cable tv line.”

We walked next door to see where the wire was attached.

The was still a thick cable laying on the ground, the other end was still attached to the pole down the end of the street.

“That end here has to be attached to the pole, I guess the cable people will reattach it, and that will lift your cable up out of your yard.”

Kelli then contacted Comcast, the cable provider.

The man from Xfinity arrived, I showed him the wire.

“That’s not ours, that’s AT&T’s ,ours is already up there” he said pointing to the second cable down on the pole, “They’ll have to come and reattach it”

I explained that the man from AT&T said it wasn’t theirs, a bit of head scratching occurred “ Well it’s not ours” he replied.

“ Can I just cut the bloody thing myself?” I asked.

“ I guess” he replied, “if you don’t have a land line, just cut it, coil it up and leave it next to the cable that’s still on the ground”.

So that is what I will do, tomorrow.

30th August 2022

James Dyson went through the wringer again today. The handheld V6 model was pulsing, meaning that it was not sucking properly.

I had all the comments about it being crap, badly designed and overrated, but I was not going to let the stalwart of British entrepreneurship get slagged of any more, it was time for “ Repairman Pete” to take things in hand.

I have become quite familiar with the product, and with a handful of tool can disassemble it in a short time. Normally this problem is down to filters, so that is my first thing to do. I changed it for a new one, but still the problem persisted. This meant checking the other filter at the pre motor side. This cover was a bitch to remove, but with the aid of a knife, fork and spool it came apart in my hands.

It didn’t seem very dirty, but one of the foam filters disintegrated in my hands. This piece was not available in the spare parts list, I expect no one from Dyson expects anyone to open this part of the appliance, that’s why it was so difficult. I manage to replicate a filter of sort, and reassembled everything.

I pulled the trigger again and it still pulsed.

“What the heck” I shouted, frightening the dogs, in desperation I looked down the end of the short tube that we had been using, and it was blocked. That was the problem all along!

I had spent a good hour cussing and breaking fingernails to fix the damn thing when that was the first thing I should have checked.

Note to self, do the bleedin’ obvious before doing anything else.

The customer arrived to collect the long dresser, she barely looked at it or even try all the drawers, it was “yes I’ll take it” and in the back of her van it went.

Kelli went on a painting spree to prime the two side tables and drawers, but I forgot to clean the gun out afterwards. It wasn’t till I was in bed that I remembered, so panic stations ensued.

I managed to clean everything, fortunately it was not the paint that sets hard in the gun, so a good soak was all it needed.

Then it was back to bed, and you guessed it, to dream about cleaning spray equipment.

29th August 2022

We had a storm last night, it didn’t seem so bad until the morning, when we saw the results.

By some miracle, or good fortune we escaped the carnage this time.

We noticed that the power lines that ran parallel to us were down and the pole had snapped and fallen in line with our back fence.

Now these are ten inch diameter wooden poles and it had snapped like a twig.

The only thing we had were a couple of cables hanging low over the garden.

Within a short time the area was swarming with yellow jacketed people from the power company assessing the damage. The problem they had was access. A number of pine trees had grown up surrounding the old pole, so they would have to be removed. Getting to those meant driving over a wonderfully flat green lawn belonging to a newish house next to the main road.

I had alway been envious of this lawn because it was alway green and well maintained, but now it was doomed.

No there was the sound of the chainsaw as it buzzed through one of the pine trees, that came down in seconds, then the trimming of branches of other trees around it.

Then there was the heavy squad, tasked with the installation of a new post.

A large crane the drove over the pristine grass sodded by the nights rain, it’s job it was to remove the bits of the old pole and install the new one.

I could see the tyre grooves from the road up to the fence, I felt the pain that it would cause the house owner, and I know what would have to be done to repair them.

The truck then put down stabilisers, more dents in the perfect lawn. One by one the broken pole was lifted up through the new clearing in the trees.

There was a lot of activity, hard hatted men were shouting commands to the crane driver as the fragments were removed. Next was the installation of the new pole.

That went quicker than I imagined, and within five minutes it was in place and in its correct vertical position ready for the next part.

The truck then drove back down the grass back on the road and parked outside our house.

Next a cherry picker drove back over the lawn, taking care to follow the tracks left by the crane. This enabled a guy to connect all the brackets that held the power cables.

At that time we had to leave for Kelli’s doctors appointment and after that a drive to West Olive to collect a single pedestal desk.

It was a busy day, we even got in a dip in the pool, and finished the long dresser ready for the customer to collect tomorrow, I think I’ll have a little lay down.

28th August 2022

We were determined to finish the long dresser and get it on Marketplace for the Sunday evening shoppers. It turned out pretty good with Kelli’s painted reclaimed knobs making it complete.

We had lunch at the mother in law’s where Kelli had made a wonderful loaf with eggs, rice, mushrooms, onions, garlic, spinach and sun dried tomatoes.

Although it was cloudy it was warm enough to float around in the pool for a while.

Cameron came round to do his washing and brought around a gift of an inflatable island, complete with a palm tree and coconuts. It was so large it took ages to inflate, and took over most of the pool, well it’s the thought that counts.

It looks like Kelli’s plan worked, she had two people after the dresser, and sold it.

27th August 2022

After yesterday’s near death experience, it was business as usual.

First a bike ride lasted all of two blocks before Kelly saw some furniture at a house selling sale. She spotted a pair of side tables that could be repainted.

Side tables are like buses, none for ages then four turn up at the same time.

We rode back to the house to get the money, paid the lady, then continued on our ride to the park.

Once back home we drove down to collect the side tables and a lump of wood with holes in it and a colourful watering can, Kelli has an eye for unusual clutter.

I was able to inspect the side tables only to discover that they had been made from a desk or dressing table, but not done very well.

So the first job is to repair them, strip off the bad paint and start again.

Kelli made good progress on the long dresser, painting the drawers and carcass whilst I finished the stained top.

We also managed a dip in the pool and I did a trip to Menards to stock up on sandpaper and primers.

I decided to try out the watering can, it certainly dispensed water all right, but not from the spout, it leaked like a sieve from its base. Oh well another repair job.

26th August 2022

It’s Friday and there’s stuff to do. Not stuff I want to do, just stuff to do. I look out on to my new lawn, a scene from Chernobyl apocalypse with all the dead patches of grass caused by dog piss.

“You have the special grass seed, go do it” my head tells me.

“But I have stuff to do” I tell myself, “ I have the front of the house to clean, furniture to finish, new pieces to collect, and even more other stuff to do.

The dead grass really annoys me, it wouldn’t be so bad if they did it in the same spot, but no, they bop down where they feel like it.

I thought about sticking spikes all over the grass to deter them, but they would just piss in between, then I would have to put in more spikes in between the original spikes, but they would still piss in between those, so I need to repair the lawn.

Today I washed up all the breakfast things straight after we finished eating. This was unusual, because things are put in the sink and left for my dear wife to do later, but this time, as I stared out of the window at the brown spots, I automatically started to wash up, thus making less stuff to do.

I have the new flower beds to dig, I have the bags of soil and compost to fill it, but other stuff gets in the way.

There are legs to make for furniture we’ve had for ages, this has been on the top of my list for ages but other stuff gets in the way again. Kelli keeps getting more things, then I get side tracked and start working on the new stuff “because they are easier” which is not alway true. But when I’m surrounded with stuff, I’m trying to piss in the corner of a barrel, hence spinning around.

We had to drive to Jenison and Hudsonville to collect a desk and a small buffet. Kelli also squeezed in collecting a couple of stools that “very cool” and would fit nicely into our home.

With the truck full we started our homeward journey.

We approached a set of traffic lights that had turned green, to turn left, as we moved forward, Kelli instinctively looked left just as a car crossed our path. We both looked at each other in disbelief, I checked that we still had a green light and the others were still on red, so the car had jumped the lights, and the speed it was going would have caused some real damage. It was a strange feeling knowing that we could have been snuffed out at that moment. I joked about what would have been worse, being broadsided by the car and killed, or being broadsided by the car and killed by the bloody “cool” stools.

Anyhow we were spared by the universe which means we have another purpose, which was just as well as we had someone coming to collect the low side tables Kelli posted yesterday.

Post thought.

I just hope that if the driver had a death wish they would find a place that wouldn’t involve anyone else

25th August 2022

Today was a complete contrast from yesterday, the temperature was down and it was raining. That was good for the garden anyway.

I had the latest delivery from my lawn treatment company, but it included a bag of dog resistant grass seed, I’m so excited to try it. It should be much easier to use than to put nappies on the dogs.

We carried the two low side tables in to the living area to take pictures, hopefully we won’t have them for long.