Author: peterb51

6th April 2021

The first of our new decking furniture was delivered today. It was a hanging egg chair, of course it was one of China’s finest, like everything that you buy in America. Even the stainless steel screws I used on the decking came from the people’s republic.

The box had everything in it, even the tool for tensioning the fabric shell. I was excited, it was a bit of an impulse buy, because I thought it might tempt Kelli outside.

I set out all the parts just to check everything was in order, there were no little Chinese children hidden in the packing, just bits of metal and fixings.

The main cradle structure was easy to construct, just large bits of tube, the fabric part was a bit more of a challenge. This is where the Chinese supplied instructions fall down. The photos showing how to tension the fabric were terrible, in colour they would have been fine, but photocopied in black and white they lost all definition. After a few tries I worked it out. The tool was a lever to stretch, and move a spar just enough to drop a bolt through holes to keep everything in place.

I fitted the nuts, and using the supplied allan key and spanner began to tighten. Ping! went the allan key, it flew in the air and landed on the deck, the disappeared down the gap, a great start.

Fortunately, I has a set of metric keys for just this emergency, and it was a full set.

It was also the hottest day of the year so far, and me in my flannel shirt began dripping in a very short time.

I fitted the hanging strap and hooked it on to the support structure, adding the loose cushion, and it was done.

I tried to get Kelli to give it the first sit, but she didn’t feel up to it, so it was down to little me to test it out.

Now for just over two hundred bucks it wasn’t bad value, but if it was American made it would have been a thousand, and the quality wouldn’t be much better.

That is the fundamental argument that is made over and over again, the Americans hate the fact the Chinese can make it, ship it and pay the “Trump” duty on it, and it’s still cheaper than anything made in the USA.

I bet there is one factory in China just making these swinging chairs and churning them out by the thousand every day. That is the reason why there are many outlets selling the same product.

I sat in the seat looking out towards the lake, the storm clouds are gathering, “ it’s not supposed to rain today” I thought, I’ve just got this bloody thing built, now I have to take the cushion inside, damn Michigan!

Earlier I went to buy the timber to make a raised bed. I decided to build it with cedar, like the cold frame, so I loaded the truck up with half a tree, wondering if I was making it too large.

My initial plan was to make it eight foot by four foot, and two foot off the ground, but I’ll make it three foot wide to match the width of the gardening fabric I have already, now I have to plan it in to my workload.

5th April 2021

I thought we had it sold, that was until the lady saw it had small drawers instead of large ones.

“ I should have read the description better” she said.

“ maybe you should have” I muttered under my breath.

I thought that because they had driven from Grand Haven, a good thirty minute drive, she might have made a concession, but no.

We had carried it into the living space only this morning to take pictures, so it was exciting to have it sold by the afternoon. It goes to show you can only count the money when they hand it over.

The lady was interested in one that I haven’t even started yet, asking for pictures as soon as it was finished. I don’t know if it was genuine, or a smoke screen to get out of buying the other one. Maybe I will move it forward in the production line.

Meanwhile I have started painting some dining chairs that we’ve had for a year. Kelli doesn’t like painting them, as she has no patience, and I don’t like to store them any longer because they are difficult, and take up a load of space.

Hopefully these will go with a table that we were given, that I had finished last year, so another piece we’ve stored.

4th April 2021

There is no apparent signs that it is Easter Sunday, I have seen chocolate Easter bunnies, but no Cadbury’s cream eggs in sight.

Kelli was having a bad day, that usually follows a sleepless night. I can’t see any changes to her condition even though she now taking more powerful medication. I’m holding my tongue, I don’t want to freak her out by criticising her method of treatment, as I do almost everyday. It’s hard not to get angry when my wife says that she wants to die.

I have suggested that she gets a blood test, but she won’t. She is frightened by the possibility that she have some serious condition, and she’d rather not know about it.

3rd April 2021

It was promising start to the day,the sun was shining, and it was supposed to start to warm up. What I wasn’t told was there was a wind, that blew where you didn’t want it to. This was because I choose the wrong coat to wear.

I aways tease Kelli about how many coats she has, and of course she reminds me about the micro style climate that can change from one extreme to another. That is why the coat rack is full. That doesn’t guarantee that I will choose the correct one. So I set out on my errands with the thinnest of coats, racing from car to store door in record time.

My lack of judgement continued as when I got home Kelli inquired where a certain flavour of crispy snack was, I confessed that I had eaten then to stop them going “stale”, this meant that I had to walk to the corner store to get a replacement. This time I wore a thicker coat, which felt great, but after a hundred yards it started to get uncomfortably warm. I gritted my teeth and carried on. By the time I got to the store I was toasty, and as I put my mask on I could feel perspiration on my top lip, and my glasses immediately misted up as soon as I put them on. I pushed them to the bottom of my nose and proceeded around the store peering though the lens like a short sighted professor. I walked to the isle that displayed the crispy snacks, but there were none of the flavour that Kelli had a craving for. I checked every shelf, even pulling the packets out to check that there wasn’t one hidden behind. Panic started to take hold, I had eaten all of Kelli’s favourite snack and now I couldn’t find any to take to her. I walked up and down the row just in case they put them in a different place, but no, I had failed, no, the store had failed. They had not done what every other store does, that is re-order their stock.

Now I had to walk back to my ailing wife without the snack that she had been craving.

Out of desperation I picked another flavour that was similar. I know if I had gone back empty handed she would have said “ well you could have got me so and so” and I would have definitely failed the initiative test had I not made the effort.

I was planning my excuse on my walk back which was now uncomfortably hot inside.

I would throw myself at her mercy, and offer to drive to another store closer to town. In the end she wasn’t that bothered, and all my guilt was for nothing, but I did buy myself some beer, as you do in times of stress.

2nd April 2021

The return of the cold continued, although a few degrees warmer than yesterday, not that you can feel the difference.

I worked in the garage applying a coat of sealer to the top I stained yesterday.

Kelli needed a box making to send off a large wooded D that she sold.

I found some cardboard and cut out something resembling a box and packed it up for her.

She was not having a good day, and managed to get an appointment with her kinesiologist for early afternoon. I’m still having trouble understanding how this “treatment” works. I really am trying to remain positive although to me it’s just a money making scheme dishing out supplements that might or might not work, but you have to pay for it all, and some of them are not cheap.

I went along with her but I suggested I sit in the waiting room for fear of opening my mouth and causing a scene.

Earlier I went into the shed to retrieve the lawn spreader that we have for a while, and I was convinced didn’t work very well.

I oiled some of the moving parts, and that is when I had a eureka moment. I noticed an adjustment that regulated the flow of the granules. As I rotated it, numbers appeared in a small window indicating the spread rate, now it all makes sense, Duh!

Lyn, the lady who decided not to buy the large bookcase changed her mind. She arrived not long after we returned from Kelli’s appointment.

I lifted the unit into a low trolly just a few minutes before she arrived.

We had to lower all the back seats, but there was a child seat fitted to one of them, and it was a difficult job, especially with my cracked thumbs. Eventually I managed to squeeze the retaining clips to be able to remove it. Getting it into the back of the vehicle was simple, so now I need to treat my aching fingers.

I forgot that today was Good Friday, I miss have the Easter break holiday, because every day is like a holiday so I don’t have any reference point anymore.

All I know is that April is an expensive month for birthdays.

1st April 2021

A young chap turned up to collect the dresser.

Like most men he checked every drawer, walking round it “kicking the tyres” before phoning his wife to process the payment.

Later Lyn, a return customer, came to view the bookcase. She was excited when she saw it, but needed to see if it would fit in her home. She messaged later to say that it was too big unfortunately.

It was bloody cold today, a couple of degrees above freezing. I had to put the heater on in the garage to thaw out my fingers.

I managed to stain a new dresser top and prime it, so I’m ahead on that one.

I also managed to finish stripping the paint off the four remaining dresser handles.

31st March 2021

We finally got round to dragging the finished furniture into the living space to take pictures.

With everything that has been happening it’s been no surprise that the figures for March have been appalling. It illustrates how much Kelli does to drive the business, she can certainly paint faster.

Some of my attention was taken up working on the deck and cold frame, plus stripping paint from ornate brass handles is not a quick job.

We had to collect a dresser that Kelli had spotted on Marketplace, thankfully it was close by.

By the afternoon I had the top stripped ready for staining, I want this finished quickly.

We had people interested in both the dresser and the old entertainment centre, which is now a bookcase, hopefully that kicks April off.

30th March 2021

I needed to finish the dresser today, it has been hanging around it seems for ages.

I had to trim a bit of the drawer front so that it fitted better, but then it has to be painted again.

I did some tidying up outside, sweeping up leaves that hid in all the nooks and crannies.

The grass at the front is starting to grow again, I had bought some fertiliser ready to kick it into life again.

29th March 2021

There are lots of buds on the trees and bushes, even the new apple trees look if they have survived.

There were a couple of jobs that I could do outside.

I filled the flower bed by the deck with dirt and manure ready to be planted with grasses as soon as the garden centres open.

I also put the window frames that I had stripped on the cold frame.

Kelli needed some herbal medicine from Natures Market, so I was also out and about a bit.

Finally got to order some new garden furniture from an online store, these will arrive in a couple of weeks, and hopefully make the deck more homely rather than an exercise plot.

I did a bit more paint removal from the dresser handles, this is tedious work. I had bought a different type of paint stripper that I hope would act faster than the orange stuff that has to be left overnight.

In the evening a friend of Kelli’s, who was her previous landlord brought round a pizza and a salad for us, it certainly saved me putting the house at risk but cooking something.

That was so unexpected and kind, and renewed my faith in the good intensions in people here.

Apparently there are many people that Kelli knows have suffered a similar condition of mental and physical exhaustion,

28th March 2021

It was unbelievably cold today with a flurry of snow for good measure. The weather changes so quickly, because tomorrow will be back to the sixties, crazy.

I had to go to the corner shop as I had run out of coffee. I buy a local brand, from Grand Rapids, it is one of the best I have tried, not bitter, it had a great taste, and although quite expensive, I think it is worth it.

I also needed biscuits, now the Americans do not know how to make decent biscuits, mostly they are chewy and not crisp. I found some that looked promising, but when I opened the packet there were only seven in there. What is that all about? One a day for a week?, I need to hunt around for my digestives.

I finally fitted the top to the dresser that I lovingly stripped and re-finished, I know Kelli will want to keep it, and secretly, so do I.

I still have to strip the paint off the handles which are brass, but this will take ages.

I also painted the top that I repaired, so that was enough for today.

Kelli was having a bad day. She started out feeling okay, but sometime during the day, she turned and went down.