Author: peterb51

23rd July 2019

Touchdown felt like the plane had square wheels, if not it certainly had them after.

The time was 2.45pm whereas it should have been 1.15pm. The delay leaving Chicago was due to an “engineering issue” the pilot announced. His voice sounding that he had lost the will to live, and not the tone you want to hear as you are preparing to fly across the Atlantic.

Fortunately they had only let on the Priority boarders, before they halted everyone else, so there were only a few seats occupied.

I settled down and started the first film. Intermittently the pilot would update us on progress in a drawl that sounded like he was deflating. The “issue” was something to do with damage to one undercarriage door, possibly a stone. I could only imagine the engineering crew trying to beat out the dent.

So the film ended, and I was still on the ground, but the good news was the other passengers were embarking.

As it happens the aircraft was not full leaving me with a completely empty row to stretch out on.

I was totally unprepared for the weather when I landed, standing out in the blazing sun in a long sleeve shirt.

Damian turned up ten minutes later in his black Porsche GT3, we loaded up, and roared off to join the traffic queued on the M25.

I picked up the Shogun and headed back to Bradford on Avon.

When I arrived, I was greeted with an abundance of flowers, the garden look great, completely different when I left three months ago. I owed a lot to my sister and my friend Rob who had added extra plants and to them plus Louise for keeping them alive.

It was a wonderful sight.

I settled back and started planning what work I needed to do, it felt like I was in a hotel room, I was not yet connected to it, my mind was still in Holland wondering about things I should have told Kelli about how to fill the lawn mower with petrol using the new can.

I was looking forward to a long restful sleep.

However the thunderstorm put paid to that.

22nd July 2019

Today I head back to the UK for a short period. I still have a few small jobs to finish off before I offer it up to AirB&B.

The flight was a late evening one, so I was able to finish off some jobs in the garden.

I managed to cut the grass, remove an old fence and collect more dog poo.

I found my case, but could not think of what I needed to pack. I added some token clothes and my toiletries and that was it.

The drive to the airport was a bit hairy. There was a lot of roadworks on the motorway, so we thought we would chose an alternative route. After saying my goodbyes to the family, and picking up Cameron who would keep Kelli company on the drive back, we set off.

There was a bit of traffic about as a lot of people were leaving work, so progress was slow. The GPS then took us in the opposite direction, but we missed the turning to get us back on the right track. We were then driving back towards Holland with no exits for miles. I was a bit worried that time was slipping by, but I kept quiet. Then up ahead we saw a truck turn on to a track between the carriage-ways.

Kelli asked what she should do, I said follow it, finally we were heading back in the right direction.

Now it was a race to the airport, the poor truck had never been driven so fast, and we arrived with about six minutes to spare.

There was no time for our usual goodbyes, as I grabbed my bags and ran to the check in.

Kelli had done a brilliant job under the circumstances, but now I had to get through security. There were people waddling along without a care in the world, and there was me desperate to get to the plane.

Finally I got through, putting my shoes and belt back on I made a dash for the gate.

On the plane I took my seat only to find myself in the business class. I’m not sure how that happened, but the seat was wonderful, but that only lasted about twenty minutes as we landed in Chicago.

Then I started my five hour wait. I bought a coffee and found a place to sit. I was aware of a strange wailing sound that didn’t come from the vehicles roaming up and down the terminal. I managed to locate the source of the sound. There was a guy with headphones trying to sing along with whatever he was listening to. I tried to identify it, but couldn’t. I didn’t want to disturb him as he was also playing an air guitar and looked a bit strange. I chose to be in ignorance of his music and just enjoy my drink.

21st July 2019

I was determined to bury the dog poo composter, and as the temperatures was a little lower I grabbed the spade and went for it. I decided to work fast as I thought the sweat would not have time to seep through my tee shirt. This however was rubbish as is most my theories.

Within minutes two wet patches appeared in a cool Bruce Willis way.

I dug down, removing the roots as I went. The soil was so sandy, it didn’t take too long to reach the necessary depth, I lowered the composter into the hole, making sure it was level. I gave the honour of tossing the first shovelfuls of soil to Kelli, for which I’m sure she will remember for ever.

I finished the filling in, then came the important part, adding the first poos. I had collected them over the past two days so they were good and ripe. We had to add the water with the enzymes to start the composting process, followed by a lot more water. With the soil being so sandy the water drained quickly. I kept adding more water, and more, but it kept disappearing, that is when I stopped, otherwise the lake would have overflowed.

A least we have a place to put the poo that is underground and not in the wheelie bin.

Later we went up to the in-laws for dinner. Greer brought her boyfriend Dylan, for the first time, he had the pleasure of the family inquisition. I had gone through the same experience many years ago myself, I just told them I knew the Queen, that seemed to make them happy.

20th July 2019

I decided that I would dig a large hole to bury the dog poop composter. “You are mad, it’s too hot for that” said Kelli.

“It will be okay there is shade over there”

Those were my last words.

I started digging and got about six inches down when the roots started to hinder my progress. So I decided to try digging in a different place. The soil was very sandy, and I got down about a foot. The shear action of cutting through the roots with the spade was exhausting. The sweat ran down my nose, dropping like lemmings off a cliff. It was 84 Fahrenheit, and Kelly was right, it was too hot to continue.

The dogs were freaking out as I was digging the hole, thinking it was for them, because of what happened to poor Tetley.

We sat and watched a storm roll in, the speed and formation of the clouds was like a dynamic oil painting with each swirl a giant brush stroke. I was so enthralled that even the rain didn’t disturb me.

19th July 2019

Had my last coffee at Uncommon Grounds for this trip.

I was intrigued by, what seemed to be a home schooling one on one class on the table next to me. The subject was elementary English grammar, something the president of the USA needs to study.

Home schooling is quite popular over here. Greer did it for one year during a difficult time for her.

Kelli has a text from our English friends Lesley and Mike to say that they had to have their dog put down. It had been a hard year for them as Tetley has been ill for a while, and even when you are prepared for it, it still hurts.

Kelli bought a small bouquet of flowers and we dropped them in on our way through.

Lesley was distraught, Kelli held back tears as they hugged, having gone through the same experience many times herself.

We went to the new space to drop off a pair of side tables stopping off at Goodwill on the way back.

A lot of the furniture was priced high, which defeats the purpose. Kelli mentioned it to a cashier on the way out, and they had someone new pricing the stuff.

We always look for things priced between ten and twenty dollars, but a lot were over double, so they stayed where they are.

As I was walking around I spied a Mexican guy looking at dog cage, trying to check the size, I felt like saying to him “Yep! You could get a couple of kids in that”

18th July 2019

I did my good deed for the day by saving a family of ducks that had miraculously crossed the road, and who were trying to get back.

It was a tragedy waiting to happen, so with no thought of our own safety, Kelli sent ME to make sure they made it safely.

I waved the traffic down until the mother and chicks had crossed back. I felt quite emotional at the end.

I then got back to business by cutting, sanding, staining and oiling various pieces for our backlog.

Kelli proudly announced that she had found a dog poo composter on Marketplace. We had talked about getting something to deal with the doggie issue, but I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.

Our new habit of composting has meant that we were able to downsize our wheelie bin from two dead body size, down to a wrinkly old grandma size, which is quite considerable.

We had arranged to meet at a car park outside Family Fare, which is a favourite place for anyone with stuff to trade. Cars would park, others would pull up, doors would open, stuff and money would be exchanged, and then they leave. The police are not bothered that a pair of turquoise pants, which should be illegal, are flaunted in full view of the public, and no action taken, well it’s beyond me!

Our lady arrived, and showed us the doggie composter. I asked her how long it took to train her dog to use it. Skipping over that remark, she told us they had never assembled it, and kept it so long that their dog eventually died.

When I assembled it I was shocked to see how big it was. It was nearly the same size as our wheelie bin, so you could stuff an old granny in that as well.

17th July 2019

Another warm day, as I took up station in the garage finishing the repair to the claw foot on the dresser we haggled for at Goodwill last week. The top is sanded, and I did some repairs to the veneer, all ready to hand over to the finishing department.

Kelli went off to Aldi for some supplies, as I carried on with work to the small bookcase.

We then drove to pick up another dresser, you can never have too many of them. This one was in quite good condition, but stained deep red. On the way back I had to cut out some book letters, and cut a piece of cedar which will be an up-stand for the dresser.

I also raided Dave’s timber stock for lumber to make a top for the bookcase.

I haven’t seen much of the tenants, although they like to leave the garage light on all the time.

Captain Pugwash, our other neighbour has a new boat, that he washes everytime he takes it out on the lake. I don’t blame him as lake Macatawa is a bit of a sewer.

This hot weather is causing havoc with my attempts to improve the lawn. With the shortened hose I cannot get to all the areas.

We have a sprinkler that is really basic, not the fancy spin round, or flip over type, I have to manually reposition it, usually getting drenched at the same time.

16th July 2019

“You’re not wearing that are you? As I emerged from the bedroom dressed in red shorts, with a purple, grey and mustard striped tee-shirt.

“I’ll just be working in the garage” I said.

“Yes but someone might see you” replied Kelli founder member of the Holland fashion police.

Thus the start of the day turned into a dilemma, and as I had no idea that what I had chosen was a no-no, I went back into the bedroom to choose something that would meet with my wife’s approval.

Now I have noticed in America, women compliment other women about their appearance all the time.

“ Oh I love your blouse “

“I just love your hair”

Just about everything must be scrutinised and commented on.

Kelli has an amazing wardrobe, and is complimented all the time, and It is odd for me, that a complete stranger will say nice things about you are wearing.

Very few, (well none actually) have ever complimented me on anything I wear, it’s not a British thing, and if it were, it would probably start a fight.

In my now colour co-ordinated clothing, I finished off the few jobs on my list.

15th July 2019

Phew it’s hot today, 87 degrees, just the right temperature to be furiously sanding, well not really. With this heat I drip like an leaking tap. Kelli always reminds me to drink plenty of water, and brings me cups full of fractured icebergs. The cold liquid goes down so easily, then the brain freeze hits and I become immobile. Then I remember that the exact same thing happened the last time.

We drove straight from Saugatuck to the store to take new pieces. We secretly smiled at the furniture that has been there since it opened, as we smugly positioned our things in the best place.

When we got back home the new tenants were moving their furniture in. For us it seemed a long distant memory, giving us another reason to gloat. The guy looked a bit rough, not someone you would want to accidentally spill their beer, or even meet in a dark alley. He is probably a friendly person who only looks like he’s chewing bees, I can’t wait to meet him.

I might have to get a padded tee-shirt with built in muscles and stick-on tattoos.

Even as the sun went down it was hot, we spent a bit of time weeding in the flower beds. Pulling them out one at a time was a real effort, I soon gave that up as a bad idea, and ran back inside to appreciate the cool glacier air, and nodded off on the papasan.

14th July 2019

The cover I made for the extraction fan was complete and painted, so the next stage was the assembly. I had dry fitted it and glued the panels together in place and then removed it successfully, at that point I felt confident that it would fit once painted. The piece had to match the angle of the ceiling and I was trying to minimise any gaps, which is often my downfall. Tittering on the step ladder I lifted the cover into the start position, and then pushed it towards the wall. I got about two inches before the whole thing jammed. The sap started to rise as I tried to remove it, and couldn’t. It took about three attempt before I found it what the problem was. The plywood sides had flexed inward and jammed on the angled ceiling. By springing the side outwards the cover slide in perfectly.

The rest of the day was spent finishing off some new pieces ready for delivery tomorrow.

We went for dinner at Kelli’s parents, the first time for a really long while due to various illnesses, but it was a fun family event with Kelli’s brother Matt, talking about toilets and general subjects that only he could talk about.

We went round to see the old house that had been redecorated. It looked plain and clinical, but the safe colours are typical, and makes me appreciate the elements of craziness that Kelli has brought to our new home.