Author: peterb51

5th July 2025

It was going to be an easy day, no furniture, but a few places to go.

Our neighbour across the street informed us that they were having a firewood display in the evening. As it was a good opportunity to watch the show, we offered to contribute in exchange to be able to sit at the end of our drive to watch proceedings.

But first there was a trip to UPS to return a cool sheet that Kelli wanted to try. Now when I say cool, I don’t mean “Cool” in the trendy sense, I mean it was supposed to keep you cool whilst you sleep.

Keeping cool is not something I need, with the AC blasting away, I struggle to keep warm.

Anyway she was not happy with it, so we had to somehow get it back into the box it was delivered in. It took a lot of effort, but eventually we managed it with the addition of straps of tape.

Then it was off to Plato’s to sell more clothes, no day out is complete without that.

While all that was being sorted we drove across the road to Not So Shabby, antique and general tat emporium, where Kelli once sold things through. This is not my cup of tea, but it was their birthday, so it was worth a visit.

Then we went to a firework store, it was called Jake’s Fireworks, and inside, guess what? It was full of fireworks. Now I thought that maybe twenty of thirty bucks would do the trick, that might have bought a box of sparklers. I was shocked at the cost of these things. We ended up spending seventy, and that was the cheapest.

When we got home a quick splash in the pool was in order. Now newly refreshed, I started work on the kitchen island design. During which I noticed that a large branch had broken off and just missed loud man’s Jeep. Kelli heard it crash to the ground, I was obviously oblivious.

I went over to examine, Dave the neighbour was already there, hands on his hips trying to work out how to deal with it. I volunteered to help, even though I don’t have a chainsaw, but the branch base was rotten to the core, with some evidence of carpenter ants crawling about.

Later I took the box of fireworks over.

As it got dark I moved two chairs to the end of our driveway, our observation point.

Once we got seated the explosions began, the force of which would make the Ayatollah quake.

We laughed when some farty ones went off, “That’s ours” we joked.

It was a good display, so many loud noises, and debris falling around, the full result will be seen in the morning.

4th July 2025

That day arrived, we were having the family over for the annual celebration. I had the honour of being the cook, which was ironic, that a British person was cooking for Americans.

I had cut all the back lawns, the grass is pretty bad, so much of it is scorched beyond recognition, but I cut it anyway.

I unwrapped the grill, the first time since last year. I gave everything a good clean, and decided to start it using scraps of wood that I have in abundance. I didn’t want a repeat of last years fiasco where I ran out of charcoal before completing the grilling. I had a big bag, but using the wood scraps ensured I would not run out.

Fifteen minutes before the official start I started the kindling alight. 

All that was doing a good job, flames were flickering, I then decided to spread some charcoal over the burning wood. I carefully held the charcoal bag and shook a few chunks over the flames. As I set the bag down, I noticed that was on fire, now I was in a predicament, should I cook the burgers on the grill or the now burning bag. I was running around in circles trying to find something to extinguish the flames. 

Thankfully the hose was close by, I grabbed that hoping that the water was still turned on, yes it was. I fired a jet into the bag, the flames were soaked, I could breath again.

With all the dry grass on my lawn, I could have easily started the great fire of Holland, a great excuse for America to hate the British even more.

After that debacle, I got down to the serious business of tuning meat into blackened slabs of carbon.

Actually I didn’t do a bad job, everything was edible, although after several bottles of Dutch beer, I couldn’t  care less.

I’m always the last to eat, I had my two brads and a small burger to devour.

After the last of our guests left, I had the washing up to do, the young children that came never eat everything, most of the food is left on the plate, I should cook it, and throw it straight into the bin, and cut out the middle man.

Both Kelli and myself were exhausted, entertaining is such hard work, for me, fighting fires didn’t help. But now it’s over for another year, we are sitting hearing the fireworks exploding outside, Kelli is not ready to go to the organised displays yet, but she is no longer disturbed by them now, so another step in the right direction.

3rd July 2025

Another good start for the day, we sold our latest piece, and we had a new buyer for the two matching dresser that caused us grief yesterday.

In between all this activity we had a visit from a potential client who wanted a kitchen island built using an old door that she had acquired. 

She had it in the back of the truck, it had partially stripped, but a lot of chippy paint still remained. Personally I don’t like old paint, I would prefer to strip the wood completely and start again. The budget she had was pretty reasonable, and we seemed to get on well.

Now I need to put together a few proposals, and get a rough quote together.

We unloaded the door, and talked through some ideas, this could be a fun job, and I’m looking forward to getting started.

Later, after she had gone I did a lead paint check, all the different layers proved positive for lead, Kelli sent her a note informing her of this result, and suggesting that all the paint should be stripped off, and an alternative finish be applied.

We had planned to meet up with Hem, a young student and friend of Cameron, who was working on an assignment from the university of Bath, would you believe it?

He was a bright lad who had ambitions to be an aeronautical engineer. 

I met up with him when I was in the UK prior to Covid, so I was excited to see him again.

He had planned a reunion at the New Holland pub, for 5.30pm. 

We got there early to have dinner first, and waited around to see if he arrived. After half an hour Kelli tried to contact him, eventually getting him on messenger. He was running late, we couldn’t stay much later as we had someone coming to collect the two dressers.

We had to reschedule for Saturday, talk about a piss up in a brewery.

2nd July 2025

There is a lot of things wrong with the world at the moment. I feel most of the time we are being played, and most of us are too blind to see it. 

Alternatively, we are happy to go along with things if it doesn’t affect us.

We know that food prices won’t go back down, why should they? Suppliers  know that we will adjust, and keep paying the price. We know the price of petrol won’t go down, governments want to force their green agenda on the people, and keeping petrol prices up will achieve that.

The prices of petrol changes daily over here, why? What regulates that? Is there a cartel controlling the prices? No one can explain that. “ Oh, oil is a commodity and that changes daily” is one of the answers, but that doesn’t account for the thousands of gallons that are sitting in the underground tanks at every forecourt.

I will continue to ask the question.

People were made to feel guilty about not taking the Covid shot, I refused because I didn’t want an untested substance injected into my body, but the fear pressure was great, and at times I nearly fell for it.

Carbon credits, what a fantastic money making con that is, and people fall for it. There is no proof that trees are being planted as a result. Carbon has to be present in the ground so that things grow.

People like Bill Gates, the deplorable so called entrepreneur, can take a private jet to Africa to lecture them on climate change. 

I think people can’t be bothered to do research, to understand what is going on, but everyone needs to question everything, don’t believe what politicians say, they have agendas that don’t take us into account at all.

In America, the capitalist heaven, the American dream, that’s a load of crap, capitalism only works if you have money, most don’t.

“ You’ve got to get a good education, you need a degree” then you spend the next forty years paying for it.

There is no way I can make any sort of dent in the system, we continue to do what we do.

I had the stool collected tonight, the guy was delighted with it, and handed me cash in an envelope, I got what I asked for, nothing extra was added, that’s okay. In my little world, I get satisfaction from others being delighted with what we do, just a very small fish in a very large bowl.

1st July 2025

Something happened today that has not occurred before, we had two rejections to our furniture.

What we posted yesterday got a reasonable response, and one said they definitely wanted and was prepared to offer us more than we were asking because she had been looking for a pair like we had for a long time. 

A time was agreed, and on the dot the lady arrived with her husband. He immediately put the tailgate down on their truck, a good sign.

The lady however was not so positive, she opened all the drawers, muttering about the floors not being solid wood.

I think she wanted better quality pieces, but what did she expect for the price, a bloody Chippendale?

So she apologised and the husband hitched up the tailgate and headed off.

Kelli was straight on the phone to the next one in line.

About an hour later another couple turned up.

They were all about the “sniff” test. Apparently they had a daughter who was allergic to everything. So watched as the two pulled out all the drawers sniffing them and muttering to each other. Finally they announced that they would pass, they didn’t want to risk making their daughter sick.

After they left, I took a drawer and did the same experiment, there was a hint of something, maybe a trace of laundry soap, but nothing offensive. 

Most of the dressers we have found have cedar drawers, and cedar had a strong scent, so that wouldn’t have been acceptable either.

So at the end of the day we were back to square one, so the dressers were reposted.

30th June 2025

The list of places we had on our list was vast, okay a slight exaggeration, they were our normal places, UPS store to return Amazon stuff, Plato’s to sell more clothes, and added into that was a trip to Zeeland to collect two matching dressers that we could hopefully flip.

GPS led us to a mobile home site, these are not the best places for quality furniture, so I was a little apprehensive.

A big guy opened the door, the pieces were inside stacked on top of each other, just like the picture on Marketplace. The moment I entered the place there was a smell. It is a smell of animals. What I thought was a pattern carpet was in fact stains from something that probably added to the stench. I could not get those pieces out fast enough, dousing our hands with cleaning gel. 

We headed back to Holland so that Kelli could get whatever money Plato’s would pay for the clothing they kept.

We still had to do our shopping, thankfully it was painless, and we also found another plant to save.

For lunch we decided, just for a change we would get a pizza. I haven’t had one for a couple of years, so my taste buds were dripping.

Whilst that was being made we took our shopping back home, and I returned later to collect.

I don’t know, I think the best I’ve had have been in Italy, this one was a bit gummy, even though it was a thin crust. I had the feeling that a slice would get stuck in my throat and I would choke to death, not something I like to think about.

Kelli was busy giving the dressers a good clean, ready for some pictures to be taken.

One had a missing back panel, so I have to make one of those tomorrow.

29th June 2025

It was a relief to do nothing, the temperature was oppressive, not that I was complaining but having air conditioning was the best to be in.

We did have to go out and get Kelli’s mum a birthday present as it was her and Cameron’s birthday. Whilst we we out, Kelli had arranged to go and look at a buffet that was free on Marketplace. This was on the north side, and it wasn’t a bad piece, but bloody heavy.

I wasn’t sure we even had the space to store it, yet alone the energy to do much with it.

There were scratches on the legs and lower shelf, cause by a small dog, but that stopped us just cleaning and flipping the piece.

So we left it, although we added, if they couldn’t give it to anyone else we would take it, but not until the end of the week, that would give us time to finish a couple of pieces to make space for it.

The plants at Menards were a bit sad, but Kelli found a couple that looked okay. He mother hasn’t got a good track record of keeping plants alive, most want to die the moment they enter her home due to an abundance of negativity.

I sometimes feel that myself, but my instinct to survive overcomes that.

The party itself went well, I told them the story of Robert the plant, which went down particularly well and lifted the mood a bit, and the cake and ice cream was enjoyable.

We returned home and Kelli scraped together dinner from any fragments that’s left in the fridge, she very good at it, thank goodness it’s food day tomorrow.

28th June 2025

It was an action packed Saturday, the large side tables were picked up, always a great start of the day. Even better news was we sold the side tables that were posted yesterday, now that was epic. We had to deliver them, but it was local, so no problem. 

To celebrate, we went on a bike ride, deciding to ride to Kollen Park, the first time this year.

We set off with the metal straws rattling in our water bottles. 

Along South Shore there is a cycle lane running alongside the pavement, normally we use the pavement because it gives us more distance from the traffic.

On this occasion we had to use the cycle lane because of pedestrians ahead. Once we cleared them, ahead was a jogger, so we had to get ahead of him. 

I watched as Kelli set off, legs moving like mad person trying to catch up and overtake the jogger. The jogger was setting quite a pace, I wasn’t sure Kelli could match it. Her legs were going faster, almost invisible, but slowly she edged ahead. Finally, when there was a large lead she was able to pull on to the pavement, rapidly slowing down to her normal pace.

We took the normal route past the pickle factory, the smell of vinegar permanently hangs in the air.

We carried on along the broad walk, behind me I heard a “tink” having no idea what it was I carried on. However out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of another cyclist trying to pass. I of course let him by, the sun glistening of his polished head, he sped off as if his ass was on fire.

As we followed the edge of the lake, passed the Asian people trying to catch their dinner, I could see the shiny head cyclist coming back. Luckily we missed him, instead taking another pathway for our return journey.

There was an event going on in the park, and I was curious to see what it was all about, I noticed that MillerKnoll had a booth, so I wanted to see what was going on. 

As we got close to the path leading to the event, Kelli noticed the pride flags, oh no, not the crazy inclusive lesbian show? we veered off the path just in time, we could face that bunch of crazies.

Heading back we came across a large plant on someone’s driveway with a “Free” sign next to it.

This was a fine specimen of what ever it was, and Kelli wanted it.

How were we to transport it home? It stood three feet tall and the spread of the leaves was over five feet, so it was fairly significant.

Well I had the saddle bags. I guess it was down to me to get it home

I managed to squeeze the pot into one side of my bag, the rest of the plant standing erect. With a bit of help I managed to mount the saddle, and by moving a few of the long tongue like leaves I was able to set off.

Immediately it was like being whipped by a thousand strokes.

At that point Kelli burst out laughing, almost continuously as we made our way along the path. I was not aware what it must have looked like, I was to frightened to turn round for fear of poking my eye out. The laughter continued, I even tried to accelerate, but I could still hear it in the distance. It was a good job the leaves were green, if they had been red it would have looked like flames coming out of my bottom.

No one took any notice of me riding a bike with a big plant growing from it, except from a guy working on the power lines who said “ Nice plant”, I wasn’t sure if he meant it or was just taking the piss.

We finally got back home, Kelli was exhausted, and not from the ride.

The plant, who I called Robert, was undamaged, and a drink of water helped it recover from its ordeal.

As we entered the house, Kelli screamed, “ there’s something in my hair” as soon as my hearing recovered, I felt around, and suddenly a spider fell out. This being her worst nightmare, was swiftly dealt with, as I carried it outside to go and scare someone else.

She had said something on the way down but I could find anything then, but it must have been resting all this time.

After a brief pits stop we then had to deliver the side tables. Of course not to miss out on something free Kelli informed me that we were picking up a planting table, she could see my level of interest was sinking, she said it was free, and was similar to one we got a few years ago, that was a pile of crap, and this one didn’t disappoint. 

We pulled into the driveway with this wreck ahead of us, it had seen some action, there were extensive teeth marks on the legs, probably the result of a werewolf attack, but with a bit of help we loaded it into the truck and headed back.

The excitement ended with a float in the pool, I found a leak in the float I was using, really these things don’t last, bloody cheap Chinese rubbish. 

What a day, never a dull moment, now we have the problem of where to put Robert the plant.

27th June 2025

Selling refurbished furniture is often a hit and miss affair, there is no way to forecast any trend or style that buyers want.

We posted the side tables that we finished yesterday, and we had several bites last night, including a definite sell.

By the morning that had grown to three potential buyers. 

The original buyer went dark, so did the second.

This happens often, and it’s bloody frustrating.

The first buyer replied that he had to talk to her husband, that is not a good sign. When she got back to us, it was as we feared, a big fat zero.

The second potential buyer was still dark, she had bought things from us before, so we were anticipating a response from her, but it never came.

So now number three on the list wanted them, but there was a time constraint. He wanted to wait until other furniture arrived so he could see how much space he had before committing.

In the meantime, another buyer appeared and will collect them tomorrow. That’s how it goes sometimes, you snooze, you lose.

Kelli also finished another pair of side tables, these are shallow compared with the others, so they were posted this evening.

I also finished the stool, and let its owner know it’s ready for collection.

The weather continues to be hot and humid, the pool water is warm, Kelli calls it bath water temperature, but it’s still good to float in it.

26th June 2025

I was in two minds whether to meet up with Lloyd   for our biweekly beer session. We had met up with them last Saturday for Nancy’s birthday, and I devoured two beers that night, and I certainly didn’t want to get into a dodgy habit.

However I decided to go, mainly for our chats, we cover a range of current subjects, some I agree with and some I don’t.

As it was the biggest debate was what beer to drink, our regular Old Speckled Hen and Smithwicks were not available. Now the options were Kilkenny or Harp, I chose the former, but when the barmaid went to draw it, that had run out also, so my only choice was Harp. This took me back to my early days of pub visits, and the TV adverts of the time. It was one of the first Lagers I think, anyway it worked well as a lubricant to our vocal exercises.

I did have a couple of things to do for my wife first, one was to get her Primrose oil capsules and then drive to Zeeland to collect some handles that were for sale. 

So once my meeting was finished  I rushed back to fit the handles to the drawer fronts of the side tables that Kelli had painted whilst I was otherwise occupied.

Then once the sun had stopped casting strange shadows, I took pictures and it was posted.

All this was achieved when the humidity was high.

We took a bike ride and stopped at Kelli’s mums to pick up some supplements, she scolded me for being out in such high temperatures, I replied that we were on the way to the cemetery, so if I died, I was already heading for the right place, she was not amused.