Author: peterb51

11th December Saturday

It was really windy this morning, strong enough to blow over one of the tubs with the bamboo spilling all the stones.

These tubs have withstood all manner of winds during the past year but it chose today to fall over.

Then came the sleet, I was however pleased to see all the leaves covering my front lawn had blown across the road to Larry’s patch.

Kelli continued to work on the mid century dresser, as I coated the top in oxalic acid trying to remove a water mark, it took two applications but I got rid of most of it. The top has to be washed down with water to remove the crystals of oxalic which takes two good wash downs and then it had to dry.

Oxalic is an odd substance it does a great job, but where do the stains go? Anyway I don’t care.

I learnt of it through watching videos of furniture restoration, lots of crusty old men working on old furniture, and I’ve joined the club.

10th December 2021

The snow vanished overnight, all that was left were sodden leaves on the front lawn. We have a tree that is reluctant to lose its leaves. It taunts me everyday, I know I have to sweep the leaves that have fallen, and I feel it gloating at me, because as soon as the drive is clean and tidy, it will shed a few more.

We had a customer arrive early to collect the tall green dresser. They were a cheerful couple, having stopped for breakfast on the way. The lady handed me the money, and I was expecting a few sachets of ketchup to go with it.

There are a lot of tops and drawer fronts that need finishing and these take a long time to dry, but the bookcase is nearing completion, just a final side to finish.

The train wreck has had another transformation. Worried about the lack of interest from Marketplace, Kelli decided to change the piece by painting more of the carcass, I had a twinge of pain as the brush wiped the white paint over the previously clear finished areas, but drastic action needed to be taken, we can’t store it for ever.

9th December 2021

I think I have reached the time in my life when all the lyrics of all my favourite songs have been erased from my memory. I am just left with Grandad noises, and humming the tunes.

I was famous over here by singing the wrong words to songs, but even those have gone.

What is worse is that Kelli knows the words to all songs even after only hearing them once, so maddening.

We had to collect Brenda, Matts wife from Grand Rapids airport in the evening. She had been in the Netherlands for the last couple of weeks. This was the first time Kelli had been outside after six at night yet alone driving, so it was a mile stone for her.

It felt odd driving to the airport and not having my luggage on board, and then driving back again.

8th December 2021

Americans use peanut butter for everything, from filling holes in roads to strengthening concrete, but this morning I learnt something else.

I have the job of cooking porridge, over here it’s oatmeal, so I’m am just ready to serve it with some hot berries and honey, when Kelli asked me to add some peanut butter. I was shocked and stunned, that seemed like a violation of anything normal. As she also likes a sprinkling of granola, just to add to the weirdness.

It was a snow day with about two inches falling, I had to drive to the post office to take some of Kelli’s Marketplace sales. It’s a good job that we have four wheel drive, some of the bends were slippery.

We finished the tall green dresser, turning it into safe white with a natural wood top and new scoop handles, that was posted straight away.

Kelli painted the two matching side tables while I cut the wood for the new tops, it was definitely a sawdust making day.

7th December 2022

I returned to the dentist to have my permanent crowns fitted. I thought it was just a simple procedure, flip the temporary ones off, and glue on the new ones, in and out in thirty minutes, how wrong I was.

I sat in the big chair, mouth open as an assistant had a go at taking the temps out.

She held the pliers tight and started wiggling, it felt like she was trying to pull my tooth out.

Finally there was a crack as half of one of the temporary crowns broke off. She then muttered something about getting the doctor to look at the rest.

I sat there, my tongue rubbing over the jagged area, waiting for the doctor to appear.

Ten minutes went by, he appeared in a flowing light blue plastic mac. He took his trusty pick and after a couple of flicks off they came.

Next was the trial fit, the crowns fitted neatly, but I had to now wait for an X-ray to check if they have seated properly.

That seemed to go well, so next he them, gave them a good clean and added the cement. A quick drying of the teeth and in they went. He pushed them down hard, almost dislocating my jaw, he then cured the cement with ultra violet light.

Then started an hour long process of chipping the cement that oozed out and dried. The hardest part was removing the slag between the teeth. They would chip away then take an X-ray to see if they had removed everything.

They must have taken eight blasts until they were happy that everything was cleared.

I walked out feeling that I’d been in a massive fight, hopefully I’ll be back to normal quickly.

With all those rays I bet I’ll glow in the dark for the next year.

6th December 2021

I was working on a lot of different jobs trying to get ahead because tomorrow I’ve a appointment to get my crown fitted and that always disrupts my day. Then on Wednesday we have to drive to Hamilton to collect a dresser that the owner wants re-painting.

I also want to get the bookcase finished by the weekend if possible.

There were some snow flurries and some fierce winds that made me glad I was inside.

Kelli made good progress on the old green dresser painting the drawer fronts and carcass, that should also be finished by the end of the week.

5th December 2021

We drove over to our friend, George’s house to collect five Arts and Craft style dining chairs that he had given us. He is off to Mexico for the winter and when he returns he will purchase new, more modern chairs to replace them.

These are solid oak with leather seat pads, and in the style of Stickley, a top brand.

We got them back, cleaned and polished them and posted them within the hour, there are no flies on us.

Later we had a birthday cake celebration for Greer who couldn’t be here on her actual day.

We gathered at Kelli’s mum’s house for the cutting of a bright pink cake. It wasn’t supposed to be that bright, but we had to order it from a Mexican baker, and they only do bright colours. We should have got a clue from the name of the shop, “El Pinko bakers”

( that is a joke, and there is no real intention to depict pink is going to be always bright pink if made by a Mexican baker,……..although it was really bright)

4th December 2021

I am preparing myself for another Christmas in America, we put the lights on the tree, and we still have to go through the box of ornament.

That will add another fifty kilograms to the poor branches.

It was a busy day of sales, first there was a small spice cabinet that was picked up, then we had to deliver a buffet to a real cool house on the north side. It looked out over a man made lake that most new developments include. It’s what one would expect for a mere 500K.

In the afternoon the tall dresser with the black stained top and drawers was collected, this has created a lot more space in the garage for more stuff.

I started re-assembly of the bookcase whilst Kelli steamed on with the green unit.

3rd December 2021

The city crew were working collecting all the leaves piled on the road. I rushed out to add the contents of my yard waste bin. I was just in time before the trucks turned up and scooped everything up.

It was a different day to yesterday, it was cold and wet, just as well we didn’t want to go out.

We both worked on the green dresser keen to get it finished because there were no more bites on the train wreck. Kelli panics if a piece is not sold quickly, but I am confident there is a buyer out there. There is no point in wasting time repainting something that you don’t know if doing it will make any difference.

Anyway we took more pictures of the piece outside in another attempt to get a buyer.

I made a start on the side tables by filling and roughing up the surface ready for painting.

2nd December 2021

It was a great day to sweep the final leaves from the front lawn. It was unusually mild for a December, and it starts going downhill from now.

I packed all the leaves into the yard waste bin and placed it at the end of the drive only to be told that the city have stopped collection until spring.

The next job was to move the paving slabs from the smaller stack. This was a reminder of just how heavy each slab was. The grunting got louder with every one of the sixteen pieces that I carried through the garage and into the back space.

It was refreshing to have a break from furniture.

Kelli started on the green dresser we picked up yesterday. He efforts at removing the paint on the drawer fronts with a heat gun didn’t work out very well, she needed the power of the scraper that only I could provide. Within five minutes I had all the paint off, so just a good sanding session required to get the ready for staining.

We had another let down from someone who wanted the train wreck, so that is back on the market.