Author: peterb51

22nd November 2021

It was an emotionally charged day, which is the beginning of an emotional week.

It is also Thanksgiving week, which is a bundle of fun.

Today would have been Dave’s eighty-third birthday, so Kelli had that thought in her head when she awoke.

At the end of the week it will be two years that he passed, so talk about getting it all over in one foul swoop.

There was also a drive to Allandale to collect a furniture piece that had been waiting for us for a week or so.

We also had a lady drop off a bookshelf that she wanted stripping of paint. We did give a high quote for that, which she accepted, so we are sort of committed. I

There was a visit to Dave’s grave to lay flowers. It has been easier to find since the headstone has been erected, up to then, I’m sure we left flowers on a different clump of grass, much to the confusion and maybe the amusement of the cemetery staff.

21st November 2021

Nothing to celebrate today, although the remnants of the cake still occupies most of the fridge. There is over half the cake left which at the current rate of consumption could last a very long time. The only criticism I would make is that it is too sweet, a real Black Forest has real cream and not buttermilk icing, apparently that’s how they do things here. Their biscuits are far too sickly, thank goodness for digestives.

We had to deliver a dresser to the north side, a welcomed break.

Kelli went into the storage room to look through many of the plastic crates containing much of her early memorabilia as well as her children’s. The idea was to select items that he could put into scrap books so that they could be catalogued and be more accessible.

All I could hear was chuckles and sniffing, meaning she was overcome with emotion. She emerged all red eyed and puffy with a box full of memories.

I smiled and carried on sanding, my favourite pastime.

20th November 2021

Happy Birthday to me, and what an amazing day it was.

Kelli excelled by giving me a gift that I would never had thought of.

There was a story that I had told her a few years ago about a time when my mum had bought me a Corgi model of a Ford Thunderbird. I was eight years old and was sick and confined to bed. My mum went into Bath to go shopping, she bought me this toy to cheer me up. It was an amazing model, and became my favourite. As I grew older the toys were confined to a box under the stairs. After a few years they were given to other children possibly less fortunate. It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I wished that I kept them to hand down. I never forgot about the turquoise and cream Ford Thunderbird, and I often tried to find one at car boot sales with no success. This was years before EBay, I had found some that were advertised, but failed to buy them.

This was the story I told Kelli who put into her memory, and turned it into reality for me today.

This was start of a fun day.

We collected the Black Forrest gateau from the cake shop, then off to New Holland for a Birthday lunch with members of my US family.

Our reserved table was decked out with balloons tied to a plant, a gift from our florist friend. Kelli’s brother Matt and his wife Petra plus mother Georgia joined us.

Between many picture taking, eating and drinking, with a bit of health debating it was a good time.

I had FaceTime with my boys and sister, so all round a different kind of day, and a memorable day it was.

19th November 2021

We managed to complete and post two dressers on Marketplace, which I hope will go over the weekend.

There is another that Kelli is putting the finishing touches to another. Soon we can offload the dresser that is still in the truck.

I took a break from woodwork to sweep more leaves from the front lawn. I noticed that the city worker had put a tyre groove on the grass tearing the sod, bastard!

I was awoken at 3.30am by my wife whispering in my ear “Did you leave the side gate unlocked?” The banging noise had woken her up and as it was my fault, I would have to deal with it.

She did not believe me when I said it was the dogs sneaking off for a night on the tiles, and neither did she find it amusing.

I searched around for my slippers and ventured outside in the freezing cold, the wind blowing through my lower peninsula.

I could have sworn that I had put the bolt across, but there it was swinging in the breeze.

I pushed the bolt across, double checking that it was fully engaged, then tottered back to the warmth of my bed.

18th November 2021

After months of waiting, my paving slabs were finally delivered. The big truck arrived just as it started snowing. The delivery came on two pallets, one with about ten slabs, the other with close to sixty. That one was almost the limit of the fork lift. I could see it’s back wheel lifting as it came off the truck.

The driver settled both pallets on the driveway close to the rubbish bins, ready for the installation day.

As the snow settled on the delivery, I was looking ahead to a day I could start the laying, but it doesn’t look too promising for the next few weeks.

Still work in the garage was drawing to a climax, five dressers are well on the way to completion, possibly two should be ready for tomorrow, just as well because there is still one in the car and another due for collection tomorrow.

I learnt that the floor standing Anglepoise lamp I ordered a month ago, and was due for delivery on the second of November has been rescheduled for sometime in bloody January.

17th November 2021

I’m not feeling my best today. As I’m approaching my seventieth I get scared. I think about the time I have left, and I worry that I won’t get everything done that I want to. I miss my family and friends, and until all this residency shit gets finished I can’t be with them.

Normally I put it to the back of my mind, but today it’s in my eyeline and I have to deal with it.

The weather matched my mood, it was dull and wet, but at least it was not cold. We were able to keep the garage door open bringing a bit of light into my gloom.

The city sent a man with a truck with a plough on the front, his job was to push all the piles of leaves that we collect, in one big heap on the side of the road. Of all the places he had to choose it was outside the house. It loomed over us like a grim slag heap awaiting the collection by another city man with the tipper truck.

James Dyson came under fire again from Kelli because the replacement battery pack that I bought in March seems to be failing. I always seem to be stripping down the sweeping head to remove miles of her hair that has wound tightly around the rotating brushes. There is often enough to stuff a pillow. I had anticipated the battery issue and already purchased a replacement, so fitting it was some light relief.

16th November Tuesday

Off we went again, this time another drive to Hudsonville to collect a free dresser in need of some repair. All of the drawers need some work from reattaching a front to a complete rebuild.

Hudsonville is the kind of place that you drive through to get to somewhere else, a bit like Belgium. They do have a micro brewery and a winery, both of which are good, but apart from that it’s a bit dull.

The sun was shining, making autumn bearable, but once in the open, the cold was a reminder that it was November.

15th November 2021

There was another million leaves that needed to be raked up. It took nearly an hour, and put a lot of strain on the wrists.

It always amazes me how much leaves weigh, and dragging them to the side of the road raises the sap in me.

Kelli had a doctors appointment in the afternoon, her progress remains good, but slow. Even though her liver is functioning well, her adrenal system still requires attention. The positive thing is now her vertigo has been cured she will be able to lay on the table and get manipulated.

With this activity, work in the garage was limited, but I managed to repair a few more drawers. I wasn’t in such a raving mood today, I took it slow, and made the improvements to the drawer boxes making them more rigid.

We took the dogs for a walk down to the small lagoon close to us. The wind was biting, and only a few weeks ago we were complaining of the heat.

14th November 2021

We had the first snow fall this morning, not much, and not enough to stop the dogs rushing out to do their ploppies, but they didn’t stay out long.

Poor Phoebe, couldn’t wait to get out, but she didn’t realise that I hadn’t opened the outer door. Thump! as her nose hit the glass, but it didn’t stop her enthusiasm.

We had to go out to get some supplies to carry on with some projects.

Even selling two large pieces this week the garage is still full.

The dressers that we picked up from the dodgy area have been cleaned and the drawers taken out for inspection.

Most of them will need some degree of work, but most of them are just cheaply made rubbish. If I worked in the factory that produced this crap I think I would have topped myself. It seems the only tool required is a hammer to bang nails to hold the drawers together just long enough for the poor sap who bought it to get it home.

At least when it leaves us it will be everything will be held together and rigid. Not that anyone will really notice, but these dressers will be better than new.

13th November 2021

We had a buyer for the large dresser we posted yesterday, but as usual I had some work that had to be done before they arrived to collect.

One of the central drawer guides was badly chewed up on one end. Usually the trick is to turn it round, but this needed something more drastic.

The clock was running, I had to cut away the damaged area and add some new wood, leaning it close to the heater to dry the glue.

Once it had cured, I machined it to shape then fixed it in place into the dresser.

Panic averted.

Kelli couldn’t wait to work on the radiogram.

She wanted to plug it in to see if it worked. I was hesitant, it had been out in the rain for a couple of days and it needed more time for the electronic to dry out.

That was not her plan, she went straight out into the garage and plugged the thing in.

There was no loud bang or clouds of smoke, instead the tuner lit up and the turntable worked.

Her face lit up in triumph, she rushed back into the house to get a disc.

She plonked it onto the turntable, switched it on, moved the arm on to the record and lowered it. Music blasted out of the two speakers, more smiling and cheering.

Cosmetically it had a few scratches and marks but generally it was solid.

We took some pictures and soon it was posted on Marketplace.

We then stopped for lunch. Very soon her phone was pinging with someone who wanted to buy it. Within an hour they we standing in front of it excited with what they saw.

The buyers were a mother and her son who immediately wanted it. They weren’t concerned about the marks, they felt it added character and couldn’t wait to get it home.

Kelli was overjoyed that the piece had been saved and gone to a deserving person.

Their enjoyment meant a lot to us, Kelli was inspired to go though her record collection and picked a few she wanted to give to them.