Author: peterb51

8th August 2020

The weather forecast on my phone said sunny, we excitedly took the cover off the pool to allow the water to warm up.

We then went to a landscape company to inquire about material for the forthcoming patio project, the sun was still sunny.

Stopped off at Goodwill to check out what was on offer, nothing, still sunny.

Finished off the garden bedding next to the shed, laying new soil and mulch, still sunny.

Stopped for something to eat, finished eating, sun hid behind clouds, Kelli was pissed.

We managed to get a little pool time in between the clouds, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

During the soak, Kelli decided that the pool should be moved as it had been constrained on two sides leaving the other sides to go where it wanted, this led to a bit of imbalance of shape.

At nine in the evening we started to drain the water, we were still going at ten, eventually it was empty, and we were able to reposition and to re-inflate it so that it regained a bit of its proper shape.

This is where I made the fatal mistake of suggesting that I level the area before refilling the pool. This was jumped upon, so guess what I’m doing tomorrow morning?

7th August 2020

Something strange happened to our pool last night. We awoke to find the top section was deflated and most of the water had disappeared. A feeling of panic set in.

There was no soaking ground around the pool to indicate a massive loss of water. The only possibility was the drain plug not seated properly, but there was no obvious problem with that. So we added air and water to check what was going on.

I visually inspected the top section inch by inch, and located three pin holes which might have been caused by sparks from the bonfire a feet away.

I thought the tarpaulin was in place to protect it from flying sparks, bloody annoying, but it was the only explanation. We release more air from the pool and applied patches to the damaged area.

We waited the required length of time before re-inflating, by which time the sun had gone in.

In between all the drama I managed to fit the back panel to the lady’s cabinet and re-built the small drawers for the dresser Kelli is working on.

Part of the morning routine is letting the”Bitches” out for their constitutional walk around the garden.

Phoebe has her nose pressed against the door ready to take off after the squirrels who are usually on or around the bird feeder.

What follows is a race to the death between the two animals, each not knowing that as long as the squirrel stays at the top of the fence it will be safe.

Phoebe would need wings, and a jet engine to stand a chance of catching the speeding rodents.

6th August 2020

Output at Bristol Cottage has been a bit slow because the frontage to the house has taken longer than we thought.

Today we finally added the pebbles to the last trough, and were able to stand back and admire them.

That is another job ticked off the list.

I had been doing a few things on the furniture we have in the garage.

There are two drawers from the last dresser we picked up that needed repairs to the side panels. In between those I finished making the back panel the lady wanted adding to the piece she had purchased on Monday.

We have allowed ourselves a bit of slack due to the warm weather, but as long as we make some progress I will have undisturbed sleep patterns.

We emptied the pool, and gave it a good clean. After a couple of weeks it has to be changed, mainly to regain its shape. Over time it does tend to morph into an alien form, so a rearrangement to our support barriers keep it good for a while.

I lit another bonfire to burn more bush debris, it was amazing how much stuff there was to get rid of.

I should have mentioned to the local evangelicals about me and a burning bush.

5th August Wednesday

We had a delivery of some trim strips to repair a window at the front. Kelli had contacted the manufacturer and identified the parts we needed. So at phenomenal cost the parts were ordered.

The difficult part was removing the old bits that were brittle with age. They were pressed into the gap between the two window frames to seal them. The extrusion was deep with a fir-tree feature at both ends. I managed to ease one out with a pair of paint scrapers, but the other one was really hard. In the end I had to feed a thin saw blade between to cut the fir-tree, that did the trick.

The extruded parts were the same colour and length so I was able to tap those into place quite easily.

Whilst I was doing all that Kelli was pumping up the pool, this has become a daily event and detracts from the enjoyment of using it.

4th August 2020

We heard from the customer that they had been in a car accident the evening before, so that is why the furniture piece was not collected, the lengths some people go to.

She loved the piece, but thought that I was going to make a complete back panel for it.

My understanding was not the same, but I agreed to add a panel in the centre location. I am doomed, that thing will be stuck round my neck till the end of time.

We positioned the second trough, and planted more grasses. The frontage is really looking good, and it won’t need clipping.

I lit a bonfire to burn all the infected bushes, that created a huge plume of smoke to annoy the neighbours, I expected a visit from the fire service.

There are the wonderful sounds at night time here, the crickets are very noisy. I have yet to hear the tree frogs.

3rd August 2020

We had to drive to Hamilton to collect a dresser Kelli found on Marketplace.

I’m getting used to the various routes we take, always ready to grab the wheel when she spies a Trump placard in someone’s garden and wants to drive over it.

The dresser wasn’t anything special, plain white that I’m sure we can turn into something different and sell quickly.

I suggested whilst we we out to find a garden centre that might have grasses for our new metal troughs.

A quick tap on the GPS and discovered one just six minutes away.

Well the Ponderosa garden centre was not the centre of anyone’s universe. It took us a while to find the entrance. When we eventually did a young Mexican lad almost died of shock that any customers had found the place.

He led us into one large greenhouse with a massive fan trying unsuccessfully to suck the hot air out. Inside there was a sad selection of plants that obviously no one wanted. He led us through a dark area to another hot house that had even less selection. In a last attempt to tempt us into buying something he led us past a small dispatch area where two more Mexican were picking dead leaves off some small bushes due to be shipped out.

The whole place had a creepy air about it, mainly due to the lack of any other customers.

The dark areas reminded us of a horror film where unsuspecting visitors were never seen again.

If I heard the sound of a chainsaw start up, we’d be out of there at light speed.

We decided that the garden centre in Holland was a much better bet for the things we wanted.

Sure enough the selection was great and in a short time we had amassed a varied stack of grasses. But isn’t dirt so expensive? Well gardening is bloody expensive, I hope the stuff doesn’t die.

When we got back Kelli couldn’t wait to fill the first trough. I got some spare dirt from the back garden to supplement what we had bought, and just as well because the six bags was just enough.

We carried on and removed another two diseased bushes ready for the next trough to be set in position.

We were waiting for a customer to collect the project piece we had finished to their choice.

The time went by, they were having dinner in Douglas stopping at our place on their way back. By nine thirty we gave up hope of that happening, so I guess it will be on Marketplace tomorrow.

2nd August 2020

The madness of America sometimes gets to me. The dumb ass attitude of many makes me wonder about the future.

If I wasn’t going through the residency process, or locked down by a pandemic, I wouldn’t be trapped here, not that things are wrong, quite the opposite, it’s the freedom of choice that has been taken away from me.

For several months we have nurtured our garden, both of us were novices when it came to selecting plants to fill our beds. We purchased bags of wild flower seeds, one from an on-line source the other from Aldi.

We waited patiently for the seeds to grow, diligently watering them every evening and watching eagerly as little green shoots appeared above the soil.

As they matured, some burst into bloom whilst others continued to grow tall with no indication of what they would transform into.

Still in our innocence, we wanted to know what these tall plants were? there was no signs of any buds just more height.

I downloaded an app for my phone hoping that would help us identify our collection.

Imagine our shock when we discovered that a lot of the plants that we had been feeding and encouraging were Ragweeds. Not only were these weeds poisonous, they could give allergic reaction to sensitive people.

It was a sense of utter failure that we both had to pull them up and discard them.

These must have been amongst the flower seeds that came from the on-line source.

Okay you live and learn, in future we will only buy seeds from a local source, and educate ourselves so that the bloomers we make are the right ones.

1st August 2020

I am alway apprehensive when Kelli has an announcement, mainly because it usually means a lot of work in a unrealistic timescale.

Now I’m very ambitious with my work planning, but it stretches me a little, but with Kelli “ideas” means creating heaven and earth in less than six days.

Today Kelli decreed it was removal of the front bushes day, and position the three galvanised troughs in their place, or so we thought.

It was a much harder task than we both thought it would be.

We remove one of the infected bushes, it was hard and quite messy. It required cutting the branches in order to get to the main stem, then brute strength to remove the root.

Once it came away, the job of raking up the pebbles began. It took a long time to move them, the rake didn’t work very well, I found it was easier to do it with my hands. I had to create a hole six foot by two foot to take the trough, and stop the pebbles from falling back in.

The first trough we picked had a slight twist, that I couldn’t correct. I tried to bend it in the opposite way hoping it would improve, but after several attempts it didn’t move a jot.

I levelled it the best I could, hoping the weight of soil would help (nope it didn’t) I then back filled with the pebbles. This was the first of three, I can’t wait to start on the others.

31st July 2020

A quick trip to Menards to collect some timber to finish trimming the shed. Of course we can’t leave without some plants and a couple of bags of dirt.

There are hundreds of pencils in the garage somewhere, not sure where they are, but they are well hidden. I can’t understand why, because I usually tuck one behind my ear like most old style chippy’s do. There are times when they are behind both ears, and I still cannot find one when I need it.

Whilst I was making the end trims for the shed if felt behind my left ear for a pencil, there was nothing there. I therefore had to find one in the garage, which on this rare occasion I did. When I finished with it I tucked it behind my left ear only to find there was one already there, I swear it wasn’t there a minute ago.

I have to ask the question, are my ears in some alternative universe, fully laden with all my bloody pencils?

That will explain why I find them when I’m washing my hair in the shower, or when I’m getting ready for bed.

One day I will find all the pencils, tea spoons and the odd socks I have misplaced throughout my life, until then, what’s that behind my right ear?

30th July 2020

I had just finished adding the feather board to to last side of the shed when Kelli decided to paint the front. We had bought some cheap paint from Lowes a while ago, and used it to paint a bench by the front door. It was a striking blue, almost Moroccan, so it stood out against the grey siding of the house. There was plenty of the stuff left so out came the brushes and on went the colour.

I prized off the wood that was rotten intending to replace it, but everything else was covered.

We had just finished for the day, and I had just started to water the flowers when our friendly lady duck landed on the grass to have her evening meal of the seeds that had fallen from the bird feeder.

I sat down to watch her nibbling away, not wanting to disturb my feathered friend.

She carried on with her pecking not caring that I was waiting to finish the watering.

In the end I grabbed the hose and pulled it through to another part of the garden and used the different sprays to reach the all the other plants, as Donna Duck, as we’ve named her, carried on.

There is often a steady stream of ducks waddling up past our house with their chicks trailing behind. We are alway concerned how they manage to cross the main road, there have been a few occasions when we have had to stop the traffic.

We are also fortunate to see a family of wild turkeys strutting their stuff on Dirty Larry’s land, they should be safe up to thanksgiving.