Author: peterb51

15th June 2022

Another pool day, we have to take advantage whilst we can, there could be snow tomorrow.

The psycho killer appeared again at Larry’s.

We thought he had left, but I heard the weird sounds that is either very aggressive rap music or him singing along, which I think sounds like someone is swinging a cat in a restricted space.

We had two ladies come to collect the two matching side tables, and we finished a small dressing table.

These are pieces that we don’t bother with because there is not always a big demand, but because it was free we thought it was worth a go.

14th June 2022

It was too hot to breath, the humidity was seventy five percent which made working outside hard. I had some staining to do so I started as early as I could, but had little appetite to do much more. I did fit the tops to the side tables, but my mind was in the pool.

The water was warming nicely, but we topped it up with hot water from the tank to lessen the sound of Kelli climbing into a slightly cool pool, which can be a bit dramatic.

We searched for the other floatation devices we had stored in the shed, unfortunately some had holes eaten into them by some little blighter, bastard!

It was just as well we had some inflatables that survived so we were able to float in the water easing some of the heat away.

We enjoyed watching a female cardinal taking her first bath in our pond. Kelli had created a platform so they could stand and get splashed by the fountain. We had noticed how the sparrows had gathered under the sprinkler to enjoy the water. I had never seen that happen before, so cute.

13th June 2022

First off it was a drive to see Angel, a mechanic that Kelli has used in the past to fix her car. He had a quick look, saw the problem and said he will fix it within an hour or so.

I went for a walk, had a coffee and a mooch around Lowes.

I arrived back at Angel’s workshop and saw our truck was waiting outside. I paid the man and started her up, what a difference, it no longer sounded like a London taxi.

There was still no black mulch at Menards, although Monday was not the best day to go, but I loaded up with compost and headed home.

It was very humid and storms were predicted, but with hot day ahead expected we dragged the pool out and started to fill. It takes a lot of water and a lot of time to fill, but we have to start somewhere.

We saw a young male deer strut down the road, he stopped opposite the house, I was worried that he might get to south shore drive, which is often busy and get hit. The only times I see them is dead on the side of the road, so sad as they are beautiful animals.

I have been watching some of the January 6th committee meetings and with all the evidence that has been gathered I doubt that anything will happen to Trump and his enablers, it makes me think, what example this set the rest of the world that someone can lie, cheat, and betray the constitution and apparently get away with it.

12th June 2022

There were a number of stops on route to collect two pieces of furniture the were purchased last night.

Kelli also found two watering cans for sale on Marketplace and of course everyone needs two watering cans on top of the one we already have. But I was assured that one was going to stay in the car and the other was a gift for Greer.

Having been put in my place we continued on to collect the furniture.

One was a small but heavy desk that will become two matching side tables, the other was a tall dresser, old but badly painted and a missing rail. Having loaded those into the truck, we headed off to Plato’s to return some jeans that she wasn’t happy with. Then we stopped off at the garden centre to get some aquatic plants for the pond. We were fascinated by two frogs entering into, a) playfulness, b) fighting, c) hanky panky we couldn’t really tell which, but it was great entertainment.

We returned home and took pictures of the pair of matching side tables.

I started staining the headboard, it was hot so it was drying really quickly.

I cut the lawns front and back, so the place looked decent again.

10th June 2022

I had to drive to Gloria’s, the lady I made the jewellery drawer for, she wanted me to line the top section of the cabinet with pine panels so she can attach other jewellery stuff.

I had prepared the panels in the garage but wanted to cut them to fit in the unit.

I arrived just before the agreed time of 10.00am. She open the door in her dressing gown, which was a strange place to have a door (very old joke known by very old people)

She had forgotten that I was coming over, but let me in anyway.

She lives in a small community of duplicate houses, I have got confused a couple of times because the streets look exactly the same.

I had all my tools in the back of the truck, so I set up my workmate and cut everything to size.

We had to deliver a large dresser that we struggled to load into the truck. The customer had given us precise times to arrive. On the way Kelli dropped some of her old clothes off at Plato’s closet to get a few bucks.

Then we set off for our delivery. This is where things went a bit crazy. The address was punched into the GPS but it was directing us to go a different way. Kelli was convinced that the customer, who was a repeat buyer, lived in a different part of Holland. The GPS was insistent on taking us in a completely different direction. This is when we checked the address again. It was leading us back to our side of Holland, all the time Kelli was texting with the person trying to clarify who she was.

Eventually all that got sorted out and we agreed to deliver it tomorrow instead.

That led us to return to Plato’s to collect the meagre amount of money for the items they wanted, and returned those they didn’t.

We returned home tired, ready to feed the hungry dogs who were an hour late being fed, although they alway act like that.

9th June 2022

Well the solar powered pond fountain arrived, five minutes later it was gushing water. It would have been sooner but there was a box within a box which added to the delay. The fountain was impressive, when the sun shone, but when it was obscured by clouds it dwindled away, quite amusing. I had to adjust the flow rate to stop the area around the pond becoming waterlogged, but once that was done it was well under control.

I visited several establishments dealing with exhaust systems, or what they call mufflers over here.

The first place, the guy didn’t even get off his seat, he just called from his office. He asked me what the problem was , I told him, his reply was “ well what do you want us to do?” I was stunned, I waited a few second, “fix it?”

I took an instant dislike to the guy, lazy bastard.

I then went to The Muffler Man. I pulled into the car park, there were twenty or more cars parked, gone was the expectation that I could drive in and get it fixed while I waited.

The girl behind the counter said that I would go on the list, and get done in turn. I suggested that I get on the list then go off and get other things done. “Oh no you can’t do that, you might miss your slot, then the technicians will go on to the next job, and you’ll miss your place”

They all use the term “Drop off” meaning you leave the vehicle, I can do that, but what do I do?I do not have a spare. I would have to wander about like a homeless person killing time. These places are situated miles from anywhere decent and there only so much coffee you can drink. So I had to leave it to another day, and continue on to collect another free piece of furniture that Kelli had found. This was way over the north side on North Lakewood drive, where the posh people live. I pulled into the entrance to the house. It’s driveway was like a ski jump, I wasn’t convinced the old Toyota could make the climb, so instead I carried the piece to the truck. As I’ve said before, these people obviously have money because of where they live, but they have crap furniture. I have yet to find anywhere throwing out a Nelson or Eames piece because it had a scratch.

8th June 2022

Good day for sales, both the side table and the large heavy bugger were purchased rekindling our faith in people.

The rain stopped a lot of our outdoor activities because a lot of seeds that I ordered arrived, with the rest tuning up by the weekend there would be enough to cover half of Holland.

I did more stripping/sanding of the headboard although I would have preferred to do it outside, but the weather, you know. Instead I cut down tops for the two side tables that were once a vanity unit.

It was a testing day, Kelli had a bad night and was not feeling her best, and neither was I.

I did manage to ascertain what was wrong with the exhaust system on the truck, the clamp at the manifolds end has rusted away, so a trip to The Muffler Man is needed.

7th June 2022

We needed some supplies from Menards , I would take the opportunity to pick up a few bags of black mulch. Of course the weekenders must have purged the place of the stuff. Every other colour was there in abundance but the bay where the black mulch was stored was completely empty, not even a stain on the concrete was left.

So a little disgruntled, we drove back home to start on some jobs.

Kelli prepared for more spraying and I continued to strip and and the headboard.

We took a break to move some plants and to level the pond ready for filling.

The wildflower garden at the front of the house is starting to show signs of life, a few small flowers have appeared, hopefully more will follow.

We did share a strawberry from the newly protected bed, which was pleasant. There is still a lot to do on the wild gardens at the back, I’m a bit frustrated that things take so long to grow, I guess at this period of my life time is precious and I want to see results.

6th June 2022

It was hard to watch anything about the platinum jubilee without feeling homesick. I’m not the staunchest royal fan, but I do love my country.

I like that the royal family are what makes the country what it is, the history and the tradition.

The coverage here is limited, what I have seen made me teary, when it comes to celebrating, you can’t beat the British.

Kelli did some spray painting of a large dresser whilst I pottered about sanding and weeding in between the showers.

Kelli asked Larry about his new buddy that he has staying, we have nicknamed his place as Larry’s halfway house. To me he looks like a psycho killer, with this wild music and a hoody always covering his head, even in the hot sun.

I will keep a great distance between us.

5th June 2022

I spent the day not doing what I planned.

There was early morning rain that had finished by the time we finished breakfast. Kelli had made something out of nothing as we had run out of our regular breakfast ingredients.

I managed to finish the bottom bed board, and grabbed the headboard to start on that.

I also cut up some pine boards ready for another job.

What changed the dynamics of the day was the discovery of a half eaten strawberry in the bed. This was the ripest, largest and most desirable fruit in the garden, so we were both pissed at this.

I looked around for some timber, finding a number of pieces leftover from pieces we got from a disassembled sculpture in Saugatuck.

We needed some cages that could cover the beds, so I spent the rest of the afternoon build these. There were a number of polypropylene mesh pieces that were used as separators between the paving slabs that I had bought. We saved these, thinking they might be useful sometime. I built the frames and stretched the mesh tightly over the structure. The final act was to fit the cages and stand back to admire.

I just managed to have enough mesh to do the job, if I need anymore, then I would have be buy another dozen paving slabs.