Author: peterb51

26th January 2026

Another day with snow, more stuff, almost all day flakes were falling, but it didn’t stop our shopping. We were down to the wire, our breakfast would have made a monk complain.

The roads were still covered, there seemed no end to this.

We’re had a pair of side tables collected early, and we were expecting someone coming to look at, and hopefully buy the big heavy dresser that we got from Henry.

We got a call changing that till tomorrow, still at least they didn’t cancel.

Snow is not an unusual even in this area, most locals talk about the winter of 78 with five foot drifts that went on for months. I remember our winter of 63, maybe not as bad, but for England it was devastating.

With all our purchases in bags we headed home, the dogs were pleased to see us, Winnie has this high pitched screech that lets us know she’s glad we’re back.

Later, we took them out for a walk, I’m not sure that they were happy about that, but it gave them a chance to sniff about.

25th January 2026

Kelli had arranged to collect a free dresser in Jenison, a thirty minute trip, for around two thirty.

We needed petrol, so we headed off to fill the tank, the fuel is under 2.60 at the moment.

Arriving at the pump, I got out ready to dispense the petrol, Kelli’s job was to release the fuel filler flap, whilst continue to bask in the heat of the vehicle. Well the flap did not open, something had frozen the mechanism. Panic ensued as I tried different ways to release the flap.

There was no way we could continue on our journey with what was left in the tank, so, the only option was to return home then try to release it with some heat.

Now at this stage, Kelli suggested that we drive to an auto shop and see if they had any suggestions, but I, as a man insisted that my idea was the best, so that is what we did.

Now the onus was on me to find a way to find a cure.

I looked on YouTube, nothing of use there. I had some switch cleaner, which I sprayed liberally, but it didn’t cure anything.

Then I looked at the release lever in more detail, the carpet around had frozen solid, no doubt from all the wet snow, so it was that, in my opinion, the problem area. My solution was to pour a little warm water around the lever.

Lo and behold it worked, before it turned back to ice, the fuel flap opened. There was no way I was going to latch it again, now we could restart our collection.

However, because we didn’t want to leave Winnie too long, I volunteered to go alone, but I would need help at that end to load it.

Kelli sent a message, but got a curt response, therefore we decided to forgo the trip altogether.

If people can’t be civil, we don’t need it that badly.

24th January 2026

There was a bit of problems with the broadband this morning, this often happens when the weather is bad. That bloody spinning wheel of death really makes me mad, you never had issues with the old television system, once the arial was connected you just forgot about it.

As I have said before I hate the subscription service, where you pay whether you are using the service or not.

Recently the city of Holland started its own fibre optic broadband service, they spent over a year systematically digging up the roads to install the cables. It was designed to lower the cost to subscribers, but when Kelli found out about the cost, it was cheaper than Comcast.

We decided to make the change, but in the process of cancelling our current service Comcast suddenly pulled a cheaper deal out of their ass. Now me being a scenic believes that these broadband suppliers must be raking it in.

After installing a few cable, they just sit back and watch the money rolling in. I have yet to discover what they actually do.

Winnie had a better day, with less tantrums, the ball games certainly help wear her out.

I did a bit of work in the garage, finishing the repairs to a couple of drawers, my nose was dripping, as it always seems to do this time of year, it gets so cold, the heaters don’t do much, I think we need to upgrade them into flame spitting gas burners, that might singe a few eyebrows.

23rd January 2026

I had to cancel my drive to John the wood again, the road conditions were worse than Tuesday, and the projected weather for next week isn’t any better.

I did a bit of work in the garage, but bloody hell even with two heaters on I was still freezing.

Winnie was freaking out again, causing Kelli to get a bit pissed. Apparently puppies on this medication do suffer from this, it’s not from the medication, but the effect of parasites dying.

This could go on for a couple of weeks, so hair pulling times ahead.

To burn off some of this energy I spent time playing ball with the little blighter. Well it was two balls actually, poor thing.

Well after wearing her and myself out, she did settle down for a while.

Against all sensible advice we decided to take the truck out and brave the conditions.

Just as the mailman had said, the roads were icy, so progress was slow, we passed a couple of cars that had left the road unintentionally, maybe printer paper and packing tape was not the best excuse for risking death, but we survived, and arrived home much to the excitement of the dogs.

It was a good excuse to get the blower out and clear the driveway, but with more snow expected, I guess I’ll be doing it again tomorrow.

22nd January 2026

That lovely sound of the snow ploughs doing their stuff up and down the road was an indication that more snow fell last night.

Yes indeed, another couple of inches added to the truck.

We had a call from the vets office that the latest results of her poo check showed that she still had them, plus another showed up ( must have hidden itself when the last test was done)

That meant more medication, this time a milky liquid replaced the powder. Another couple of weeks of waiting to see if this does the job.

Whilst we were that side of town we stopped at Goodwill for Kelli to return stuff she bought yesterday, but we did find another Lane cedar chest, this was painted a horrible yellow, but these seem to sell well, so for five buck we snapped it up.

The large dresser was finished today, we took pictures and posted it, things have been very quiet in the month, hopefully this will sell quick.

21st January 2026

It stopped snowing! We decided to go out. I needed to take the old starter motor back to the Autozone store to get some money back.

Kelli couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go to Goodwill.

There was no furniture that appealed to me. Kelli saw a bed frame, but where would we keep it? These things are not good for us in Winter.

The usual suspects were there, an old chap looking through the DVDs no doubt lining up his evening viewing.

There are a lot of people no longer watching regular TV, most of it is shite anyway, but there are only so many films you can watch without becoming brain dead. I’m convinced that television was invented to keep the minds of the people occupied and controllable. That’s why the programs were designed to keep us engaged.

Anyway this chap took four action films to the checkout.

I was sorely tempted by an old Action Office table, it was in good condition and must have dated back to the late seventies or early eighties.

What confused me a bit was it had a wood grain laminate top, I didn’t know that was an option at that time, but I didn’t buy it for the same reason that we didn’t get the bed frame, space.

We are working on a large dresser at the moment, the one we got from Henry. Finally we got paint on it, I’ve just got to refinish the solid wood top, it should look good when it’s done.

We managed to squeeze in a walk with the dogs, Winnie is getting the hang of if, although she does change sides a lot knotting up the leads.

20th January 2026 

No drive to the Byron Center today, as the roads are still bad, and gusty winds to blow snow across the open fields, I didn’t want to risk.

After seeing the video of the pile up yesterday, It wasn’t about my driving, it was all the other buggers.

I called John to let him know, things might be better by Friday, so I will call him then.

I put on my double thick workman’s jeans and spent the time rebuilding a drawer. 

Things just take longer in the winter, paint, filler and glue, it’s a pain.

Winnie was a right little shit today, Kelli thinks it might have been the results of the injection she had at the vets. She wouldn’t settle, into everything, generally making a pest of herself.

It doesn’t help with Phoebe around , they both haven’t bonded yet, although Winnie just wants to be friends, she is met with growls and gnashing of teeth. 

They do run around outside, chasing each other through the deep snow, I expect Phoebe is just trying to get away, but the little one is alway behind.

The evening when we just want to chill is the worst, trying to anticipate the potential wet split on the carpet in the sunroom.

Out new motto is “ If in doubt, put her out”

19th January 2026

Still snowing, we had a busy day as well as our food shopping, there was a doctor visit and a trip to the vet with Winnie.

The snow was driven by a strong wind that created a “white out” situation, something that a hundred drivers found out on the motorway between Zeeland and Hudsonville. The pile up was so bad it was featured on the National News.

The roads were all snow covered, the city were spreading sand as salt was not effective at such low temperatures, but with careful speed control, we got to the doctors without incident.

Her check up went well, and generally her sleep patterns were consistent.

Next stop was taking Winnie to the vets for another distemper jab and a general check over.

Her weight had doubled since we got her at over seventeen bounds, I knew that, as I carry her outside very often. 

There is a mystery as to her lineage, she is mostly Labrador with a touch of hound, and a smidge of naughty child.

Afterwards, whilst Kelli went in to Nature’s Market I sat in the car with Winnie on my lap watching the people going in and out of the store.

Then it was back home to put Winnie into the cage whilst we finished our shopping expedition.

This was desperately needed as the fridge was bare.

Getting back was a relief, but then I had to don on some warm clothes to use the snow blower to clear the driveway.

I finished that job looking like a snowman thanks to the wind.

I am definitely ready for this to stop, it’s okay, and pretty to see, but I’m bored with it now.

18th January 2026

I think it snowed all day, I must have put Winnie outside about twenty times, which isn’t surprising. I gauge how much snow falls by how much gets into my slippers, a wet sock means about six inches.

I had to make three small wooded boxes for Matt, he wanted to store cables from the headphones he is collecting, then I started work on my equipment trolley. The castors had arrived yesterday, so building the carcass was the priority for today.

We had our usual ice cream party at Kelli’s mums, as the flakes were falling outside, we were eating cold stuff inside, madness or what?

I 

17th January 2026

Things were not working for me today, I couldn’t get in the mood to do anything, and anything I tried to do I didn’t enjoy. So what a day.

Winnie was being annoying, Kelli was on edge, trying to do stuff in the kitchen, Pheobe was snapping at Winnie, it was a shambles.

I had to drive to the nearest hardware shop to get some screws to fit some knobs for the two matching side tables, the car battery was flat because some idiot (me) must have left something on, but as we still had Kelli’s mum’s van I managed to jump start it. 

I had a cabinet to build for the equipment I have in my music room. I cut up all the plywood but realised I didn’t have enough to complete it.

It snowed most of the day, not much but a constant fully of flakes.

I had lots of things in my head that I wanted to do but I didn’t feel it was appropriate to leave Kelli trying to do her stuff, so I spent time playing with the dogs. I know there are sacrifices to be made, and on the whole she is a good pup, but often she goes spiky, and that sometimes means she needs a piss and a poo. This can occur every fifteen minutes, and, she has now found the bird seed that has dropped from the feeder ( thanks Phoebe) both dogs have their noses buried in the snow scoffing the seeds, and not taking any notice when I call them in. 

It really is one step forward, two steps back.