Author: peterb51

22nd October Friday

It’s been a long time since I went to Menards, well a long time for me. I needed materials for all the projects that we have stacked up in the garage. I did make a bit of a boo boo regarding the price of timber for the tops for the side tables we have been commissioned to refinish. I thought it would be about twenty bucks but it was more like forty. It will make some nice pieces, but Kelli has to pass the new price on to the customer.

Finally finished the last chair, and not a moment too soon, not keen to take on more chairs without charging double.

This is a steep learning curve, what price are people prepared to pay? How desperate am I to take on projects just to have some work?

The answer to the first question is, the least they can get away with, and the second one, I’m not that desperate, with the cold weather coming I can’t work outside, there are other limitations, the paints and lacquers take longer to dry even with the heaters on

21st October 2021

It was really autumnal today, the morning was dull and quite cool. I have started wearing thick shirts with long sleeves.

The squirrels are constantly running around grabbing the walnuts sitting on our berm munching though the shells leaving the remnants all over the place. It is ironic that the same tree that gave us grief when we lived next door still haunts us in our new home.

The other outdoor jobs I have to add into my weekend time is leaf sweeping. There is already a good covering that I need to work on. The grass is still growing, and that needs cutting, I will be able to suck up, and chop the leaves at the same time. I can load the composter and the large wheely bin we have for garden waste.

We finished the small desk and chair and took pictures, just before it rained.

We finally sold the white dresser, the buyer was looking for a piece for a coffee bar, and was delighted at finding one.

I’m nearly finished sanding the last chair, just the edge and underside of the seat to go. I should just finish before the cold gets to the joints of my fingers.

20th October 2021

It was a day of Therapy, doctors and furniture collections with a little work in the garage to make the day complete.

First stop was Holland hospital to check with the physio therapists to find out how Kelli had been doing since the last visit.

They tested her, just to confirm that she was cured, and that was successful, she is now on a four week hold period as a precaution, great news.

Then it was a drive to collect a dresser close to the town centre. It was waiting on the porch for us, which we quickly loaded into the truck, and back home for lunch.

After that was the doctors appointment. Yet again another positive improvement. She still needs to get her strength and stamina back, but the supplements she is on is helping with her hormone imbalance.

After that it was a drive to collect the second dresser from Zeeland.

Getting back late after noon there was just enough time (and strength) to do some work on the chair whilst Kelli started stripping the paint off the first dresser. It is typical that we often start work on the newest piece rather than the ones we have stacked up, but it gives Kelli something to do.

19th October 2021

“We’ve got a leak in the furnace “ said Kelli. That’s not news I want to hear with a new appliance still with the labels on.

She was on to the company straight away.

The leak appeared to be around the water pump that takes the condensation to the outside of the house.

They agreed to come out as soon as they could get an engineer out to us.

It took the man about half an hour to fix it, something about wires becoming disconnected, shoddy American workmanship.

We had another let down from a buyer of the white dresser. It was due to be collected at 4.00pm which was the time they called to say that it would not fit into the space they had.

This piece is becoming difficult to sell, the preverbal white elephant.

This did not stop us working on the other stuff in the garage.

Kelli on the desk and chair and me staining the desk top. On top of that was more bloody sanding of the last chair.

I had to drive to look at a small unit that Kelli had found. When I got there, and it wasn’t easy to find because the house numbers are so difficult to see from the road. I would have needed the Hubble telescope to read this one.

I had to drive right up the driveway to finally read it, luckily it was the right house, so no embarrassment.

I took one look at it and decided not to bother, it was shit, thin laminate top, and drawers that were made of Weetabix.

However by the end of the evening she had found two more dressers for us to collect tomorrow.

18th October 2021

We had taken on another private commission to refinish two side tables. The customer had bought a dresser from us a few weeks ago.

The lady reversed her truck up the drive and opened the rear door. Inside were the two tables, I lifted one out to inspect.

Kelli had been in conversation for a while and had seen pictures of the side tables, and due to the condition of the tops had advised not to buy them. But due to some confusion she bought them anyway. This was my first chance to see the condition of the tops, and they weren’t in good shape. At some time they must have got damp and the veneer had bubbled.

There is little chance of doing much to the tops.

We have had interest in the white dresser, but none has come to a sale. It gets frustrating when the inquiries go cold, but luckily we managed to secure one, but at a reduced price, but this is Holland, full of the Dutch.

17th October 2021

Today was all about working outside on the garden. It was a warm sunny day just right for getting my hands dirty and moving some plants. This last year had been a disaster as far as the garden is concerned due to Kelli’s illness, I had my outside projects building the patio and deck, but even that couldn’t be finished because of a shortage of paving slabs. I have the winter to plan how the back garden will be transformed.

We had to deliver the small two door cabinet to an address in Holland. We were expecting to sell the white one today, but the buyer became elusive, so we don’t know what will happen to that.

I did a bit of reseeding at the front of the house, but my record on growing grass is not good. Other people just sprinkle seed on the ground and up it comes, but not mine.

16th October 2021

It was a cold start of the day, cold enough for me to wear a fleece. We wanted to complete two dressers and get them posted on Marketplace. I noticed one had a run caused by the uneven surface I had the top sitting on. That was a drag, meaning rubbing it down with fine paper and refinishing it again.

The good news was that we sold it within minutes of it being posted.

Kelli is getting more confident since being cured of vertigo. Although her brain has to relearn head movement, it’s great to watch her do more things.

I started stripping the last chair, five more days of sanding and scraping, then I can give my aching fingers a rest at the end of it, and it can’t come fast enough.

15th October Friday

We visited the cemetery to see Dave’s headstone that had recently been installed. It was a sad moment for Kelli, at last there is a marker, other times we had to guess the grave, location, which I’m sure was wrong.

This was on the way to pick up a cabinet that Kelli liked the look of. The house was situated in the historic district, but unlike the last time I collected something from there where an old scrote shouted at me, this was much more pleasant.

The piece was not very well painted, but that didn’t matter as we both had similar ideas, and Kelli grabbed the heat gun and started stripping paint.

14th October 2021

Construction day began at 8.00am when the crew arrived to replace the furnace. That meant breakfast early, that meant a long day.

There is an advantage in having a unit that controls both the heat and the cold, it is efficient and relatively compact, the disadvantage is it is expensive.

The dogs didn’t know who to bark at first, but quickly got used to them, and viewed the progress from the comfort of the sofa.

We had to go out to collect a desk that Kelli found at a bargain for ten dollars.

What started out as a simple journey turned into an adventure. The address had fooled the GPS and we drove around in circles for quite a while before making a call to the seller for more accurate directions.

The desk was small, and painted black there was also a chair included.

By the time we returned, the old furnace was standing outside, along with a mass of tubes and wires. Inside the house, without the furnace there was a large hole in the floor where the air is pushed down into the crawl space. For the installers it was a long day, they finally left at seven, leaving a neat installation.

I wanted a Bluetooth thermostat controlled by my phone, not just because I’m bloody lazy, but it made a much neater unit on the wall in place of the enormous old relic of eighties technology.

We had plenty of things to keep us out of the way of the workers. Kelli made good progress on the two dressers, I stained both tops, made repairs to one of the cabinet doors, and as always more stripping on the third chair.

13th October 2021

Today was a landmark day for Kelli and her long road to recovery.

She had a session of physical therapy to check if her vertigo had gone.

It was a tense time walking into the hospital. She hadn’t had the courage to check it for herself, fearing the worst, it was easier to be in the hands of the professionals.

Assuming the number one position, there was no eye movement either up or across, signifying dizziness. The number two position was the same. Position three was the critical one because it usually triggered the worst effects of vertigo, but again, nothing. Sitting back up was uneventful, so the conclusion was , no vertigo.

This was a brilliant result, I almost sensed the the two therapists would be high fiveing each other once we had left.

Now we go through the period of training the brain to expect head movement, because for so long she had avoided them, even becoming expert at picking objects up with her feet.

This will be a gradual process, but it is a load off our minds.

The person came to collect the buffet we posted yesterday, it did look good, and the buyer was delighted with it.