Author: peterb51

15th February 2021

Kelli had found two more furniture pieces that we had to collect today.

The availability of dressers is at an all time low, so when some appear on Marketplace she jumps on them.

I was hoping to clear a couple of pieces that we already had, but that didn’t happen.

They were stored in a garage behind a giant skip full of junk, obviously the place was being gutted for renovation, so we struggled through deep snow to load them into the truck. Both pieces will need some work done before we can sell them, but once we unload them we can assess what has to be done.

Snow continues to fall, there must be about fourteen inches of the stuff on the ground, with plenty more due this week there will be more digging.

Kelli finally got round to buying the paint for the table with the painted metal top, I want that out this week because I’m frightened that the top will get damaged, but I moved it out of the garage to keep it safe.

Next in line is the long dresser with the weak carcass.

14th February 2021

It was three years ago that I proposed to Kelli in Perredies restaurant. Since then the business was sold and run for a short time before closing it’s doors.

That was our place, our special treat, and it was gone.

So imagine our joy when we learned that the place was re-opening. The owner decided to reimagine the place slightly different. He combined his passion for art and food in a art and food studio.

The place has a new name, Galleria. When Kelli called to book a table she learned that there was limited seating and four course menus. It was expensive, but it sounded a cool place.

The booking was for 6.00pm we had chosen our four courses, and I was hungry.

When we arrived there was a noticeable difference straight away. We entered the place and were led round to a room at the back that had a long table and two place settings, talk about exclusive. On the walls hung original artwork, and at the end was a log burning gas fire, it was wonderful. The Owner and chef came to greet us, he gave us a tour of the other rooms, which included artist’s studio space and a large gallery.

It was interesting to see how the place we had known had changed so much, but yet remained the same.

They had just opened, so things were still unfinished, but as we took our seats the first courses came and we tucked in to the food.

When the main dish Ravioli Burro Fuso arrived it looked delicious, we both had chosen the same. As our teeth sank into the first piece we both realised it wasn’t the three cheese filling we were expecting, there was meat in it.

I rushed off to find the waitress who then when in search of the chef.

There was plenty of bowing and apologies. They had run out of cheese and substituted the filling with butternut squash and turkey, oops.

I picked round the pasta, removing the filling, but Kelli couldn’t eat any of it.

That cast a shadow over the evening, and even having the bill reduced couldn’t compensate, although the desert of Austrian Apple Strudel was delicious.

As a parting gift we were give a Egg plant dip to take away.

Apart from that, it was a special evening, and although not intended it to be, a memorable one.

13th February 2021

I didn’t do any work today, not even going into the garage, and it felt very strange.

The main reason was that Cameron was bringing his new girlfriend over to meet us for the first time.

This meant tidying myself up a bit, making me a bit more presentable, which isn’t easy. We managed to maintain social distance between us which was a little awkward, but acceptable.

Alyssa works in a realtor’s office taking pictures of houses and maintaining their web site. She was a bright girl, a good sense of humour, so it was a pleasant couple of hours.

After they had left Kelli decided that taking the dogs out for a walk sounded like a good idea. It wasn’t because it was snowing. We did it anyway, putting woollen coats on the animals and putting on our warmest clothes to head out into artic conditions.

We did a larger circuit than usual, stopping of at Kelli’s mum to collect some envelopes.

The walk back was brisk, but the warmth of the house was fantastic.

It’s good to have such contrasts, certainly makes you appreciate spring and summer.

I sat and watched the impeachment trial on-line. It was interesting to watch the compelling evidence collated by the Democrats and the distractive tactics by Trumps lawyers.

Unfortunately there was not the two thirds majority needed convict, so once again the scumbag gets away with it again.

I don’t know how the republican senators can’t look people in the eye again.

12th February 2021

I finally plucked up the courage to spray paint the enamel table top.

I rigged up a temporary tent using a thick polythene sheet, positioned the heaters I set off.

I made a few light passes to start, taking a break after each one. I was encouraged at the results I was getting, hopefully it will dry perfectly.

By the end of the afternoon I had used up most of the paint in the can, so there was plenty of thickness to polish if I need to.

Kelli went off shopping with Greer, leaving me to my own devices.

They returned with a collection of things including a massive dream catcher, big enough to catch the dreams of an entire town.

She managed to find a bit of empty wall to display it, which was lucky as there isn’t much of that available.

11th February 2021

This is the time of year for cracked skin on my fingers, and it can hurt like hell. I try to keep them moisten with cream, but working with wood all day doesn’t help.

Kelli has this stuff called “Liquid bandage” which is just like superglue that you paint on to the wound and it puts a protective surface over the cut. The first coat stings, and makes my eyes water, the second and subsequent layers are fine. It does work, and soon I can be back at work getting more cracks on all my other fingers.

We had to drive to Hamilton to deliver the dresser we recently finished. The sun was shining and reflecting on the snow laying thick on the fields burning my retinas, apart from that it was a wonderful sight.

10th February 2021

I have been repairing a wine rack that Kelli got last week.

It was falling to pieces every time we moved it.

Just like a giant puzzle every piece had to go in the correct place.

I started to gut another large dresser, the construction was so bad that the front rail snapped as I tried to remove the drawers.

This was a reputable brand so it was difficult imagine that the construction was approved.

I will add some extra timber bracing to improve the structure. I have seen all sorts since I’ve been here, but this was one of the worst.

There was a three eight of an inch bow in the centre that was not easy to hide, which means a lot more work to make good.

9th February 2021

More snow falling, getting slightly bored with it now, although another cold week to come.

The country is getting prepared for another impeachment trial of that despicable ex-president.

I listened to the case for the defence, which was an hour of absolute dribble, they were struggling to make any sense.

As Tuesday is old gits day at Goodwill we thought it was worth checking them out. Needn’t have bothered, although we did by a chair for one dollar, needs a bit of fixing up of course.

We did get to photograph the latest dresser which was on Marketplace for less than an hour before it got sold.

8th February 2021

Well I missed out on the Super Bowl Sunday which was not a great loss to me. It snowed again last night messing up my road network and confusing the dogs. The temperature is down to -8 degrees C so going out into the garage was not attractive to me, but I needed to finish painting the dresser, it had been a quiet month so far for furniture leaving Bristol Cottage.

Kelli had an appointment to go to, I went along as I needed some material to finish the entertainment centre. I dropped her off and made my way to Menards. It didn’t take long to get the stuff I needed, and was checked out by a transgender person I think. They certainly had a deep voice, not that I’m judging, but you don’t want to be disrespectful. I resisted trying to match the deep voice to say “Thank you”.

I had a lot of time to kill, and thought that I would get a coffee and a cake from the Starbucks drive through. I took one look at a queue of snail like moving traffic, that put me off that idea.

I thought of going to Bob Evans who were open for sit ins, but I wasn’t sure they would want to just serve me a coffee. I was left to scavenge around the car for something to eat. Normally Kelli has food stashed all over in case of emergencies, but this time there was nothing not even a piece of string to suck on. It turned out that her food reserve was in the bag she has with her.

7th February 2021

I had to bite the bullet and clear the driveway.

I was still not able to use the snowblower for the reasons I’ve explained before.

The rescue team managed to get to the shed and retrieved the snow shovel, at least we can make a start. Fortunately Larry was out so he didn’t see me scraping the snow with the scraper that I use to clear the skylight above the kitchen. The thing has a ten foot pole so in reality I could work from the front door. That would look bad, but it supplied in sections therefore a six foot piece was just perfect. I had to work quickly in case he came back and I would have to go through the story why I haven’t used the snow blower yet. I’m sure if I tried I could make up a song about it.

I sweated blood to get the driveway clear, then I had to start on the back.

I created a series of snow trails to get to various areas of the garden not only for us but the dogs.

Highway one goes to the composter and the dog bog, that is used often.

Highway two leads to the bird feeder, critical for our feathered friends.

Highway three goes to the shed( I must remember to get the petrol can)

Highway four leads to the back door of the garage.

The dogs have already christened Highway one.

I found the note I wrote myself last year reminding me to get a new snow shovel, because the one we have is broken, I guess I still have a lot to learn about winters in Michigan.

6th February 2021

We ventured out into the frozen tundra passing lines of polar bears and penguins.

We were on a mission to find knobs for the dresser now residing in our bedroom.

Stopping off at Goodwill just in case they had something we could buy, was a big fat zero. The area where furniture usually is, was bare, I’ve never seen the place so empty.

As we arrived we saw a rival leaving empty handed, that should have been a clue.

We headed over to Habitat for Humanity to look for knobs aware that they closed early on a Saturday. We discovered just how early, the clock in the truck said 3.00 and the sign on the door also read 3.00 so we were out of luck.

As compensation, we visited the other Goodwill, but the scene was the same, not much to get excited about, although Kelli found some stuff to sell anyway.

Then we stumbled across the car park to another charity store call African Child.

I used to think that’s where you could get one, but that joke runs a bit thin after a while so I don’t say it anymore.

Kelli found some small stuff there, whilst I continued to look for recognisable CD’s.

With a small pile of odds and sods rattling about in the back of the truck, we headed back home.