Another Lifetime to go

19th July 2021

Kelli was on a roll today, she actually drove the truck for the first time in months.

We went to Goodwill on the north side, it had been a long time since we were there last, we weren’t sure there would be anyone we would recognise, and sure enough there wasn’t. Most of the staff were new, but we wandered around hoping something would jump out at us, but the only furniture worth taking was some upholstered dining chairs. We squeezed them into the back of the truck then headed off to Harbour Freight. This store is popular for selling cheap tools, formally part of Sears they sell things for about a third of the price of the other large DIY stores. I was looking for trolleys to move our furniture about. As there are quite a few pieces filling the garage It is necessary to have the space to work in.

I came away with two large, and a small one, these added to what we already have will give us the flexibility we need.

We returned home, and immediately Kelli cleaned the chairs and took pictures, they were on Marketplace before the seats were dry.

I must have caught another twenty Japanese bastards, sorry, beetles, it’s becoming an obsession, every ten minutes I would check the bag finding at least one of the buggers.

This has inspired a new game called “ Guess the bugs in the bag”.

The man turned up with the portable dust extraction unit that I had paid for, but had been sold to someone else. Anyway there was no hard feelings, and we chatted about projects were were working on.

I’m looking forward to hooking it up and not have the garage covered with wood chips.

18th July 2021

Something had been eating the leaves of my plum trees. It had happened really quickly and not being experienced in growing tree I was in a state of panic.

I showed Kelli what was happening and she was shocked, but later I saw a beetle like creature on one of the leaves of the larger tree.

I described it to Kelli and she immediately said it was a Japanese beetle, and that the area gets plenty of them, so much so that people put up traps to catch them.

I drove to the nearest hardware store to buy a trap. I came away with a metal stand that had a hook on the top and a pouch with a sweet smelling bait pack. I quickly installed between the two trees, and waited for the little bastards to be enthralled and drop into the pouch.

It just seemed to be the plum trees they were attacking, the Apple trees were in harmed.

As the afternoon progressed I had caught ten.

I can see why the pouches were so large, but I hope my tree can recover.

Kelli did really well today, we decided that we had been away from Goodwill far to long, and as they hadn’t gone out of business because of our absence we would enter their doors again.

Unfortunately there was no furniture, thank goodness, but she bought a couple of small items to sell on.

Later we retraced our steps to a storage facility to collect a small dresser. The sellers purchase the contents of storage rooms that have been abandoned by the renters. Apparently a lot of people do this to make money, pick the right one and you can make a lot of money, or you could be left with a room full of crap.

Kelli collected any items we had laying around and set them out at the roadside, then announced it on Facebook. Like flies around shit we had cars pulling up, and our crap loaded into their boots and driven off, brilliant!

17th July 2021

Kelli was up bright and early, not something she was happy about, but at least she had a smile on her face. She had her medication laid out on the counter minus the adrenal supplements. She went out into the sunroom to try to get a short nap in. She had recently found a website titled “bedtime story for grown ups” these were designed with sleep in mind, and they have worked on her a couple of times.

I gave her an hour whilst I got up to speed with world news then, once I knew she was awake inquired what’s she wanted for breakfast.

“ I’ll have toast with fake cream cheese, a fried slice of fake meat and a fake egg omelette on the top, oh and a small fake sausage on the side”.

There used to be a time when I dreaded asking, trying to get her to eat anything was difficult, but hopefully those days are in the pass.

I was glad to make it even though I had to dirty a pan to fry the sausage and meat. I would curse jokingly under my breath.

I always struggle with the timing of the different components of the breakfast, usually I forget the sausage and it become a chars stick.

“ you have the temperature too high” was the usual comment, but I have taken notice and changed my behaviour.

She was a different person,watering the flowers, collecting the dog poo, painting hinges and handles for a dresser, and spray painting a wicker table, all these things were a fantastic achievement.

We even carried the dresser into the house to take pictures.

16th July 2021

There was an optimistic air blowing about this morning, Kelli had an appointment with her doctor with a list of items she wanted answers to.

First we had to collect a free dresser from Kelli’s old neighbourhood, this was a mid century dresser that had seen better days.

It was a good positive start just to get her into the car and travel around. She had about five hours of sleep which was good, and she was feeling happy about it , although waking up at five in the morning was not appreciated.

We arrived at the surgery a few minutes late, so went straight in.

She handed him her list which he read and gave answers.

The first question was about hormones and could he check her for that.

Normally he will test her with a particular sample and test her muscle resistance to it.

He picked wheat germ oil, she placed it under her tongue, he then tested her resistance to it.

I could tell from his expression that this was a eureka moment as his reaction to it was significant.

This was the breakthrough we wanted to hear.

Many from our families had suggested that maybe, because of her age, changes to her hormones may be the reason for some of her condition, that had proved true.

In addition he noted that her adrenal treatment had taken it’s course and advised her to stop the supplements as they may be contributing to her sleeping problems.

This was a great relief to her and I could tell by her expression that maybe the light at the end of the tunnel was not a train coming towards us.

We drove home with smiles of relief on both our faces, now we have something new to focus on.

We unloaded the truck and then a drive to Zeeland to collect another dresser then get back as we were expecting a person to collect the dresser we had for sale.

Two ladies arrived just after two, and gave it the once over. I could tell that things were not right. They were muttering about the size, thinking it was not as big as they thought, bottom line was she decided to pass on it.

Kelli had kept the dialogue going with the lady that passed on it yesterday. We had a pine unit that I hadn’t started on that might have been of interest, but now the white dresser was back on the market her interest was rekindled.

She came back in the evening for a look at the pine unit, which was in good condition, but in the end her bought the white unit, but was still interested in the pine one.

So, to sum up the day, good result from the doctor, two pieces collected, one sold, therefore a good day for Bristol Cottage Furniture.

15th July 2021

Things were looking promising at the prospect of selling our latest dresser.

The lady arrived around ten in the morning, and was pleased with the piece. However she wasn’t sure her daughter would like it.

I suggested that she bring her daughter round to see it, which she thought was a good idea. So off she went, I was sure she wouldn’t be back, and told Kelli to contact the other person interested in it.

Later she had a message from the first person saying that she would be bringing her daughter to view the dresser again.

I got the little pot of touch up paint ready and waited for them to arrive.

I had a few jobs that I could get on with, later Kelli stuck her head round the door to say the person “had crapped out”

That pissed me off a bit, but that’s show biz.

I decided to get on with the repair work to the small pine dresser. There were a couple of drawer fronts that were damaged.

I set up the small router and cut away the broken area then set in a new piece. A bit of glue and some clamps and hey ho! It was done.

I had promised to spend a few hours sorting out what tools were left in Dave’s workshop.

It saddens me to be there now that most of the kit he accumulated has gone.

Rick had arranged a garage style sale in a couple of weeks at his local church, so I was helping to sort out things that were left into small boxes and carry them up into the garage ready for them to be collected.

Dave was a collector of everything, I came across a set to dental tools, a collection of match boxes and oil cans. I need a few more hours to finish that part then I’ll move into the next room and carry on with that. There will be lots of stuff that will be unsaleable, but as Kelli reminded me if her dad bought it there are bound to be others who will buy it also, I can’t wait to watch.

14th July 2021

The FedEx man was busy today, he even brought a mate to help him.

I was busy in the garage when the van pulled up. There was a bit of banging and rustling about in the back, and suddenly they emerged, one carrying a large box and the other a smaller one. I could tell the big box was heavy apart from it saying “I’m f***ing heavy” on the outside, his legs were bowing as he staggered on the drive.

He set it down just outside the garage, and the other guy put his on top.

I was excited, they were for me.

I found the Stanley knife and opened the smaller box. Inside was a dust extraction adapter for my planer. I was fed up with all the mess after pushing wood through it, now as soon as my portable extraction unit appears I can connect it up and contain all the crap that covers the floor.

I had seen a video of a person using the same Porter and Cable planer as I’ve got, and he showed how an adapter for a Delta model would fit perfectly. Both these machines were identical apart from the brand, so I ordered one.

It took precisely five minutes to fit the part to my planer, now I’m ready to chew wood.

The big box was my new all steel fire pit.

It is one that claims to be smokeless because it draws air from the bottom and burns with the fury of Satan’s arse. In the adverts for these smokeless burners there are three foot high flames, with a heat range which means you have to stand in the next garden, can’t wait to try that out.

Kelli had a good night of sleep which gave her a bit of a kick today. She was busy selling old clothes and home furnishings on Marketplace.

She also found the energy to clean the kitchen worktops, complaining about the state I’d left them, considering that I’ve been cooking meals, and keeping the business going I’ve had a good excuse.

I managed to finish another dresser today, it was not a masterpiece but it offered a few challenges. We took some pictures, and Kelli posted it on Marketplace.

13th July 2021

As an observer of my surroundings, and I am by no means a perfect example myself, I make note of things that intrigues me.

Since I’ve been in America I am more aware of the difference sizes and shapes of people that walk about in the stores I visit frequently.

There is a sense of threat when I see a very large person, often they have a mean look and not the jolly fat person they are often personified. Mostly it’s a diet thing, lifestyle sometimes dictate what food they consume.

Everything is either salty or sweet both the enemy of our bodies.

I saw an old guy, not that he was large, but he had to wear a very large shirt to cover his extended stomach, but his arms were so thin and lost in the excess of material. He looked so sad and frail.

He may have seen me in my “same shirt different day” logo (a joke that Kelli perpetuates all the time) he may have thought “Jerk! I would be seen dead in a t-shirt like that”.

As I said, I am fodder for others to observe me, and hopefully smile.

I am on day two of my antibiotics, Dhama, the oldest dog, was looking at me taking my pill and probably thinking “Oh no, he’s not on pills as well”

I have to go out and buy more chicken for Phoebe. The vet advised that we keep her on that diet for the next week, so there will be the smell of chicken boiling on the stove, a first, and I will be spending more time in the garage taping my mouth shut.

Where is this hot summer I have been expecting? If I wanted grey skies and rain I would have stayed in the UK.

I was going to get the tan back that I had for the first time last year. I now just have a water mark.

12th July 2021

I had to go to the dental practice to get a prescription for an antibiotic because I had a flare up of an infection in the tooth that I am due to have a root filling in. This should give me enough time to clear it up before the treatment.

I picked up the medication in the afternoon and started it straight away.

I finally started trials of my new paint spraying equipment. I’m sure it won’t take too long to get the hang of it. The hardest thing is to thin the paint down just enough to avoid sags and runs, I’m excited to perfect the skill.

Phoebe is a bit off her food at the moment, so Kelli called the vet for advice. She was told to feed her rice with chicken to see if it helps.

Chicken in our house? You must be joking.

We have the rice, tons of it, but thankfully Georgia came to the rescue. I collected some cooked meat from her, that smell? I remember that from Sunday roasts.

We chopped it into small pieces and mixed it with the rice. Phoebe scoffed it down, not leaving a morsel, so hopefully she doesn’t get a taste for it.

If it goes on too long, I will have to resist the urge to beat her to the bowl at each meal time.

11th July 2021

Well another day, and remarkably Kelli had a good night, maybe she took her correct medication, but I’ll take it as a good day for me.

Greer (Kelli’s daughter) and her husband Dylan invited me out for a belated Father’s Day lunch, which was unexpected but really thoughtful. We went to the Saugatuck brewing company, a place I hadn’t been since the start of the pandemic. I chose to have fish and chips for a change, it was really good, although a splash of malt vinegar would have made it perfect, but the Americans see that as odd. A bit like the English thinking that peanut butter and jelly are the perfect combination, and spread it on everything.

It was a fun time, and very odd not having Kelli with me.

We finished our lunch watching the Euro 2020 football final between England and Italy, I was explaining the rules for giving the Italians a good kicking, but unfortunately that wasn’t good enough as I learnt later that England had lost on penalties, boo!

By the time we got back, I learnt that we had sold the small cabinet and was being picked up later in the afternoon, another great result for the weekend.

10th July 2021

Well I spoke too soon, Kelli had a bad night, potatoes and all. She wasn’t sure she took the correct medication, as the one for stress was on the kitchen counter in place of her sleep one. Anyway she was in a bad mood and not very communicative.

I was working outside finishing off the shed. I had to fit a protective strip to the front edge of the new flooring I did a few weeks ago.

I also had to refit the bolt on the second door to ensure that both doors were properly secured.

We also had a customer arrive to collect the large glass door cabinet we posted yesterday, that was a good sale.

I managed to persuade Kelli to go to the local garden centre to buy plants for some planters we had.

She struggled though the ordeal and even found the energy to plant them when we got home.

I slapped a bit of paint on my planer stand, so just the casters to fit tomorrow.