Another Lifetime to go

18th August 2021

I had to be up early because we had someone collecting the dresser and headboard. I was not convinced when Kelli said she wanted to sell them as a set, but once again I was proved wrong.

The were a couple of areas that needed some attention, as well as fitting the metal plates to attach to the bed frame.

I mixed up the “Bondo” and did the repair. I then touched up with paint, drying it with a hot air gun, I just finished when the lady drew up in her van. It was so close the motor of the dryer was still slowing down.

She was excited to see the dresser, she thrust the money into Kelli hand as I pushed the dresser, on a trolley, towards the open tailgate.

A quick lift, and it was inside. Covering it with a duvet cover, I attempted to fit the headboard on top of the dresser. It was a tight fit, and we only managed to get most of it in before we ran out of wiggle room, and had to leave a bit of it sticking out, keeping the back door closed with a bungee.

Straight away we started on the next project, another free dresser that had a bit of water damage to the side panels. My plan was to cut the damaged parts away and make a new leg frame. This will give it a more contemporary look.

We have ordered a new bed and non toxic mattress.

Kelli was ordering the bed frame that we saw on the Pier 1 website, it was on special offer, but there is always the tax that is added on afterwards. Now I don’t understand how this works, but she somehow found a discount code on Google that saved the cost of the tax, unbelievable.

Air conditioning, I don’t get it. Okay it’s humid outside, and Kelli has the ac so cold I have to open the fridge to keep warm, I had to give up my seat to a polar bear. I’m sure it’s a bit extreme, if it was this temperature in the house in winter, we’d have the heating on.

17th August 2021

The news has been exclusively about Afghanistan and the mess the US Government has made of the withdrawal of American personnel and allies.

Each side of the political spectrum blames each other for the mess, as they would, but, this has to be the most difficult decision a President has to take.

I had forgotten that it started twenty years ago, I still had colour to my hair, but over the years I had learnt a bit about the conflict.

I knew I didn’t want to be a soldier in the country not knowing who to trust, and easily understand why those returning had a difficult time re-adjusting to normal life.

I watched Biden last night, I could tell it was a hard speech to make, but the point about building the Afghan military to be able to defend itself, and spending trillions of dollars equipping them with sophisticated weapons wasted if there wasn’t the will to want to defend their own country.

Like most I feel for the ordinary people of that troubled country, and it will settle down eventually. Those who were able to leave will have to start again in a strange country like America, who’s only real concern is “will they take our jobs”.

On a lighter note, we took pictures of our latest dresser and the headboard we picked up at the side of the road.

16th August 2021

It was a continuation of yesterday’s paint spraying marathon with the dresser and three side tables all in line for the finish coat.

Concentrating on the dresser we managed to get the drawer fronts done in situ with masking tape in the gaps to avoid a lot of overspray getting inside the drawers and carcass.

I had the job to make a new drawer front for one of the side tables we picked up yesterday.

It was not an easy task as it had a wave shape, and I don’t have a bandsaw. Somehow I managed to carve out the right shape with a lot of lot of sanding and grinding. After all that I sat in the swing seat listening to the next door neighbour cutting his lawn.

We haven’t used the deck much this summer, because of Kelli’s condition, so when I can I sit out there to justify all the work I put into it.

I am amazed how tall the grasses have grown in the patio bed, they are forming a fine screen.

I have grown to enjoy grasses, they don’t demand attention, blowing gently in the breeze, they are solid, and calming.

I watered the plants in the new prairie garden area, they still look happy, hoping that they all get established before the cold weather gets here.

15th August 2021

We had a day of paint spraying, Kelli is getting good, and most of it landed on the furniture.

We had an early run to collect two free side tables deep in the Waukazoo wood, or where the rich people of Holland live, and just round the corner from Marigold Lodge.

On the way back we came across a free headboard. It was muggins here who had to try to load it on to the roof of the truck and lash it down with bungees. It was only a few hundred yards from our turning, so we only resembled the Beverly Hillbillies for a short time.

With the paint sprayer primed and ready to go Kelli first tackled a dresser followed by a round side table and then the two tables we picked up today. I washed the dirt off the headboard, gave it a quick sanding and Kelli covered that with paint as well.

The new plantings survived the night and looked happy in their new surroundings.

14th August 2021

I have come to the conclusion that motorist in America are not as considerate as drivers in Britain. A case in point happened today. Whilst driving through the town, our lane was blocked by a van making deliveries, meaning we had to get into the next lane to get past it. No one was prepared to let us do it even though it was clear why we needed to. Kelli got a little frustrated but managed to pull out. The big black truck she thought would let her in, didn’t.

As she pulled up behind she stuck both her thumbs up in a sarcastic way to say “ Thanks a lot” the driver of the truck responded by showing us the “finger” and slammed on his brakes causing us to have to shove the anchors on pretty hard.

Kelli then moved into the next lane and drove along side him. I looked across at the man with a big red face most of which was covered with hair, he was mouthing something, I just looked at him as if he wasn’t there.

He eventually accelerated away and we went in a different direction.

It was though he felt he had the right to own the road, an attitude held by many male drivers. With their big trucks and wide wheels this sign of masculinity is the norm.

Honestly, it doesn’t take much to be polite, maybe he will learn that in his next life when he comes back as a dung beetle.

We had a day off from furniture and instead went to Jonkers garden centre to cash in our loyalty dollars. This weekend was the one to do that, so the place was filled with all the oldies of Holland wanting to renew the flowers in their window boxes.

We have some ambitious plans to bring plants of the prairie to the back garden of Holland.

The first part of this master plan was the area in the corner of the garden where I had created a mound using the spoil from the decking build.

It was a sorry site, looking more like a mass grave than a prospective flower bed.

The plan was to buy grasses and flowering plants that attracted insects and bees.

Dragging the trolly around the garden centre we quickly filled with it with two of everything, finally getting to the checkout and handing over our measly vouchers which made a very small dent in the total, but we had a good selection and rushed back to start the planting.

We set them out on the mound and dug them in with a generous amount of chicken shit fertiliser, in the end it was a great start to an ambitious project.

13th August 2021

We had to call the Air Conditioning man today because all last night Kelli complained about the house not being cold enough. When she is too hot, everyone will hear about it.

The man arrived and went straight round to check the condenser unit where the pipes were all covered in ice. Fortunately there was no sucking of teeth, he hooked up his gauges and added some Freon, and Bob’s your uncle, it was done. A quick $300 and he was off, and Kelli was happy that she can now freeze her arse off.

I delivered the chairs this evening, Mantesh was delighted at the result and showed me the table he wants me to paint. That’s a project for two weeks time, I’ve got to clear the backlog that Kelli has been building.

Talking of which, we had to go and collect a table from a house that was located in the historical area of the city. These houses are older and architecturally influenced by the arts and craft movement , and usually quite expensive.

We arrived at the house, Kelli was told by the seller that the table was in the porch. Rather than just walking in to the place, she rang the doorbell. A downstairs window opened and an old chap stuck his head out and shouted “what do you want?” The tone of his voice was abrupt and angry. I wanted to reply “some politeness would be appreciated” but instead, Kelli explained why we were there. The old goat muttered something then closed the window. This is the first time I have come across someone who was hostile, and luckily don’t come across them very often.

12th August 2021

Today was a day for deliveries, not counting the poor postman who delivers boxes and parcels everyday. Kelli recently restarted ordering from Imperfect Foods, giving them another chance, so there was a delivery of two boxes from them.

Next was a box from a speciality bread baker who supplies loafs made from ancient grains organically grown and gluten free. We had been waiting for a couple of weeks for these. Apparently there was a shortage of ingredients, so it had better be good.

I finished painting the chairs about five times.

Each time I thought I’d done it, and washed the gun out, I would find a small area I had missed. I would start again, touching up, and cleaning, only to find somewhere else once it had dried. I thought I would never finish. Eventually I applied the final clear coat and declared the project finished.

11th August 2021

The parcel I was waiting for arrived, I furiously tore the tape and threw out the packing material and there was the prize.

The front panel for the CD player that I bought on EBay was staring back at me.

Having got our old player working after a bit of internal cleaning, I was still excited to change it for the newer one.

I rushed into the spare room to collect the player, and removed the screws holding the cover exposing the innards.

I fitted the front panel into place then connected up the power leads and various ribbon cables, my heart was pounding as I switched on the power.

Nothing happened.

I had a sickening feeling in my stomach, “have I wasted $15?” I thought to myself.

I checked all the connections again.

There was a bit of movement on the mains terminal of the small circuit board that held the power switch.

I could see that the solder points had broken loose on the circuit board therefore not making a good connection.

Luckily the one on the faulty panel was firm so I was able to remove the two screws holding it and swapped it over.

I reconnect the connectors, and pushed the power button again.

The display burst into light, success!

I pressed the tray opening switch, nothing happened.

So after all that I have a player that wants to play, but I can’t open it to load the CD’s, it’s so frustrating.

The next step is to download the service manual to see it I’m missing something.

I’m disappointed, because I have never had any problems with Sony equipment before, I would like to get it to work properly at some time.

I managed to get a coat of primer on the two chairs whilst Kelli nearly completed the dresser she had started before rain stopped play.

10th August 2021

There is nothing like popping open a cold beer on a hot evening, it is something I relish after a hard days sweat.

Kelli was putting the finishing touches to a fifties style child’s wardrobe, whilst I finished sanding the last carver chair.

As part of her rehabilitation we take a walk around the block with the dogs, they haven’t been for a decent walk in ages, but for the time being it’s the best we can do.

It was so hot in the garage that it was difficult to breathe, the hint of a breeze made it bearable.

The plum trees are starting to grow new leaves, which makes the devastation caused by the Japanese beetles a distant memory.

I have caught a few of the blighters, but it has dropped to about two a day. In addition I have sprayed the trees with neep oil which is a natural deterrent.

9th August 2021

We pick up a free dresser that was possibly the worst condition a piece of furniture could get into.

To say it suffered from flood damage was an understatement, Noah could have thrown it from the ark and it would have been in better condition.

We both looked at it as we drove up to the garage where it was stored.

The sun was reflecting off the rippled veneer, the drawers used to be drawers but now were flat pieces of wood. One of the drawer back panels had de-laminated and separated and looked more like the Dead Sea scrolls.

Naturally there was a story behind it, not the one about it coming across on the Mayflower and falling into sea whilst bringing it ashore.

It belonged to grandmother of the lady giving it away, no doubt turning in her grave at the condition. It probably survived world wars and the Great Depression, not the Trump era, the one before that.

It turned out that the lady had bought several things from us in the past, including a bed post that was so tall that they could have been stolen from Twickenham rugby ground.

Anyway she was very complementary about our work and was happy that we were going to do something to it.

We loaded the wreck into the back of the truck and headed home.

I started working on carver chair number two, scraping and sanding until I got bored, then went on to scraping and sanding a top to another dresser top, my life consists of scraping and sanding.