Author: peterb51

9th April 2026

It is Kelli’s birthday, and after a restless night and an early morning awakening our plans for a dinner with Lloyd and Nancy went down the toilet. Instead we had breakfast, and after started on painting the long blue dresser we got from the side of the road. 

As it was a nice day, I took off my work coat and started pulling nails out of the maple flooring that we got for free last year. The plan is to lay it in the sunroom, hopefully in a few weeks time, but in the meantime I have a lot more nails to remove.

Kelli did a great job getting the dresser finished, we took pictures, and posted it. Later she had a response from the person that placed it at the roadside. She was very complimentary about how it turned out, this is the first time this had happened, probably as the handles are very distinctive.

8th April 2026

It was a lovely day to work in the garden. I had trees to prune, and sharp cutters to do it with.

The plum trees had got out of control and needed some savage cuts, now it probably won’t be a great harvest, but neither was last year, I’m hoping that the improved shape will allow better control in the future.

We spent time surveying the garden, it never looks good this time of year, and Kelli insists on not raking the leaves until there has been five days of warm weather. This is difficult for me to accept, having leaves everywhere adds to the look of neglect, and I don’t like it. The rakes are poised.

7th April 2026

The drive down to John the wood’s barn was wonderful, the sky was clear and blue with any trails blocking the sun. I stopped to get petrol, it’s at an all time high of $4.20 a gallon.

I had picked up some chocolate chip cookies from the corner shop, John enjoys them with the coffee.

I arrived at his home a little early, but he was ready with is water bottle in hand and medication in a carrier bag.

He hadn’t been to the barn since we were there last, so he was keen to see what state his sons may have left it in.

We always start with a coffee and a cookie, John has two cups that he had marked with coloured tape, green for me, red for him. This is when I tell him what the objectives of the day will be. Once we have finished our beverage, we are off.

My plan was to finish the base, fit the legs and drill the pocket holes. As I have said before I take my time and bring John along with me. He is like my apprentice, always ready to lead a hand.

Once the leg frame was assembled I give it to him to sand, he likes that bit.

But his eyes light up when he is talking about wood, he showed me a chunk of Brazilian rosewood, I don’t think I have seen a solid piece that big. He points to the doors and drawer fronts in his office that he made in solid elm. In his heyday he made some fine work, now he’s been reduced to helping an Englishman stumble through building a sofa.

After our second break, I talked to him about the next project, the one to bring some money into the barn, it will be made from maple and could be fun to make. That is when his eyes lit up again when he told me that he had a stack of red maple drying in the yard, now that could be a beautiful timber to use.

As we finish for the day we clean up the mess we made, it’s a ritual that I started at the beginning, sweeping the sawdust, mostly made by others.

Once we’ve done that it’s time to drive him back to his home in Wyoming, which I can now do in my sleep.

Winnie is alway pleased to see me, she greets me with a ball in her mouth hinting what she wants to play. So half an hour of that, and I’m done for the day.

6th April 2026

Why aren’t people listening anymore? We hear, but that is just a function of our ears, listening requires the brain.

What made me think about it? Well I listened to a presentation about this subject in the context of music. 

Listening to music was an event when time was spent enjoying the experience, when the silence was as important as the sound. 

Today music is like fast food, it does nothing for the body or the soul, silence is avoided, sound has to be everywhere and at all times.

I have thought about this for a long time, when was the last time I have sat and listened to an album? Streaming is all the thing, incomplete, highly processed noise in the guise as music.

Ear pods are all around us, they stick out of so many people’s ears these days, I cannot be sure they are hearing anything I say.

It turns me off dealing with those people, is there need for digital pulses all day long?

Do we all live at a pace that we don’t have time just to chill out? We talk about social media taking up everyone’s time, getting the life/work balance is not easy, I even find it difficult to make time to listen to real music, other than the recordings I do, but I will try.

On the other hand, what give Trump the right to destroy another country, who gave him the right to say who lives and who dies? Why is he being controlled by another country to do their bidding, why has he ruined his legacy?

Iran should be allowed to choose its own pathway, if the regime is bad, it’s people have to change it. America is the big bully of the world it is like Jabba the hut in Star Wars, with that little creature whispering advice in its ear.

When is enough, enough?

5th April 2026

Kelli was busy in the kitchen preparing for the family Easter Sunday dinner. Kelli’s mums house was going to be filled with people. As well as the Easter we were having a pre birthday party for Kelli whose special day is next Thursday. The smell of a chicken roasting in the oven filled my nostrils, along with herb stuffing and a mixed vegetable casserole. All this was bubbling away whilst I kept Winnie amused with chasing balls.

Phoebe is still indifferent to the exuberance of the young pup even though Winnie towers over her, I don’t think they will ever be friends. This is unfortunate, because all Winnie wants to do is play and she gets frustrated, this leads to some destruction of plants or sections of the garden which then makes us angry at her.

So the circle goes around and around.

4th April 2026

 The Artemis 2 moon shot has been a timely distraction from the Iran war. Pulling the American eyes off the disaster that is happening out there. The rate things are going the US will use up all their missiles for no real military gain.

I’m very sceptical about the moon shot, there are many things that don’t sit right with me.

For example all the pictures of earth that NASA have released have all been renders, not photos. This has led to many to believe that the original moon landings never happened. Apparently NASA get eighty million dollars a day in funding from the government, what is that for?

So the stakes are high. Many believe the international space station exists in a large pool in Florida. I have seen videos of the astronauts working on the outside of the station where there are clearly air bubbles rising. 

And there are no videos showing the construction of the structure at all, all this is strong evidence that it’s all a big con.

Now, there is an opportunity to quiet all the doubters by just showing a video of the earth from the windows in real time showing movement of clouds, and all the thousands of satellites that are supposed to orbit the earth. They have been up there for three days and they haven’t done it.

Generally the American taxpayer is expected to pay eight hundred billion dollars for a war it shouldn’t be in, and it can’t pay the people who work for the government. There is so much discontent in this country.

3rd April 2026

It was breakfast with Lloyd again at the Southside Inn, we are certainly becoming regulars, and soon there will be a table kept for us.

We finally finished the coffee table, not my best work, but it turned out okay. Kelli posted it and it sold straight away, that should be picked up in the morning.

Kelli worked on painting the two pedestals, those usually go quick.

We heard back from the vet that Winnie still had a parasite in her intestines, not the best news, but at least one had gone. The vet advised that we get a DNA test done so they can assess the best treatment. I ordered it on amazon at midday and it was delivered by six, that’s service for you.

2nd April 2026

We were taking Winnie to a new vet. Kelli wasn’t happy with the previous one for several reasons, mostly their position on vaccines. There are suggested types for numerous diseases, but Kelli only wants the minimum which is rabies.

The new vet specialises in natural remedies and treatments which aligns with her own preferences. The first thing I needed to do is obtain a stool sample, that is if Winnie complied.

After a while she did her duty, and I collected it in a plastic bag. We hope that she is clear of any parasites, so our fingers are crossed.

There is interest in her actual blood line, the vet is keen to find that out as it will set out any weaknesses she might have in the future.

Although I sat there totally mystified at what was being said, I was hoping that Kelli was taking it all in.

She was booked in for her rabies jab in a couple of months time, the first year is a busy time for puppies.

I picked up a set of rear brake calliper rubber boots that I had ordered, $15 for a couple of rubber mouldings, boy! There is money to be made on these things.

Then it was back home, there was not much time left to do much work, I worked on the top of the coffee table by applying a tinting spray to try to even out the colour, then just a finishing top coat to complete it.

1st April 2026

This is the real start of the new year. The trees are covered with buds waiting to burst into life and repaint the landscape with colour. 

This is a great time, we are ready to extract the bikes from the shed, and plan what to do in the garden.

Also my social life is becoming busy again. I met up with Henry for coffee, I hadn’t seen him for many weeks, and it was good to see him again.

He talked about him getting back into graphic design, that he had produced several books in the last few weeks of conceptional art ideas. What he described sounded interesting especially when he added his dry humour.

I think we share a curiosity, me with timber and manufacture, and him with clay and the camera.

I think that is what draws us together.

I’m sure at some time we will combine these skills and make something amazing. We have talked about landscaping, he has a lot of land that he wants to tame, that could be the one.

The small buffet that we sold was picked up, that gives us some breathing space to work on other things, and there is plenty to do.

The tree that we rescued from Larry’s yard looks okay it it’s new surrounding, there are buds that look healthy, but that might be short term, I don’t know what shock has occurred, and what damage to the root system it had sustained,I hope it will survive, we need trees, I hope it senses that we want it to grow.

31st March 2026 

It was back to John the wood’s barn after a long break. I was looking forward to getting on with the sofa. The last area is the base frame, the main structure was completed before I left, but I need to add the skirt and legs, so that was the aim for today.

I had a flask of coffee and a packet of biscuits for our rest breaks.

My panels had been stored in a corner of the barn, when I came to remove the base frame there was a thick layer of dust over it.

It took a while for me to remember where I was four weeks ago, but gradually it did come back to me.

John’s condition is still the same, he rambles on about things then forgets the point of his conversation. His eyes still light up when he sees a good size tree growing, he know what type it is, and he remembers that he has a lot stored in his basement.

I had forgotten how far John has traveled down his one way pathway, he has his medication, but we all know that is just a sticking plaster, a lot more is known about dementia, and how diet changes can help, but once it takes hold there is only one outcome, sad because I know he gets frustrated forgetting simple things he should know.