Author: peterb51

2nd November Friday

Woke up from a deep sleep, the sun shone through the window, a hard frost on the lawn, and silence, yep back in Sleepy Barrington.

I wanted a short rest before I make the final thrust and finish the cottage, and turn it into a home again.

I drove into ilminster to get some paint mixed and a few supplies. I enjoy the experience of watching the paint man work. He is an expert in his field, and could easily go on Mastermind with paint mixing as his specialised subject.

He bombards you with questions, “Matt, satin or eggshell, kitchen, or bathroom, one litre, or two and a half” once all that is answered the process begins. After being shaken not stirred, I leave with my cans, double sealed, ( ” Well better be safe than sorry”)

It was a little strange driving again after two months, but it was great to hear the Jag roar again.

My mind hadn’t caught up with the hundreds thought threads that is stored in my small grey sponge, when that gets untangled, I will have restless nights until everything is done.

1st November 2018

So I arrived at Heathrow just after 7.00am although the scheduled time was 8.40am. I know it is downhill, but it must have been really steep to gain an hour and forty minutes. Now the answer might have been the medical emergency in the first class section. A person possibly choked on a quail egg or something. So once we landed everyone had to wait in their seats until the paramedics arrived. Now you could say that as we were early, a short wait would not be a inconvenience, but I say crap! I have just been stuck in a metal tube for seven hours, with a bunch of strangers, and an incontinent Asian, I just want to get out and breath all those fresh aviation fumes, and walk along miles and miles of corridors. So I want to get off the plane please.

Now a further inconvenience was the person was laying on the floor IN MY AISLE, thus blocking it, the only way out was to cross over the middle section of seats, and hope that those on that aisle would let me in. That was a lot to hope for, especially Americans. So I did what all English people normally do not do, and barge in, although I did smile and say thank you.

Once through passport control and baggage collection I was free and ready to go home.

Unfortunately none of my two sons could collect me, so for the first time I went by coach. This was the first time I had used this mode of transport. Making my way to the bus station was a wonderful experience, and one I would love to try again (in a hundred years)

The ticket I had purchased gave me a four hour stop over. Why did I chose that time? Well normally the plane is always late, there are queues at passport control, and my suitcase is the last one off, so just to be on the safe side that was the ticket I selected.

I took my a seat in the waiting area and watched the world (and departure board) slowly change.

The only entertainment on offer was watching an old guy trying to fix the automatic sliding doors. The problem was they had jammed open, and this chap was trying to get them to close. He would make an adjustment and the door would start to close, then someone would walk up to it, and it would open. This happened about five times before he got staff members to hold people back, and even this didn’t work, some little old lady would find a gap and squeeze through. Eventually he found more staff and formed a human wall both sides. This time the door only got about three-quarters closed then stopped. So out came the hammer and screwdriver again to make more adjustments. By this time some of the staff got bored, or had other things to do, so the whole sequence would start again. I should have suggested they used the sick person from the plane to lay across the floor and stop people using the door, simple.

31st October 2018

The day of my trip back to the UK has arrived.

As usual Kelli is in mourning, dressed in black. She hates it when I leave, and I don’t like to see her so upset.

It is something that she has never got used too even thought the break is short.

A quick drive around the block to say goodbye then off to Grand Rapids, stopping off to pick up Cameron, who pulled the short straw to accompany Kelli back from the airport.

The flight was as smooth as a millpond. The aircraft flew over Grand Haven, and the lake shimmered in the afternoon sun.

I had over four hours to kill at O’hare which is a boring place to be, everywhere you looked there was food and drink. Once I decided to have a beer and it cost over ten dollars!! and it was in a bloody plastic cup. So I say f*** you Samuel Adams.

I walked around Barbara’s Bookstore looking for something interesting to read. There were plenty about Trump, but I don’t need to buy a book to tell me what a prat he is, his own mouth does that. There are the usual stock of get rich quick books often the advice is to write a book on getting rich quick.

I exit that place empty handed, the only thing vaguely amusing was a girl serving in Starbucks wearing white rabbit ears, I don’t know if she meant to do that, or she came straight from a Playboy club.

Finding my seat on the big plane is always nerve racking. If I get there and the other seats are filled, there is the instant mental adjustment of the size and shape of the occupants. If I am there first I am scrutinising each passenger as they walk down the aisle, secretly hoping the seats next to me remain empty. It is usually my luck to get Mr and Mrs Extra large squeezing in the seats, testing the strength of the mounting points to destruction. Fortunately on this trip I had the row to myself , hurray! That is until an old Indian man, with a weak bladder moved into my window seat, boo!

Maybe he should have spent the flight in the lavatory.

30th October 2018

I went out to lunch with Dave, this was his opportunity to get another free meal out of me (the other being the wedding) we went to Bob Evans, otherwise known as heaven’s waiting room. As I may have said before it reminds me of the film Cocoon, where all the staff are over eighty. This is our opportunity to catch up with his news. He had just returned from Indiana where he transported five washing machines to the Amish in return for a nice fat cheque. I was therefore thinking he would pick up the bill for lunch, but you know how that went.

Afterwards it was back to Hudsonville to replace the chair that was sold earlier. That was a welcomed sale right at the end of the month.

Kelli plans to go back at the weekend to set up the Christmas stuff, whilst I’ll be getting ready for a month of house decorating.

Kelli painted the radio cabinet as that will be heading out the door soon.

29th October 2018

There was still a lot of work to do on the radio cabinet, I had given it a rough coat of paint mostly to show up the flaws and blemishes. Out came the “Bondo” again. All the internal pieces had been stained and finished, so it was just the back panel to cut.

There are the regular people that I see most days I’m in the garage, they say hi and I wave. The regular cars that passed, I know them by their sound. There is a throaty V8 truck that passes, that is my clock, he throbs by at just after five thirty every week day. I see the dog walkers, the old jogger, and the big guy who walks past after visiting the corner store every afternoon. He has had a number of heart related problems, so the fact that he is able to remain mobile is testament to medical science, however I always have a set of jump leads handy.

Greer had some good news to share, she had been offered a position of assistant manager at the local corner shop and deli. Does this mean cheap food in the future? ah, nope, but it is good for her confidence, if not our tummies. This meant a celebration down at New Holland, and a chance for me to order the black bean burger yet again. I have been tempted to change my name to Black Bean Pete, or Black Bean Butt, I will answer to both.

28th October 2018

We arrived at the Book Nook a few minutes early, there were already two people waiting, which was not surprising as the weather was shite.

Saugatuck in the rain is as exciting as dysentery, and the book store is a better alternative to getting soaked. The rain hastens the falling of the leaves, and the onslaught of winter.

There is a sudden surge of people but very few customers. I have searched in vain to find a book to read, which is difficult to imagine in a place that has hundreds, but I like to read biographies, but most of the books here are about people I have never heard of.

This is the last open day for the store this year, so along with many others the shutters will come down. The bars, restaurants and the coffee shop with tick over until next spring when it will all start again.

27th October 2018

I have met a lot of different people during our trips to buy stuff. Today we had a route mapped out to pick up things that Kelli wanted for the store. November is a busy time, so the booth needs to be stocked up ready for the pre-Christmas onslaught.

We visited one older couple to pick up two book shelves. They lived in a condominium on the north side of Holland. When we arrived they welcomed, and invited both of us into their home. They were so friendly and had been married for six weeks, so out came the wedding pictures. Roger, the husband suggested that he and I load the pieces into the truck, “We don’t want to get tied into the girlie stuff” he joked as we carried the first piece out.

When we left, it was like we were driving away from old friends.

I had no idea what Kelli had agreed to buy, so each stop was a surprise, and interesting.

There were table runners, a crate of small bottles ( ?) and a table cloth. I’m confident Kelli knows what she’s doing, she has a good nose for things that sell.

We covered a lot of miles, along roads aligned with golden trees, and thanks to the GPS we traveled the same stretch of road twice.

We stopped off at Painted Farmgirl on the way back, there were a few small sales, but nothing exceptional.

Earlier in the morning I presided over a couple of direct sales. One was another galvanised tub, where the lady was planning to use it to photograph a baby. “You’re going to put a baby in the tub and take pictures of it?” I inquired. The the lady went into great detail of what she was planning. It involved cushions, soapy water, flower petals, and of course a baby. I thought that would traumatise the poor infant for the rest of it’s life. As they drove away, I didn’t have the nerve to mention there was a hole in the tub.

The next was a young couple picking up a freestanding basket carrier, they were so quick the car barely stopped moving, as they thrust the money in my hand, and grabbed the piece, and made off. I bet they thought it was a drive- thru.

26th October 2018

Sitting in the bookstore, Puff the magic dragon, playing on the radio, listening to a customer singing along was magic. For a short time there was a break of the shit Trump has been spouting. There is a pent-up anticipation for the mid-term election. The radio and internet is crammed with advertisements for candidates pleading for your votes, many hints at desperation. I still can’t believe what I hear, and that people actually believe, I thought Americans were smarter than that.

However as I was drinking my coffee, I viewed a guy talking to an empty chair, actually the chair I usually sit in. He probably was on his phone, but it looked so convincing, I did not want to sit there.

I have never classed myself as a salesman, I am more the victim, I once bought a car rather than leave a showroom with nothing.

Kelli left me in charge of selling one of the galvanised tubs, well not really selling it, just be around when the lady arrives. Simple task here I thought.

A car pulled up and a lady got out money in hand. I walked out from the garage and welcomed her and showed her the tub. She looked at it for a moment, and asked if it would be big enough for a Christmas tree to stand in. I had a tape measure in my hand. I told her it should be suitable for that. Then she added that the tree came with a base, and would that fit into the tub? I measured it, and said it should work for most trees, unless it was really wide. “It is really wide” she replied, the money was moving back towards her pocket. “Yes, but the base would not stick out too far in case someone could trip over it.” I replied, The money stopped moving, and came towards me again. ” I think it would work for you,….unless it was eight feet tall” I said. “It is eight, possibly nine or ten” she replied. Why didn’t I stop talking then?

Desperate not to lose the sale, I measured the tub again, “well it’s much wider at the top” these were the words of a person seeing defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

I had one last chance here ” you could always modify the base to fit, then add extra rocks for ballast”. I hoped that she didn’t sense the pleading in my voice.

Then she said the magic words, “I think I can make it work” and handed me the money. As she drove away I had to sit down, it was the most exhausting work I had done all day.

I also had a person arrive to collect a small table. I learned my lesson from the first episode, so said very little. That went smoothly, money in hand, money in my hand, pick up table, place in car, drive off, text book stuff.

Later that evening Cameron, Kelli’s son came round asking for help to make a mask for a party he was going too in a couple of hours.

He laid pieces of paper on the table, these had to be folded and bonded together to form a complex origami style mask.

I’m not sure how I got involved, but I saw him struggling, and the time was slipping away. I successfully managed to fold up the main nose section, for which I surprised myself. Gradually the mask took shape, the superglue doing its job of sticking the card rather than my fingers.

As soon as it was complete, Cameron took it outside to paint, bringing it back to show the finished result.

It reminded me of a character from Star Trek for which I had that pleasure to experience later.

25th October Thursday

Just when I think I’ve got the day to work on my radio cabinet, Kelli announced the we were taking the French provincial dresser to Hudsonville. I have learned not to question, just to get on with it. I do the grunt work, and Kelli tells me when to grunt. One of the dressers has a buyer so we needed to swap it out.

After we had finished, we sat in the truck, we looked at each other, got out of the truck and walked over to the Winery. Yes walked, needless to say it was a slight stagger back, but we deserved it.

24th October Wednesday

This was a day of two halves. The morning consisted of making more progress on the radio cabinet. Kelli is already contacting people who missed out on the previous example, so I need to finish it before I head back to England.

Next, it was in the truck and off on the errand trip. We stopped off at the county clerk to get an official copy of the marriage licence complete with an embossed seal, something that makes the paper worth the fifteen bucks they extracted from me.

Then it was off to our favourite place, Goodwill. Kelli had some things to donate, an unusual event, but we also walked round to check out what was on offer. Stuck around the back was a Caper task chair, and it was only four dollars. It was almost unmarked, meaning that the person who bought it had such a fat arse they could’n fit into it. Anyway I snapped that up, and Kelli posted it straight away on Marketplace. Those finds are rare especially if nobody knows the true value, so I always look out.

We then drove to Zeeland to pick up a tall dresser, this is a quick facelift job, so hopefully this can be ready by the weekend.

The evening ended with yet another binge of Star Trek Voyager. Every night since I got here we have watched two, three or even four episodes, and they keep coming. It is like new stories are written, and made everyday, for us. I feel like I am part of the story, I know my way around the ship, but I haven’t yet found the bathrooms. You would think that at some time someone would want to use the facilities. I wait for a time when someone, during a battle with the Klingons has to go for a piss, or utter those immortal lines ” Captain, that stew we had last night has given me the trots, but not as we know it”