Another Lifetime to go

26th November 2021

They say nostalgia isn’t what it use to be, however today it was all bundled up in a hat and woolly scarf.

Yesterday Kelli found a pile of Christmas LP records that she remembered as a child at her mums house. As her mother no longer had a record player, she bagged them and brought them home.

Today was the day when she decided to play them. There was Bing Crosby and a mix of Carpenters plus a collection of Christmas carols. I first thought there was something wrong with out record player, it was muffled and winey, then I realised what it was, it was poor Kelli, sentimental and emotional, sobbing, the memories were too strong

Eventually she calmed down and I was able to reminisce, as all of the music I remembered also.

There were all the old black and white films showing snow, burning log fires and armfuls of presents, they were the Hollywood images of Christmas. My memories were slightly different, mum would emerge from a steam filled kitchen trying desperately to synchronise all the food to be ready at the same time. The same kind of music was in the background accompanying this typical English chaos.

We took pictures of our latest two dressers. The “Train Wreck” came out pretty good, that was a Labour of love, and very sore fingers.

Kelli posted them on Marketplace and as it was Black Friday it would be interesting if people had any money left to buy them.

25th November 2021

It’s Thanksgiving, a totally pointless holiday that lost its relevance once people understood it’s true meaning. But Americans celebrate it anyway, tagging it on to their greetings. “Happy Thanksgiving “ they say, “ And to you” is the only response I can think of.

It has now become a launchpad for high powered retail therapy, if the shelves are not already empty, or stuck in containers at the docks. People love spending money, even if they haven’t got any, the plastic cards certainly get flexed tomorrow.

We went up to Kelli’s mum for Thanksgiving dinner, there were only four of us, the kids had other arrangements and Matt’s wife was on her way to the Netherlands.

The day was a little flat, there was no controversy or arguments, I was hoping to stir things up by mentioning being thankful that Americans had seen sense and got rid of the bloated orange abomination from the White House, but I didn’t get the chance. I guess the family balance had to be maintained.

We finally sold the blue dresser this evening.

A guy offered us twenty five bucks less than we advertised, that’s typical, bloody bandit. But we accepted it as it was a piece we got for free with no additional material other than my repairs and sanding.

Towards the end of the evening the snow came down, we have to look forward to more of it over the next few days.

24th November 2021

All the leaves I had meticulously raked into a pile by the side of the road had mysteriously disappeared. Well not really, I knew instantly what had happened, they were evenly distributed over Larry’s front lawn. That’s the result of the windy conditions that have hit Holland. Poor man he had to get on his mower and start all over again.

Yesterday the last nose pad on my glasses fell off. I have only had one for the past year, and the frame would slowly slide down my nose which was really annoying when I had to look down at something. When the last one bit the dust there was nothing to grip my nose, making them impossible to wear.

Now the problem was to find an optician who could repair them. The glasses were manufactured by Lindberg, so I looked on line for the nearest stockist. The nearest being quite a distance away.

Kelli volunteered to call the optometrist in the town called Globe. They did repairs which was promising. I drove into town hoping they might be able to fix them. As I walked into the shop I approached an older man, and explained my problem. He immediately recognised the make and took my glasses off to his work bench. Fifteen minutes he was back with my glasses fully restored, and what was amazing about the experience was, he didn’t charge me for doing it. That was like winning the pools, nothing is free here, and I had to check my ears to make sure I was hearing correctly, that made my day.

I scrapped another part of the bookcase, I decided to do one piece a day so I didn’t get bored with it. The paint is tough and requires a lot of down force to remove it, and I cannot have too much of a good thing.

23rd November 2021

Kelli didn’t have a good night, she was awake early, and it effected how she felt for the rest of the day. There was plenty of things to do in the garage, I started off by scraping the paint off the bookcase just to see what the timber was like. It was supposed to be over seventy years old, therefore the pine should be dense and good quality.

The scraper did a good job, but the difficulty will come when I have to strip the inside. My thought was to knock it apart and do each plank one at a time as it is just nailed together.

Another task was to add a sealer to the drawer fronts and top that I had stained last night.

The train wreck dresser is moving on, with the side inset panels painted and the top fitted.

Kelli ordered the handles from eBay, so early December it should be finished.

Larry had the job of working on Kelli’s mother vehicle. It had been suffering from irregular ignition, so the first thoughts were on spark plugs or leads. Larry went off of a test drive and to get it hooked up to a diagnostic unit to locate the problem. The result came back indicating a faulty engine sensor. Once that was replaced the roughness had disappeared and was running nice and smooth.

That job gave Larry some pocket money to buy his cigarettes, that he puffed away whilst sucking up the mass of leaves that had landed on his front yard. Last night was a mild frost, and as the temperature increased, the remaining leaves would just fall even though there was no wind, it was a fascinating sight to see. By midday most trees had shed all their leaves, meaning another couple of hours raking ahead.

We finally sold the light green dresser tonight at a knockdown price, don’t get me started on that.

22nd November 2021

It was an emotionally charged day, which is the beginning of an emotional week.

It is also Thanksgiving week, which is a bundle of fun.

Today would have been Dave’s eighty-third birthday, so Kelli had that thought in her head when she awoke.

At the end of the week it will be two years that he passed, so talk about getting it all over in one foul swoop.

There was also a drive to Allandale to collect a furniture piece that had been waiting for us for a week or so.

We also had a lady drop off a bookshelf that she wanted stripping of paint. We did give a high quote for that, which she accepted, so we are sort of committed. I

There was a visit to Dave’s grave to lay flowers. It has been easier to find since the headstone has been erected, up to then, I’m sure we left flowers on a different clump of grass, much to the confusion and maybe the amusement of the cemetery staff.

21st November 2021

Nothing to celebrate today, although the remnants of the cake still occupies most of the fridge. There is over half the cake left which at the current rate of consumption could last a very long time. The only criticism I would make is that it is too sweet, a real Black Forest has real cream and not buttermilk icing, apparently that’s how they do things here. Their biscuits are far too sickly, thank goodness for digestives.

We had to deliver a dresser to the north side, a welcomed break.

Kelli went into the storage room to look through many of the plastic crates containing much of her early memorabilia as well as her children’s. The idea was to select items that he could put into scrap books so that they could be catalogued and be more accessible.

All I could hear was chuckles and sniffing, meaning she was overcome with emotion. She emerged all red eyed and puffy with a box full of memories.

I smiled and carried on sanding, my favourite pastime.

20th November 2021

Happy Birthday to me, and what an amazing day it was.

Kelli excelled by giving me a gift that I would never had thought of.

There was a story that I had told her a few years ago about a time when my mum had bought me a Corgi model of a Ford Thunderbird. I was eight years old and was sick and confined to bed. My mum went into Bath to go shopping, she bought me this toy to cheer me up. It was an amazing model, and became my favourite. As I grew older the toys were confined to a box under the stairs. After a few years they were given to other children possibly less fortunate. It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I wished that I kept them to hand down. I never forgot about the turquoise and cream Ford Thunderbird, and I often tried to find one at car boot sales with no success. This was years before EBay, I had found some that were advertised, but failed to buy them.

This was the story I told Kelli who put into her memory, and turned it into reality for me today.

This was start of a fun day.

We collected the Black Forrest gateau from the cake shop, then off to New Holland for a Birthday lunch with members of my US family.

Our reserved table was decked out with balloons tied to a plant, a gift from our florist friend. Kelli’s brother Matt and his wife Petra plus mother Georgia joined us.

Between many picture taking, eating and drinking, with a bit of health debating it was a good time.

I had FaceTime with my boys and sister, so all round a different kind of day, and a memorable day it was.

19th November 2021

We managed to complete and post two dressers on Marketplace, which I hope will go over the weekend.

There is another that Kelli is putting the finishing touches to another. Soon we can offload the dresser that is still in the truck.

I took a break from woodwork to sweep more leaves from the front lawn. I noticed that the city worker had put a tyre groove on the grass tearing the sod, bastard!

I was awoken at 3.30am by my wife whispering in my ear “Did you leave the side gate unlocked?” The banging noise had woken her up and as it was my fault, I would have to deal with it.

She did not believe me when I said it was the dogs sneaking off for a night on the tiles, and neither did she find it amusing.

I searched around for my slippers and ventured outside in the freezing cold, the wind blowing through my lower peninsula.

I could have sworn that I had put the bolt across, but there it was swinging in the breeze.

I pushed the bolt across, double checking that it was fully engaged, then tottered back to the warmth of my bed.

18th November 2021

After months of waiting, my paving slabs were finally delivered. The big truck arrived just as it started snowing. The delivery came on two pallets, one with about ten slabs, the other with close to sixty. That one was almost the limit of the fork lift. I could see it’s back wheel lifting as it came off the truck.

The driver settled both pallets on the driveway close to the rubbish bins, ready for the installation day.

As the snow settled on the delivery, I was looking ahead to a day I could start the laying, but it doesn’t look too promising for the next few weeks.

Still work in the garage was drawing to a climax, five dressers are well on the way to completion, possibly two should be ready for tomorrow, just as well because there is still one in the car and another due for collection tomorrow.

I learnt that the floor standing Anglepoise lamp I ordered a month ago, and was due for delivery on the second of November has been rescheduled for sometime in bloody January.

17th November 2021

I’m not feeling my best today. As I’m approaching my seventieth I get scared. I think about the time I have left, and I worry that I won’t get everything done that I want to. I miss my family and friends, and until all this residency shit gets finished I can’t be with them.

Normally I put it to the back of my mind, but today it’s in my eyeline and I have to deal with it.

The weather matched my mood, it was dull and wet, but at least it was not cold. We were able to keep the garage door open bringing a bit of light into my gloom.

The city sent a man with a truck with a plough on the front, his job was to push all the piles of leaves that we collect, in one big heap on the side of the road. Of all the places he had to choose it was outside the house. It loomed over us like a grim slag heap awaiting the collection by another city man with the tipper truck.

James Dyson came under fire again from Kelli because the replacement battery pack that I bought in March seems to be failing. I always seem to be stripping down the sweeping head to remove miles of her hair that has wound tightly around the rotating brushes. There is often enough to stuff a pillow. I had anticipated the battery issue and already purchased a replacement, so fitting it was some light relief.