Another Lifetime to go

6th March 2022

It was the day of rest, no of course I’m joking.

We had one delivery and two pick-ups today.

The delivery was the headboard, the piece we had so long there was risk of the wood rotting.

It was ironic that we delivered it to a house about six houses from where we collected it.

Then we drove to the north side to collect another child’s toy kitchen. You’d have thought that we learnt our lesson on the last one. They take quite a bit of work to do, but Kelli keeps saying that she needs things to do, so this is her project.

Then it was off to Jenison to collect a desk. This will be converted into two matching side tables that we have a bit of success with these, but it means that I have to do quite a bit of work on them.

We got back just in time for lunch, after a bit of refuelling we dragged the newly painted monolith into the house for more pictures.

Kelli started stripping the kitchen while I dismantled the desk.

It was much colder today, quite a bit, I think it reached a high of thirty seven, so no garage door open, and back to standing by the heater.

5th March 2022

I am amazed that the commercials on the radio and television over here that advertise medication. Some of it is pretty heavy stuff, they always speed through the small print at a hundred miles an hour, but there is always a side effect that results in death. Then at the end they recommend that you speak to a doctor before taking it. Isn’t that the wrong way round? I’ve never been to a doctor and told him what is wrong with me.

It was the warmest day of the year so far, up in the sixties, so outside we did go.

Job one was to clear out the space adjacent to the garage which had all the outdoor furniture stacked up. We moved everything, out and swept all the leaves that were trapped.

Job two was the building of the greenhouse.

There was a report of a wasp loose in the area. Dozy from the long winter, it flew about looking for its first victim, and guess who it found?

We carried the box containing the greenhouse through the garage to the back garden where we opened it.

I started checking the parts to make sure they were all there. Kelli was sitting, waiting to start the assembly procedure. Suddenly she shrieked in pain as this single solitary wasp, the only one in Holland, stung her on the finger.

There was a frantic moment of panic as I searched for my Boys own book of magic potions but couldn’t find that. Next was Google, warm water and an ice pack was suggested. I remembered that my mother used to put vinegar on stings, well she put it on everything, it might be a German thing.

Once the pain had subsided, she put a plaster on the wounded digit, well she puts a plaster on everything, no matter on the size of the wound, it must be an American thing.

We started the great build, connecting tubes and brackets, feeding bolts through holes until the structure was built.

There was a discussion about where to place it, “it must be in the sun” was the answer. We shuffled it across the garden to a suitable location, then stood back to admire our work.

Next we had to spray paint the mid century dresser, as it was warm, it was perfect to do that.

Next on the list was cleaning the deck, so with a bucket and a cloth I got on my knees and cleaned half of it. This was so I could store the patio furniture until the other half of the deck was done on another day.

4th March 2022

Our work was interrupted by a neighbour from up the road who stopped by to see how we were doing. Compared to him our lives were quite boring.

He told us that he had a car accident back in December, he was driving in the town, blacked out and hit a tree. Poor tree, it’s always the innocent that suffer. He is quite a big guy, and had heart trouble, par for the course over here. The car was written off, meaning he had to get a new one, and as he is not allowed to drive until his doctor signs him off his wife has to do the driving. This news hadn’t hit the neighbourhood grapevine, or if it did no one told us, even Mike and Lesley hadn’t heard, it was a surprise when he told us his story.

Everyone shuts themselves off during winter, and unless you see the flashing lights through the window you never know what happens.

We managed to finally sell the twin size headboard, this has been hanging around for ages, and the price dropped to a point that I would have burnt it on the driveway rather than lower it any further, but note to self, DON’T BUY ANOTHER HEADBOARD.

3rd March 2023

We check on the daily temperature as others check on the stock prices. There is excitement if we can open the garage doors.

Looking around the desolation that is our garden, there are signs of life, and it’s amazing.

There are also a lot of dog poop that has been frozen now emerging like a glacier giving up its victims, I don’t remember the gardens in the UK looking so dead.

It will be another month before there is more signs of growth, then I have to start on the pruning, something that I’m not experienced in, but I’m watching the YouTube videos.

Kelli has decided to repaint the monolith. The black carcass was too dark, so out came the white paints and the brushes.

I had a top to fit on the buffet. I noted that the piece was manufactured in Vietnam which all made sense. In order to get to the fixings, you needed the body of a five year old boy who could get inside.

Once that was done it was finished, we carried it indoors to take the pictures and posted it on Marketplace.

There are the usual tossers who offer an insulting low price, they can get stuffed.

2nd March 2022

The thaw is well and truly here, almost all has gone from our driveway, just the piles at the end that were the highest are left.

We had another sale this morning, so the second dresser has gone, it just leaves the monolith to go.

Kelli is working on a mid century style dresser, which is starting to look good, whilst the buffet is now waiting for the top that I’m working on.

I also started on the raised bed frames. The planks of cedar that I have been sitting on for the last six months are suddenly now being moved. I managed to assemble the end panels so maybe by the weekend I will assemble the whole frame.

The Russian invasion has dominated the news as you would expect. It is warming to see the world standing together to condemn and sanction Putin and his band of cronies. As the news outlets point out this is not a war by the Russian people, but they will suffer deeply with the country cut off from the world, maybe it’s the people that will raise up and change the outcome, and maybe the government. That may be wishful thinking, because a desperate leader might resort to the unspeakable, I bloody hope it doesn’t happen.

1st March 2022

We had to deliver the dresser to a local address, leaving it in a small porch that was full of shoes of every description. Once I had moved about ten pairs I was able to squeeze myself out, and back in the fresh air.

Our next stop was to a lady who wants a jewellery drawer added to a large pine storage unit. I thought it was a better idea to not to bring the entire unit back just to make a narrow drawer, but to take measurements and make it in the garage.

The storage unit was in the bedroom, the ten watt light bulb was shining as bright as it could, that didn’t help much.

It turned out that the lady only wanted a single drawer, but it had to be designed to cope with kitchen style hinges, that dictated how I approached the exercise.

Once I had all the measurements, I started sketching ideas so that I could give her a quotation.

Although quite a simple job the cost of the materials was quite high, I need to try a different design, but I’m not sure she can afford it as it stands.

We sold the second dresser this evening at a bit of a knock down price, but it’s a sale I guess.

28th February 2022

Well at least it wasn’t snowing or raining, but that was the best of it. As we approached the end of February we had three dressers and a headboard that hadn’t sold, not something we were used to.

A positive thing was my new passport arrived, all blue and robust. It had a hard plastic page inside front page, and my picture appeared FOUR times just to rub it in. But the system works, and I don’t feel so vulnerable now.

I finished off edge banding the top for the buffet, managing to apply a dark stain at the end of the day.

I started repairing the top for the pot bellied baker table. It had a lot of nail hole that I am plugging with a similar coloured wood.

In the evening we managed to sell a small dresser to be delivered tomorrow, Yay!

27th February 2022

If ever there was a day to stay in bed this was the one.

I wanted to finish the large dresser that we have had for ages. It was not a beautiful piece, but we have tinkered around with it for ages.

One of the drawers had water damage that required a ton of Bondo and a lot of sanding to make it look okay. On the other veneered drawers there was a pale band going across the width where a finger grip had been attached. I had tried everything to blend it in, but with no success. Eventually I bought a can of toner to blend the colour. This worked okay, but left the fronts a bit dark. Anyway, I was drilling the holes for the handles and attached a strip of masking tape that I had marked with a centre line to align my drilling jig. After I had drilled the holes I lifted the tape a strip if the stained finish lifted off, I couldn’t believe it, this piece is doomed!

It ended up being painted, but I was pissed, angry with myself for screwing it up.

Once that was dried we carried it into the house to take pictures. It is a bit of a monolith, dark and foreboding, ideal for a goth mansion or whip storage for a dominatrix, both of which don’t reside in Holland.

The only flicker of light in the day was that someone bought the bench, at last.

26th February 2022

Another inch of snow fell overnight, it has to stop sometimes. It is true, the winter last longer here, I long to see the spring flowers.

We took the dogs for a walk around the lagoon, the lake is still frozen, but with the sun and blue sky it looks wonderful. Even the new snow sparkles like a million diamonds, what I’d give for a handful of those.

We took new pictures of the repainted dresser hoping that it will appeal to someone out there, but sales remain slow. It’s not a complete disaster month, but it would have been nice to match January’s numbers

25th February 2022

Another two inches of snow fell last night, where is it coming from? The poor lawn doesn’t know what is happening, one day it breathes again, the next it can’t, no wonder it’s so depressed.

We met up with Mike and Lesley at the vegan cafe for lunch at twelve. We weren’t very hungry as we had breakfast at eleven. Oh the high life, get up when we like, forget the time, have more food, but it’s alway good to meet up for a chat. Poor Kelli she is the foreigner among three Brits.

Afterwards we had to drive to the North side to collect a bookcase thing. It was cheap, but was obviously the top half of a hutch, that will need to be creatively adapted to look less like the top half of a hutch, mmmm, another challenge.

We posted the latest dresser on Marketplace, an example of a springtime theme that has sold well so far, ideal for the buyer that has a cabin or cottage like so many of our customers seem to be.

Kelli had “a wild hare” and re painted a small dresser that hasn’t yet sold, the cedar drawer fronts had a paint over and the top was toned down with a dark finish, I hope we have better luck with this iteration.