Author: peterb51

4th January 2018

I loaded up the truck with more crap to take to the tip, and got there bright and early, only to read that they are closed Thursday and Friday, WTF! They go to the expense of renewing the facility, and then don’t open it? If that doesn’t encourage fly tipping then nothing else will.

Jamie the builder staggered up the path to look over the job, nothing scared him, once he gets the drawings he’ll send through the quote. He carried with him a note pad, and the only thing he had written on it was “Bloody slope” or at least that’s what it looked like.

The wind was very strong up here on the hill, it took away a bush, a bit of a fence, and a wall, something else to think about.

I did a bit more sorting in the shed, and I have decided there is only so much storage I need, the rest has got to go.

3rd January 2018

An early veggie breakfast set me up for the long day ahead.

Another visit to the tip got rid of more rubble, the old sink and draining board.

I got through to the structural Engineer at last and arranged a meeting for next Monday. I thought it would be adventitious to open up the living room ceiling to check how the joists were located.

By the time I have pulled all the ceilings down I will never want to do it again, the dust gets everywhere, and there is a smell that lingers.

It hits me every time I unlock the door.

My cough is not improving, by the evening I can be reduced to a hacking old git. Although I do not get any pain in the chest, I don’t know where all this stuff it’s coming from.

I realise that this is not going to be a quick job. The building work will take about four to five weeks, once it can get started, so this is keeping my spirit a bit low.

2nd January 2018

Everyone should be back at work by now, so I made a list of people to phone. The Structural Engineer, builder A and builder B, and to throw in for good measure, a plumber.

There were more voice mails for everyone except the plumber who picked up and I could speak to a real person.

Andy, was round within an hour, listening intently as I rambled through my pitch. “Basically Andy, if you were starting again, how would you do it?”. His eyes lit up, for once he had the opportunity to plan out the pipe runs. I wanted as many of pipes hidden away as possibly, and with the ceilings removed it was the ideal time to do it. As we talked I realised that he did more than just plumbing, he could fit bathrooms, tile and plaster, but more importantly he had a builder that could also take on the building work, I was beyond the valley of excited. We agreed that he would start re-routing the central heating pipe works in a couple of weeks.

I made a trip to the local recycling centre to dump several bags of plaster crap from the kitchen ceiling. Since my last visit, many months ago, it had changed beyond all recognition, compactors had given way to a row of large containers, and they were already full to the gunnels, so I struggled up the stairs, and almost strained my sprouts lifting the bags on to the top of the full containers.

1st January 2018

There were no fireworks in Barrington, not even one exploding Badger.

One year slips into the next without a sound. This village could be described as “Heaven’s waiting room” as a lot of the residents are well into their eighties and nineties, but the country air, and unless they sold their souls to the devil, I’d say they look pretty good.

In the time I’ve been here, I have not seen anyone dancing naked around a bonfire chanting, but maybe that is to come, when it gets warmer.

I was still coughing well, and even with the evil liquid I was taking there was little improvement.

So I thought, “Enough of this excitement, I’m going to go back to bed”

That’s the best excuse I could think of, Happy new year!

31st December 2017

What a year 2017 has been. From my point of view it’s been a crazy journey of discovery, but it has given me back the spark that had nearly been extinguished.

Here I am laying sick in bed, even that doesn’t change, even in retirement I am not protected from the bugs out there.

In the past I have looked at year end with sadness, but not this one, I have seen the future, and that is in Holland Michigan.

When I returned to the UK in December, it was to get the renovation of my cottage started, I was a little optimistic that finding trades ready to take on the project.

Meanwhile, in the snow covered landscape of West Michigan, Kelli is struggling to stay warm, and keep her business going.

I am looking forward to what lies ahead in 2018. Trump will still be a fool, Brexit will ramble on, so will X Factor, Celebrity Big Brother, Strictly, and I’m a Celebrity will fill the schedules, but despite that, there will be plenty to things to talk about, and watch my grandchildren grow. I will get my cottage finished, and be on a plane to Kelli. That’s a great plan.

30th December 2017

Another early start to drive to Blissford Pool to leave the Jag in Damian’s care. Today he was taking me to pick up the Shogun from Martin.

He decided to use his BMW 750 from the nineties. It has tremendous comfort and power, and a thirst for fuel that should entitle it to immediate enrolment in the Betty Ford clinic.

The navigation system was outdated and redundant, so plotting the journey was a task and a half. Three hours later we pulled up outside tired and exhausted.

I had mentioned to Martin that Damian was interested in the Dodge Ram truck, so he had cleaned and polished it to perfection. Unfortunately, Damian was far more interested in the Hummer they had just bought. I knew instantly that Martin was upset, he went quiet and withdrew into himself. Damian left early, and I stayed behind to de-fuse the situation. I had a bit of experience with his moods, and fighting his self imposed pity, this may seem harsh and unsympathetic but he plays the victim so well, and I have learned to stop feeling guilty about being normal.

The drive back to Barrington was long and boring. It rained the whole time, and I was driven mad by the squeaking of the windscreen wipers. It was weird driving a different vehicle, there was not the same feeling of unlimited power that took you to warp speed in the blink of an eye. The Shogun holds you back, I don’t expect to break any speed limits driving it, which can’t be a bad thing.

29th December 2017

I still feel like shit, woke up with a throat that was dry and rough, although my sleep was good.

I had a list of people to phone, but couldn’t be bothered to call, when I did, all I got was an answerphone message.

This was a day that didn’t matter, I needed to keep warm and hydrated.

Kelli was working her socks off in the cold wastelands of Michigan, re-stocking and re-staging her space in Hudsonville. The lakeshore Marketplace was closing today, so any furniture had to be moved out. The place will re-open as The Tin Roof market in February, hopefully it will be an improvement over the old, but it creates a bit of disruption in the meantime.

28th December 2017

I feel like shit today, looks like I caught some of Gina’s clag. I drove into Ilminster to get stocked up with cold remedies, and went back to bed.

I was running a fever, and a rough chesty cough, it all sounds like lines from the “twelve days of Christmas”. Nicola and Colin had arrived back from their holiday with hacking coughs, and mental exhaustion. The thought of being stuck in a coach for seven days with a load of old people is not my idea of a good time.

27th December 2017

I was disturbed from my sleep to the sound of a cat throwing up. Ah that was a trip down memory lane, one that I hoped I would never have to experience again. It has a distinctive sounds, a pumping hydraulic action that’s hard to ignore. I waited as long as I could to get up, trying to focus on the aroma of a fresh cup of coffee, rather than a pile of catsick. However it didn’t take too long to clean it up.

I had an appointment with the bathroom and kitchen department at Leeks. This went very well and we were able to set out the rooms with all the appliances that I wanted. The price reveal is always interesting, because I had no idea of what things cost these days. The bathroom cost was okay, it was fully loaded with the highest priced items, so there is a bit of room to trim down a little. The kitchen quote was a little higher than I was expecting, but with a little less complex oven and hob it should just hit the target.

I was given a loyally card that would entitle me to a free cup of coffee, just right after an intense decision making session. I walked up to the restaurant and ordered my Latte, that was when the assistant advised me that the free coffee was just a plain coffee, oh well.

26th December 2017

I was awoken by a cat frantically trying to scratch it’s way out of a locked cat flap. I had slid into my sleeping bag just a few hours earlier, so I tried to ignore it. It kept going, even more frantic than before, so I tried to extract myself from my sleeping sheath. Not that easy when you are unfamiliar with the position of the zip. It was pretty dark, the only illustration came from a small LED from the VR console.

I staggered to the door and fumbled for the lock on the cat flap, it was actually easier to open the door. The moggie disappeared, and I made my way back to my sleeping bag. Trying to insert myself was met with all-sorts of problems. I managed to get one leg back in, the other floundering, trying to find the slot. Eventually I was able to zip up the bag, and prepared to go back to sleep, five minutes later I needed to use the toilet, so I had to repeat the same procedure.

I settled down to try to get back to sleep, just as the cat came back through the cat-flap.

I had set my alarm early so that I could be up first, I didn’t want the others to endure me wandering around in my underwear, I actually cannot bare to see me like that either.

Boxing Day consisted of me chipping plaster off a wall, and filling up another couple of rubble bags, to add to the growing pile.

I went back to Ryan and Louise’s for dinner and more quizzes. This is fun, but I also realised that I don’t know very much, but I thought I did. It must be that I am out of touch with current general knowledge, I still know old general knowledge, trouble is there was not much of the old on the cards. The quizzes went on all evening, with some dropping out as sleep overcame them, I had to wait till all the glasses were empty before I could hope to get some sleep.