Author: peterb51

12th February 2026 

I was back at the Curragh to meet up with Lloyd for a beer. It has been a few weeks, so the bar staff had forgotten us, but we soon got into the swing again.

There were a group of people occupying several tables busy sketching and painting. I was curious and approached who I thought was the leader, she said that they were a group called Urban sketchers, Holland division. Apparently they go round to various locations in the town, cafes, public buildings, pubs and restaurants drawing what they see. I had the honour of taking the group picture. They were a friendly bunch, some of the work was good, far better that I could do. That made an interesting diversion, but soon we got back into the cut and thrust of debate.

Lloyd is a straight down the middle guy, believe everything he hears, and not very flexible to different ideas, I guess that is why we get on. We agree on some things and disagree on a lot more, but that is what’s healthy about it.

There is so much going on in America that is wrong, as I have written often, but if things are true, who is going to be made accountable, and by whom? 

As all governments are liars and frauds,  how can things change.

Lloyd has trouble making the distinction, and I challenged him to step outside the bubble a read  the first twenty pages of a book by Witney Webb called “ One nation under blackmail “, if his mind is not blown, then there is no hope.

Out conversation became so animated, that a young manager came to our table, and joined in. He was from Turkey, so there was a different perspective. 

It’s funny because we came to enjoy a drink together, got so wrapped up in our conversation that the drinks became secondary, maybe talking is much better for us.

11th February 2026 

It was my turn to get manipulated at Kelli’s doctor. I take an appointment twice a year as I have a few aches and I’m interested to see if they can be corrected. Of course I have to accept that I’m bound to have pains in different parts of the body, I’m just curious.

I have had a pain in the neck area for a while, the kind you get if you are exposed to a draught, or slept in an awkward position, that was number one on my list.

Next the ache in my right wrist, which I had treated the last time, still gives me trouble occasionally.

Of course today my wrist didn’t hurt, and I couldn’t locate the area where the pain is centred, but he had a look anyway.

There were many pressure points that are in the wrist, and he found every one of them. The treatment ended with a sharp tug on each of my fingers that I absolutely hate. I have the fear that my finger would pop out, but that didn’t happen.

Then there was attention given to my neck. I remembered the last time when he snapped my neck really hard, so I was a bit apprehensive of the same happening. 

I needn’t have worried, he did it anyway.

The sensation is weird, a crack of the neck and a ringing in my ears. Then there was some muscle massage, that seemed to ease the stiffness, and everything felt better.

Towards the end of the evening, the pain in the neck returned. Kelli assured me that sometimes the corrective work disturbs the area for the next day or two, so let’s see shall we.

10th February 2026

If ever there is an accident waiting to happen it was today.

I was with John at his barn, and was roughing out the new leg for my lounge furniture. I had cut them on a band saw and was then sanding them flat on his vertical belt sander. It was taking a while to do this, and I mentioned to him that the belt was worn out, he then came over with an orange block in his hand. “ I use this to clean the disc and the belt sander. The equipment in question was a combined machine, which in my opinion is a dangerous one. However he then started to rub this block on the disc, and it certainly cleaned it up. Now this disc runs anti-clockwise and he held the block on the left hand side, then, for some apparent reason, he moved it to the right hand side, just as I said the words,” no John..” as the words left my lips the block shot straight from his hand and hit me on the cheek. 

Luckily, it was a hard rubber block so no injury was sustained, but had it been a block of wood, it would have been a different story.

Now he should have known that, and I can see how he had to be supervised to do even the simple things.

I got him to sand the side panels whilst I continued on the legs, he was happy doing that and made a good job of them.

I on the other hand, took a long time to sand the legs with the worn out sanding belt. I decided to take them home to hand finish them.

9th February 2026

Winnie was hyper today, we think it’s the result of the medication for her intestinal parasites.

I bloody hope it’s that, she wears me out, the only game she is getting good at is stopping the balls I kick at her, she might become a famous goalkeeper.

It was shopping day, we haven’t noticed any food prices coming down, so much for Trump’s campaign promises. 

We believe that Larry’s old house has been sold.

There was a strange man wandering about, we saw him take a piss up against an old barrel, of all the places he could have found he had to do it in full view. Anyway this might be the one that’s bought it, and we are told that he plans to renovate it and rent it out. Now, normally property developers buy cheap and then re do it it using cheap materials, but he has probably paid in excess of $250k for it, and I guess he would need to spend $100k to get it up to code, so the rent would have to be high to pay that investment back

8th February  2026

There were some last minute work that needed to be done to the matching dressers before they were being collected later in the afternoon.

It was a great relief that someone jumped in and bought them, I had visions that they would hang around for a while taking up valuable space.

Kelli had arranged the collection time to be 4.30pm, so our time at Kelli’s mums was restricted. 

Two chaps turned up right on time, they lived in Douglas, close to Saugatuck. They were both excited with the pieces saying that they would fit in well with the 1920’s farmhouse they had just bought.

Each of them had brought their own vehicle, and that was just as well.

I was happy that they were happy, and extra happy that they were going to a good home.

There was a bit more snow this morning, that didn’t seem to bother the wild turkeys who strutted down the road and on to our wild patch searching for seeds.

7th February 2026

We have several long icicles hanging from the gutter on the sunroom, I’m not sure wether to knock them off, I do not want to be speared by one as I take Winnie out at two in the morning. 

It would be so undignified to be found in the morning when Kelli finally get out of bed, just saying.

I was setting up the two matching dressers this morning to take pictures, I was moving another piece out of the way, when a load of the flooring, I have stacked ready to lay in the sunroom, slipped and cascaded out into the snow.

The air was filled with oaths, it was cold, so I had to restack them again, more oaths were uttered.

Finally managed to get some pictures of the furniture after all that drama.

I have been following the Peter Mandelson story, I was never keen on the slimball, so this didn’t surprise me, hopefully this will force Starmer out of office as well. However, anyone who gets elected to the office will be the same corrupt individual who won’t care a jot about the people.

There I go again, they are all the same, especially here in the US most politicians, from all sides get “ campaign contributions” from big Tech, big Pharma, and billionaires. Basically they are bought and paid for. Getting money out of politics has always been talked about, but the very people voting on it are all getting the backhanders, so guess what will happen?

6th February 2026

It’s been a funny old week, we have got in a rut that we can’t get out of. Having a puppy around has meant that everything has had to take second place. One of us had to remain vigilant at all time to avoid disasters. Our daily aim is to tire her out so that we can have a moment of peace. Classical music is played to soothe her, it helps us at the same time.

I had a crappy job of cleaning and polishing some brass handles for the two matching dressers that are near to completion. I tried toothpaste, wire wool and polishing compound  and scouring powder, I got them the best I could, but what a drag.

I booked my National Express coach, which was a very reasonable £22 return, compared to the autumn fare, now the rundown starts.

There was a thaw starting, there are obvious signs hanging from the gutters.

5th February 2026 

It was rubbish collection day, and I , for once had the bins out the evening before, so I had the luxury of staying warm.

These blue monsters have an unusual route, one goes up the road and another comes down, considering the road is a dead end you would think one vehicle could do both directions.

Anyway the city have their way so I let them get on with it. 

I could hear the truck approaching, and decided to watch the operation. The truck approached the rubbish bin, the two clasp arms swung out and grabbed the bin, squeezing it so tight the lid flipped up. It was lifted in the air and swung over the open trough, shaking it so violently, one of the wheels fell off. Once it had emptied, the mechanical arm lowered it back on the ground, the wheel had been munched up by now, so the bin toppled and fell over. I saw all this happen, I felt the pain, and the anger, our blue bin had been assaulted and left permanently disabled.

We will have to request another, that no doubt will suffer a similar fate ate some time in the future.

I had to act as taxi driver to Matt’s wife Brenda. She works as a care assistant and was working in Zeeland when she had car trouble. She had to get her vehicle towed to a nearby garage, and needed a ride home. She believed it was a faulty sensor, but the garage was going to charge her $150 just to look at it. Effin typical, garages already make a killing, but to charge just to confirm what she already knew, and then to charge again to fix it, diabolical.

We finished a small table that took more trouble than it was worth, but it’s done and posted.

4th February 2026

I met up with Lloyd at the Southside Restaurant for breakfast. He was just back from Minnesota where he attended a friend’s funeral. He’s not having much luck, he lost another mate last November, so he’s either really unfortunate, or a bloody jinx. I asked him how many buddies he has left, he replied, “ Just you”, that put a shiver down my spine.

That aside we had a pleasant breakfast amongst all the old people, the place resembled a doctors waiting room, I actually felt like a young’un again.

After that we had to file the state taxes at the local “Block” specialist, that didn’t take very long, not that we have any taxes to file.

Kelli then agreed to take her mother for a doctor’s appointment whilst I got on and primed the two matching dressers. Then it was playtime with Winnie for half an hour before doing some veneer repairs to some drawer fronts.

The country is gripped with the latest revelations from the Epstein files. The new releases are so disturbing and revolting that it’s hard to comprehend. They involve celebrities and politicians, and even heads of state. Although I believe the evil that is running the country, I view a lot of the with scepticism. I think what is being reported may be exaggerated, and taking it to a level of revolution to distract people from what is actually going on. 

You see they are all in on it, all the elites, there will be no prosecution, no accountability, all the perversions and atrocities will continue, and there not a damn thing that anyone can do about it.

I heard that there is a delay on the latest moon mission, something about a hydrogen leak. Now with all the money that NASA have spent building the rocket, you would think they would have designed a decent seal.

I’m curious to see how they play this mission, seeing that they will only be able to travel seventy two miles before they hit something.

Watch for the CGI and green screen folks, they will try to fool you again.

3rd February 2026

I picked up John from his home as usual, I don’t think it was one of his best days, his conversation was disjointed, and difficult to follow. I want the conversations to continue, as silence is uncomfortable. I ask him simple things, like what he did at the weekend, the answers are all over the place, but I persevere, eventually I break through a bit, I find something he can talk about. This is about his barn and how he rebuilt it, he remembers a lot about that, the people that helped, and the problems he faced. I’ve heard the story many times, but that is when his eyes light up, and I know he’s in a time that he can’t forget.

When we arrived, the back panel that was clamped up on Friday was still on the bench.

I had a list of pieces I had to cut and thickness, and rather than involve John, I asked him to sand the back panel, which he set about, but only after a coffee and a slice of pumpkin bread.

I wanted to cut and glue timber for the new legs. 

I wanted to change the ones on the chair that is at the upholster, this entailed increasing the height by two inches. I managed to find some thick pieces of white oak to cut down.

John helped with the glue up, then he continued to sand the other side of the pack panel, and by the way he did a brilliant job of it.

It is amazing how tired I get, I am working non stop whilst I’m there, and I’m always disappointed by the small amount I’ve done.

My target is to finish it by the end of February, as there are other projects waiting their turn.