Another Lifetime to go

17th April 2021

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.

16th April 2021

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.

15th April 2021

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.

14th April 2021

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.

That was a quick sale, and very welcoming.

13th April 2021

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.

12th April 2021

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.

11th April 2021

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,

10th April 2021

I made my first solo furniture delivery this morning. After a number of false starts, and some interesting excuses, we finally had someone genuine. Thankfully it wasn’t far, but even that is not a simple task. It is good if the house number is on their mail box, that’s easy to see, but this address had the numbers on the front of the house, and it was brass numbers on faded brown siding, so it didn’t immediately jump out at me. Eventually I found it and reversed up a long driveway to a waiting chap to give me a hand to unload.

We just finished when the rains came, not torrential, that came later, it was just a shower.

I had plenty to do in the garage. I have two pieces on the go plus the chairs.

9th April 2021

It was Kelli’s birthday, and after a restless night she didn’t feel much like celebrating.

Usually the family get together to eat cake, it’s the only good thing about birthdays, but she didn’t feel like having anyone round.

This is the second birthday that has been bad, the first was the quarantine.

The only gift she wanted was a good night sleep and some energy.

I worked on painting the black chairs, giving them a second coat. This is harder than it sounds, and just when you think you’ve finished you find a missed spot. I went over everything with a torch just to get through inspection, and I have another five to go.

They say that Spring is just around the corner, it’s about time, although the winter was not harsh, I just want to work with the doors open with a nice through draught whistling around my knee caps, Ah bliss.

It’s amazing how quick the trees are budding.

Everyday there is a new hue to the trees, we’ve got buds on the apple trees and elderberry bush which is great that they survived their first winter.

It’s great to see things growing, I’m looking forward to getting other things that I can plant once they are available to ship.

8th March 2021

I needed to do a bit of gardening today. I had bought some lawn feed a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to start build the front lawn.

Last Autumn Mike reseeded most of it, but there was an area right around the side that he didn’t have time to finish.

I gave the grass the first cut a couple of days ago, that is when you find all the thin patches, and realise it’s not as lush as you thought it was.

I hooked up the hose and gave the grass a good soaking.

I filled the spreader with some grass feed and weed killer, and set off sprinkling the granules around the lawn.

Ten minutes later it pissed with rain.

I did a bit of work in the garage, waiting for it to stop.

I wanted to overseed an area of ground on the other side of the drive, adjacent to the post box. This has always been a bit scruffy, and needed a tidy.

I have generally been unsuccessful overseeding , probably because I was impatient and rushed the job.

Firstly I went over the ground with a fork to “airate” the soil, this took ages. Then I loaded the seed into the spreader, and adjusted the spread rate to suit the mix, then covered the area, finally gave it a light rake, and hopefully, a better result.

It alway seems to work on the tele or YouTube, and grass will always grow where you don’t want it, and I’m forever pulling it up from the boarders.