The run of cool weather continues, I hope that my latest plantings will survive. I have the strawberries in a metal tub that I can move around but the gooseberry bushes might be a bit vulnerable I may have to protect those.
I have heard nothing from the company supplying the replacement part for the patio furniture, there is probably a meeting being held to discuss what went wrong.
The garage is full of freshly finished parts for the dresser combo, every possible surface has something on it, I don’t have room for the dresser that is still in the truck.
I wanted to order the cordless lawn mower today only to find out that it was out of stock, typical.
Oh the start of another week, another selection of warm and cold days to keep you guessing.
Today it started with a bit of rain, which saved me the job of watering the lawn, and then it was just clouds.
I read that Herman Miller has bought up Knoll, I bet the shareholders are happy. They have now cornered the market in mid century classic furniture, a smart move.
This merger might be the first of many. The market is full of companies eager to become more powerful, but it comes at a cost. Combining businesses usually means streamlining, in other words job losses.
The pandemic devastated the high street, losing some of the biggest names, I won’t recognise Bath when I see it again.
I keep an eye on what the old company is doing, rolling my eyes at the “gaming” chair adaptations which I guess is trending and looking cool.
I don’t believe gamers care about branding, most spent their lives in darken rooms, pale skinned reacting to the flickering of their flat screen monitors.
HM have even employed a gamer to be the brand ambassador, this heavily tattooed individual had just enough space on his elbows to have a HM logo.
The purchase of Hay was unexpected, some of their products are good, and I was considering buying some of the dining chairs myself at one time.
I looked across at the half built patio furniture, it looked sad and forlorn, this big statement I wanted to make was an embarrassment.
I received an email confirming the replacement order with no mention of the part I needed other than “Back rail” so be prepared for another left hand part.
I did a bit of garden work, cutting the grass and watering the area I reseeded last week.
There was a bit of weeding, that is a soul destroying job, pull out weeds you know will be back next week.
I thought that I would sit down and pull out every single weed growing between the decorative stone. “That won’t take long” I thought, as the sun shone down.
There were bloody hundreds, some were hiding under the stones that sprang up when I thought I’d finished. There was satisfaction when the root came up, and anger when stem broke, then I’d have to dig for it.
It was so tempting to a sit down on my half built patio furniture, but decided against it because I wanted to wait until it was complete, how sad is that?
I did a bit of paint stripping on the dresser/vanity unit. I managed to remove all the paint from the carcass and seal the drawers, doors and top which dried quickly in the sun.
Kelli was well enough to make a quiche for dinner, before having to rest for the afternoon.
I’ve yet to see any improvement, even with all the supplements she’s taking, plus the extra potion she had last Thursday. I’m trying to remain supportive and take as much of the load away from her so that she can concentrate on feeling better.
Kelli managed to help me collect a dresser from a Mobile home park. She thought she should navigate the route as these places can be like a rabbit warren, and I was likely to get lost, as it was it was very straight forward.
The dresser was a bit of a train wreck, but I’ve had them like this before and managed to salvage something.
My patio furniture arrived late in the afternoon.
I set out my work area and unpacked all the pieces laying them out on a large piece of cardboard. This was another of Beijing’s finest, so I don’t expect longevity, the structure looked okay, the holes lined up, so I proceeded to build the two seater sofa first.
This went together well, so encouraged I set about building the next one. This is where things went down hill. The configuration I was building was an “L” shape consisting of a left hand sofa, a corner seat and a right hand sofa.
The parts delivered would make two left hand sofas. I looked at it for several minute making sure I was not missing anything. Most of the pieces were non-handed except for the back piece, it was definitely wrong.
Kelli called the supplier and got through to a customer service lady, she handed the phone to me to explain the problem.
I went through the explanation slowly, what I had built, and what I was trying to build.
There was pause, as the lady on the other end went though what I was saying, and then the penny dropped.
She said that she would order the correct part and get it sent to me as soon as they could. I asked her how she would describe it to the manufacturer, I didn’t want to get another part exactly the same as what I have. She said she would explain it on the replacement order, and send me an email copy of the order.
I carried on building the corner unit and coffee table, just so there was something to show for my efforts.
The quality was okay, the cushions were a little thin, so we may have to get some more fillers, but if it lasts a couple of years it would be worth the money just to have something to sit on.
Today our new patio furniture was going to be delivered, I was beyond excited.
At about 10.00am a large truck pulled up and two enormous boxes were off loaded.
We were due to go to Kelli’s kinesiologist for another case of physical bodily harm, so I pushed the boxes into the garage ready to assemble when I returned.
The beating session over we headed back, Kelli received a phone call from the dispatcher to say that our delivery had been mixed up and we had the wrong product.
Bugger! They said that they would collect next Tuesday, what a drag. Later on we had another call to revise the collection for tomorrow, apparently the other customer was non too pleased about having to wait.
I had a look at the boxes, and sure enough there was another person’s name and address, and it wasn’t even the same product.
Heaven knows if I would have noticed that, or I might have just tore into the box before discovering the error.
I made a start sanding off the paint from the new piece, it had been painted in chalk paint which sands off really easily. It looks quite solid and well made, and within a short time I was covered in white dust, as the pale wood was exposed.
Later in the evening we had people turn up for the white dresser, although I explained that I had replaced the top with solid oak, they didn’t seem to care, just handed me the money, and they were off.
There are flash gits all over the world. I’ve seen phut-phut covered in chrome and flowers, but here in the US everything has be a lot bigger and extreme.
I stopped in at Menards to do usual man looking, and ending up with a bag of birdseed. Boy, do those bugger eat.
Whilst walking back to the truck, I was passed by the tallest truck with the widest wheel I’ve seen on the road. There was more exposed tyre than covered, it must have been illegal. The ground clearence would clear a family car. I was stunned, we got stopped for having a dark tint on our truck windows, and this person is driving around with a vehicle capable of flicking up stones that could kill a pedestrian.
I was out collecting a furniture piece solo from West Olive. Driving up “31” I was attacked by this long low-loader that pulled on from an intersection. It was so long the back part still had snow on it. These truck drivers don’t give a shit about other road users, they pull on and everybody has to give way, or get crushed.
The dresser was unusual because it had three drawers and on the two doors that revealed a mirror and small drawers in the top section.
I think it had been used by a child as a vanity unit as there was a light inside.
With a bit of help from the home owner I got it loaded in the truck and headed back to Holland, stopping off at Lowes to buy a tool for churning up old grass.
I was excited to get started on this piece, and as most of our finished pieces had been sold there is nothing to stop me, oh yes, I still have to finish the chairs.
Kelli found enough energy to help me carry two furniture pieces into the house to take pictures. Poor girl, she managed it, and posted them on Marketplace before retiring to the couch in the sunroom.
I had a day on the garden, working on the patch of the front lawn that didn’t get re-seeded in the Autumn.
With my fork in hand I aerated a ten foot by ten foot area, which is a monotonous task, but made the sap rise even in the cool temperature.
I then seeded and covered with soil, a quick water, and that was done just in time for a lady to arrive to collect the entertainment centre.
Holland is on the recycling train with a vengeance, whilst on my trip into town I saw rows of new wheely bins alongside the road.
They were quite distinctive with a bright orange lid. Previously recycling has been done using a yellow plastic bag that is put out with the rubbish bin, and people take it very seriously.
Since we have been composting our food waste, which is non meat and dairy, we have struggled to fill the rubbish bin, so having to deal with another one (we also have a garden waste bin) the driveway will resemble a car park.
Talking of waste, it’s time for the dog bog to be emptied again, it seems like only yesterday that some poor sod had to try sucking up a years worth of doggy poo. It was so difficult to move that the shock wave traveling down the tube almost blew the truck over.
I just hope he forgot the episode and will do it again.
The delivery of my plum trees and gooseberry bushes arrived today. I had ordered them just before autumn, and had tracked their progress since then. I had all the compost ready, and dug all the holes and carefully planted everything.
I’m used to planting a stick, for that’s all the trees were, it is a matter of blind faith than anything will happen. At least I planted them the right way round, the hairy end went in the dirt.
On the literature is said to expect them to fruit between three and five years, now I’m sure there would be those who might be sceptical having to wait that long at my time of life, but being an optimist, I look forward to tasting at least one apple, one cherry and one plum, and a gooseberry crumble before I pop my clogs.
I had to run some errands, including paying in a cheque into Kelli’s bank account. I had never done it before, so was not used to these tube sucking devices. With a bit of good fortune I managed to work it, putting the cheque into the clear acrylic capsule, inserting it into the holder, and watching it disappear. The only confusion came when I requested some paying in slips, the poor attendant didn’t understand me at all, until I remembered to use the term deposit slips, then everything went swimmingly.
Kelli continues to have sleepless nights dispite having a natural remedy that should help, but obviously it doesn’t.
Inside, my head is screaming to go and see a proper doctor, and get checked over properly.
How much longer are we going to trust the kinesiologist?
Kelli gets very upset, at not sleeping, she has no appetite, which is making her weak, and all she does all day is lay on the couch in the sunroom. She manages to do a few simple things in the morning, but that drains her.
I have read a few articles written by women who have suffered the same condition, and I recognise many of the traits that Kelli has.
There is no timeline to how long this will last, some are months, some are years.
At this point I snap! I’m trying to make a home that Kelli has dreamed about, I’m trying to help her build her business that she enjoys. We live in an area that is close to the water, everything was going so well.
There are many causes that could be attributed to it, the health of her parents, and subsequent death of her father. The hassle I had over the visa issue, the pandemic and the presidential elections. I don’t know what it is about Americans, they get so intense over everything, and most of the time, it doesn’t matter. Family grief I can understand, there is a natural healing that our bodies deal with over time,
Another Lifetime to go 