Another Lifetime to go

29th June 2021

Out and about looking for paint spraying equipment, I think it’s about time that I can improve the finish of our furniture. Most of the pros that I follow on YouTube use different sorts of systems. I don’t want to get a large compressor as I’m not spraying cars, so a compact HVLP (high volume low pressure) kit would be good enough for what we are doing.

I was disappointed with the selection that Menards had, the only one available was a little more than I wanted to pay, so the search goes on.

Kelli usually feels worse after a visit to the doctor, and today was no exception. She was hoping to feel better to celebrate her mother’s and son’s birthday, so it sucks when she can’t join in.

The weather continues to be unsettled with thunderstorms and cloudy skies.

I had my diet of filling holes, sanding and painting to occupy me, and I still have the two dressers in the truck.

28th June 2021

Kelli found two dressers on Marketplace for twenty five bucks, so she snapped them up.

We set out to collect them on route to her doctors appointment.

The house was easy to find, it was the worst on the estate. “Beware of the dog” was posted in the window as I approached the front door.

As I pressed the door bell the whole place erupted. The whole house appeared to rock as the beast or beasts attacked the door on the inside. Eventually a lady appeared, and slid through a half open door.

“Sounds like you have a hound of the Baskerville” I said trying to sound interested.

“ I have two Great Danes, and I’m babysitting a third” she replied as she led me to the garage.

It reminded me of the joke, “ Where does your Great Dane sleep?”

“Anywhere it darn well like”

But in this case, considering the compact size of the house, it’s head would be in one room and it’s arse would be in another.

We loaded the two dressers into the truck, they were not anything special, but I’m sure they should turn out okay.

Then we headed off for the doctors appointment.

Doctor Z, as he is affectionately known is a tall , bald young chap with dark stubble, annoyingly handsome if I have to admit it.

Immediately he hit Kelli with the tuning forks positioned strategically in various nerve endings. Apparently it’s all to do with body vibrations. Kelli’s progress in up and down at the moment, it hinges around the lack of quality sleep, for which Doctor Z was concentrating.

He gave her a variety of different tablets to place under her tongue, then tested her muscle resistance until he found the one she responded to in a positive way.

So she left there with another B vitamin to add to her ever expanding collection of bottles on the kitchen worktop.

A lady turned up to collect the two side tables that we posted yesterday, a bit more cash to offset the cost of bloody B vitamins.

27th June 2021

Today is my eldest son’s forty ninth birthday.

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I held him in my arms for the first time. I was twenty, and not experienced in the ways of the world, but there I was, responsible for a new life that was to shape me into the person I am.

He has grown up into a man that I am proud of, he has achieved a lot in his life, and is now a father of two sons.

There was a break in the rain that turned into a sunny but humid day.

We had to pick up a trellis and a set of three storage pieces.

Kelli came a long for the ride, so that was good for her.

The place that had the trellis was a posh area, the houses were large and most were built around a man made lake. Tom, the owner, was having a garage sale, with loads of stuff laid out on his driveway. He pointed to a rusty piece of ironwork that was the trellis.

I just about managed to get it into the truck, it was a good job the truck was an automatic, because there would have been way I could have changed into third or fourth.

We then had to go to Zeeland to pick up the furniture. All three were matching, manufactured by a country famous for making beautiful crafted furniture, Thailand.

They were in quite good condition, a bit of a clean up and we could sell them as they were.

When we got back, I carried the two side tables into the living area to take pictures.

About an hour later Kelli came into the garage to tell me they were sold with a pick up tomorrow, now that’s how it should work.

After cleaning the three pieces, and doing a bit of repair, Kelli posted them and a short time later they were sold, with a pick up next Friday.

It’s funny how things turn out, the side table seemed to take ages to do, but with only the cost of the handles as an outlay, and new tops made from some pallet wood, it showed to me the input Kelli makes to the process.

The tedious sanding, filling, priming, and multiple finish coats are not things I get enjoyment from, but they have to be done.

26th June 2021

The surging rain clouds continue, its humid and it weighs me down.

Kelli had a bad night, although she slept for several hours she awoke early, she but could not go back to sleep.

That is not a problem for me, although I don’t sleep more than five to six hours a night due to the years of getting up early for work. Even in retirement I don’t feel the need to “lie in”, I guess I still have a lot of things to do.

I could see the wild turkeys with their young wandering about, pecking at the ground.

It is a mystery where they go, but they are valuable diversion.

25th June 2021

Another day of rain forecasted, another day trapped in the garage, but today I’m expecting a jointer to arrive.

This is a piece of woodworking equipment from Dave’s workshop that I bought last year.

Why did it arrive today you may ask? There is a little story behind it, so find a comfy seat then I’ll begin.

At the start of 2020 I went into Dave’s workshop and started to sort through his tools separating equipment that I could use for my projects. There were sanders, disc and belt types, a dust extraction unit, a scroll saw and a jointer. I marked all the items with green masking tape and agreed a price with Georgia (Kelli’s mum)

Most of these items were heavy, really heavy, there was no way I could get them up the stairs on my own, so I moved what I could and left the others for another time when I could get help.

Well then Covid struck and everything went on hold for the rest of the year.

I kept thinking how I was going to move the heavy items, because most of the family are not strong enough to help me.

A few weeks ago, Rick, a friend of Georgia volunteered to help clear out, and sell everything that was in Dave’s garage and workshop.

Georgia sent Kelli a message to get me to talk to Rick to let him know what equipment I had already paid for.

When I went into the workshop it was a mess, there were men stripping down Dave’s lathe and rummaging through the hand tools.

I looked around in the area I had moved all my purchases into, and noticed the dust extraction unit was missing. I went to Rick and asked him about it.

He told me that he had sold it to someone a week ago, that pissed me off, and I told him.

He wasn’t told the significance if the green masking tape crosses that I had put over all my equipment. I showed him what was mine, and he assured me they would be safe.

I mentioned it to Georgia, and she was gutted that it had happened, and promised to get it back. I was not that concerned, other than I had paid for it, I said we could “sort something out” but she was adamant that it would be returned.

A few days later I went back, with Kelli’s brother Matt and discovered that the jointer has gone.

Georgia spoke to Rick and he agreed to try to get it back, but he couldn’t promise.

A day later I was told that it would be returned by the end of this week.

This piece was by far the heaviest of the lot, and luckily someone else had carried it up the stairs, so all I had to do was get it out of Rick’s truck, now all I am waiting for is the dust extraction unit to arrive.

24th June 2021

The weather has deteriorated into a thunder storm that rattled the windows and the rain falls in a torrent. I was hold up in the garage working on three pieces at a time. The output this month has been abysmal, but I doubt that any of the things I’m working on will go in this months numbers.

Kelli was not feeling very good today, there seems to be a pattern of a good day followed by a bad one.

It still messes with my head, as I always see the pattern in most things, when I get a cold there is the two days coming, two/three days with it, and two days to go. That makes it bearable, where you see it laid out. When I had my bout of flu, I knew the pattern in that, I just had to let my body take control, and follow the healing process.

But what Kelli has does not follow a pattern, just when I think I see progress, it goes backwards. She has put her faith in her new kinesiologist, but my patience is running thin, and I know I’m not the best at keeping up a pretence, but I am being supportive to her.

Without some idea of the time it takes to climb back into normality, I know it’s eating into my life as well.

23rd June 2021

I had to collect a dresser that Kelli had bought on Marketplace, but first I had to sort out my paving slabs. I had been thinking about the problem most of the night, I had a solution, but I had to see there were some that they had left.

I needed nine slabs to continue the path up to the area where the pool would be, I could then a different slab to cover that.

I explained my idea to the guy at the landscape supply, he got on the phone to another person at the yard.

He then told me that they could scrimp together those nine paving slabs.

I agreed to drive to the main yard to collect those and to view an alternative sample that I could use everywhere else.

That was promising, I would still have to wait for them but at least I could finish the path.

I got to the house to collect the dresser, and it was bloody heavy, all of the furniture I have had to handle myself have all been like this. Fortunately the lad selling the piece was able to help get it into the truck, driving back was the easy part.

I had to get it out straight away so that I could transport the slabs.

Kelli was in no fit state to help me move the dresser out of the truck.

I pulled it out about half way which enabled me to remove half the drawers, I then pull it out further to remove the rest. The next challenge was to move the dresser into the garage. I laid a large flattened cardboard box on the ground and lowered the dresser on to it.

I was then able to drag it into the garage without doing any damage to my body.

I drove up to the yard which was about a thirty minute journey, and found the site office.

I explained what I had come for, and he showed me what they had left.

On the pallet were eleven paving slabs, one was chipped the other was a bit uneven in the centre, but he said I could take them.

He also showed me a slightly darker grey sample which I could live with, so as I grunted away loading the slabs he went back to the office to a my amend the order.

I had forgotten just how heavy the stones were, but I loaded all the slabs into the truck.

The back wheels sank under the weight, and the drive back was uneventful, I couldn’t wait to carry the buggers into the back garden, yes, it’s sarcasm.

22nd June 2021

I went to chase up my order for slabs, for once I was ahead in the preparation of the foundation, and I wanted to finish the paving.

We cannot get the pool out of hibernation until that is completed.

The news was not good, deliveries were still expected, but I could not get a firm date.

“Maybe the end of the month” was his stock response. “ Or two weeks” he added.

“That’s more like it” I thought, the universal building trade reply.

That was a drag, it could have been worse, he could have said that they discontinued the colour, but he didn’t, I have to be thankful for that.

However that all changed when a voice message was left on Kelli’s phone advising that the company who supplied the slabs would not manufacture that colour again until next year. Disaster! They suggested that I get in touch with them to see if there was an alternative slab colour I could use, you bet I’ll be over there tomorrow.

Kelli had a decent night’s sleep, meaning I’m hopeful that she can do the task of planting the annuals we got yesterday.

I needed some materials which meant going to my convenient man’s excuse for a bit of quality time. I needed paint, I took my colour card to the assistant who asked me if I had a preference of manufacturer.

“Pittsburgh” I said confidently.

“Coloured or white can?” Shot back the assistant.

“What’s the difference?” I asked, expecting a technical answer.

“White is cheaper”

This fooled me as I was getting the premium quality mix, so the colour of the material was irrelevant.

I think the assistant may have come to that conclusion, or she lost patience, but she went to the rack and picked a silver can.?,

21st June 2021

It was too cold for shorts and t-shirts today dropping to 67 degrees.

Following Kelli’s venture out yesterday, she accompanied me to collect a pine cabinet that she had bought. We didn’t really need or had the space for one, but she got it anyway.

It was a short drive to a new housing estate south of the city. The guy was not ready when we arrived but the two large dogs were ready to take my arms off. We manhandled it up the stairs from the basement and into the truck.

The next stop was to Yonkers a garden centre in Holland. We needed some blooms to brighten up the front of the house and some to plant in the boxes we have fixed to the rear fence.

The place was filled with a group of old people (maybe the same age, or older than me) they were having a tour of the nursery. You could definitely spend a fortune at this place, and I nearly did, but they brighten the place, and lord knows we need it.

I continued on my paint stripping marathon getting the old red cabinet ready for priming.

Someone previously had cut a large hole in the floor, and it looked like chicken wire had been stapled over it. I spent nearly an hour digging them out. The hole, I had to cover as I didn’t want to replace the base. I decided to encase it with two thin pieces of plywood that I had in my scrap pile

20th June 2021

Kelli was feeling good enough to take a drive to the cemetery to put flowers on Dave’s grave. This is a big step for her, we didn’t stay too long because we didn’t want to tempt fate.

As it was she did a few house things that even a few months ago would have been impossible.

I believe it’s all about setting goals that can be achieved, then throwing one in that forces you to do even more.

I dabbled around in the garage for a bit just stripping paint and repairing some of the “dogs”, we have bought, and boy we have a whole kennel of those.

One of the cabinets needed new drawer guides as one set was missing. That is one of the hardest things to replace because they cannot be bought anywhere. I have to fabricate something that will do the job out of bits of scrap and offcuts.

At the end of my day things looked pretty bad in the garage with parts of furniture all over the place.