Author: peterb51

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.

16th January 2026

Snow is back, the fine stuff, I think I was misguided in thinking that there wouldn’t be more, but it will continue all through February and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

We wanted to get some materials, and were prepared to fight our way through the blizzard, but we weren’t prepared with what happened to us.

We stopped at a thrift store, Kelli had it in her head to look of a vine wreath, don’t ask me why, so she was on this kind of mission.

There is always something in these places that is useful to us, this time it is dog clothes.

She found a few to add to the ones already taking over my space in the closet.

Now wanted to move on, climbing back into the truck Kelli tried to start it, nothing happened.

The lights came on but the engine failed to turn.

We sat a bit bemused, this has not happened before, fortunately she had roadside cover on her insurance, so a quick call to them to get a tow truck out.

In the meantime she had briefed the garage that does most of our repairs to prepare for the trucks arrival.

Matt was going to drive their mums car and come to pick us up.

After about fifteen minutes the tow truck arrived, I was the one designated to talk to the chap.

I explained the situation, I said my thoughts were the starter motor.

He checked the battery, that was fine, next he suggested knocking the starter motor with a hammer. This was something I was familiar with as having to do it myself many times in the past, you know British Layland.

I turned the key whist the mechanic tapped the starter with a hammer, lo and behold it did the trick, and it started.

I didn’t want to risk this happening again, my plan was to take the truck to the garage and get the starter replaced.

Kelli took Matt back, and she would drive to the garage to collect me.

As I was driving over, I decided to find an Autozone store and buy the part, this would save time for the repair.

They had one in stock, I snapped that one up and drove on to the garage.

Unbelievable they were able to start on it straight away, but they would call when it was ready.

I was picked up, and went home to the warmth. 

An hour later the call came that the repair was complete. 

Now I could collect the vehicle knowing that it would let us down. I was impressed that the last one had lasted over 261 thousand miles, how about that for reliability?

15th January 2026

This doesn’t feel like a new year, it’s still old and lifeless, nothing is alive yet, so why do we call it new? Winter is time for reflection, for planning, for rest, the new begins with growth and the dawning of light and warmth, but that’s not until Spring, now that is the new year.

We were expecting more snow today, the hatches were battened down, the fires were stoked, but nothing. The predicted storm missed us, sorry for the ones it hit, but we’re all right Jack.

The cold wind cut through us severing our comfort, even the slightest effort felt heavy and uninviting.

There was a feeble attempt at working in the garage, but when the door was opened, it was hard to remain enthusiastic.

I did set the saw up to trim some drawer parts that I repaired, and somewhere along the way I found myself thinking about some stands I had to make for speakers in my music room.

I had a plank of walnut, so my attention was drawn to that.

I enjoy the idea of just making something, no planning, no designing, making by instinct, total free form, and in ten minutes they were done, sanded, oiled and ready for their intended purpose.

Maybe I was inspired by Henry’s approach, no thinking, work by feel and thought, hands guided by unseen influences.

I was reminded by a discussion we had  yesterday about creating a fence to hide the boring house just beyond the edge of their woodland.

One thought was lots of figures forming a crowd, dense at the front and thinning out. Great idea, but might freak out the house owner.

Another idea, influences by Andrew Goldsworthy, was a meandering line of stacked branches that flowed between the trees it would add density, but also clean up the woodland itself, this would take a lot of work, but would look natural and quite beautiful.

Gosh! I’m sounding quite dreamy, must get a grip of myself, a good walk with the dogs would get my nose running, just what winter is all about.

Today is five weeks since we brought Winnie home, it’s been an interesting time, having a younger in the house reminds us that should never do it again.

14th January 2026

A man from the water company came to change the meter, I had no idea where the meter was housed, but the man said it would be in the crawl space.

I’m sure to most places that would be an easy place to get to, but for us it meant clearing out a closet. That happened to be mine, the floor was covered with clothes, my clothes. I had no idea I had that many, of course there was the spring, summer and autumn wear stashed away for the duration. 

After moving all that stuff the man could do his task.

Earlier I had called Henry to find out when I could visit him, we agreed that later today would be good for him. 

Driving back to his place was like old times, snow was lightly falling as I arrived at the entrance to his drive. I’m sure after a heavy fall of snow this road through the woods would be impossible to navigate, but Henry has said he likes the solitude.

I pulled up to his studio, there were large grey waves on the big lake, everything looked bleak and cold, but that mass of water was powerful.

Henry greeted me as I climbed the stairs, he was excited to show me the finished rooms with the furniture installed, and they did look good.

Then it was down to his studio, I called it the ideas factory, because that is what it looked like.

Certainly not an architectural masterpiece, and he liked the new name. He is into ceramics, and some of it looks amazing, but he seems to have lots of things on the go, for a man of his age of eighty, his mind and creativity are sharp and defined.

I certainly am not up to his intellectual level, but I’m fighting to keep up.

I like the man, I enjoy what he does even though I don’t understand everything, his mind is always working

He is heavily involved in the Art prize in Grand Rapids and had contributed to some wild a wacky exhibits,  one included stretching a cable between two high office blocks with several figures hanging from it, in the figures were cameras pointing down, these images were then relayed to a large screen, so people looking up became part of the artwork.

I know I could visit every week, he could open a drawer to another Pandora’s box of intrigue, I can’t wait.