Another Lifetime to go

2nd March 2023

There is another threat of impending snow storms heading our way, oh bloody great.

I don’t like these long winters, I’m used to an awful January and a wet February, but then the daffodils break through to announce spring. Over here the poor little shoots don’t know what is happening. One minute the sun is shining, next a foot of snow has been dumped on top of them.

The lady came to collect the side tables, it was a relief to get those out, but now the garage is stacked out with drawers. The two dressers we got free from Hudsonville have been stripped bare and sanded. There were dents and scratches all over the top and drawer fronts, it looked like chains had been dragged across in some sort of S&M ritual, I don’t know what they get up to in Hudsonville, but they certainly take it out on their furniture.

1st March 2023

My mood was a little melancholy because I should have been on a plane heading for the UK. Sometimes I would look up in the sky and see the vapour trails of planes heading off to the Atlantic, that was always my reminder that England was only seven hours away.

There was some sad news from a neighbour that his wife’s father had died. We used to see him walking with his frame around the area. The shock was he was ten years younger than I, but looked a lot older.

We had a few chores to do, first going to Aldi to buy some fish that got delivered incorrectly, and to Menards to buy some plastic pads for the bottom of the side tables, then it was back to the garage to finish off the small buffet and fit the tops to the side tables.

It was a pleasant sunny day, out in the garden the are signs of life appearing above the soil.

I am excited to see how many of my English Bluebell will flower that I planted last autumn.

We finished the small buffet and the two side tables, these were a little disappointment, because whoever made them was not very good, and there is only so much one can do. At least the tops were good.

28th February 2023

I had an appointment at the dentist for a cleaning. Last time it was a gentle affair with water jets and syringes, but this time it was scrapers and muscles. It is also an expensive visit because they threw in a couple of X-rays as well.

I paid with tears in my eyes, and it wasn’t from the treatment, but there is more dental work to come, oh ya!

Straight from there we drove back to Hudsonville to collect the other dresser.

We had already started working on the other. First to go was the ugly handles, then repairs to the drawer guides, a plastic part that sometimes falls off or gets broken, then the removal of the top.

We had a customer arrive to collect the large dresser that we did nothing to other that a clean and polish.

Getting it into her SUV was a challenge, because it was bloody heavy, anyway it was a good month end sale.

27th February 2023

I have had enough of the Michigan winter.

Today is dull with rain and we’re supposed to drive to Hudsonville to collect a free dresser, or possibly two.

The drive was unpleasant, the constant rain on the windscreen drowned out the voice on the GPS, but we found the place and reversed right up to the garage. There were the two pieces waiting, I knew instantly that we wouldn’t get them both into the truck. We have managed to load a number of pieces before, but these were quite large.

We loaded the long dresser and attempted to fit the other but there was no chance. We agreed to return tomorrow to collect the other one.

Once we were back home we offloaded it and it wasn’t a bad piece. Once the handles are replaced, and the top stripped and refinished it will be unrecognisable.

Kelli had a few things to paint, there were the two side tables that the customer wanted white, not the white we painted the other piece she bought, this had to be whiter.

This meant a trip to the local paint specialist to buy a “white” paint.

The assistant helped to narrow down the selection from Chantilly Lace, rabid foam and zombie puss, finally settling on “white” from the uninspired range.

Before we closed down for the night, I applied another coat of poly on the side table tops, then it was into my comfy clothes and a restful evening.

26th February 2023

The sun was a welcome surprise today, it was still cold, but somehow it felt like spring was just around the corner and then a thousand miles north.

Getting the big dresser out of the thick was the first order of the day, and boy was it heavy.

We managed to get it out and then lowered it or the ground allowing us to remove the drawers. This made it a bit easier to manoeuvre it on on to a trolley.

Kelli had the brilliant idea to clean it up, touch up some minor scrapes and sell it like it was.

So with a cloth and some scratch cover she set about tarting it up.

Once that was done we took pictures and it went on to Marketplace, it later sold, not a bad return.

We also sold the long white dresser that was short of two pulls, fortunately the Amazon van came just after midday with the extras.

A young chap turned up to collect it in the early evening. He said that he intended to paint it black to match the decor of his room.

Kelli almost collapsed with the shock, but he bought it, and can do what he wants to with it.

25th February 2023

Today I was going to do my favourite job, laying melamine flooring. I am joking, I absolute hate melamine flooring, but I’m going to lay some at Greer’s and Dylan’s home.

I loaded my tools into the truck and we headed off to Allandale.

Kelli and Greer were having a girls day out leaving me and Dylan to lay the flooring.

The area that needed covering was a long hallway that housed the washing machine and dryer. The first challenge was to neaten the floor where the old flooring ended, it was pretty rough, whoever laid it must have used their teeth to cut it.

With the help of my newly acquired oscillating saw I straightened them the best I could, the joint would be covered with trim piece anyway.

What followed was four hours of cutting, fitting, cutting a bit more, then refitting. It soon became evident that there wasn’t enough pieces to finish the entire hall. The appliances in the hall were the largest I have ever seen, and they were bloody heavy.

So I ended up doing what I would never do, and that is lay the flooring around them. I cringe every time I think of it. It will haunt me everyday.

I didn’t get to finish as Greer and Kelli had returned from their shopping trip, and there was a table booked at a local restaurant.

I will have to go back to finish the job next week.

I went to put my tools back in the truck and as I opened the tailgate there was an enormous dresser staring back at me. Kelli had gone to the local Goodwill and found it. She told me that half the staff had to help her load it, it will be fun trying to get it out with just the two of us.

24th February 2023

Kelli was eagerly awaiting the Amazon truck, maybe more than normal because the pull handles we due.

The dogs signalled it’s arrival, so she grabbed the package and rushed inside.

She came back into the garage very despondent. The pull handles were correct, she had ten delivered, but needed twelve.

That was a downer, she wanted to have pictures taken and posted for the weekend.

If she was to order more they wouldn’t arrive until Sunday. Things were desperate, she checked the Menards website and discovered they had some very similar.

I was dispatched to buy a couple and save the day.

I went straight to the hardware section expecting to find exactly what I needed.

I searched high and low, but there was none that were the same. My only option was to choose something close and hope that we could get away with them.

I was busy making two tops for the side tables when I was called to clear a iceberg that was blocking our photo shoot area.

Kelli said that it was frozen solid, I asked if she had tried to clear it, she replied “ Well I tried to kick it with my foot” mmm, I thought, I might have to work harder than that.

With the aid of my metal manual snow plough, I chipped away at it until I had moved it to another place, then we were clear to take pictures of the heavy dresser.

That was a job and a half, we pushed it out on two carts, and almost killed ourselves lifting it off.

With the aid of a colourful blanket we tried to hide the different pulls, hopefully we can get some interest, and sell it after Sunday when the replacement pulls arrive.

23rd February 2023

The good old city delivered a new wheely bin this morning. Now we wait for the time when the machine crushes that one, I’ll give it six months.

We had a return customer come to collect the repurposed dresser, she overcame the icy conditions to grab this beauty.

Then we had to drive to Zeeland to collect a small two door cabinet. It’s an okay piece but it did smell of smoke, that we didn’t discover until we got home. So the first thing we have to do is neutralise the smell.

I did some major machining to the side tables to remove some material from the bottom to lighten the carcass.

There are also six drawers in the house that have drying all day, the dresser has already been sold so it’s just the drawers holding it up.

We have been watching Clarkson’s Farm, a small reminder of what happens in the English countryside. I think he has done more to bring awareness of the plight of British farming then anyone else.

He of course brings his schoolboy humour that is his trademark, but mixing it with the real issues is what makes this series compelling viewing.

22nd February 2023

The Michigan weather took another turn today, we were hit with freezing rain. It covered everything with an icy glaze, even the salt they spread in abundance doesn’t work in these freezing conditions. So there was not a hope in hell that we would venture out.

Instead we did what we could in the garage.

Kelli would open the garage door for just about the time it took to spray the dresser she was working on, and for me to freeze my arse off.

I decided to strip the planer down ready for the arrival of the new belt that was due tomorrow.

That was a good time to do a bit of spring cleaning. There was so much crap crammed inside the machine it took many brush pans to remove it.

I also cleaned the pulley that had dead belt residue encrusted in the grooves.

Then the cherry on top was changing the blades, that done, I was ready for the rebuild.

Kelli was concerned about our colony of sparrows who live in the holly bush outside the sunroom. “ They will freeze to death in this weather” she said in a serious tone. “We need to cover the bush with a sheet” and at that she went into the garage to find one.

I was still doing the washing up when she returned. “ Well will you help me? I will need help spread the sheet”

I put down the plates and changed back into my warm working clothes and stepped out into the artic conditions.

“ Won’t they freak out in the morning when they can’t see the sky?” I said slightly amused with the whole saga.

“Well if there is a heap of dead birds under the bush, it will be your fault “ she said in reply.

So that is what we did at 10.00pm, I hope they appreciate what we did.

Anyway according to the weather report we have locusts, frogs and the four horsemen of the apocalypse still to go.

21st February 2023

I managed to modify the two drawers for the shortened pedestal. I think I got away with it.

I went full bore on cutting down the second pedestal, as I still had the saw out I decided to shorten the two dressers for that carcass.

I measured out the required dimension.

I was puzzled, the amount I would have to cut was much less than the other two I already modified. It then dawned on me that the shorter drawers were the ones I originally measured to check that they would fit in the shortened carcass, so I wasn’t a complete plonker.

Kelli was already well into stripping the white dresser we picked up yesterday. Most of the drawer fronts were sanded and she managed to prime the dresser body.

Several months ago I started giving the dogs any scraps from our dinner plates, because I could be bothered to scrape it into the bin.

Which leads me on to a point about rubbish.

The amount of stuff we throw away as refuse is embarrassing small. Sometimes I feel I should raid other people’s bins just to make ours look good. Since we compost, that makes up for most of what used to get chucked away.

Recycling is another high yield, and America doesn’t seem to be making any progress in reducing its packaging.

So back to the dogs. Now every night, after they’ve had the last piss and dump of the day they rush in to see what is in their bowls. Even Dhama drags her back legs over broken glass to scoff what morsels I have left them.

It is often a struggle to remember to save them anything, especially when the meal was good and there was nothing left.

Then there is an urgent hunt for anything edible, if push comes to shove, I could empty what is left in the rubbish bin, but what would I then put in the wheelie bin?