Well my rocks turned up and were dumped on the driveway.
I expect the neighbours must think we are building a road with all the hardcore, dirt and now boulders that have been piled up on the drive, I now have to move the bloody stuff.
Kelli went off to collect something she had found on Marketplace last night. I had some drawer fronts to cut for the kitchen cabinet , another reason why I need a track saw.
My shorts have now been retired for another year. There is a noticeable drop in temperature, a harsh reminder of what is to come, I even need to wear a work coat to keep warm.
There was a dresser that needed to be picked up on the south side of Holland. When we got there I was surprised by how small it was, from the picture I was prepared for something much bigger, so it was easy to load.
It was wedding anniversary day, four years, and boy has it flown. There has been Covid and Kelli’s health issues that had marred two years, so it is hoping that it’s uphill from here.
We first had to take Dhama to the Vets because her back leg had not healed, even though she had been on anti-inflammatory tablets for a number of weeks now. This visit was the time for an X-ray to check her bones.
We had to leave her there whilst we went off to do our business.
First was a drive to Saugatuck to deliver the three tables that I refinished. They turned out good, there were faults that I couldn’t remove and I got most of the stains out. The guy was happy with the result which is alway a relief.
We had lunch at the Saugatuck brewing company, then a mooch around the town before driving back to collect Dhama.
There was nothing conclusive about her problem, they think it is nothing more than a strained muscle or ligament, she has to stay on the anti-inflammatory for the time being, and some muscle relaxations tablets. Bang! Went the money for the tables, I think I need some relaxation for my muscles.
Off we drove to Zeeland to collect a mid century style dresser, then on to Hudsonville to pick up a low TV unit. To say it was heavy was an understatement, for something so small to weigh so much there must be lead in it somewhere.
On the was we passed the Herman Miller main site with the new MillerKnoll signage, it felt strange to see it and to not the old logo, it was sad, soon all the trucks and trailers will follow, then the big red trucks will also be consigned to history.
We dropped off the new pieces at Georgia’s storage facility (Kelli’s mum’s garage) then drove back home.
I finished the last coats on the small table tops, and cleaned and waxed the legs ready for the delivery tomorrow.
I also managed to finish and fit the drawer in the kitchen cabinet, and also dug a bit more of the restyled top garden, a good day.
Since the pandemic we have had our groceries delivered, this has been really convenient and not that expensive. We have had our share of missing items, or things we didn’t order, but tonight there was the ultimate. Both of us were not around when the delivery was made, I was suspicious when I saw a large pizza on top of a pack of fizzy drinks. Kelli took one look, announcing that everything was wrong, we had someone else’s order.
She was straight on the phone to the home shopping delivery service. They told us that we could keep the order or give it away, and we would be credited for the order we didn’t get.
What we had delivered was not small, it must have been fifty dollars or more, and some poor sod would have had ours.
We gave it all to the family across the road, they have four kids , most of it would have been devoured by the time we got to the bottom of the path.
Thunder storms were expected, which curtailed our outside working. Kelli had the finishing touches to do to the twin headboards, but we decided to take pictures ahead of the rain.
As the storm started we moved all the pieces inside the garage including the bed frames themselves. I was struggling with them, no matter how I stood them up they kept falling over, at one point I thought they were going to hit me. I shouted oaths, Kelli heard them and came to the rescue. She just placed them in the same place as I did, and they stayed there.
She posted them on Marketplace and they were soon snapped up, not bad for a roadside find and a bit of paint.
I drove the the landscape suppliers to order some rocks, but first stopped at the bank to draw out some cash. I needed petrol so I pulled in to the pump, handed my money over and started to dispense the fuel. Suddenly this car pulled up on the other side of the pump with music blasting out.
Yes it was a tall black dude, and the music, or should I say, sound, was aggressive rap. He left his car, and the noise, as he strutted into the kiosk. Now I like music, but not this type, I tried to pump the fuel faster just to get finished and away before my ears started bleeding.
I’m not sure why he believed the world deserved to hear his playlist, but Kelli remarked that it was stereotypical of the black community, therefore it was accepted.
I drove off from the petrol station and made my way to the landscaping supplier.
I ordered a cubic yard of river rocks, large enough not to fall through the holes in the gabions, that’s being delivered on Friday.
Later the buyer for the headboards turned up just as another storm hit. It didn’t deter the loading, with good humour, both headboards fitted perfectly into their truck. This was a quick turnaround, from free to finish was three days.
We also packed the pool away. As we still have the original box it came it, I can’t believe it could ever have fitted in it. It must have taken some well trained children and an elephant to packed it. We ended up putting it into a large plastic crate, but it’s gone for another year, and the space looks empty without it.
I watched part of the Queen’s funeral, like all royal celebrations it is done with precision and magnificence. If feels strange that this person will no longer be on the TV at Christmas, it is all that I’ve known.
The elderberry bush growing in the back garden has been provided us with enough berries to make a syrup that has heathy attributes.
Kelli found a recipe, and my job was stripping the berries from the stalks. With a fork in hand I sat on the sofa mindlessly watching as the berries fell into the bowl. I had a lot of practice doing this in my wine making days, but it is so easy to end up with stained fingers that last for days.
Off I went to see if the tailboard was still there.
Even before breakfast, with my hair untidy and hidden by a cap I set off. There had been a heavy rain storm during the night, so it would have got a good soaking.
As I approached the turning, I couldn’t see it, my heart sank.
A lot of the pieces had been taken, the large bench was still there and also a few chipboard panels, but there, my heart stopped, the tailboard was there, laying on the ground.
I swung the truck around and threw it into the back and headed home.
It was a funny day, I was supposed to work on the garden, but the pool had to be emptied, so I had to set the pump up and attach hoses and drain the water.
I had to apply some lawn food to the front grass, and I noticed that my reseeded area was sprouting.
I had fun working on the tail board, the turned section was made from three pieces glued together then turned, all I had to do was split the glue joint. I used a heat gun to soften the glue and metal scrapers to force the piece apart. It could have gone horribly wrong, but it didn’t. Armed with the small wooden piece I glued it into position on the headboard, now it was complete.
I started digging out the new flower beds on the raised garden, there is a lot of turf to remove, with the sun beating down on my slightly burning head I made a start.
I loaded up the wheely bin with as much spoil as I thought the container could safely manage, and called it a day.
Kelli’s peripheral vision struck again. The inertia reel seatbelts saved me head butting the dashboard as she made a u-turn.
She had spotted a collection of items outside a paint storage wear house and we were speeding back to the location.
And she was right, there were a couple of headboards, a couple of chairs, a brand new double glazed window, a tatty melamine cupboard and a home computer table.
Well, the bed bits and the window went straight into the back of the truck, then we headed off to lunch.
It was an odd series of events that led us to be in the area. It was my idea to have lunch at our favourite cafe, and Kelli’s that we took the road that the furniture was on, so we could have been guided by the universe to have these items.
I assembled the carcass of the kitchen cabinet, the front rails were tenoned and bonded in with epoxy, the back rails were screwed, these would be hidden by the back panel.
Kelli couldn’t wait to start on the headboards having them primed before the end of the day.
I did notice that one of the legs had part of the turned section missing, this would typically be against the wall, so no big deal.
Later that night whilst sitting in bed, I had a thought about the tail board that we didn’t take, because there was only one. If it hadn’t been grabbed by someone else, and was still there I could cannibalise it to repair the headboard.
Now we were thinking about getting out of bed and driving over to the place to see if it was still there, but we decided to wait until morning, but it didn’t stop us from thinking about it all night.
We had someone who was interested in the sarcophagus, the joy was in my face.
I had my own challenges like cutting the tenons for the front rails of the kitchen unit.
There was a rebate that I had to machine for the back panel, a simple job some might say, but not for me. I could have used the table mounted router, but the bed is small and trying to hold a wide panel would be tricky.
I decided to use a clamp fence and run the router alone it. Everything was set up, I double checked the dimensions and switched the machine on. It was going well, then I noticed the fence had slipped about a millimetre, meaning my rebate was wider at one end.
Now I was in recovery mode, I had to correct the other end to make a parallel cut. All this faffing around took time, but eventually the rebates, and the tenons were complete.
Kelli on the other hand had a wild hair and repainted the tall dress because she thought the original colour was the reason it hadn’t sold. Off she went in a cloud of white paint, within a short time it was transformed, pictures taken and posted. Minutes later it was sold, I have learned never to question Kelli’s instincts.
I finally went to the landscaping store to get some rocks to fill the gabions.
The ones I had at the cottage I filled with stones I found and scavenged, but round here there is none to be found in the wild. My only option was to see what they had available.
I ended up with some grey Mexican beach pebbles ranging from two to four inches. They were quite expensive, but I bought four bags to try out.
Once I was back home I tried the pebbles in one of the gabions building a wall around the perimeter hoping to fill the middle with smaller rocked, but it was difficult to do as the pebbles were odd shape and didn’t lend themselves to being stacked, so that idea failed. The pebbles would have to fill the gabions , but that would cost two hundred dollars for each, a bit much, I need to rethink.
Keli finished painting the sarcophagus, it was too heavy to carry into the house, it would have required six pole barers to lift that bugger.
We took pictures outside, and even lifting it off the trolley nearly strained my greens, I hope whoever buys it has strong floors.
It was my first visit to Holland’s Farmers market. We rode on our bikes, just a short distance from the park, our frequent destination.
It consists of stalls either side of a short road, each lined with vegetables and fruit. It occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays and may become a popular excursion for us.
We filled our bags with plumbs, potatoes and a string of sprouts that stuck out from my saddle bag like an alien spine.
I stripped the second small table, I thought was in worst condition than the first, but after removing the old finish and giving it a dose of oxalic acid the veneer looked great, so just the large one to go.
Kelli painted the sarcophagus, it is a big bigger, and received new knobs from Amazon, it should look great.
I made a start on the kitchen cabinet cutting the end panels to size, I had fun chasing the squareness around, but I got there in the end.
Another Lifetime to go 