Author: peterb51

6th January 2025

It was a drive down to South Haven to collect a piece of free furniture. I’ve not been there before, although I’ve passed it a few times on the highway. The piece is solid oak, you can certainly tell by its weight, but it needs a bit of love. 

It was a nice drive, the sun was shining, but bitterly cold, everywhere the thin coating of snow is still there, just waiting for more to fall.

South Haven is right on the edge of Lake Michigan, some of the properties sit on the cliff edge, with an amazing view that the owners can experience everyday.

On the way back we had another trip to the UPS shop for Kelli to return something. She is well known there, but whilst waiting in the queue, I was tempted to ask everyone what did they have in their boxes or parcels, it could be a fun game, and could even result in deals and exchanges being conducted. 

There are alway strange shaped packages that need retuning or sending. One in particular could have been the person’s mother. Going UPS is usually cheaper than a plane ticket, but the comfort level would be a lot less desirable.

My dad would have been 118 today, he was a good man who worked hard to provide for his family, I’m always grateful to him.

Happy birthday dad.

5th January 2025

We both slept in till 9.30 am, luxury. The dogs with their legs crossed, couldn’t wait to get outside.

As I slid the sunroom door open the cold air almost took my breath away, that door closed very quickly.

We had a delivery to make. A kind soul bought the cedar chest, but we had to deliver it to Hudsonville. Before we left I took the newly finished small desk outside to take some pictures. Kelli had found an exact copy of ours on Etsy priced at $800, now there is no way we could post it at that price, not in Holland. It’s not that there is not wealth here, it’s just most don’t want to part with it, so we have to market price it to suit the pockets of the population.

Once that was done, we set off for Hudsonville.

There was plenty of snow about, but none was falling. 

The customers were happy with their purchase, and they carried it into their suburban home. 

There must be sets of standard plans that developers have access too, each house is visually different, but sit on the same footprint, that is why they are built so quickly. 

I am surprised that there aren’t factories pre building these home, instead each is framed on site, that is not fun when it’s below zero. If you hit your hand with a hammer you don’t realise it until you get home, in the warm, I know.

Then it was back home for a quick snack before going to Kelli’s mum for the ice cream feast.

And if we didn’t get enough cold, we took the dogs for an evening walk, a quick one.

4th January 2025

There is more snow flurries about as we loaded the Mid century dresser and matching Side tables into the truck. First we had to extract the large bugger we collected a couple of days ago.

Once all that was done we headed off to Allendale for the delivery.

The snow got a little bit heavy, but not blizzard conditions.

The house was on a fairly new development, sited around a large lake that previously was a gravel pit. We drove down a long driveway until we reached a number of vehicles parked in front of the garage.

Kelli went to the door whilst I prepared to unload the furniture.

The lady of the house was happy with the product and her son helped me carry the dresser into the house. His brother also came out to help. Soon everything was done, and all that was left was for Kelli to reverse back up the drive. She didn’t do a bad job, she only hit one of the marker posts on the way, leaving it a little bent. Soon we were back on the road heading for home. We could pass up the opportunity of going to Goodwill. As this is “No clothes January“ which means she is not to buy any clothes for this month, it will be a bloody miracle if she sticks to it.

We took pictures of the TV stand and two matching side tables outside, and Kelli posted them.

I reassembled a small desk ready for more pictures tomorrow.

3rd January 2025

About half an inch of snow fell last night, but more was expected all day. It was a fine flurry at first, then it got a bit thicker, but I had things to do. We have someone coming to look at the bureau tomorrow, but I needed to fit some stays to the drop down flap. I had bought a number of different types but because the piece had a slanted side the geometry didn’t work. My last attempt was using larger parts that I bought from Lowes last week, those must work. 

No they didn’t. To get that type to function the fixing on the flap was so close to the hinge plate, it didn’t do any real support at all. I tried  a chain, but the links just came apart, so I scrapped that idea. Fortunately the flap has a resting point but the stays would help to support it, but if I can’t find any suitable type, it will go without.

We took another walk with the dogs up to Kelli’s mums to collect some newly delivered supplements. The snow was falling, at times blizzard conditions, but we were warm and so were the dogs in their woollens.

Once we got back I decided to clear the drive, the snow blower was in the garage, so out it came, and off I went.

I was about half way through when Ricky, the guy with the loud Jeep came over to show me his radio controlled car. He was smoking weed, or had kissed a skunk, I couldn’t tell which, but he was happy. That toy could move. He sent it up the road, turned it around and sent it hurtling past at an amazing speed, I was impressed.

He asked how Kelli had been sleeping because his jeep is off the road with a damaged CV joint.

He had been using one of the other cars that they have parked. I said it was less noisy, but I wished I’d suggested going to work on his radio controlled car. These ideas always come at the wrong time, damn it!

2nd January 2025

It seems the country is back to normal, well if you count death and destruction, mass murder and bad information, then yes it is.

The media is full of the stories of the terrible incident in New Orleans and Las Vegas. They are hanging on to every crumb of information, drip feeding it to their dwindling viewers twenty four hours a day. There are many that see this as a distraction fearing that other things will happen during the run up to the inauguration.

The stories of the drones have disappeared from the headlines, with no apparent explanation from the security community.

We, on the other hand were back to normal. There was TV stand, a pair of night stands, and a small desk frame to paint, and it was bloody cold with the garage door open.

Kelli had made a soup for dinner, it was heaven to walk into the house to sniff, I made many trips in for that reason.

We took a longer walk with the dogs than usual.

It surprised me that Kelli suggested it, normally it’s once round the block and that’s that. It made the welcome of the warm house appreciated.

1st January 2025

We started the day with a walk to the big lake. I thought brisk exercise would motivate us and spur us on to a healthy year, I didn’t realise how bloody cold it was.

Light snow was falling as we parked the truck and evacuated the dogs from the back. The wind hit us hard. From where we parked there was quite a walk to get to the beach. We took about twenty steps and stopped, should we go on? It was a tense moment, we agreed to go on, the wind would ease as we entered a sheltered area. We passed the guard’s hut, uninhabited because it was winter and out of season. Most of the properties are holiday homes, all closed up and facing the full force of the elements.

The dogs were dressed in coats and hats, and highly embarrassed by the choice of garments.

By now the wind had hit us again, there were no barriers to shield us from the full effects of the wind. Ahead we could see the white crests of the waves hitting the shore. My nose was running like a hose, but we had come this far, no amount of coldness was going to stop us now.

We reached the edge of the beach, looked ahead towards the horizon, and said “Okay, let’s go home” this time the wind was at our backs.

The cold had affected Kelli, she suddenly had the need to use the bathroom, but the truck was quite far away.

After a rapid rush to the truck, we sped back home. On arrival, Kelli exited the vehicle at speed whilst I got the dogs out.

Later we had to go and collect a large dresser from West Olive, but on the way we had to stop at several Dollar General stores to look for hair spray, not the aerosol type, the pump action. 

Once Kelli found her hair treatment, he headed off to pick up this free dresser.

Now I’m not a fan of that type of store, but it attracts a certain type of people, and it generally sells crap, not always, but most of the time. Kelli calls me a snob, well maybe, but I don’t feel comfortable there, like Plato’s, or Goodwill, I walk around like some kind of weird person, but I do it anyway.

The house was out in the wilds, a young Mexican lad greeted us, although I couldn’t hear or understand what he said. The dresser was stored in the garage, so with help from the lad, we managed to load it into the truck and drove home. 

31st December 2024

So here we are, perched on the precipice of a new year.

In previous posts I have looked back at maybe the bad things that have happened, but not this time.

I now feel less manipulated and ignorant of what’s going on around me. I am enthusiastic about changes that are to come. If America does what it says it’s going to do, there will be a positive ripple around the globe. I’m enjoying what I am doing, I have my health and a purpose, hopefully, my brain will continue to function.

I don’t have any plans for the new year other than not having second helping of Kelli’s delicious foods. We plan to take more bike rides, and enjoy the beach a bit more than we have done. The project list will be small and achievable, we want to move the fence up about sixteen feet in preparation for Kelli’s chickens( not quite sure when that will be).

The fireworks have started, although the weather has not been great, it won’t stop the die hards from having their fun.

Soon I will make my plans to return to the UK to do a bit more at the cottage, and meet up with my friends. There are lots to be grateful for, and I hope to take advantage of all of them.

30th December 2024

There are strange things happening in most food stores that have started today.

I went into the corner store to buy some milk and was shocked to see a notice where the eggs are usually displayed that read “ From January 1 2025 only cage free eggs will be sold” this was signed by the governor of Michigan. I don’t remember anything like this being announced, it made no mention of Organic eggs, which are the ones we usually buy, so I was confused.

Apparently the law was introduced in 2019 and was due to be “phased in” over the years and complete by January 2025, well that was a subtle phase in.

There is a lot of chatter concerning bird flu. It is rumoured that a vaccine will be available in the next few weeks for more sad saps to get poisoned, I don’t know if this actually true, but Biden’s administration are setting time bombs to sabotage the new one.

This is certainly not the country I thought it was.

29th December 2024

Rain was forecast all day, so the chance of taking pictures outside was zero, so we had to instigate plan B.

Earlier in the month I bought a background sheet that we can hang and take pictures in front. 

So when the weather is bad or covered with snow we can unroll the sheet and take our pictures. Now we have a brick wall in our living room.

The freshly painted dresser and side tables were hauled in and pictures taken. It is hoped that the dark colour will be more popular.

We didn’t go to Kelli’s mums this week, as most of the household are sick, we have managed to avoid that, maybe the elderberry syrup is doing its thing and helping our immune system.

I spent time in the garage sanding the legs of a small desk, this is tedious but it should be worth it in the end.

28th December 2024

It was the day of Steve and Jackie Kubica’s party, the highlight of our social circle, well if truth be known it’s the only light in our social circle.

It had been two years since the last one due to an illness that Jackie had suffered, the same old crowd was there, a bunch of colourful characters from Saugatuck and nearby Hamilton. We got there fashionable early as we weren’t sure how late we could stay. As it happened we left just after nine. Kelli had formed a menopausal group with most of the women her age. All I would hear was talk about hot flushes and anger, I knew all about that, I was able to reassure the husbands that there was life after death.

Of course prior to the party there is “What shall I wear” conundrum. This consists of multiple outfits laid out on the bed, hung up in the bathroom, and just about anywhere clothes could be hung. Then it is the slow progress of selection. Hours pass and Kelli gets more and more agitated, then there is the whittling down process, the fine tuning, then the final choice.

Minutes before we leave, there is doubt. A quick rethink, and we’re out the door. Don’t think it ends there, we then move into “I should have worn that” phase. That could last all evening , especially as it was warm in the house with all the bodies milling around eating and drinking.

On the way back there is the “I should’ve not eaten that” period, listing out all the glorious foods that were available, and the temptation that they offered. I, myself moved in to the “ I should have drunk more” excuse just to numb me from all the guilt she was suffering.

Once we got back, we entered the chill-out time when we need to prepare ourselves for sleep.

The excitement of the evening had to be calmed, with herbal tea for Kelli and a coffee for me.

As we lay in bed, we experience the “ I can’t sleep” moment, at which point I tell her a story, I drone on for about fifteen minutes sensing if that has been successful, I hope so, because after sixteen minutes, I’m asleep.