Author: peterb51

22nd September Wednesday.

Kelli found another piece to buy on Marketplace, so we went in search of the address. She decided to drive rather than suffer me behind the wheel, which was quite an insult. I might make turns a bit fast, but I haven’t shouted at other drivers, I may have annoyed some by taking things a bit slow at times, but at least I haven’t killed anyone.

We arrived at a trailer park, or what we call in England a mobile home site. There was a lady waiting outside, apparently the owner had died, and she was disposing of the contents. The place reeked of smoke, and death, there was also the deceased’s dog locked in a cage, barking at everyone, so it was a relief to get back in the fresh air again.

We stopped off for lunch, after all it was our wedding anniversary. We went to a small local cafe that had recently become a full vegan menus, which is rare in Holland. I had a large bowl of chilli that warmed me up, Kelli had something unpronounceable as usual, but managed to survive the ordeal, which was great. The last time we had been out to eat was Valentine’s Day, that seems a lifetime away, but it’s a small start.

21st September 2021

This was the day of hospital visits, first was the appointment at the Ear, nose and throat specialist. A pleasant man with a good bedside manner, he scored highly on the cool chart because he liked Ricky Gervais.

“I particularly like the way he says fucking hell”

He commented. That was a shocker a professional saying those words.

I’m not sure if he says that to everyone, or just because he knew I was English, but it lightened the tone of the session.

He went through his checklist of ears, nose and throat and concluded that there was nothing serious, and maybe there is a blockage of crystals that won’t let them get back into the utricle.

We learnt a lot about the ear, and a list of things it wasn’t, and he never mentioned ear hair or ear wax which put it way out of my interest level, but he suggested she visit an otolaryngologist who will get the crystals back where they belong.

It is common here to be passed on to another specialist, passing go, and not collecting two hundred dollars, but often paying it out, it has opened my eyes to how things work here, and I have also learned more long words.

Later we went to Kelli’s doctor to see what he could do about vertigo.

He concentrated on reasons why the crystals got displaced in the first place.

He went though and checked all her organs and discovered that her liver might be the culprit. This was deduced by the shouts of pain Kelli uttered as he pressed on various parts of her.

Although Kelli shouts out in pain for so many things, he selected more supplements to help the liver work properly.

Next he started to manipulate each side of her head to stimulate muscles behind the ear, or to stop her shouting, I’m not sure which.

All this meant there was not much activity in the garage. I had applied finish to all the drawer fronts and tops, but they still hadn’t dried when we returned, so we will start again tomorrow.

20th September 2021

Thankfully Kelli had a good night. She was able to sleep on her right side without incident.

She was able to get an appointment with the Ear, nose and throat specialist in Zeeland on Tuesday, and her doctor for later in the afternoon, so a full day of quackery ahead.

It was a busy day in the garage starting with the collection of the commissioned dresser.

I was glad to see the back of that, and the customer was delighted with it.

That left enough room in the garage to work on Old Pinky, which is now Blackie, and Old Stinky which is now duck egg blue.

I managed to sand up the stinky top, it was in rough shape, but an intensive sanding and a double coating of oxalic acid cleaned it up.

I managed to sand the cedar drawer fronts and top of yet another dresser, making three pieces work in progress.

The day of torrential rain did not materialise, there was a short shower and that was it.

19th September 2021

Kelli’s vertigo was back with a vengeance, she was lying in bed when suddenly it hit her, and she jumped up in tears. Here we go again.

We couldn’t think what could have caused it to start again.

Immediately we tried the Epley manoeuvre several times during the day hoping that it would be successful, but merely laying down would start the dizziness. I felt helpless as usual, we followed the procedure precisely and still we weren’t sure it worked. That put the whole day out as she could concentrate on anything else.

I suggested going to the hospital to get a professional opinion, which she agreed to.

Off we went repeating the visit we made a few months earlier.

The doctor checked her out, and listened to our account of the procedures we carried out.

He checked for any infections inside her ear, but saw nothing serious.

He recommended seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist, that was the best option so far, now we might get to the bottom of the vertigo problem once and for all.

Whilst we were sitting in the side room awaiting the succession of nurses, administrators and doctors, I look around at all the equipment. The beds have have every function possible, the structure is so complex, it was like something out of a formula one racing car, and probably costs as much.

There is always a good number of HM Healthcare products on show, some of them I would like in the garage to store my tools in.

Earlier in the day the owner of the table came to collect it. It was planned for Monday, but with a forecast of heavy rain all day he thought it was best, as he only had an open bed truck, still it was good to get it out of the garage.

18th September 2021

Surprise surprise, this morning you find us heading over to the north side of town for yet another dresser to add to the collection.

It was waiting outside for us, from a distance it looked in good condition, but as we got closer we saw it looked bad and smelt even worse.

The household were obviously smokers, and must have exhaled into the drawers. This is really difficult to remove, the only real remedy is unicorn piss, which is right there up with the rare things to find in Michigan.

We loaded the piece into the truck and both held our breath all the way back to home.

As soon as the truck stopped we unloaded and spread it out on the driveway. Nicknamed “Old stinky” it will turn out as a decent piece, it is either beech or maple not sure which until I can get close to it.

I put the finishing touch to the dining table, a good coat of beeswax rubbed in with a wire wool pad, it was smooth as a baby’s bottom.

I gave Bob a call and after he finished his forty-mile cycle he stopped off to look at it.

He was delighted with the result and arranged to collect it on Monday.

I also put the final coat on the commissioned dresser top, thank heavens that’s over, now just to attach it to the carcass and that’s out of here.

We had a chance to look at the buffet we had delivered last evening.

It is distinctive, with Art Deco style wood doors with appliqué wood mouldings, it’s a shame one drawer is missing.

17th September Friday

We are gradually becoming a rescue centre for orphaned furniture. I thought I had control of nothing and Kelli control of everything.

Today we accepted a buffet with doors and no drawers, we already have a dresser with no drawers, so we have no bloody drawers.

We are also going to collect two dressers on Monday, I do not know where they are going to be stored, maybe we should search out some drawers without a dresser, that would be a novelty.

I finished the final coat on the table, just a wire wool and polish and that will be done.

I finished all the carcass modifications to the commissioned piece, just the top to finish on that one. I told Kelli to slap me if I ever suggest doing a veneer job again, it is a nightmare especially doing a five footer.

There are two more dressers in progress, old Pinky, has been stripped and ready for painting, and the nine drawer unit we bought yesterday, that has been stripped as well, so plenty on the go.

I successfully broke the dog poop collector when my big clown feet kicked it. I have done it a number of times, and repaired it. I have a canny knack of hitting it just at just the right place. I should stop leaving it at the end of the path, and find another location where my foot won’t find it.

16th September 2021

It was deja vu, the FedEx man pulled up and extracted a long package, I knew what it was, so I went to help him.

We struggled towards the garage and laid it down, it was another bed frame.

Our original frame had a cracked top rail, caused by a fault in the timber. I had glued the part and was able to use it, but I asked Kelli to order a replacement part.

She contacted the company and explained the situation and what part we needed.

They called back to say that they did not have the part available, but would send us a new complete new frame, and that is why we have a new one on the floor of the garage.

Now all I have to is change the faulty part over then repack it back in the box and then post it on Marketplace.

We had to drive to Zeeland to deliver the mid century dresser we sold in record time.

The buyer was a regular customer who lives next to the Max DuPree house. It was funny seeing all the old pieces in use. She is definitely a fan of Bristol Cottage, and very welcome.

We also picked up another dresser from somewhere in the wilds of Zeeland.

You know when the wilds begin because the tarmac stops and you hit dirt. The properties are large, and look expensive with the amount of land that is attached, you would think they could afford to surface the road.

Getting back Kelli couldn’t wait to start stripping the paint on it.

I worked on the round table, and applied a stain to the newly veneered dresser top.

I stepped out to the garage early just to check that there were no blisters that had appeared on the top overnight, I’m getting paranoid about blisters now, but it was fine, so the stain went on evenly. I finished the day with a coat of sealer, now I’ll be worried all through the night that it will be good in the morning.

15th September 2021

Bonk! Another walnut hit the road. A lone squirrel darted from Larry’s yard and grabbed it, holding in its “hands” ran off into the woodlands. The dropping walnuts were the bane of our lives when we lived next door. The driveway and the truck would be covered in them along with a black stain that oozes out of the split nut. Hitting them with the lawn mower was a pleasure in itself. The sound was ear shattering, and lord knows what damage it did to the blade.

I managed to rescue a small tree shoot that had sprung up amongst the stones of the front berm. I potted it and watered it daily along with some Japanese maples. Kelli was horrified when she discovered what it was.

“Do you want another walnut tree around dropping the nuts everywhere” she exclaimed.

I could see her point, but I didn’t have the nerve to let it die, so does anyone want a walnut tree?

Action in the garage was brisk. I had the mid century top coated, and the underside of the dining table finished in other first hour.

I had to have my daily scrape, these were drawer fronts from old Pinky.

But today was the day that I had to attempt veneer top two, the second attempt.

I cut the piece out of the roll and set it on a flat surface to apply the adhesive. I then covered to top surface and allowed them both to dry then did a second coat just to make sure.

Once that was dry I set about fusing them together. It was nerve wracking, I did a little each time, smoothing the area with a wooden block, I took my time making sure to cover all the surface. When it was done I looked carefully against the light to see if there were any bubbles, so far there were none, I may have cracked it this time.

14th September 2021

The weather has changed, the thunder rumbles and the showers hit.

Kelli didn’t sleep well last night, and that effects how she feels for the rest of the day.

There had been a stash of cash building up on the table that needed to get put in the bank, so that was the first job of the day.

I had lots of small jobs to do, mainly machining with router and skill saw.

A package containing the drawer stops I had ordered for the commissioned dresser arrived. They were not quite what I was expecting, but a quick look on the web site showed how they were used. I had to make blocks to attach the stops to the inside of the front rails of the carcass. I had some scrap timber of the correct thickness to cut up.

There are times when I get scared of cutting small pieces of wood on the chop saw. My hand gets so close to the blade my buttocks clench tight. The words of my woodwork teacher ring in my ears “Alway know where the blade is”, which was ironic because a few years later the saw nicked his finger.

I managed to cut everything without injury

Mr Searle would have been proud of me.

13th September 2021

Well the day of reckoning arrived, the stripping off of the veneer from the commissioned piece.

It was surprisingly easy as it was fabric backed, once I heated up a corner I was able to tear it off as a long piece. What was time consuming was removing the adhesive, but it was done by the time I decided to finish for the day.

Sales were good, we sold the small veneered caddy that was posted yesterday to a friend of Cameron, who knows everyone.

Later, we had a lady collect a display unit that Kelli had for ages.

She pulled up in a large truck with someone who I took to be her son. He had one of those thin moustaches and a strange smiles that said “can I eat your dog?”

I was careful to keep my distance from that guy.

We had a good thunderstorm where it was dark and foreboding then absolutely hammered down filling our water barrel in seconds. The humidity was high making the sealer on the mid century pice tacky all day, but Kelli decided to start on old Pinky.

Heat gun at the ready, she progressed through the drawer fronts, then started on the top. When she reached her limit for the day I took over with my super scraper, and had it done in minutes.