Author: peterb51

23rd April 2019

Awake at 4.00am and on the road by 5.00am, I felt guilty because I was forcing my son to travel so early. I usually try for a mid-day flight, so I don’t remember why I chose the early one.

As we started the drive, I took one last look at the Jag glowing in the early light. It was an sad sight, and a little emotional. It meant such a lot to own such an amazing machine for six great years. I would always be grateful to Damian for such a generous gift, but he supported my decision, and it will go to a new owner who will get the same “wind in your hair” experience.

I have the memories, and that will make me smile.

One life experience changes into another, and with the completion of our new home on Friday there is a lot to look forward to.

Terminal 3 didn’t seem so busy as I expected, Damian believed that freaks and weirdos travel from there, and proper travellers fly from terminal 5.

I joined the freaks and weirdos

I was due out at 9.15, so I settled back in my seat, hoping the flight was not full. I flicked through the film selection trying to find the three to watch, and boy were there some dull sounding titles, but with the plane half empty, it will be a good flight.

The plane arrived fifteen minutes early, and the entire passport/ immigration process was less than ten minutes.

The train connecting the terminals was not in service, so we had to take a shuttle bus.

Passing through the security seemed a bit lax, there were no bins, didn’t have to take my laptop out, and my shoes stayed on my feet, maybe I joined the “old gits” gate.

There was a slight delay to the Grand Rapids flight, but Kelli was there to greet me with her great smile.

When we got back home, we popped next door to check out our new home. Although we didn’t have a key, we walked around the back yard, it was a decent size, not sit-on lawnmower large but manageable, I was excited.

22nd April 2019

An early start with the mop and bucket after a good nights sleep on my new bed. There were no creaks or groans so my handiwork was okay.

I moved a few bits of furniture around, washed the floor, scrubbed everything that needed scrubbing, and even took time to water the plants.

By mid afternoon I was bored of cleaning, I had stripped the fridge of anything edible, I barely enough for breakfast apart for a bag of potatoes. I didn’t want to leave them, as I had done a similar thing when I went to India, leaving them out ready to throw away and forgetting. They were not recognised as potatoes when I returned three months later.

I placed them in my bag, and headed down to Damian’s home at Blissford, I would dispose of them there.

21st April 2019

One last window frame to make for the garden pavilion. Both Ryan and Louise were busy cutting up pallet wood to finish the outside. I had limited time, as I needed to clean up my place ready for my departure.

I wanted to get the bed ready with all the things I got from IKEA, so I fitted the top and bottom mattress retaining pieces then set about putting the covers on.

I moved all the tools and remaining pots of paint into the shed, which was a liberating feeling, and really the first time in over a year.

20th April 2019

I met up with my friend Rob to go and buy some plants. I wanted a couple of apple trees to grow against a wooden fence, and a couple of Japanese maples to hide the shed.

I left it in Rob’s capable hands to choose the others. We wanted just a few to get established, I would get more the next time I am back.

Earlier I went to get another oak sleeper, only to be told they had sold out, that put the mockers on my plan, let’s hope there will be some in July.

19th April 2019

Today I had a rest from the house, instead I drove down to Ryan and Louise’s to make a window frame for the pavilion. This project has been going quite a while, but they have been busy cladding out the inside with a mixture of tongue and groove and pallet wood. The glass came from an old door that Louise had found.

I had to keep alert because Bobby( one of their three dogs) kept running off with bits of wood I had just cut.

Later I drove down to Bournemouth to see Ethan and baby George. An energetic play session in the garden with the active three and a half year old would have killed a lesser man, but I put it down to carrying all those heavy bags up the slope that allowed me to survive.

18th April 2019

The Shogun was down on it’s springs as I drove back from Westbury with ten bags of path gravel. In total I used about forty bags of ballast and thirty bags of topping. The path gravel has clay in it so it beds down hard, and is not loose when walked on.

I managed to finish all the path, so both me and the Shogun gave a big sigh of relief.

Nicola and Colin came up and dug over the beds, now all I need are the plants.

17th April 2019

It is inspection time at the house. Kelli was on-hand to observe the proceedings. It was a three hour ordeal where the inspector checked everything, and issued a fully illustrated report.

There were a number of “maintenance” items identified, but the more alarming issue he raised concerned the heating and cooling system. This property has grills in the floor where the hot or cold air is forced through.

The inspector noted that the floor grills were not connected to the furnace by any form of ducting. There was a deep intake of breath, first by Kelli, and then by me. “Shouldn’t be expensive” he said, but Kelli’s finger was already on the phone. After a bit of in-depth research she found that the style of house we were buying was designed that way. A Berm house has an earth bank up against the walls giving the appearance of being slightly submerged. The hot air circulates in the crawl space under the floor and rises through the floor grills. Neither the Realtor or the inspector knew this, so Kelli took great pleasure in sending them a picture of the principle.

16th April 2019

The car park at Ikea was remarkably empty, my list was long, and my expectation high.

I bought my friend Rob, as he had a list also.

As we started round the maze, we decided that breakfast should be the first on the list.

I wanted to buy a two seater settee, but I fell at the first fence. The upholstery fabric I had chosen was new, and therefore not in stock. I was given no indication when it would be available, which was a little annoying.

However the rest of the things I needed were available and loaded onto the trolley. On the way out we stopped to sample a vegetarian hot dog, not the worst thing I had tasted, but not the best either.

Getting back to the house I had to get all my purchases up the slope, including the heavily compressed mattress. Once released from its restraints it exploded, and started its seventy-two hour normalisation period, by which it gets to its working thickness. This so-called memory foam should in fact always return to its rolled up form if it was good at remembering.

15th April 2019

The gravel for the path turned up at 10.30pm. Twenty bags of Romsey Red was off-loaded on to the pavement. The tasks of getting it up the slope was another exhausting slog, but luckily Nicola was on hand to help. She had spent most of the morning building the beds and raking over the soil whilst I finished attaching the sleepers to the stone steps.

The timber was difficult to drill, draining the battery two or three times before everything was fixed down.

I managed to lay half the bags of gravel on the path. It so disconcerting to drag a heavy bag to a place on the path, cut open the bag, and tip the contents into a very small pile resembling a cow pat.

14th April 2019

I had a day off from hard graft, and drove down to Barrington to see Nicola and Colin.

I loaded the truck with more books to donate.

I did notice that their bookcase had some of my old donations on the shelves.