Author: peterb51

27th November 2023

We paid a visit to a local animal humane society because Kelli was tipped off about a poor dog that was up for adoption. Now we already have two dogs, and as one of them is getting on a bit we had agreed some time back that we would get a “cross over” animal to take its place.

Freddy is a boxer/bulldog/whippet cross(god knows how that happened) who had a rough life, which is always a sob story that Kelli falls for.

I agreed to go and see what was involved in the adoption process. Of course once we got there she found out that we should apply on line, but we did get a chance to see the poor beast.

Once we got back Kelli made the application, so now we wait.

We did manage to finish another dresser and get pictures outside in the cold.

The snow continued to flutter down all day, but it didn’t stop us taking the dogs for a walk. Both of us dressed appropriately in thick coats and scarves, a look that will be continued for the next few months.

It also heralded the breaking out of the fleece lined work trousers, these are so warm it keeps my legs nice and toasty unlike the rest of my body that feels like an iceberg.

26th November 2023

Snow was forecast today, I looked out of the window for warning signs, but the sky was grey but not threatening.

I had wood to cut up so I dragged the saw outside just as a few flakes of snow fluttered down.

We finished the chairs by reupholstering them in a black and white fabric. We had a lot of it left from a previous project, and we felt it looked good. We now hope they will sell quickly.

Kelli’s sleeping pattern has improved, she now averages seven hours a night, even when I have to get up to “splash me boots” she is able to get to sleep again.

It has taken us two years to get to this point, and I had no idea what a lack of sleep can do. I did not understand the healing qualities of sleep the body needs, and I had no idea that eating meat again could make such a difference. All I know is Kelli is back from her hell, there is still a way to go on her journey, but we now see progress.

25th November 2023

I finally got around to changing the cistern on the laundry room toilet. I had exhausted all excuses, and rather than antagonise Kelli any more, I rolled up my sleeves and set about the job.

I laid the instruction sheet out and followed it to the letter, even though I thought I didn’t need it.

At least over here there is alway a tap on the water supply line which makes maintenance very easy. I proceeded to take the old bits apart, getting covered in a black substance that stained my fingers.

It took about an hour to do the job, including the adjustments to optimise the water flow.

Triumphantly I carried the old cistern parts out to the rubbish bin and threw them in.

Once that was done I lightly sanded the chairs ready for another finish coat. These were originally from Asia so the timber was a strange combination of grains and colours, but once the seat pads are recovered from the brown vinyl they will look wonderful.

I collected all the drawer parts from the dresser we found on the street in Grand Rapids.

It had one complete drawer, two without fronts and one drawer missing, so this one will take some time to finish.

I also had some veneer repairs to a drawer front from the mid century piece to work on.

24th November 2023

Everything is back to normal, the fridge is full of leftovers and the city collected the rubbish.

It was time to get back to doing stuff in the garage.

It is now noticeably cold with the garage door open, cold enough for me to wear a hat, although the shape of my head causes the hat to slide up, making me look like an elf. This is amusing to Kelli who keeps motioning me to pull it down.

I had three drawers to make new floors for, so out came the table saw to cut up the large sheet of plywood. I had removed the old ones by knocking out the back piece of the drawer box. These were in a bad state and needed a bit of repair.

Kelli sprayed a coat of finish on the four chairs that I had stripped, and started work on yet another dresser.

Lunchtime meant a plate of leftover turkey, stuffing balls and red cabbage, yum yum.

Then back out in the cold to do more stuff.

Kelli put new knobs on the previous dresser we’d finished so we took new pictures and reposted it.

We got a bite straight away from a lady living in Florida who plans to move back to Holland in March, it would mean storing it until then, but hey ho! a sale is a sale.

23rd November 2023

It’s Thanksgiving and a day that will descend into chaos very quickly.

We, as the hosts had set out what each family member should contribute.

We would do the turkey, Matt would make mashed potato and a macaroni cheese, Brenda would do the red cabbage, German style, Cameron would bring an apple pie, Greer and Dylan bread rolls and flavoured butter and Kelli’s mum would bring the pumpkin pie.

That was the plan, Brenda failed at the first hurdle not getting the red cabbage. “ You only had one thing to do” was my controlled thought.

We were then informed that she “got” a jar of the same vegetable, so we walked along to collect it, but it then turned out that she didn’t have it.

She did however find a store open and bought one then delivered it to us. So we were able to prepare it and make it available for the Thanksgiving dinner.

The turkey turned out really well, much better than we thought of as it was our first one.

Everyone enjoyed the spread, noting especially how good my stuffing balls were.

I did have a few drinks, always a necessity at any family event.

But just like every special day, we tried to play a box game, but no one had played it before and nobody understood the rules, just like being in England

22nd November 2023

Thanksgiving Eve once again, a good time to buy food. Kelli had more things to take to Plato’s, a real case of “You again?”, but when her closest crosses into another time dimension, there will still be clothes that have been forgotten.

So there first, then Nature’s Market then Aldi.

Being spontaneous I suggest going to New Holland for lunch, it had been weeks since we were there last.

The day began with a young lady finally delivered a coffee table that needed some work. I say finally, because I have been waiting for it for over a year since first contacted, I had given up ever seeing it.

So now it was in front of me in all its glory, a two foot by four foot oak table.

I was given a full break down of what had happened, a flower pot sitting on it causing a small area of water damage. Normally a water stain can be treated with oxalic acid, but due to the construction there was small areas of blistering.

To do this job probably I will have to strip the whole top, a Herculean task because it was a patchwork of inset veneers. This will be either a triumph or disaster.

We expected the stores to be heaving, like the pre Christmas rush, but it was quite the opposite, although a lot of the items had sold out, like orange juice, that stuff grows on trees, for gawrd sake!

We finished the shopping, took it home to unload, then went for lunch.

Since we started eating meat again, the menu choice is vast now, and it was a spontaneous act, that’s the best, and the food tastes better.

I have spoken about the state of vehicles over here, and the one we saw today epitomises that.

Just in front of us was a black Jeep where the rust was working its way up from the ground. The drivers window was lowered with his hand out holding the roof sill. Every so often he tried to slam the door closed but failing every time. So he was driving along holding the door closed.

His best bet was to continually make a sharp right hand turn in order to keep the door shut.

21st November 2023

After yesterday’s riotous experience, it was back to normal, Menards.

Well first I had to go to Lowes to buy a sheet of plywood. I had great fun getting it into the back of the truck. It took a few minutes of seat moving before I got the whole piece in. I can imagine some Japanese engineer designing the vehicle around a sheet of plywood, respect man.

In the US the engineers have to build their vehicles around their enormous guts.

I know whose truck I would rather drive.

After loading the material, I drove to Menards to further my orgasmic day of action. There I had to buy finish materials and bird seed.

We are good to our wild feathered friends, we keep the squirrels fat as well. Kelli had tried different methods for stopping them stealing the bird food, including adding chilli powder. All that does is encourage them to eat more spicy foods and drink beer to cool them down.

20th November 2023

I’ve never been keen on birthdays, well once the big presents that you got from your parents stopped. They became a stick in the ground, marking another chunk of time. I try not to think of the number, I guess I don’t want it to signify anything. I have come to believe that how I feel is more important, and that the age part is just a countdown to the inevitable.

I need to put that off, I have far more important things still to do.

I got birthday wishes for my friends and family, that warms me a lot because I treasure them.

They are my jewels, each one relates to a point in time that has meant much to me.

Kelli likes to make a fuss and usually buys me a gift that is special, these are things that I will own for ever.

So it is a day of reflection, did I have a good year? have I learnt something new? The answer is always yes. I have my childlike excitement when I buy a new tool or equipment, where I can’t wait to get it out of the box and working.

I still enjoy music, although some new stuff confuse me. I do come from a time where longevity marked a level of success, and I am aware that there is so much temporary things about, I certainly am grateful for growing up in the era I did.

19th November 2023

It was a special day, not as special as tomorrow, but special enough.

We were planning a meal for Dylan, Greer’s husband whose birthday was a few days ago.

He had sent Kelli a recipe for a steak dinner he wanted, so we went to the corner shop for the ingredients. There were a number of things that certainly weren’t the run of the mill items, like juniper berries and cardamom, I’m sure these are spices that rot in many people’s larders.

Anyway Kelli set about preparing and cooking the meat. Whilst in the oven a potato dish was slowly roasting.

The steak was frying in a pool of red wine, of course I had to check if the liquid was good enough, it was, but I had to check it periodically as the cooking progressed.

This was the first time we had steak for blooming years so we were nervous of the result.

There was no need to worry, it turned out brilliantly.

The next part of the special day was when the rest of the family joined us for a cake eating event to celebrate both Dylan and my upcoming birthday.

The amount of of wine I had drunk blended well with the chocolate cake, making the whole event a bit of a blur, but I’m sure everyone had a good time, I’m sure I’ll hear about it.

18th November 2023

The dresser that we have been pushing in and out of the garage for the last two weeks has finally been collected. I personally saw it loaded and battened down in the back of a Jeep. We were beginning to think we would still have it past Thanksgiving.

This left us free to do something else. Greer has asked us to join her to look at some houses she was thinking of buying, the downside was they were in Grand Rapids.

We met Greer and Dylan at the first house, a two bedroom place smelling of paint, a good sign I thought, all new appliances, water heater and a three year old furnace. It was obviously a flip house because nobody was living there. I thought. It looked good and wouldn’t require anything spent on it. The basement was a bit messy, but it looked like it was being worked on.

Greer didn’t like the area, so that was out.

We drove on to the next place.

After parking we noticed a dresser by the roadside, it was in a bit of a state with broken drawers, but the carcass looked okay, so we loaded it into back of the truck, like you do.

Then we crossed the road and entered the building. This place was the complete opposite to the first, more of a dump. It would require a complete gut job. The bathroom was a disaster, getting into the bath tub would expose your arse if anyone next door was looking through the fence, not a good experience for both.

So that one was out as well.

That concluded the house viewing, next we had to find the place that was selling some plates.

There were not any plates, they matched some we already had, and in most cases as rare as hens teeth.

The plates were made in Italy and were Kelli’s favourite. When I accidentally broke one it was hard and expensive to replace it, so these were a bargain.

We got to the address and were met by this odd person. He/she had the voice of a guy, but wearing a dress, over extremely hairy legs, it confused me because I had no idea what they were transitioning to or from.