Author: peterb51

24th March 2026

I had to forgo my visit to John the wood’s due to a dental appointment. I was feeling better than yesterday, when I could have fallen asleep standing up. 

There were many things to do in the garage, I wanted to complete the new base for a small  buffet. This was just an assembly job, it certainly improved the look of the piece.

Kelli had a call from my dentist to say that they cancelled my appointment due to a shortage of staff, and rebooked it for later in April, part of me was relieved.

Now I could start to strip down the desk I picked up yesterday.

Some old desks can be a problem taking apart because of their construction. Almost all get damaged and need repair, but this one came apart easily,  meaning a quick flip job.

Winnie is very demanding. Since I have introduced her to ball chasing, she now follows me about with a ball in her jaws and a soulful look in her eyes, how can I resist that?

23rd March 2026

Nothing has changed in the food stores, no reduction in the prices, and petrol is nearly four dollars a gallon.

All thanks to Trumps involvement in the Iranian war that the American people did not want.

The general consensus is that he got played by Israel and now cannot get out of it.

This is what I’m involved in now I’m back in the US. Unfortunately all the west will suffer as a result, it’s a no win situation.

It’s another tightening of the screw of fear keeping us scared, and when we are scared, we are controlled.

Some say that ‘this war is another distraction, the continued release of the Epstein files draws Trump evermore into the web of perversion and deprivation. Although this seems a bit over the top, it follows a pattern to shift attention from one event on to another.

I’m sure the forthcoming moon shot will absorb the news away from what is happening in the Middle East, after all that is so important, isn’t it?

I started clearing away the winter debris from the back garden, I even packed away the snow blower, that is a brave thing to do, but there wouldn’t be much snow this winter even if it were forecast.

22nd March 2026

It was a peaceful day of rest, my eyes were still feeling dry from lack of sleep, but I soon got into the old routine of letting the dogs out and preparing their food.

I checked that the hard drives I had in my bag had survived the journey, and they did, as did my guitar and other studio related pieces.

I certainly felt the cold, my poor body wasn’t sure what was happening. From having weather where I could work outside in just a shirt to having to put on a coat must have confused it.

We did go up to Kelli’s mum’s for ice cream, and I told stories of my adventures, obviously exaggerated a bit.

I spent a lot of time playing ball with Winnie, boy is she fast, and able to grasp three balls at a time owing to her enormous paws, definitely could be a future goalkeeper.

We took pictures of a dresser that Kelli had finished, outside, now that’s a novelty.

21st March 2026 

The coach pulled away from Bath Bus Station just before 4.00am. Nicola and Colin had dropped me and my various luggage pieces. This time I was taking one of my guitars with me.

I had bought a hard case for it, hopefully substantial enough to protect it.

It’s a two and a half hour journey, I think I must have had a bit of a nap because when I woke up the dawn had broken.

Once I got to Heathrow I had to transport three items, each were heavy, but luckily my leather hold-all fitted on the top of my roller case, meaning I had one hand free to carry the guitar case.

Inside terminal three I located the zone that dealt with Priority customers. This saves the hassle of printing out the luggage tag and boarding pass. A very pleasant lady advised me the best way to deal with my guitar. In case there was no locker space in the cabin, it would be more protected if it was containerised in the hold, rather than loaded at the gate.

Once all that was done, I got through the security and headed for the Curator restaurant for breakfast.

Since the last time I was there the staff had changed, today there were Indian waitresses rather than the Eastern European ones.

The food tasted the same, which was the main thing.

I took the long walk to the gate, whatever journey I have taken the aircraft is alway the furthest away.

Loading was a bit chaotic, the public address system was badly distorted and the announcements were incomprehensible, leading to a stampede, of which i joined, I needed overhead locker space for my bag.

It was a full flight, but I had plenty of locker space, so I settled down for the long haul.

I put on my sound cancelling headphones only to discover the battery was dead, I put in the spare, and that was dead as well.

I had a bit of a doze and watched a couple of films, not the best selection this time.

The arrival at Charlotte International was a bit of a bump, made worse by the blinds being closed.

Getting through the customs was very quick, but the walk to baggage reclaim took a while.

Eventually my luggage did arrive at the carrousel, and then another long walk to recheck luggage. By the time I got through security again, and another long walk to the gate, I’m sure I could see Grand Rapids in the distance.

I had a short wait, but the gate area was woefully inadequate in terms of seating for the size of the aircraft, I sat on the floor, the old hippy I am.

I made sure as soon as my group were called I was at the front, it was a smaller plane so the overheads were smaller, I fortunately found a space an stuffed my bag inside.

The pilot announced “ We will be leaving ahead of schedule “ lying git, we moved off the pad but waited for ages to move again.

All this time I was trying to agree a time that Kelli should leave home and pick me up.

Having made an arbitrary decision, I continued to sit a wait for the bloody thing to move again.

It is about this time I just want the journey to end, it’s a long day, I’m tired, I was a shower, and I’m hungry, so any delay is really annoying.

It was a wonderful reunion, because Winnie was in the truck waiting for me. She went crazy I was given a welcome home licking, well many times.

I was so happy that she remembered me.

Once we got home, tiredness really hit me, I missed most of what was on the tv, woke up just in time to go to bed.

20th March 2926

This was the last day, a day of cleaning and packing.

My attempts of getting a bonfire going to dispose of the pile of debris from the garden tidy up, was not very successful. I scratched around for things to start the fire. I had a couple of cardboard boxes that should have worked.

There was a lot of smoke to begin with, but there was a lot of green stuff, making it hard for the fire to take hold. A couple more attempts proved equally unsuccessful, but I was successful in creating a smoke cloud that hung over the valley like a damp cloth.

Ryan came up in the evening baring a fish and chips supper.

I don’t think he was impressed when I started talking about the complexities in the design and building of Bath Abbey. It was built in a time when basic construction details were pretty limited, and this fascinates me, “How did they build that?” Is my mantra, and I guess not everyone shares the same interest that I have.

He did challenge me to dig deeper and research what has been documented, but like most history it can only go back so far. I have lived with this building since I was a child, it still fills me with awe every time I look up.

The architects were Robert and William Vertue back in the early 16th century, although it was originally built back in 675AD. I love the history, but what intrigues me is how information was transferred to the army of craftsmen. The whole building exists full of fine details, all those lock together to form the structure we all see today.

However it was done, is a testament to the brilliance of the person, or persons that conceived it.

19th March 2026

Today was the last of my appointments.

I was meeting my friend Rob for the final masala dosa of this visit.

We were confused when the doors to the Indian Temptation restaurant were locked.

This was a setback, I had got myself synced up for this tasty dish, what were we going to do?

We ended up at a new place in the Shires Yard.

Rob, being outspoken, as he is, soon made friends with the staff.

We gave this new place the opportunity to seduce us with their masala dosa, and it was good. Different in texture from the one served at Indian temptation, but was a bit more tasty, it didn’t have the chickpea crunch.

I’m sure they thought Rob was a food critic because the chickpea roll was served as a second course.

Then that was followed by a carrot tea, a delicate flavour that was unusual and free of charge. I’m sure if we had stayed we would have been given a dessert, but we had somewhere else to go.

I like the walk down Pultney street, the scale of the continuous Georgian terrace alway takes my breath away.

“ And it doesn’t allow for the curvature of the earth” mocked Rob.

We ended our walk at the Holborn museum, this is the usual haunt of my Art School pals to meet.

The original school was in Sidney Place, and Sidney gardens was our playground, it was a unique place.

Apart from the two of us we were joined by Tom, with a large floppy hat that shaded his face.

When he spoke, he was so quiet, I found it difficult to hear what he was saying. Rob found the same, so it wasn’t my hearing.

We stayed about an hour, I needed to get back to Bradford on Avon, I wanted to get there before Nicola and Colin, who had been working on the garden, left for home.

Unfortunately the timetable didn’t work out, but I did see the results of their toils, and it was amazing, I could see the soil again.

It had been a busy day, I had the boiler serviced in the morning, driven to Wickes to get some outside solar lights, walked up the steep Wine Street, that nearly killed me, and sorted out a new broadband supplier, this had been a good day.

18th March 2026

The Hop Pole in Limply Stoke has a lot going for it, recently becoming a community owned pub.

The renovation has been done well, it has opened up the old building and made it much larger. In my opinion it stands as an example of how the village pubs of the future can survive.

Community owned businesses could be a thing of the future. The village still has a small motor repair garage, a rare thing in today’s times.

It was an ideal venue to meet up with Bob Wood and Keith Baker. Both in their eighties and remarkably sharp, we reminisced, and as normal Bob had a lot to say, with Keith butting in where appropriate.

I never get tired about hearing about the early days, all the small details that I add to what I already knew, adds the colour to the painting.

We all agreed that our time with the company was the most exciting, as a fledgling company we had a lot to prove, and that gave each of us the incentive to be successful. Each increase in turnover gave us strength, and increased our market share without much effort.

We were in an era when furniture topped the list of business growth, long before Apple and the other big boys dominated the markets, for furniture, that will never happen again.

The company continues along a flattening curve where it tries to find innovation in a market where it’s no longer recognised. Different styles of working has dulled the blade, and new niche products do little to excite people.

Herman Miller has become a reproduction business, re-introducing classic designs from the early catalogs, it is gambling on finding new customers that appreciate mid century pieces, but with a CEO earning in excess of five million dollars a year, that a awful lot of product that has to be sold to cover that.

We talked for what seemed like an age, the lunch was good and the beer matched it.

As we all had a similar choice from the menu, Bob managed to get us to subsidise his coffee as we divided the bill equally, as only Bob does.

17th March 2026

Somebody stole my recycling bin! Somebody…..stole…..my …… recycling……..bin!

I could not believe it. I had bags of stuff to recycle, I walked to the bottom of the garden, down the steps to the slope, and it was gone.

Now it has to be some low life that has nothing in their lives but to steal a blue bin when the council give them for free.

That made me mad, I now have bags of recycling to dispose of.

What happened to it? Not many people even use the slope, did someone recycle the recycling bin?

This is when I have doubts about the morality of some people. I was brought up to respect other people’s property, and I’m sure my parent would have drummed into me “Don’t steal others people’s recycling bin.” 

I tackled a bit more of the undergrowth at the front of the property. Things I thought I had killed had sprouted in abundance, it was giving me the finger. A lot of it emanates from next door. 

The lady that lives there, I call the ghost, has let her garden go to waste, the brambles now have taken over, and there is only a wooden fence that separate us. It is so bad that there is a wheelybin entangled in the brambles, I bet nobody would steal that.

This is a serious problem, a lot of my time is spent cutting back the tentacles that have scaled the fence. This needs a scorched earth solution, but like the brambles themselves it is deep rooted.

I will never drive a car into Bath again.

It was the evening where the ex herms get together for a wonderful Indian meal.

I drove in early, anticipating a parking issue. It was well founded, I drove around for ages, visited all of my usual haunts, but there was nothing. The city is changing, has changed. Large blocks have appeared that are slowly engulfing the beautiful city I grew up in.

Even Homebase, where I used to buy tools and diy materials has disappeared, I expect more boring blocks will appear soon.

In the end I succumbed to the car park at Avon Street, that in itself has changed from a multi story to a bomb site.

The Mint Room event is the highlight of my stay, my one reader was there, thanks Ann, you are a legend. 

The evening was filled with good conversation and laughter, there is excitement hearing about new creative directions, and even normal things, I enjoy the company.

I had a feeling something was off and I couldn’t put my finger on it, maybe I was being ultra sensitive, or my frustration of not finding somewhere to park was still in my brain.

Everything changes, the way things resonate, alters, we each have our own vibrations, that is why we bond, it’s not chemistry, as I used to think, it our matching vibrations. I hope we, as a group never loose that.

16th March

Another long drive, this time to Whitney on Wye to see my friend Martin.

There was a new boxer puppy in the household, it sat on Martin’s lap, I could see the deterioration in his condition, his hope was the puppy would give him the strength and determination to carry on. 

From recent experience the stress that a puppy can inflict is not really suitable for a person in his condition.

The air was filled with pain, I could feel it the moment I entered the house. The music that I was used to was not there, replaced with funeral Muzak.

He sat like a James Bond villain in one of the only chairs that he hasn’t destroyed in the fits of rage he often has. Constantly stroking the pup, his voice was monotone, his eyes small, he looked like he was falling asleep. I knew this was going to be a difficult day.

I am always confused what he is actually suffering from. One time it was bone cancer then blood cancer, now its brain atrophy. He has all the signs of a disease degenerative coupled with the lack of control of his temper when frustrated.

This was clear when he started to kick the bathroom cabinets when he could find something he wanted.

He repeatedly tells me how the NHS don’t want to treat him, he continues to say that he has been “blackballed” due to experimental treatment he had at the National Hospital in the sixties. I know a lot of dodgy things were done in the name of medical research, but I do not know if there is a connection. The question I asked was “ Why him, why has he been singled out ?”

It should be quite the opposite, certainly not bringing attention to it.

I am torn, I know he is dying, I can offer him empathy, but that is all.

My own brain is trying to process his story, I look for things that make sense, and god knows I try to take this approach with everything that is happening at the moment. Sometimes there are clues, but when it’s a one side argument it’s hard to be objective.

I left when the sun was fading, it had been a hard day, my questions were seen by him as attacks, I defended my position, I can’t agree just to appease him, but I wished him peace, he must live his life, manage his pain through the dark times, I hope that a little joy will come through the innocence of his new puppy.

I replayed the day as I drove back, we all play the cards we’re dealt, it’s just that Martin was dealt a shit hand.

15th March 2026

It was back on the road heading down to Neacroft in the new forest to spend time with my grandchildren Ethan and George.

There seemed to be a lot on the road, especially cars heading for Longleat. The roundabout close to the entrance was snarled up, whether it was because of Mother’s Day could have been the reason.

There was also the fair share of roadworks to annoy everyone.

I had fun with the boys, there is never a lot of time, and I’m concerned that I am a stranger that turns up for a few hours at a time. I know that was my choice, and it’s difficult to maintain a balance. I miss seeing them growing up in the way you see your own children, the small changes, I see big jumps, that’s wonderful in itself, but part of me is sad.

The drive back had its moments, the brightness of the LED headlights are piercing either from the front or the back, there is no escape.

There is also no apparent “dipping” it just changes from effin’ bright to bright.