Another Lifetime to go

9th February 2021

More snow falling, getting slightly bored with it now, although another cold week to come.

The country is getting prepared for another impeachment trial of that despicable ex-president.

I listened to the case for the defence, which was an hour of absolute dribble, they were struggling to make any sense.

As Tuesday is old gits day at Goodwill we thought it was worth checking them out. Needn’t have bothered, although we did by a chair for one dollar, needs a bit of fixing up of course.

We did get to photograph the latest dresser which was on Marketplace for less than an hour before it got sold.

8th February 2021

Well I missed out on the Super Bowl Sunday which was not a great loss to me. It snowed again last night messing up my road network and confusing the dogs. The temperature is down to -8 degrees C so going out into the garage was not attractive to me, but I needed to finish painting the dresser, it had been a quiet month so far for furniture leaving Bristol Cottage.

Kelli had an appointment to go to, I went along as I needed some material to finish the entertainment centre. I dropped her off and made my way to Menards. It didn’t take long to get the stuff I needed, and was checked out by a transgender person I think. They certainly had a deep voice, not that I’m judging, but you don’t want to be disrespectful. I resisted trying to match the deep voice to say “Thank you”.

I had a lot of time to kill, and thought that I would get a coffee and a cake from the Starbucks drive through. I took one look at a queue of snail like moving traffic, that put me off that idea.

I thought of going to Bob Evans who were open for sit ins, but I wasn’t sure they would want to just serve me a coffee. I was left to scavenge around the car for something to eat. Normally Kelli has food stashed all over in case of emergencies, but this time there was nothing not even a piece of string to suck on. It turned out that her food reserve was in the bag she has with her.

7th February 2021

I had to bite the bullet and clear the driveway.

I was still not able to use the snowblower for the reasons I’ve explained before.

The rescue team managed to get to the shed and retrieved the snow shovel, at least we can make a start. Fortunately Larry was out so he didn’t see me scraping the snow with the scraper that I use to clear the skylight above the kitchen. The thing has a ten foot pole so in reality I could work from the front door. That would look bad, but it supplied in sections therefore a six foot piece was just perfect. I had to work quickly in case he came back and I would have to go through the story why I haven’t used the snow blower yet. I’m sure if I tried I could make up a song about it.

I sweated blood to get the driveway clear, then I had to start on the back.

I created a series of snow trails to get to various areas of the garden not only for us but the dogs.

Highway one goes to the composter and the dog bog, that is used often.

Highway two leads to the bird feeder, critical for our feathered friends.

Highway three goes to the shed( I must remember to get the petrol can)

Highway four leads to the back door of the garage.

The dogs have already christened Highway one.

I found the note I wrote myself last year reminding me to get a new snow shovel, because the one we have is broken, I guess I still have a lot to learn about winters in Michigan.

6th February 2021

We ventured out into the frozen tundra passing lines of polar bears and penguins.

We were on a mission to find knobs for the dresser now residing in our bedroom.

Stopping off at Goodwill just in case they had something we could buy, was a big fat zero. The area where furniture usually is, was bare, I’ve never seen the place so empty.

As we arrived we saw a rival leaving empty handed, that should have been a clue.

We headed over to Habitat for Humanity to look for knobs aware that they closed early on a Saturday. We discovered just how early, the clock in the truck said 3.00 and the sign on the door also read 3.00 so we were out of luck.

As compensation, we visited the other Goodwill, but the scene was the same, not much to get excited about, although Kelli found some stuff to sell anyway.

Then we stumbled across the car park to another charity store call African Child.

I used to think that’s where you could get one, but that joke runs a bit thin after a while so I don’t say it anymore.

Kelli found some small stuff there, whilst I continued to look for recognisable CD’s.

With a small pile of odds and sods rattling about in the back of the truck, we headed back home.

5th February 2021

It continues to snow, the dogs float like gazelles over the drifts so it doesn’t touch their tummies, quite comical to watch.

The house evolution continues. I finished a dresser today that looked good with a natural finished top, Kelli saw it and immediately staked a claim on it for the bedroom.

We have spoken at length about getting attached to a piece of furniture when it is our business to sell to pay our bills. However she put up a good case for why we should keep it. For one, we could store all the clothes that I don’t wear, mainly because there is not enough time in my life left to wear them all, and secondly, it looked better than the one that was there already.

For that I will agree, Kelli had it a long time, it had chipped paint, and many layers because it’s old. I have threatened to strip all the paint off and improve its looks, but I have always been rebuffed with threats of permanent harm.

Now, of course it’s a different story “You can strip off all the paint and make it look better” she said.

I think I’ve heard that before somewhere before.

4th February 2021

I remember as a kid when the TV went funny my mum would get out of her chair and rush over to the set and give it a hard thump on the top, not a very technical approach, but that usually fixed the problem.

It seemed at that time our patience with technology was short and physical intervention was the only way. Today we’re used to the spinning wheel on the screen as the data tries to decode, we know that’s what it’s doing, we wait patiently for the show to return, but are more tolerant, however it is still annoying.

I have notice that our home keeps evolving. There is not a day that goes by where things change, new things appear, and old things end up in boxes by the front door waiting to be posted.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I liked our Shaker style dining chairs they would have been replaced at least twice. It reminded me of Only fools and horses, where in each episode the furniture in their flat was different, I’m beginning to experience that.

It was a day of new snow, not a blizzard, rather a fine sift of the stuff. The kind that wouldn’t pitch in England, but over here it settles.

Now is the time I need the snow blower, but there is no petrol in it. The can is in the shed that I can’t get to because the snow has banked up against the door and I would need the snow shovel to did it out, but guess what? The shovel is in the shed, so basically I’m f***ed!

3rd February 2021

I haven’t plucked up the courage to spray paint the metal top to the table we’ve been commissioned to renovate. I have been waiting for days when there is no dust in the air, but that hasn’t been possible up to now.

I bought a thick plastic dust sheet, or as the Americans call it a drop cloth. I want to build a tent like structure to act as a booth, and allow a dust free finish.

Today was sanding a top for the large dresser that was free, and giving it a black stain.

I also sanded the chairs that will be given to Greer and Dylan for their belated wedding gift.

So there was plenty of dust all around.

I keep tripping over things that I really need to get rid of, old chipboard tops and plywood pieces that were taken out of previous projects are littering the place, I usually have a good bonfire, but with the snow thick on the ground I can’t find the fire pit.

2nd February 2021

Our favourite restaurant that had closed last year, announced on social media they were re-opening , Kelli was on it straight away.

Perredies had been around for ages, it was one of the first places I went for lunch for my first visit to the US back in 1986.

We used to treat ourselves at least once a month, and it was where I proposed to Kelli on Valentine’s Day in 2018. It was an important place for us that they also did the food for our wedding.

So it was fortunate that they chose this time to announce their re-opening so close to February 14th.

It will be interesting to see if the atmosphere is still there.

Kelli got the month off to a good start by selling three small items. It seems that people can’t get enough of quilts and covers.

That is the first port of call in any of the thrift stores we frequent, and usually she finds one or two.

The two HM she’ll chairs that we picked up didn’t respond to the cleaning as I would have liked so we decided to donate them to Cameron to put in his flat.

1st February 2021

Sometimes it’s hard to get motivated. Although the garage is insulated it is still cold until the work lights and heater brings the temperature up. I like to open the back door up to get some natural light in, and with the snow it is super bright.

I continued repairing the drawers on the brown dresser. Most of the guides have been replaced in the carcass so the drawers sit, and slide really well.

Kelli had to take a number of boxes to the post office, I volunteered to help. One them had a fragile labels, but it felt empty. There was no movement from anything on the inside when I shook it. It was only the label that gave it any weight.

The man at the post office is getting used to us arriving loaded down with cartons and bags.

I spent time trying to clean the fabric on the two chairs we got from Goodwill. I had bought some upholstery clearer yesterday. I wasn’t terribly impressed with its performance, maybe I’ll just have to do it several times.

We unloaded the free dresser that we collected yesterday. It is another heavy bugger, but should be good once we wave our magic wand over it.

It will be great once the cold weather has finished, there is a list a mile line of things we want to do in the spring. Top of the list is finishing the decking and the other is to get some raised beds to start growing our own vegetables.

I had more fruit trees on order but I had an email informing me that they wouldn’t be available until June, that is crazy, I was hoping April at the latest, but I am at the mercy of the growers, I’m just excited to see if the trees we have will survive the winter.

Cameron had a quote for the damage to his vehicle, it came to a eye watering six grand.

I had to have it repeated because I didn’t believe it the first time. I guess that panel beaters in the US are the same money grabbing thieving bastards as they are in the UK. There is no way the thing is worth that, so he will be lucky to get scrap value for it, which doesn’t help when you need to buy another vehicle.

31st January 2021

Kelli had found another free dresser in Holland.

There had been another three inches of snow over night, but that didn’t stop us when there is something going for nowt.

The dresser was stored in a garage that was crammed full of car parts.

The guy helped us carry it to the truck, it was another large piece that weighed a ton. The drawers were flapping about as we drove back.

We stopped off at Menards for materials and some upholstery clearer for the chairs we got yesterday.

Kelli had a bumper sales day on Marketplace so she got on with packing stuff ready to ship out on Monday whilst I got on repairing the drawer guides. I had bought some timber to make new ones, rather than cobbling together things made out of scrap.

We had news that Cameron’s car got rear-ended this evening. The pictures he sent us looked pretty bad with the back door stoved in.

From an insurance point of view there’s not much chance in getting it fixed. In Michigan there is a “ No fault” state, meaning that if someone runs into you, you cannot claim on their insurance, even if it’s their fault. Over here it’s “tough luck your cars been wrecked”. The only consolation was the other driver’s car was damaged a whole lot worse.

That was a bit of a downer for him as he is a careful driver and uses his car to carry his drums about.

A There are things about this country that just doesn’t make sense, and car insurance is just one of many.