Another Lifetime to go

23rd July 2022

Well at least my temperature has dropped to just above normal, could this be the light at the end of the tunnel?

My throat is still a little scratchy, it didn’t turn into the sore throat I was dreading. Poor Kelli has lost her sense of taste and smell which Is driving her crazy, I’ve still got that to look forward to.

I’ve been reading up on the timetable of symptoms, there is lots of information out there, it’s difficult to assimilate into an order.

I have ticked off the symptoms that are categorised as a mild infection, but there are a few that tip over into moderate conditions. I don’t want to fall into the severe symptoms.

My cough is really annoying, it keeps me waking up at night, and I sound like an old heavy smoker.

22nd July 2022

Another day of inactivity, it does feel like a case of flu, my temperature is about 102 making me feel weak and wobbly. Kelli still has her bad throat, she is not happy to feel bad, I can’t remember a time when she was sick at all.

All this is having a detrimental effect on the business, there are two finished pieces, but not many people rushing to buy.

If I can get this fever to break I will be able to do some work, or at least water the garden, where the weeds just keep growing, bastards!

I am not sure what is worse, Covid, or having to watch Kelli’s collection of the worst, clique heavy chick flicks, at the moment, Covid is ahead on points.

21st July 2022

Kelli’s sore throat it still present, mine has moved up to a fever and a wet cough. The cough is followed by phlegm, I read that a third of people getting Covid will experience that.

It certainly isn’t something I like.

It must be awful for Kelli to hear it. I hope this doesn’t last long.

I am surprised at the number of people that have the virus. The statistics only register hospital cases, in real terms Covid is rampant throughout the US, many people we know have it, or just had it. All the attention on vaccines has made people too complacent, all the boosters haven’t stopped the spread we must just learn to live with it.

20th July 2023

Kelli is on day four and she has a bad sore throat. I think I’m a couple of days behind, so can’t wait the catch up.

I was determined not to let it stop me doing stuff in the garage. I started on one drawer from a dresser we picked up from Zeeland.

We were seduced by the outside, but once I looked closely at the drawers they were a mess, held together with glue.

I spent the day dismantling and patching the broken parts.

As the day progressed my body started to feel a bit wobbly, and I could easily fall asleep.

We did go in the pool for a short session, and that is maybe while I began to feel crap.

Kelli talked with her doctor and he suggested some supplements to boost the immune system. He said I should take them as well.

We collected them from outside the surgery, getting back home my dose was laid out, two white, four brown and four yellow. There has not been many instances where I’ve had to swallow so many, but fortunately I took only half the quality, the rest in the afternoon.

I am angry with the whole situation, I thought we would ride this one out. Whilst in the pool Kelli asked for a sign from the universe that we would be okay. She wanted a hummingbird to land on some red flowers that are growing next to the pool. We had been in the pool about ten minutes when she squealed with joy at the sight of one little blighter zipping from flower to flower, it was amazing, and hopefully a good omen.

19th July 2022

Well it finally happened, Covid hit 593 Central bay.

Kelli had been feeling achy and as persistent headache since Sunday, after speaking with her son Cameron, who was also feeling rough, we decided to take a Covid test. As we we out collecting a dresser we stopped off to buy one.

As soon as we got home Kelli tested herself. The result was positive.

We were both stunned, we have been so careful, not going out much, only to collect furniture or the occasional trip to Menards or the garden centre.

We then tried to establish when we would have been exposed to the virus.

According to the general information it could have been up to fourteen days before the Sunday that the symptoms were felt.

This would have been the Fourth of July when we celebrated Cameron’s birthday.

We narrowed it down to Alyssa, Cameron’s girlfriend, who shares a house with several people in Grand Rapids. At times all members of the household had been sick “with a bug that was going around”.

Now we have to quarantine for two weeks, and contact everyone we have been in contact with during the last two weeks.

I haven’t felt bad at all, although my imagination will start to make me think that I have symptoms even though I haven’t, but I will keep checking.

18th July 2022

There is a bug going around, and I think Kelli’s caught it. We recently had a visit from Cameron who’s girlfriend had it last week, or it could have been Greer, after all she works in a hospital and you know what a breeding ground for germs that is. So she was not herself today, but she dragged her weary bones about, managing to paint drawer fronts and a complete carcass. I on the other hand managed to do less. I did manage to finish a repair to a drawer with two broken side panels.

We didn’t manage a bike ride at all, which is the first time in four weeks, she must have been bad.

17th July 2022

The next door neighbour was killing me. I was watering my new lawn and he was grilling burgers, and the aroma was bringing me to my knees. It has been years since I had a burger, and that familiar smell was so alluring that I must have watered the same area for twenty minutes.

The humidity was oppressive, even pulling out a weed brought me out in a sweat.

The current weather, wonderful as it is, is not conjusive to working on furniture. The paint dries in the sprayer, so it spits and spatters all over the surfaces.

16th July 2022

I don’t know how I haven’t been killed yet.

Our bike rides are usually taken at a reasonable pace, that is until Kelli makes a last minute change of direction. I overtake, and then have to back-track. This is okay when the roads are empty, but a bit risky when there is heavy traffic. Kelli is like an automatic toy that moves in a random manner, this is the reason I’ve done more miles than her, just trying to keep up.

We stopped at an abandoned garden that used to belong to a local character. She had died several years back, her house was sold and demolished, but her garden remained unloved and overgrown.

Kelli’s brother Matt lives across the road and led us through the undergrowth. There are some wonderful mature plants hidden amongst the weeds. We want to preserve these and move them to an area in our garden so they will cared for.

Now we have to plan a time to help them escape.

Greer and Dylan came to spend some time in our pool, it’s much better here than the beach, less people and no sand in the food.

We finished the two side tables and took pictures, these are now live and waiting for a new home.

15th July 2022

It was important to get our ride in before the rain came. We headed down Southshore drive, checking out any gardens we thought interesting. There was one that was a masterpiece of planting compositions, it had water flowing from rocks that was either clever design or bad drainage.

I still insist on using the gears rather than the assist mode which often make me grunt a bit when there are hills, Kelli on the other hand is on assist all the time, and as I’m staining, I hear the slight hum of her motor as she come up beside me all calm and refreshed.

We got back just in time before the rain. This curtailed some of the spraying, but there was plenty to do.

That was the problem, for weeks my area of the garage had become a shithole, and I never had the chance to clean it up, stuff kept building up, and I could never see the bench top.

I would trip up on timber offcuts and build makeshift supports to balance things on which would invariably collapse, making me angry, so I needed to do some housekeeping.

14th July 2022

The time had come, it was decision day, should we change Kelli’s bicycle seat?

It’s four weeks now, and her bottom still hurts after the most modest ride, so in order to stop that happening again it needed to be changed.

The ride to the cycle shop is now a regular trip, the bikes almost are on automatic to get there.

They had quite a selection to choose from, should it be heated? should it have arms? Should a foot stool be included? We went through all the options. Finally she chose one, the guy in the shop fitted it, made a few adjustments, and off we went. Five minutes later we were back at shop, more adjustments were required, as she had a sloping bum the seat had to be tilted a little. Once that had been done, we set off again, this time it was better. I kept the old seat as a spare just in case mine exploded sometime.

We then drove to pick up some furniture bits from Elaine.

We were shown a bit more of the grounds surrounding the house including the lake filled with carp and goldfish. The party piece was the ringing of a bell to summon the fish for a feed. It was crazy to see the water become a swirling frenzy of mouths and gills.