Author: peterb51

15th February Thursday

The ripple effect from yesterday’s announcement washed around Kelli’s family and friends like a tidal wave.

It had been a long time, since I was in this position, I was a little unprepared, for the attention, although the hugs and champagne was rather nice.

One of the tasks of the day was to take a new piece to Act 11 Boutique. It had been in Greer’s bedroom for a long time, but it no longer suited her needs. Other things that she had collected through her early teenage years was consigned to the donate pile.

The dresser was well constructed having been converted from an entertainment centre, all that I needed to do was make a new back panel and it was ready.

We dropped it off, then went to Tin Roof to pick up Kelli’s volunteer work that she has to commit to every month.

The evening was spent chilling, as Kelli flicked through endless screens of Pinterest looking for wedding dresses, it was like my life was flashing before my eyes, page after page, like an endless gambling machine.

It is heart warming for me to see the smile on Kelli’s face.

14th February 2018

Well I went and did it didn’t I.

We had dinner at Perredies and I managed to attach a post it note to the inside of the wine list, but instead of opening it up she put it to one side, the suspense was killing me.

The emotion filled the room, so much so that most of the people left, to make space for it.

13th February 2018

Imagine the scene in black and white with a piano clanking a nineteen twenties backdrop.

Dave, Kelli’s father, called to ask for some help to move a table top that he had refinished, from his basement workshop to the kitchen.

When we both got there he was still trying to fit the skirt to the top. He was attempting to align the screw holes with little success. ” We need to move it round” he proclaimed, so we proceeded to rotate it hoping to find the correct placement. First it was ninety, then one hundreds and eighty degrees, and eventually we were back to the start. “That’s it he proclaimed!”. Kelli looked at me with a smirk.

The next job was getting it upstairs. Kelli at the top, me at the bottom, both hoping that we didn’t scratch the top surface. It was bloody heavy, but with a few medieval oaths uttered we set it down on the kitchen floor. The next part was to fix the round legs. Dave inserted the first threaded stud into the hole, whilst I attempted to fit a washer and nut at the same time, I couldn’t get the nut to run up the thread, it would start, but then jammed. I was starting to doubt my ability to do such a simple task. Kelli then asked if it was the right nut, there was silence. Dave ruffled around in his pockets and pulled out some old style Square nuts ” these are what was on the legs before ”

He was trying to fit newer hexagon nuts with a different thread, as these didn’t work, he went back to his workshop to find more of the square nuts. Meanwhile I decided to remove a piece of the under structure to make the assembly of the legs easier. I proceeded to remove some bloody big screws holding it all together. In total there were eight of the biggest screws known to man. As the last screw fell out, I discovered that Dave had also glued the piece, which made the whole activity a waste of time.

However it did allow him to find the original nuts, so we proceeded to fit the legs.

With a final piece of strength we managed to move the table into position. I thought that the job was done, but no, next I had to place anti slip pads under the little wheels of the table legs. Just as I finished doing that, Dave decided to move the table, out popped the wheels from the anti-slip pads. I repeated the fitting, and stood back ready to leave. Again he moved it slightly, and again the wheels popped out.

“Why don’t you decide where you want the table?” I said in a desperate tone. Finally he decided on the final place, and I refitted the pads again. Both Kelli and I were exhausted, it had taken over an hour, and we were desperate for something to eat.

Drained of any energy, we both got in the car and headed home.

12th February 2018

” Your ass has just broken one of my cool green birds” Kelli shouted.

The sound of splintered pottery had just faded, and it was true, my backside had just caught one of the pair of green birds as I was getting up from fixing the chair leg.

What could I say? The tiled floor offered no forgiveness, there were two large pieces, and the rest reduced to dust.

I felt that I had destroyed a Ming vase. ” I will try to repair it” I said in a feeble voice.

” I’ve had those birds for ages, they were really cool” Kelli said in a saddened tone, as you would speak of the dead”

“If they were that cool, why didn’t they sell ” I muttered quietly, or possibly just thought, I can’t remember which.

The booth was a bit dark, the original string of lights had died just after Christmas, so we drove to a local store to get some more. We found some on sale, so we bought two packs.

Whilst I was up a ladder hooking them up I managed to dislodge a shelf that had various other items on it. I acted quickly to save as many things as possible, I did not want the day to be known as “The Painted Farmgirl massacre”. I managed to stop most of the pieces falling, but I could not move, the world was in perfect balance, and I was at the centre of it. Eventually Kelli came to my rescue, and slowly the pieces were set aside. There was not much damage done, and I was able to refit the shelf, properly this time, and everything re-sited as they were.

As we then turned on the new lights, the effects were a little underwhelming. There was glow that resembled a firefly’s ass, but it was better than no firefly’s ass.

However we did bring the first furniture piece that I had a hand in. This was a small table that I made a new top for, a heavy little beast that would resist even my invading backside.

“You need some boots for this weather” Kelli announced. Of course she was right, but I had been avoiding it until I would be spending more winters here. Quick as a flash she was scouring the interweb for boots for a giant.

Up popped a listing for a pair of used ones in Zeeland. I wasn’t privileged to the details of the collection, but I left it in her capable hands.

We arrived at the address, and there on the porch were a pair of size twelves.

Kelli walked over to pick them up, hid the money under the mat, and carried the boots back. That was so trusting, and I hope we had the correct address otherwise there would be someone looking for the boots they left on the porch to dry.

11th February 2018

Sunday is the time when we visit Kelli’s mum and dad for lunch.

The morning is a frantic time for preparing separate food that doesn’t contain any dead animals. Kelli always does an amazing job of creating a wonderful vegan feast.

Of course that doesn’t apply to the rest of the food offer.

The lunchtime gathering today consisted of Kelli’s children, Cameron and Greer, and her brother Matt and his wife Brenda.

At the other end of the table was a plate of steaming ham, at our end a bowel of peanut noodles and Asian salad.

It can be entertaining for an English person to sit at the table of an American family where everyone holds different religious and political beliefs, and not talk about them. I often wait for something controversial to arise, just so I can stick my nose into, one day it will happen.

10th February 2018

We headed to Lake Odessa for a barn sale about one hour away.

The snow had been falling again, and by the time we got there the sale was in full swing.

We didn’t know what to expect, generally they fall into two categories, some are overpriced tat, others hide little gems. This fell in between, but Kelli knew the person who was running it so there was a supportive nature to the visit.

We were looking for galvanised buckets or tubs for our commissioned piece, surprisingly there were some that were a bit more than we were prepared to pay, but with a couple to token purchases we left, and decided to explore the town close by.

There were several Antique markets in the Main Street which contained a labyrinth of small stalls selling even more expensive nicknacks.

Saturday evening seemed like a good excuse for a bottle of wine, not that we needed an excuse for that.

There were more episodes of Downton to plough through, but I came out the other side with a more pronounced accent than I had before.

9th February 2018

More snow fell last night, the icicles hang like daggers from every gable and gutters. The novelty of winter is wearing thin to the locals, and I am wearing thick, clothing to keep my little English body warm.

Started on a new project, a dresser that we were given. It had a laminate top that had to go.

Spent a large amount of time looking for a screwdriver that I “put down” looked everywhere, eventually found it wrapped in a cleaning cloth.

Is there anyone out there who could develop an app that can find missing tools?

It was interesting to see HM stock lose $4 off it’s share price, maybe Trumps economic strategy is beginning to kick in.

8th February 2018

The continuing white winter-wonder land stops a lot of fun taking place. The Kelli’s kitchen has become an extension of the workshop, the poor dogs have to overcome an obstacle course made up of furniture pieces every time they want to go outside.

There are two words that will guarantee me falling asleep every time, and no it is not Justin Hayward, it is Downton Abbey. Kelli and Greer settle down in the evening to watch several episodes. I never watched it when it was broadcast in the U.K but it has followed me to a different continent. The glamourising of the upper class in the nineteen twenties, and the under stair servants constantly cooking and serving those who constantly “have to go to London” drives me nuts.

Meanwhile in Bradford on Avon progress at the cottage is good, both the bathroom and the knock-through in the living room have been done. Next week the builders will tackle the fire place in the kitchen.

7th February 2018

A lot of my thoughts, and emails have been dominated by the work being carried out at my cottage. The changes in the kitchen are causing a few problems to the builder, Louis.

There are some critical dimensions that make the kitchen design work that are difficult to maintain. So sketches were going back and forth, hopefully resolving the situation.

In Holland it is still snowing. I’m moving the projects along governed by the speed by which the adhesive cures.

I got round to taking the bed frame apart that we got on the last trip. It was too big to fit in the truck and had to be lashed to the tailgate and driven back very slowly. The plan was to take it apart to paint and transport to it to the Tin Roof. The posts were held together with square nuts set into a deep recess, of course I could not find a socket to fit, and a conventional spanner was too large to fit in the recess. In the end I ground down one to fit with a belt sander, so Pete the bodger strikes again.

6th February 2018

Work started today, I had a top to make for a small table, so the biscuit cutter was used a lot.

The problem with the cold weather is the glue takes a long time to cure, so I have to make small sections at a time and bring them into the warm kitchen to dry.

This means that I have multiple jobs going to use my time efficiently.

I started a planter, as well as the commissioned piece.

The garage was not so chaotic as I was expecting, there was space to move around, well it was until Pete got there. Almost everything I touched fell, and my big boots knocked into what had fallen. I’d only been away a couple of months, but it was learning to walk again. When I walked into the house I deposited piles of sawdust that were trapped in the deep grooves of my foot ware. Kelli is tolerant, and only sprinkles a bit in my musli.