Author: peterb51

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 45

29th April 2020

My residency paperwork was returned again.

Thanks to Donald Trump the process has been tightened, and I’m in the middle of it.

This time there was another form to complete to ensure that I would not become a burden on the state. So this form contained the same information that is on the other forms, it is driving me crazy at times. So I spent the morning filling it out and copying my documents, then sending the whole pack back again.

This messed up the whole day, and I wasn’t really in a good mood to do anything.

In the end I pushed myself to start on the Mid century furniture that we had been sitting on for a while.

The dresser had a horrible green stain in the middle, out came the sandpaper and on with the stripping.

After about half an hour it was done, the green Mark was still there, the next step was hitting it with oxalic acid and leaving it overnight to fester.

It is funny what we find in these pieces of furniture when we pull the drawers out. There is never money hidden away, which we hope for every time, but there have been greeting cards and notes.

In the dresser I’m working on we found a plastic sachet called “Passion Fruit” I thought it was a child’s sweet until Kelli shrieked, and I saw that it was a lubricating gel. That went straight in the bin, and I rushed to wash my hands.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 44

28th April 2020

We loaded up the truck with the dining table to head off to Hamilton, but first I had to wax the top to get the smoothness I wanted.

This I do with fine wire wool and beeswax, this is the best time, it like meditation for me.

Kelli just sees me laying on the top rubbing the surface hard, like someone attempting the breast stroke.

Once the mirror like finish was achieved, we st off on our journey.

The couple were over the moon with the finish product which made me very happy.

I know that professionals would probably charge three times what I did, but I’m happy to improve my skills, and make people happy at the same time.

I am expecting more work to come my way through word of mouth, so I wait with my breath bated.

On the way back we stopped off to pick up timber for the arbor that is due at the end of the week. We went into Menards with our masks on and ordered the material. We then have to drive round to the yard to collect it.

It is well laid out, but a little confusing, it took about half an hour to find everything, and then to strap it to the top of the truck for the drive home.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 43

27th April 2020

We both realised that yesterday was the first anniversary of signing of the house, and what a year that has been.

There is still a lot of things to do, but all that can be done at our leisure. I need to get back into lawn maintenance mode and do some serious scarifying.

I put the last coat of finish on the dining table, and did more work on the drawerless dresser, once I blew the dust off.

Kelli worked on the bookcase with the Barnwood top, although not a masterpiece, it should be to someone’s taste.

That went on Marketplace in the evening, and had a little interest.

We settled down in the evening with our glasses of wine playing our drinking game.

I am getting used to the format, it is so predictable and the same formula is repeated every time, which makes the game so funny.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 42

26th April 2020

The sun was shining, and it was quite warm, so like most people, we were drawn to do some garden work.

We wanted to extend the flower bed which will be behind where the new patio will be, so a bit of vigorous digging would be required.

But first we needed a new lawn mower. Kelli did not like the petrol one as it made all clothing smell of exhaust smoke. So she got rid of that one and bought a push mower from Marketplace. Unfortunately that one had the roller missing, so the cut could not be adjusted. I had decided to get a cordless machine, as I thought trying to push a grass cutter would finally finish me off.

After a lengthy discussion I agreed to buy a new push mower, the point was to see if a new model would be easier to push.

So we drove to Menards where they had a decent model on clearance. I had checked on line and found they had two in stock.

We applied our masks and headed into the store.

It is strange that you do not notice the people wearing masks, you see the ones that don’t, and they stand out.

After getting this young lad to find the tall ladder( the box with the mower was on a high rack) we successfully negotiated the checkout and home we drove.

We started on the digging, soon there was turf and dirt everywhere, soon the patch was all dug and ready for some top soil and fertilizer.

Then it was time to assemble the mower. This turned out to be a simple job, and even I was able to do it without instructions.

I carried it out into the back garden ready for Kelli to take over.

The back garden does not have the best grass, but there is an area where it is thick and lush, and that was what Kelli wanted to tackle first.

She lined up to start the first cut, setting the depth to midway. She set off well until she hit the first clump, this stopped her in her tracks, like she hit a brick wall.

I re-adjusted the cut depth to maximum, she still struggled to make much progress. I took over, remembering how my mother used to do it. The trick, I thought was to take a run at it. I set off well, I was determined to make it to the end of the garden. Sweat was pouring off of my brow as I cut a swath through the thick grass. Triumphantly I turned to make a return run. I got to the end where Kelli was standing barely able to speak.

“Was this your idea” I gasped.

Still I had broken the back so to speak, so Kelli took over to finish of the rest of the grass cutting.

I’m sure this will keep us fit, or at least let us qualify for the shot put in the next Olympics.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 41

25th April 2020

We had to deliver the latest entertainment unit to a place in Holland. It was a heavy bugger, and you really realise it when we tried to load it into the truck. When we got there we were confronted with six steps to get it into their porch. This was definitely a bad start to the day, and a lot of strain on my poor knees.

Poor Kelli took a lot of the weight, but we managed it, and fortunately the customer was delighted, now it is their problem to move it into the final position.

We stopped off to meet the person who wanted the Arbour built to support grape vines. I took a look at where vines were, and agreed a few final details, then it’s down to me to make the thing.

We picked up a coffee table from Kelli’s previous sister in law, and yet again it was bloody heavy. We struggled to get it in the truck and I managed to get a splinter, I hate splinters. Even though they are small, they feel like a piece of four by two and hurt like a bitch.

However nurse Kelli managed to remove it without drawing blood and making me faint.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 40

24th April 2020

The day began with the arrival of our food boxes from Imperfect Foods. This meant that some for our breakfast ingredients were in those boxes.

We watched as the FedEx truck pulled into the drive, we saw the driver carry the boxes to the front door, and we waited till he got back into his vehicle and drove off down the road before we retrieved our spoils.

With the meatless sausages sizzling in the pan my taste buds were in ecstasy.

We planned to complete the entertainment unit and get it on Marketplace, and I wanted to start the finishing of the dining table.

We were thinking of ideas for the bookcase we picked up yesterday. I had some old Barnwood in the shed that would make great new top for it.

Kelli had arranged for an Electician to visit because there was an issue with a circuit breaker tripping.

I knew it was because there were a number of high current drawing devices on the same circuit in the garage. I had a heater and work lights on during the winter, and as soon as I used the heat gun, biff! It tripped.

After a quick inspection, it was agreed that I needed to increase the gauge of wiring in the garage to deal with the power requirements.

The news was alive with Trump’s latest breakthrough plan for curing the Coronavirus by drinking disinfectant and purging the body with UV light, honestly, where does he get these ideas from, he is the American joke.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 39

23rd April 2020

We had a busy day ahead of us. We had a customer pick-up for two pieces and a delivery of another, plus collection of a bookcase that Kelli found last night.

We set aside Cameron’s dresser outside, and drove off to West Olive to deliver the cabinet.

There are many places that I now know from traveling to them often, but every now and then we take a road that is new. The address we were heading for was down a dirt road.

One minute the surface is normal for a road, the next you hit dirt, suddenly you are in a third world country, the only difference are the large factory farms lining the track.

Some of the houses look decent, but many are littered with dead vehicles and general rubbish. “No trespassing” signs are posted everywhere, but who in their right minds would want to go there, even the Coronavirus might have second thoughts about trying to infect anyone around there.

We dropped off the cabinet at a house that was in the early stages of becoming a rubbish dump, the lady didn’t show much excitement as we off-loaded the piece, but because she had paid for it, and she didn’t turn up her nose at it, must mean something.

Next stop was a drive to Dorr Township, it should be renamed Dull then it would match its appearance. Again we drove down a dirt road to collect a bookcase. We saw it outside the house as we approached, not the best example of any craftsmanship, I could tell by the quality of the nails holding it together.

Now we had to be creative to turn this turd into a desirable turd.

We got back home after stopping off to pick up some stain for the dining table, and an Impossible burger from Burger King, we were hungry, and it was better than eating the stuff under the car seats, just.

The lady arrived to collect the renovated entertainment centre. She was over the moon, excited by how it looked. We had advised her that she might need help to load it into her vehicle. So she brought her son along. I knew there would be a problem because he was so young and thin, when he turned, he disappeared, it was a case of “ now you see me, now you don’t”.

Obviously I lent my muscles to the loading, and suggested that we use her son as packing material to cushion it, and stop it falling over, not that he would add much padding, but I thought it was funny.

The garage is looking a bit empty, apart from another smaller entertainment centre that Kelli is just finishing, and the dining table that I am working on. I dragged out some project pieces that I might get a chance to finish, I blew the sawdust off, excited at the prospect of doing something interesting.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 38

22nd April 2020

There were a number of jobs coming together which is satisfying, one was the completion on the unit we got free a couple of days ago.

We dragged it into the living space to take pictures. Kelli posted it straight away, and straight away there were people on it like piranhas around meat, we could have sold it a few times over.

One of the people asked if we had another dresser available.

We did, it was earmarked for Cameron, but as there was little chance that he wanted it right now, we sold it.

It was another of these freebies that just needed a simple repair.

So in about an hour she sold two furniture pieces, now we need some more stuff.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 37

21st April 2020

There was frantic activity in the Bristol Cottage workshop today, in other words I was working my ass off, and Kelli did some painting.

We had a bookshelf collected after a short time on Marketplace, it was one we had for a while, but we wanted a final spurt to April, so that had a quick paint, and out.

The was a lot of work I had to do to the side panels of the entertainment unit. This was mainly my fault by being a bit heavy handed removing two thick shelf supports. I should have cut them off first, but I heated them up to soften the glue, and hit them with a hammer.

They came off, and brought some of the side panel with it.

I was able to make good with a ton of Bondo, but it should be ready to paint tomorrow.

Other jobs included, repairing the leg on the free unit we picked up yesterday, stripping the top on the second table, and staining the entertainment unit top.

Kelli was busy with the paint brush, painting everything in sight, whilst I was flitting from sanding the dining table to gluing legs to filling holes, I felt it was a productive day.

The wine we chose for tonight’s game smelt and tasted like the liquid that flows from the elephant house at the zoo. It was an awful drink, only made bearable by adding sliced oranges and lemon juice.

We phoned though a take out order from New Holland, and enjoyed the fact that there was no cooking or washing up, great for a Tuesday.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 36

20th April 2020

We finished the entertainment unit that we picked up free a couple of weeks ago.

It was a quick paint job, and refinished top.

It is a heavy beast, and rather than struggling to bring it in the house to take pictures, we struggled to set it outside.

Kelli posted it straight away, and as we were out hunting for another free piece, the entertainment centre was sold on route. There were two or three on it as soon as it went live.

A few days ago we had an inquiry to build an arbor. We were sent the sizes and I set out a design on paper. I no longer have CAD so had to use the wooden sticks old fashion method.

I had to be aware that there are many kits available, so the price had to be competitive with those. To help explain the design I built a scale model, in between doing all the other jobs.

We picked up a cabinet that was at the side of the road, not very good quality, but this could be a quick turnaround.

It had a broken back leg, so I guess that will be my job to fix.