Author: peterb51

12th June 2019

Got back to work day. We managed to finish the dresser from yesterday, and I sanded the top from another coffee table.

I thought it would be a good idea to scarify the back lawn. The grass is not in good shape, so my idea was to get rid of the thatch that must have built up over the years. Of course I totally underestimated the time it would take to do.

I scraped away for ages, got up loads of dead stuff, but just doing it made my body ache all over. I hurt my neck some weeks ago doing something, during the move, but the action of scratching the ground seemed to aggravate it.

I only managed to do half the lawn and fill up a bag and a half of stuff, and collapsed on the sofa.

I must look on YouTube to see if there is a yoga session dealing with lawn care.

11th June 2019

“We need to get the puncture repaired” I announced, “and whilst we’re out we need a tail light, and a wheel brace”. The list of car things were growing. The police around here just need any excuse to pull you over, especially if their quota for the month is light. The wheel brace we need in case of another puncture.

On the way to the tyre place we stopped in at Goodwill. It had been many weeks since we had been in either of the two in Holland, we expected them all to be wearing black armbands in memory of Kelli. As it happens they weren’t, but what they did have was a pine dresser with a “broken slide” for five dollars. So we snapped it up. To our delight it was seniors day with a 20% discount on purchases, so we got it for four. There is alway some advantages to being an old git.

We got to the tyre place only to be told that it was unrepairable. As we only bought them in September it was a bit of a blow, however at the time we took out a warranty. This meant that the new tyre was free, and all we had to do was renew the warranty. I’m sure it was a bit of a scam, but for seventeen bucks I’ll take it.

On the way back we stopped to get the car parts.

“I’m looking for a wheel brace” I asked the guy behind the counter who looked blankly at me.

There was a awkward silence, “to tighten wheel nuts” I added.

“Oh, you mean a four-way?”

“ Does it tighten wheel nuts?”

“Yup!”

So he walked over and found it for me.

Another lesson in Americanise.

10th June 2019

Back to the book store for a few hours, then back to carry on scraping the finish from the top of a gate leg coffee table. This is a hard job without damaging the veneer. In just over an hour I managed to strip one leaf, only one left to do.

Kelli Painted the side tables, so soon they will be on Marketplace.

There had been some correspondence from another vendor from Painted Farmgirl discussing the possibility of taking the owner to court for fraud. The consensus is we are unlikely to get the money we are owed, so this is the only option open.

Kelli knows from experience of closing her clothing consignment store that settling up with the consignees is a difficult, and out of pocket expensive. With Painted Farmgirl we have some sympathy, but also bitterness because the amount of money is significant. We lost the opportunity to restock without funding it out of our own pockets.

9th June 2019

The rain came down, I had jobs to work on in the garage.

I also had to change the rear wheel of the truck because it had a puncture. There was a shard of metal in the tyre. It is never fun changing a wheel in the rain, but it is not my first experience of doing that. First I had to empty the back of the truck because as usual there is boxes of stuff for donation stacked in the back. Then lift the carpet, remove a plastic panel to find the jack. There was a space for the wheel brace, but guess what? no brace.

I searched around in the tool boxes for a spanner or socket, but no luck there. My only choice was to borrow one from Larry. I walked across the road hoping he would be in his workshop, but unfortunately he wasn’t, that meant I had to go to his front door. This is a bit scary as he has a lot of rotten wood on his porch. I climbed the steps carefully, edging my way towards the door, dodging the dodgy boards, and knocking on the door. The door opened and Larry appeared. He reminds me of “Doc” from Back to the Future, although his hair has been cut for the summer, it is usually wild and unruly. I explained what I needed, and he asked me to meet him at his back door, then he disappeared into the darkness of his home.

The back door opened, he emerged and unlocked his workshop. He earns money fixing up cars so he has a good selection of tools and a collection of wheel braces. I took one that looked the right size and walked back to finish my task. The wheel nuts were on really tight, a real white knuckle job to get them off. At one point the joints in my hands locked solid on the brace, a very painful and unsettling conditions. I had visions of never being able to release my hand, and forever cursed to go the rest of my life attached to a wheel brace.

I managed to loosen all the nuts, and changed the wheel, then returned the brace back to the workshop.

The spare was brand new, probably never been used, it was as heavy as bugger.

8th June 2019

We were only in Saugatuck for a half day in the bookshop. We had a selection of enthusiastic customers, and I managed to finish Trevor Noah’s book “Born a crime” before starting James Comey’s “A higher loyalty”

Noah’s book tells the story of him growing up as a child of a white European father and a black mother in South Africa during the apartheid period. It’s describes the inhumanity of divided development, and the horrors created when it fell apart.

This is the only time I get to read, and I get totally enthralled, and often miss people standing at the counter waiting to be served.

The Comey book was targeted by the media as an anti Trump tirade, but there’s also a story of the devious workings of the US government.

He writes of the struggle to maintain impartiality and working to uphold the rule of law.

After the cultural embodiment, I faced a thrilling walk around Target, a store that’s only saving grace is it’s cool carrier bag. This, for me was just tolerable, indulging Kelli in her retail therapy session.

We went out on our bikes for the first time this year, and it was quite different. Last year it was all about looking at houses and wishing we could find one we could afford, what a difference a year makes.indulging Kelli in her therapy session, we drove home.

We went out on our bikes for the first time this year, and it was quite different. Last year it was all about looking at houses and wishing we could find one we could afford, what a difference a year makes.

7th June 2019

It was a stonkingly hot day at Saugatuck. Kelli had to work at the book store, and summer must have started. For the first time I could expose my legs to the sun and dazzle the locals. Although the holiday season hasn’t yet kicked off there were plenty of potential shoppers to keep us busy, I say us, but Kelli does all the work, I act as unpaid protecter to ward off weird people and make sure they don’t bother my wife. I’ve not been tested yet and I’m not sure my flexing muscles scare anyone, but at least I will be able to scream in their ears very loud.

I had my first coffee at Uncommon Grounds, the usual collection of kids on laptops occupied the key tables, but I just tapped furiously on my phone to capture the moment, so basically I’m no better than they are.

We took the dogs down to the beach at point west, the first time I had been there on this trip, and it was glorious, the water was cool and clear, the sand still hot from the sun. I was glad that we were still able to enjoy this place, and now all the moving shit is finished we can do this much more.

6th June 2019

We both needed to get our respective asses into gear and work on some furniture.

With the work on the houses, and the closure of Painted Farmgirl there was little money coming in except for what Kelli could get on Marketplace.

I had a couple of side tables that I completed, ready for finishing, and Kelli painted a dresser.

So we were back.

I repaired a skill-saw where the motor and blade spun independently of each other.

We drove to Grand Rapids to pick up a pair of speakers that I have seen on Marketplace. I wanted to build up the music system now that we had a better place to appreciate it. These were B&W DM220’s, British made and similar to a set I have back in the UK.

I met Mark at his place of work, which was asphalt processing plant. We had to drive past two mountains of old chunks of motorway that would be turned back into new resurfacing material.

He was a big black guy, dressed in black standing in front of a black pile of rubble, it was a wonder I saw him at all.

We did the deal, then set off back home. I resisted saying “ Ta Mac” as for one, he wouldn’t understand what I said, and also what I meant.

Our English friends Lesley and Mike came down to sit around our fire and drink wine. My problem was we had burnt all my wood scraps the day before, so they brought their own. We have now started the “Bring a bottle and firewood” party.

5th June 2019

Today the big fan above the living space was coming down. Kelli hated it from the beginning, and found a better one on Marketplace.

Because the ceiling was so high I required help to tackle the change over.

Enter John and Patti our furniture making friends. He seemed to know his way around a fan, so he was in charge. A few precarious minutes later, and it was finished. Now with the fan looking less like the propeller from a Lancaster bomber Kelli is happy. Of course the bloody thing is now spinning all the time, but I will get used to it.

Greer finally emerged from her sickness cocoon, like Dracula, pale and thin scavenging for food.

4th June 2019

It was great to wake up without thinking about cleaning or moving stuff, it was great back to some normality.

We wanted to get back to doing yoga, because we had misused our bodies over the past five weeks. I had shoulder, arm and neck aches that made be feel like an old git.

So that was the first thing on our list, and although it was only a fifteen minute session, it felt good.

I then grouted the remaining tiles in the entry way whilst Kelli made a bit of headway organising things in the garage.

“You need a haircut” the voice of my wife proclaimed. I didn’t deny it, I didn’t look like a hippy, but it needed a bit of work.

Then on to Grandville for Kelli to indulge in some retail therapy, and for me a visit to Starbucks for a coffee and to grab some wooden stirring sticks.

I still have a few jobs in the house to do, but they have to be worked in between getting new stuff ready for the new space.

There is still no news when we will be getting our money from The Painted Farmgirl. This was a serious blow to our income, but there is hope that the owner will eventually pay everyone back.

The only positive thing that has happened is we don’t have to struggle to make rent now.

The negative part is it hit our cash flow required to buy things to work on. Fortunately Kelli has be selling what she could on Marketplace to make up for it.

3rd June 2019

Move out, clean up day 10

Kelli had to start her part time job at the book store in Saugatuck. This had been delayed a month so that we could decorate the new house. This was a welcomed change to our routine, and a chance to read some books and visit my favourite coffee shop.

As soon as we got back, with this being the last day of our tenancy of the old place there was the last minute check that everything was gone, and the place was clean.

Walking through with the landlord, we realised how small the old house looked, it had room for everything we needed, but it was as if the space was sucked out with the furniture.

I cannot wait to get started on new furniture projects, but first I have to sort out the garage. There are things that have to be got rid of, but that’s Kelli’s expertises. I have to find homes for all the tools and the boxes of screws.