Another Lifetime to go

1st November 2020

The clocks went back last night, meaning the nights draw in earlier, preparing us for winter.

The re-paint project was collected today as always there was a last minute panic when Kelli saw a spot that hadn’t been painted.

We woke up to the first flurry of snow, not big stuff, not enough to halt the traffic, but just a reminder that the days of floating in the pool have gone.

We finished off a dresser for delivery tomorrow, and I made good progress on another dresser that is already reserved for another regular customer.

I watched Boris’s speech on CNN over breakfast, now I’m not a big fan, but at least there is a plan, and people should get behind it, but there will always those who object. We have those over here as well, they hear something on Fox News, which is often bollocks, but believe it. Some said you can contract Legionnaires disease or Scurvy by wearing a mask.

The “Thick as shite” barometer is certainly hitting the high numbers now.

31st October 2020

So Halloween came and went, my body suffered from all the heavy lifting and concrete mixing. All 310lbs mixed and poured into the pile holes, and annoyingly it only did half the structure. I finished the other half frame, and that didn’t help my aching joints.

Kelli cleaned out the flower beds that had looked decidedly sad the last couple of weeks.

It was a sunny day, so bright the maple trees looked amazingly golden, although I noted a fresh deposit of leaves on my newly sprouted grass.

There is a buzz in the air with the presidential election just a few days away, the fear that Trump could be re-elected and that America would go down the preverbal toilet.

Since he came to power the whole immigration process has tightened up, but I’m remaining positive.

I have watched his rallies, listened to his words, and there is no plan, he talks about his achievements and his denial of Covid 19 means people will live or die, basically the strongest will survive, and people will still vote for him.

30th October 2020

There are pluses and minuses in owning a double size lot, of course there is curb appeal, the house is well positioned in the space.

I can sneer at the single plots as we drive by, but all this slides into insignificance against the minus factors.

There is more grass to cut, or there will be once the new seeds grow. But it is the amount of leaves that fall and cover the entire area.

I recently bought a rechargeable blower, which I thought would be fantastic in clearing them, I even bought two more batteries to fill the arsenal.

Fully loaded I went into the attack.

I haven’t yet learnt the technique so leaves were blowing in all directions, but I was getting better.

I noticed another old chap up the road doing the same thing, only he had a powered version, coughing out nasty fumes.

I was smug with my “Green new deal” appliance, and my fully changed batteries.

However one thing was noticeably different.

The old guy was slowly working his way around his single lot whereas I was rushing round like a madman.

To others it would have looked like I was on fast forward because I only had limited battery life.

Now it was a matter of principle, new technology verses relics of the past.

I was changing batteries like I was in a war zone, my fingers were cold, making operating the removal clip difficult. I was sweating, could I finish blowing before the last battery ran out.

The answer was no, I had also included clearing the next door neighbour’s lawn as I would have been mean to have a clean strip next to their leaf covered patch.

So the rest had to be raked up by hand, luckily the old guy had finished his garden and had gone inside, so not seeing my obvious defeat.

The next challenge was to see if I could make a bigger pile of leaves on the side of the road, this I should win easily. I think I won this by a mile.

My next decision is, should I buy another two batteries and wear them in a belt around my waist like Rambo? I need to decide soon as within the next few days I will have to do the same thing all over again.

Whilst I was busy, Kelli was getting ready to deliver a dresser to someone we are meeting in Grandville, so guess what? She has found some more clothes to sell at Plato’s Closet, what a coincidence!

That means I have to choke down a coffee and a scone at Starbucks, tough life.

29th October 2020

I purchased the timber to build the deck frame, and boy they were heavy. Twelve foot long pressure treated timber weighs a ton.

I strapped them to the roof rack and we carefully drove back home.

I was excited to get started, I set up the saw and marked out the lengths.

There was a burst of sawdust and all the cuts were made.

I pre-assembled the first frame, and lowered it into the holes I dug previously.

The second frame needed bore holes dug first.

Once that frame was lowered into the holes they were connected with side beams. I was amazed how level and square it turned out.

Normally I have to chase squareness around, but not today, and the investment I made in a six foot level was well made.

I was hoping to fill the holes with concrete, but I ran out of time, damn these dark evenings.

28th October 2020

We had an early reservation at New Holland.

6.15pm is usually when the old farts have their dinner, rush home to take their medication and then go to bed.

This meant getting ready much earlier than normal. I was so out of whack that I got into the shower still in my underwear, only discovering it after I washed my hair.

I had done a variety of things from laying up timber for a new top for a dresser to digging four holes to sink the wooden piles for the decking. So my day was not as formal as it normally is, and that might have been the reason.

Selecting our dinner from the limited menu is often more of a problem than if we had the full selection to choose from. I’m fairly easy, it’s either a black bean burger or a pizza. Kelli is much harder, she doesn’t want bread or cheese, leaving just a glass of water or a salad as a choice. However, her famous line to the server is “I have a question” at this point I roll my eyes and wait for it to reveal itself.

It usually entails taking one thing from one dish and adding it to another, often this is possible, other times even the server rolls their eyes, if we could see them.

She finally made her choice, but when it arrived it had bacon included, which she failed to request to have it removed. She summoned the server back and explained her gaff. What followed was an agreement between Kelli and the server that he would take her food, with the bacon for himself, and order another without bacon for her. With that finally sorted out we got on with our meal.

My beer was slipping down well, all my hard digging earlier, had built up my wrist muscles so I was able to handle the heavy glass easily.

At different times I had imagined a design of a stein lifting device using sprockets and chains, but it never got past the concept stage, or in reality I sobered up and forgot about the whole thing.

When we left, and hit the cool air I had the urge to use the bathroom.

I told Kelli to get back home as quickly as possible, just as her phone rang.

It was Cameron, her son, we drove about ten feet and there he was on the pavement.

Kelli told him to get in, and we would drive him home , which was on our way.

I was beginning to turn critical by the time we got to his apartment.

He suggested that I go in his back garden, next to his Kayak, which I thankfully did.

“I’ve never pissed in a kayak before” I said getting back into the truck.

“Oh you didn’t did you?” He said before realising I was joking.

27th October 2020

Today was DDD at Goodwill, in other words, Duffers discount day, where twenty percent off of everything applies. Kelli wheels me out to take full advantage, and sadly the staff all know me now, so there is no getting away from it.

Unfortunately there wasn’t much that appealed to us, we only left with a few small items.

We stopped off at Habitat for Humanity, a thrift like store that has building materials.

We were looking for drawer handles for a piece we were finishing. I spotted some bags of concrete that would be ideal for holding the piles for the deck frame. It seemed a good deal so I bought the lot.

Next on the agenda was the stone merchant to get my refund, I got the equivalent of three cubic yards back, for which I can soon find something to spend that on.

Once that was done we headed home. It was a cold day with sleet showers making it really wintery.

26th October 2020

We were alerted by the beeping noise coming from outside. I looked out of the window to see a tipper truck trying to squeeze between our truck and a tree that wasn’t going to happen.

I donned on my shoes grabbing the car keys as I went out the front door.

The guy had come to collect the remains of the hardcore that had dominated the driveway for days.

Once I moved the truck he was able to reverse in without destroying our tree.

He climbed out of the cab and looked at the pile with his hands on planted on his hips.

He opened up the back doors of the tipper and removed a long handled shovel.

As I walked past to go back into the house I had a pang of guilt, it had started to rain, so I grabbed my shovel and started to move the mountain of stone back into the lorry.

I’m sure I did two loads to his one, but we had a good laugh as we did the task. I did expect bulging biceps at the end of it, instead I hardly had the strength to lift a cup, but it was all gone.

There was plenty of time to work on furniture. Kelli was busy on the painting but I was restricted on things to do, which is surprising, but we also had to deliver the drawerless dresser.

This was larger than we thought, getting it into the truck presented us with a few issues, but with some careful positioning it went into place.

It was sad to see it go, but I hope the new owners get good use from it.

25th October 2020

I had a flash of inspiration last night, it doesn’t happen often, but when it does, you can clean your teeth with it.

When I start the construction of the decking, I will need to sink wooden piles at least twenty-four inches deep into the soil because that is the depth of the frost line. I had intended to use four by four treated timber and concrete them into the hole, this will give a firm attachment for the deck frame.

I had a number of lengths of four by two that we got from a place in Saugatuck earlier this year that I was intending to use on this project.

But I decided to make the piles from this material and screw pieces together to support the frame. This will save me a bit of money that will no doubt be spent on something else.

That was my project of the day, cutting and screwing pieces together to make the piles.

We moved a few of the new free dressers into the garage, including the “ surprise one from yesterday.

The last job of the day was sweeping the freshly fallen leaves that had landed on the lawn. A lot of new grass has come through although there are still thin patches, I’m hoping that new grass will come through in the spring, as the cold temperatures will reduce the growing process.

24th October 2020

My plan was to lay the paving slabs to create an apron for the raised deck in the back garden. The weather was forecasted to be dry, so I was excited to make a start.

However it didn’t quite start off very well, there was a fine drizzle which delayed things a bit.

Once that stopped I mixed up the mortar and got stuck in to the job.

It is never as easy as the YouTube videos make out, there is always the odd bit of Leveling that I have to go back on, but eventually I got everything down the best I could.

The temperature was down in the forties, which meant dressing up well, I can’t expect any warmer weather for the next week when I start on the wood structure.

That is what I’m looking forward to working on, nothing I will like better than hitting nails into timber.

Kelli had to meet up with a customer who was buying a small stool that she re-upholstered.

Whilst out, she spotted a free dresser at the side of the road, that she quickly loaded in the truck. My words “Don’t get anymore bloody dressers” were ringing in her head as she drove back. She smiled to herself as she saw me in the back garden finishing the paving.

She excitedly told me of her find. I have come to expect these “surprises” and I know we have to take advantage of these pieces when they present themselves.

I’m sure we will find a small space for it somewhere, but, “ no more bloody dressers.

After a day in the garage it is so nice to walk into a warm house with the smell of new baking wafting around.

It was bread and muffin making day, all for my benefit, I just melt, smelling all those aromas.

I walked along to the corner shop to get some things for dinner. I had my list from Kelli, but I was seduced by the wine section, adding a bottle of red to my basket.

At the checkout, I requested some stamps.

“What was that” the girl said.

“Stamps” I repeated

“Sorry” she lent closer to the gap in the plexiglass screen.

“Stamps, STAMPS” I thought emphasising the letters might help, but it didn’t.

I was prepared to mime licking my finger and placing it on an imaginary envelope, but thought that might get misconstrued, and likely to get me arrested for lewd behaviour.

Eventually she got it, “You mean STYA-AMPS!”

“Yes, stya-amps”

For God sake can we have a common language please?

23rd October 2020

The weather was crap, so I couldn’t do anything outside, but there was plenty to do in the garage.

I was a bit surprised that we haven’t had much interest in our latest posting, I thought there would be a rush of offers.

I started work on a commission piece that we got at the beginning of the week. I have to strip the top and stain it black. It will be the same colour combination of a piece we sold a couple of weeks ago.

The garage is full of furniture all of a sudden, there is now three dressers that we got for nothing, and one that we picked up at Goodwill a few days ago.

We noticed the top was a little curved, probably kept in a damp place for a while, I will break out the heavy clamps for that one.

There is alway plenty of things to sand when I get bored.

In the evening there was Matt’s birthday cake fest. He is Kelli’s brother, we got him a pad of linen paper for his watercolours and a blending brush.

He has developed quite a technique and produced some beautiful paintings.

The cake was incredibly sweet, meaning that I only managed two slices.