Author: peterb51

25th June 2024

The heavens opened up in the early hours, the darkness illuminated by flashes of lightning, the boom shaking the ground. That lasted for many hours, the rain, in torrents ran down the road filling the lake.

I went early to the paint shop to get a mixed colour to match the current window paintwork.

After breakfast I headed off to my day job, picking up the paint on the way.

I repeated what I did yesterday, ringing the doorbell, then entering the code and opening the front door, then shouting, no response.

I got on with the living room and kitchen, then climbed the stairs to work in the bathroom.

I applied the primer then turned to walk downstairs.

As I reached the stairs I could look in to the main bedroom, there stretched out on the bed was the daughter fast asleep. What is it with this family?

I didn’t feel comfortable in this situation because I had to work in the bedroom, and I certainly wasn’t going to do it with a sleeping teenager in there.

I had to do several coats of the colour matched paint, which went on like thick cream, it was good paint.

I heard a rumbling from upstairs meaning there was movement, and it went into the bathroom, typical, another delay.

However this did allow me to move into the main bedroom and paint that sill.

I planned to do the boy’s room last, because I wasn’t sure of his whereabouts either.

Whilst I was washing my brush out in the kitchen sink “the ghost” appeared in the larder grabbing some food and scampering down the stairs to the basement like a frightened rat.

I struggled with that lack of manners, I believe a lot of children have problems with interactive skills, they remain loners, full of anxiety and loneliness, I was shy as a child, but I wasn’t that bad.

24th June 2024

And now for something completely different.

I had a couple of days set aside to do some site work, and no it was not furniture.

I had given an estimate for repairing five window sills where the paint was flaking off.

When I looked it over I thought the inside window surround was MDF, but when I got down to work I found it wasn’t.

The material quality of new homes over here is shite. The skirting boards and window trims are coated plasterboard, that is what I found when I started lifting off the loose paint. Now I had to be careful that I didn’t damage the paper outer layer.

This was my worst nightmare, and I worried that I wouldn’t get the smooth finish I wanted.

I had allowed myself two hours per window to prep them, and the first one took easily that.

The second was in the kitchen, that was not so bad. I treated the exposed edges with a thin superglue that would harden and allow me to sand them without wearing them away.

I gave window one a coat of shellac primer and as I finished the kitchen window, I gave it another coat. My plan was to get as many coats of primer I could so I could sand it smooth.

Window three was the main bed room, this was bad and it used up another two hours.

Before I arrived I was told the lady’s son would be at home, but she gave me the code to unlock the front door.

I rang the door bell, but no one answered, so I let myself in, shouting out a warning as I entered, but still nothing, so I got on with the job.

After the bedroom, I had some lunch that Kelli had prepared.

As I sat munching on my sandwich, the boy appeared, it frightened the life out of me. He said very little, just drifted through the house like a ghost, and then disappeared again.

I returned to the task in hand, peeling off the loose paint, sanding and priming.

I left the job with only the bathroom to do, all the scraping and filling done, priming tomorrow.

23rd June 2024

I still can’t believe that I’m here sometimes, and also where we live. I know we have had the police in the street, but compared to some, it’s paradise.

The weather is still up and down temperature wise, but still nice to sit out in the garden whilst the grill heats up. The garden looks good in its wild state and I can hear the fountain slashing about.

The next door neighbour is practicing his basket ball, a little too much if you ask me, but that’s his gig.

We did a bit of running around, and I did a bit of cutting first thing, but apart from that, a work free day.

Over breakfast we were listening to a pod cast that shed new light on the state of American politics, it’s now getting to the point that it hurts my head trying to understand what these people are saying. It is either the most complex country, or it’s all crap. It is said that the Democrats will try anything to stop Trump being elected, because he will dismantle the entire establishment. It is said that the United States is a business complex, and the politicians are just a front ( but becoming very wealthy). Shadowy individuals from large corporations are running the country, that may be true for most countries of the world, but it’s all too scary.

More information is coming out about the Covid lab leak, and many believe that bird flu is being engineered to create more vaccines dependents.

Honestly, do they think they can try this again? That the majority of people are so gullible and take another experimental pathogen that could kill them, I’ll take my chances with bird flu.

22nd June 2024

I should not have a beer at lunchtime, it wrecks me for the rest of the day.

It started off as a normal day, we were picking up some free paint from a house close to home.

It was advertised on a Free site that Kelli follows.

We have done this a number of times, and we’ve been lucky with the colours, this time there were eight quart sizes and a box of one pint tins. Look out for some funky furniture coming up.

We stopped off at Menards for some bird seeds and other materials then drove back.

As we pulled into the drive, my phone rang, it was Lloyd. The said that they had the money for the furniture we were doing for them, and if we joined them for lunch they could hand it over.

This was a good enough reason for turning around and returning to the town.

We found them sitting outside of the Carragh, the Irish pub, we’ve frequented many times.

The temptation for a Speckled Hen was too great.

We had a fun time, as usual, the money was handed over, like a suspicious drug deal, this was over the table, not under.

By the time we had finished our lunch, it was late afternoon, all my plans for the day lay in ruins.

I needed to do something, so I decided to clean the pump in the pond. The fountain had disappeared a while ago, there was just the odd blob of water that would emerge from the nozzle.

Not wanting to disturb the frog I carefully lifted the pump, it felt horrible, coated in green slime, I carried it to the bench and stripped it down. The filters were definitely blocked, but a good wash made them useable again. Reassembling everything, I lowered it back into the pond, the frog sat on a rock watching the whole operation.

The cable was connected back to the solar panel, unfortunately there was no sun to fully tested, but with what light there was did cause a bit of activity, so I’m optimistic there will be a lot more activity once the sun comes back.

21st June 2024

We had to drive to Hudsonville to collect a piece that we will convert into a coffee station. We had been asked a while ago but our new friends Lloyd and Nancy to look for one.

That had bought a lot of furniture from us because they were moving from Florida back to Holland and we’re starting from scratch.

So when this piece appeared on Marketplace Kelli jumped at it. It had a hinged down top section and three drawers beneath, just perfect for a coffee station.

It was another hot day, humid and cloudy, it was a pleasant drive to Hudsonville and the item was waiting outside. It was heavy because it was a melamine chipboard which is not our favourite, but with good primers we get good results. The drawer fronts and hinged flap were wood which make it easier and a bit more durable.

When we got back we jumped straight into the pool, but the sun which was shining, went behind a thick cloud bank, and we didn’t see it again for several hours.

I had some timber to cut up and size for a future project, nothing was done on any furniture.

Instead it was time for a bike ride, we ended up at Kollen Park watching the boat people do their pointless pottering up and down the lake. It’s like me cycling up and down the driveway, they are going nowhere, so it’s a big waste of time.

20th June 2024

We delivered the pair of matching side tables that we had for ages. These usually fly off the shelves, but not these.

Finally they were sold last night with the offer of free delivery, a ploy that had worked.

We also had acceptance of the estimate for the repair to the window sills, I will do that next week.

I had another go at the CD player, taking it apart once again. There seemed no logical reason why it doesn’t work, this is a mechanical problem, but there is a micro switch that is attached to a circuit board on the front face panel. I will put new drive belts on it to eliminate that problem, but if it’s the switch that is faulty I’m. Not sure what I will do.

I met up with Lloyd for another chat and a beer, this is a fortnightly event now, and I look forward to it.

19th June 2024

We went to see Stacy our interior designer to look for window blinds. We have been without window dressings since we moved in, so now we thought we should get a quote for some.

I measured the internal frames, and asked for various options including electrical operation.

This might be a trifle elaborate, but you got to ask.

We then did our usual shopping expedition. There were no issues at Natures Market this week, so straight on to Aldi.

Today was a little different because we saw Kelli’s former sister-in-law with whom she used to be good friends. However with Kim’s strange attitude and lack of tact, they hadn’t talked for a long while. I was busy getting something from a shelf, when I heard a “Hi Pete” turning round I saw Kim. There was no stopping to chat, she just went on her way, which was a little out of character. I dashed round to where Kelli was to warn her, but she had a “Hi Kelli” moment herself. It seemed a little awkward, so we purposely slowed down, but down every isle we saw her, she was zigzagging her way throughout the store with no pattern. We had no way of knowing where she would appear next. Eventually she got through the checkout and we breathed a sigh of relief, now we could finish our shopping.

Returning home we jumped straight into the pool, after inflating a new float that I needed.

It was nice just to drift about, not thinking about doing any thing.

There had been a nagging thought that kept chipping away at my brain. Last year I bought a five disc CD player on eBay, when it arrived it was damaged, so I complained and got my money back. I knew what the problem was, and found a spare part, again on eBay.

I replaced the damaged part and the unit switched on and the display lit up, but the carousel would not open. By this time I was fed up with it, so I stored it away, but I was determined to find out the problem.

I brought the machine out of storage, plugged it in, switched it on, and it worked!!

It certainly did work, until I put the top cover on, then it didn’t. I could not see why? There were no obvious interference, I was scratching my head.

I spent the evening watching YouTube videos of people fixing the same model, but of course they never found the problem I had.

I decided that was enough for the day, I will find the problem if it’s the last thing I do.

18th June 2024

The heatwave continues, although Kelli is not a fan.

Awaking at five thirty was not very popular, and that was an understatement.

I was asleep, content in my dreamy bliss, but all that came to an end.

Whether it was her hormones, or the heat, she was pissed.

Her MO is to storm off in the car, draining the last precious drops of fuel in he rapid acceleration.

I put the coffee on, I’ve seen it all before, I needed the stimulus, I found something to do in the garage.

There was a customer due at eleven to collect the two dressers, I went through them cleaning out the drawers and putting wax on the runners, it was good to see them go.

We had been contacted by a customer asking if we could repair/ restore five window sills that had been damaged by rain.

Always looking for any challenges that could supplement the furniture, I drove over to have a look.

The house was a duplex on a modern estate bordering a golf course.

The windows trim was a coated MDF that was flaking off the sill.

The main challenge was to stabilise the exposed material and seal it with a shellac based primer.

With several coats of this primer it will be sanded to blend into the remaining finished trim, then it will be painted with colour matched paint.

Well this is the plan, if she accepts the estimate.

17th June 2024

It was even hotter today, opening the front door hit me like an oven, it was going to be a day when I perspire without effort.

I cycled down the road to collect some eggs. Kelli was informed that two dozen were in the box at the side of the road. Scraping together the money, I went on my way.

I knew it was going to be a hot one because there was no breeze as I tore down the road.

I took out all the empty egg cartons that I had in my saddle bags, and loaded in the two full cartons, then shot back.

We had our breakfast, the cool watermelon was a treat, we were ready for the day.

Our mission was to complete the dresser that was part of a pair that we had sold. This was the one I drove to Muskegon to get.

Kelli has to paint the carcass and drawers, I had to fit the top and other fine tunings so that it could be collected tomorrow

We did manage two pool dips, it was glorious, I could have floated all day.

16th June 2024

It was another hot day, although the clouds covered the sun most of the day, but we attempted a dip in the pool anyway.

I did some stripping of paint on a drawer front, but the humidity slowed me down a bit.

It was Father’s Day over here, and I had messages for Cameron and Greer over here and Ryan from the old country. It was a shame I didn’t get a greeting from Damian, I guess he has a lot going on. It’s funny that a made up holiday can have such meaning. Being a parent it nothing you train for, when it happens, you learn on the job. Getting acknowledgment feels good, it means you’ve done something right.

We drove up to Kelli’s mums for Sunday ice cream, and to lay some mulch on the small flower bed at the front of her property