Author: peterb51

7th September 2020

Well here it is Labour Day, when nothing is done. People sit around burning meat on their grills saying “Happy Labor Day” to anyone they meet.

Labor Day is the official end of summer when the seasonal shops close, and they start fixing the snow barriers on the beach.

It also means the the security guard at the entrance to Point West is no longer on duty, so we can drive in and take the dogs for a run along the beach.

We had Kelli’s family around for a luncheon consisting of vegan quiche and smoked salmon on French stick. Wow, it was fabulous, the smoked salmon was in fact made with carrot, and with some amazing wizardry she made them taste fishy. The quiche was made with JustEgg and was just like one made with eggs, I know there is some still left in the fridge, so later tonight……

6th September 2020

It wouldn’t be a normal day unless we had to collect something.

I was busy repairing a the large dresser that we collected on Friday when Kelli ran to the car jangling her keys.

This is her version of scrambling to go into battle.

The engine of the truck burst into life as I ran for the passenger door. I left behind a cloud of sawdust hovering in the air as the car backed out of the driveway.

We sped along Lakeshore drive towards the lake.

Kelli found a dresser really close, so there was no question about it we need another one to add to the five we already have.

I am told that there will be a severe shortage of dressers in the autumn and winter months, but we will be prepared.

The weather was expected to turn rainy this afternoon, but that never materialised, which meant we spent more time than we wanted working outside.

However we did make sure we ticked another job off the list by putting tiles behind the cooker. We had found them at Goodwill a while ago, and they were just the colours we were looking for.

I had the adhesive for months waiting for this special day.

Kelli’s job was to scrape off any grout that was left on them, I just had to stick them to the wall.

The gods were looking down on me because they fitted perfectly in the space, I could not believe it, there was no tweaking or anything, I was a happy man.

We managed to sell the tall entertainment centre that we finished a couple of weeks ago.

There had been no interest in it, and in the end it languished under a sheet.

It seemed like the whole family turned up, Mother, father and daughter. Kelli had dropped the price quite a bit just to get rid of it. Fortunately we didn’t put a lot of work in it, but paid more than we should of, but it was a sale and gave us more space in the garage.

5th September 2020

Kelli cannot do anything quietly. Granted the pool was a little cooler than yesterday, and was noticeably harder for me to enter without a severe intake of breath followed by a bout of heavy panting.

When my darling wife tried the same thing it was a completely different performance. First the slight squeal, followed by a louder shout then a full blown scream, I expected the police to kick down the door to investigate.

Once in she avoided any additional contact with the water other than what was already submerged, we both just drifted around like two enormous leaves.

We had already done our chores, collecting a book case, visiting Menards and Goodwill, so the pool treat was our way of extending our rewards.

We spent a bit of time in the garage working on stuff, mainly stripping and sanding.

I laid up some timber to start making a replacement bed rail, I’m hoping this goes without any problems.

We took a bike ride up to the cemetery to visit Dave, Kelli took some flowers from the garden, but we had problem finding the plot. As there is no headstone, we had to guess the location.

We are not sure when the headstone will be placed, hopefully it will be before the first anniversary.

It is the start of the Labour Day weekend, a time for fireworks, family gatherings, and the spreading of Covid19.

4th September 2020

Kelli was off doing some errands leaving me to work on various pieces in the garage. As entertainment I started watching the second season of After Life. Wow, some of it was an emotional rollercoaster for me, I could barely see what I was doing. I was hoping that Kelli would not return until after I pulled myself together.

We nearly finished an eight drawer dresser, and even started on the one we got yesterday. There was crap everywhere by the time we finished.

We sold the two white side tables this evening which helps us get off to a positive start for the month.

We managed to get twenty minutes in the pool, this was more a point of principle and we didn’t care how loud we were getting into it.

3rd September 2020

“ There a dresser on the corner of 17th and River” Kelli exclaimed bursting into the garage.

I was busy getting the dresser ready for our trip to Grand Rapids.

“Cameron messaged me, it’s blue” she added.

We weren’t confident that it would be still there, so we loaded up the piece in the back of the truck and headed out.

We could see that the blue dresser was still there, and as we stopped we saw that it was missing a drawer. It was not high end furniture, but it was something that had potential, so we loaded it into the back and drove back home to drop it off.

Kelli had correspondences with the person who wanted the green dresser, firstly to advise that we would charge $15 for delivery, which is a fair charge. The buyer didn’t want to pay that as she was paying full price for the dresser.

I never understood this logic, even though we sometimes we drop the price a little to hook the sale, but we factor in extra for that.

But Kelli said that if we were going anywhere close we would make the deal.

That led Kelli off looking for stuff close by, which by chance she found a cheap dresser in Hudsonville, so it could work out.

This also meant that Kelli could stop off at Grandville to sell some of her cast-offs at Plato’s Closet, what perfect timing!

I could then have my coffee at Starbucks, although the real reason for that has changed since the pandemic hit, they no longer have the stirring sticks out, bad news.

We picked up the dresser in Hudsonville, a heavy beast, that means we have a total of five furniture pieces in the garage. Okay please stop now Kelli.

2nd September 2020

Time for another hair cut, according to my wife was starting to look a bit wild.

Out came the sheep sears, and soon the floor was littered with my hair. In many case it looks better on the floor than on my head.

We managed to get a buyer for our latest dresser after a few minutes on Marketplace, a good start for the month.

We were able to get a short time in the pool, these will become rarer as the sun changes its position in the sky.

The water temperature is quite noticeable cool, especially when you’ve previously check it by sticking a hand in, to immerse a whole body in it is a shock. Floating around is okay as long as you minimise contact with the water.

There are a couple of dressers in progress, and the drawerless dresser is nearing completion after nearly a year, so it will be good to get them out soon.

As it was Stein night we went to New Holland, but this time we were joined by George and Cathy. George is the walking miracle, who should not be sucking air, but by various drug experiments has beaten off different cancers.

It is alway fun spending time with them.

1st September 2020

There was plenty to get on with today. I started priming two stools that have to be painted black. These examples are China’s finest, they required sanding to remove the high build coating, followed by an etching primer.

Kelli was busy painting a dresser.

We had a customer call round with a broken part of a bed that they wanted repairing.

I took one look at it, being made from MDF there was no way it could be fixed.

The only alternative was a replacement. I gave them a quote that will use a good quality softwood, and try to repair another part that had metal inserts ripped out. The hardest part would be matching the colour, but we’ll do the best we can.

We added more soil to our potato bags as the shoots were growing well, and soon I’ll be enjoying a plate of home grown chips, or fries as they call them here.

We are noticing how quickly the days are getting shorter, we never got round to playing tennis at all, and the number of times we’ve been to the beach could be counted on one hand. It could be that we’ve fallen into a routine that we didn’t expect. Maybe we’ve focused too much on the business and not on our pleasure pursuits, although the pool has played an important part in helping with that.

31st August 2020

I finally got the dresser out of the back of the truck to truly evaluate its condition, and it definitely did not look that good.

The veneer had lifted at the bottom of the side panels, and the top had delaminated.

The drawers were okay although the centre guides were missing.

This will need a bit of thought to get it saleable.

I started by cutting off the damaged wood, I plan to make a different base for it. we will see how that goes.

The early morning walkabout in the garden found that the potatoes plants have grown sufficiently for more soil to be poured on the top. The fruit trees look happy in their new home.

Kelli had a run to Goodwill and picked up a pair of white matching side tables, quite unusual and a bit more modern than most side tables.

30th August 2020

We delivered the cool dresser to an address in Waukazoo woods close to Marigold Lodge.

That is a wonderful place, many good memories of staying there.

Then we drove to Zeeland to pick up a free dresser, I certainly wouldn’t have paid for it.

That will need extensive surgery to get that back to life, but that’s the challenge.

Then it was off to Grandville, to Plato’s Closet so that Kelli could meet up with Greer to go shopping, whilst I while I away the time drinking coffee and watching people.

I was waiting in line patiently, as others were ordering these wild concoctions that were taking a long time. There was everything going into these drinks, it was like they were trying to find a cure for Coronavirus. No sooner were they served, the next customer ordered an even more complicated mixture. By the time it was my turn I needed my drink to stay alive.

29th August 2020

We finished another dresser, that we hope will sell quickly. It has changed a bit from the tatty piece we picked up a week ago. There was veneer badly chipped and some horrible thin metal handles.

I used this piece to get more experience of patching the damage. Although not perfect, it is a vast improvement from what it was.

Because the drawer fronts were curved getting handles to fit is always a challenge, but Kelli had the brilliant idea of using leather handles similar to those used on suitcases.

She found them on Amazon, and a couple of days later they arrived.

Apart from screw length they fitted perfectly and look very cool.

We took pictures and Kelli posted it on Marketplace, then we took a bike ride to the beach to watch the sunset over the lake. This was the first time this year that we got round to doing it, a sad fact and typical when you live so close you rarely take advantage of it.

We did see a young deer roaming about the houses at Point West, it must have decided to see how the other half live. I’m sure he wasn’t impressed moving around houses that aren’t lived in for most of the time. I hope he managed to find his way home.

We seem to have an abundance of sparrows living in the holly bush next to the sunroom. Throughout the day they fly between the bush and the fence, it is often like a battle scene from Star Wars, with hundreds of little objects hurtling from one place to another, it is a sight to see.

Of course Kelli now puts bird seed in different places to attract them, now whenever I want to sit in the garden I have to check there is no bloody seed or bird shit on the chairs.

A new visitor was discovered swimming about in a small bucket by the front door. A small toad must have found its way into it, but couldn’t get out again. Luckily he was rescued and rehoused in a different part of the garden.

Now I have to be careful not to run over Todd toad when I cut the grass.

Note! By the time I finished writing this blog the dresser has now been sold, delivery tomorrow.