Another Lifetime to go

23rd July 2020

I woke up convinced it was Friday, as if the days aren’t going fast enough. Kelli reminded me that it was rubbish collection day, so that grounded me a bit.

It was drain the pool and move it again, day.

Now we are prepared with the pump and hose it’s not a challenging task, it’s just the waiting game.

We managed to use half the water by filling the dog bog, it is very convenient for that.

The area the pool sits is not level in any direction, which means there is a compromise to be made wherever we position it.

Moving it exposed the patch of dead grass, but that will be covered by a new patio that is planned.

Re-locating the pool in a different orientation made the seating area more useful, which was much better for our active social life (joke)

We re-filled the pool with water, but it was really cold when the it touched places that had not yet been exposed.

After dinner we had to go and collect a free dresser from the east side of Holland. (We would go to the ends of the earth for something free)

The house must have been a fun place as there were full size Mario flowers and a Homer Simpson cut-out in the front garden.

22nd July 2020

We drove to Goodwill to collect the entertainment centre. We had help to load it into our truck from two lads who worked there, it was a heavy beast, made from solid wood. This was evident to us when we unloaded it at home and felt the true extent of its mass.

I was a little uncertain of what we could do with it, Kelli felt sure we could tart it up and sell it on.

We got out the cleaner and wax it to see if we could make it presentable, a bit of elbow grease brought it up lovely, but oh, it was a bugger to move it to just take pictures.

I primed the restored project piece which took ages, it was a race against time to get the paint on before the brush dried.

I carried on stripping Old Crusty, this is a solid oak piece that had been refinished with a crackle paint finish that was fashionable in the nineties, but not now.

Kelli’s new floating seat arrived today. She rushed to inflate it, and couldn’t wait to try it in the water.

I squeezed myself into my tyre decorated ring, and we both floated majestically around for a while before getting ready for our dinner out at New Holland.

21st July 2020

We ventured out to visit Goodwill, that mythical place we used to go when we needed old furniture to work on.

First on the list was the one on the south side. Kelli had things to donate, so we did that first, then pulled into the car park next to car adorned with Trump stickers.

That feeling of nausea came over me, why would someone honestly admit that?

It was a nice car, clean and white, suddenly de-valued to nothing more than a rubbish bin.

We tried to identify the owner from the people in the store.

I thought a clue would be someone with their mask on upside down, or over their eyes, but I could not see anyone fitting that description.

The place hadn’t changed much other than counters moved to help protect the workers.

There was still the same only tat, no furniture to bother with.

Next stop was the Goodwill on the north side. Usually a better class of tat, and more of it.

But disappointing there was little to get excited about, apart from a entertainment centre that we grabbed.

At the checkout Kelli was pleased that it was pensioners day, so she got twenty percent discount. I was a little offended because no-one had asked me, they just assumed I was over sixty, which was a bit demoralising as I had trimmed my ears and had a shave.

The last stop of the day was to pick up two large plastic drums that we wanted to use to collect rainwater. The address was along a dirt road out in the wilds of Zeeland. This is corn growing and turkey farming country, the latter upsets Kelli every time. We saw their little heads looking out over the stalls of the massive metal sheds, viewing the fields they will never be free to roam in.

Along the side of the road grew cornflowers and weeds. Kelli wanted to pull up a few to re-plant in our wild area of lawn.

We stopped the truck and I got out to try to get them out of the ground.

I am so used to pulling weeds out of our garden that are so easy because of the sandy soil, but these were not going to give up easily.

I pulled until my knuckles were white, eventually they came away.

This was the first time I have ever saved weeds to re-plant, this is a crazy mixed up time.

Today was Phoebe’s birthday, she was four so Kelli made her a dog birthday cake.

We didn’t have any candles so we improvised with a match. The cake was devoured in seconds, there was no finesse, just bolted down if their lives depended on it.

20th July 2020

I set about trying to modify the furniture piece that needed some radical re-squaring.

I managed to cut through the side panel and detached it from the worktop and rails.

I then removed a section from the front rail which allowed me to clamp the side panel to the shortened rail.

The whole job took me about two hours, but now it looks better, and once all the fixing holes are filled and painted I would be happy to sell it.

Talking of selling something, a lady came to collect the piece we posted yesterday, she was a repeat customer, which are the best kind.

Then it was pool time, however by the time we got in, the clouds rolled in covering the sun.

So that time was cut short.

19th July 2020

There were violent storms through the night and into the morning, meaning the house was dark and gloomy. Not the best day to jump out of bed full of excitement ready to take on the world.

Kelli’s breakfast made up for it as we planned our day.

We took pictures of our latest piece in the sunroom which was the brightest room in the house.

What I hadn’t noticed last year was how dark the trees make the living space in the summer. The Japanese maple has such a dark canopy of leaves even my solar lanterns struggle to suck in enough light to charge up.

Once that was done it was off to Menards for a sheet of plywood to make the new bases for the drawers for Old Crusty.

There was just enough time for a quick dip in the pool, but first I had to remove twenty gallons of water that had settled on the tarpaulin.

The evening was spent finalising everything we need to send back to the USCIS.

I’m sure we’ve gone overboard on the financials, but there should be no more questions on that subject.

But it is exhausting, reading and re-reading all the documents, even doubting yourself leaves you numb and tired.

18th July 2020

It’s muggy, humid, close, whatever you want to call it, it’s very uncomfortable.

I managed to work a bit in the garage rebuilding a drawer from “Old crusty” the blue crackle dresser we picked up recently.

This drawer fell apart as I withdrew it from the carcass, so it was rewarding to replace the broken wood and reassemble the frame.

Cameron came over to make a list of parts we will need to renovate the tandem that has been languishing in the shed.

Kelli wants to get it roadworthy so that we can cycle the half a mile before we fall off.

We topped up the pool ready for our daily splash around, but no sooner that we got in the clouds rolled in from the lake. It was still very warm, but not so enjoyable as when the sun is beating down.

That meant a short dip and then back to the garage.

I worked to complete a small cabinet that we hoped to post tomorrow.

I had to tweak the door that had a slight twist in it. I am forever stuck with doors that are twisted, it is my curse in life. Most people have flat doors that fit perfectly, but not me.

Enlarging the holes in the hinges and a little packing managed to solve that one.

The other piece that worries me is the project piece that we got a while ago, and one we have a customer for.

Whoever made it in the first place must have lost their square because the left hand panel is half an inch out of square at the top of the unit.

The trouble is I can’t let it go as it is, as it offends my eyes, but the way it has been constructed means that I have to cut along where the side panel joins the top, and then shorten the top front rail. I think that is possible but the challenge will be joining it together again.

We won’t get any more money for it, but in my opinion it should look right, I don’t want anyone thinking I made it badly.

17th July 2020

The humidity was so high all the windows in the sunroom were dripping with moisture. As soon as I went outside it was like being hit by a wet blanket.

The dresser we needed to complete was done, and we carried it outside to take pictures.

I still had another layer of polyurethane to apply to the top before anyone could collect it, but I gathered that I would have the time.

It sold within an hour, but fortunately we have to deliver on Sunday.

It was time to add more air to the pool.

The bottom portion Looked a little soft, so out came all the extensions cables and pump, and in went ten minutes of air.

The pump works for about ten minutes before it overheats and we have to stop, and in this time I read the instructions for the first time.

I thought I should just check that the pump manufacturer is making it to suit my usage.

Lo and behold there was a variation in which nozzle to use.

With a change in my inflation behaviour it actually worked better, and more air was forced into the blue whale of a pool.

We spent the evening with Mike and Lesley drinking wine and watching the Hummingbirds on their feeder, absolutely beautiful, I’ve never seen them before.

16th July 2020

Kelli closed the drawer to my dresser in the bedroom as she has done hundreds of times giving comments like “don’t you close drawers in England?”

I usually reply by giving the excuse that all my drawers have automatic closing, which is true.

That led me down a wormhole of why all drawers and doors should have self-closing mechanisms and why ours don’t. That left me open to attack that our doors should, and when will I do it.

And as if in retaliation, the screen door, between the garage and the house, which has a spring the size of a bullworker, snapped back on the tender part of my ankle. So self-closing doors can be a health hazard.

I had my list of jobs that I had to finish today. I haven’t been impressed with our progress recently, not that we don’t have projects, they just seem to take forever.

I had to wash off the stain I rubbed on to the dresser top and drawers yesterday because of small swirl marks caused by the electric sander. As these only become visible once the stain has been applied, it is a pain in the arse.

So I started at a disadvantage, but I laboured through the sheets of eighty grit back to a new surface. The re-staining was a much better colour, that at least was a positive outcome.

I had a crack in a cabinet door to fix and a new upstand for the back edge.

I was up to my neck in work when Kelli decided to re-inflate the pool, we hadn’t used it for a couple of days, so she chose now as the best time to do it.

The bottom section is the worst bastard to do because it is right near the ground, therefore it takes two people, one to try to lift, whilst the other inserts the pump nozzle.

Tempers were raised at this point, not at each other, more the process. We ended up letting more air out than we were putting in, but eventually we managed to get a reasonable inflation rate.

That was just as well because it was pool time again.

15th July 2020

Okay I had a little too much to drink, but it’s Wednesday and I think it’s a good day to get out and treat my wife to a meal. Every day she creates an amazing dish designed to keep me alive for another day,

It was cloudy all day as I worked in the garage with only the Lancaster bomber propellers to keep me cool.

I had several pieces that I needed to work on. One was the project piece that we picked up that I subsequently found to be a crock of crap.

Someone had taken the trouble to make a piece out of solid alder and make it totally out out of square. I had to fit the last shelf, and that is when I found the inaccuracy. My gut told be to break it apart and rebuild it, but that may cause a lot of damage, so I am in a dilemma, should I make some corrections to improve it or should I risk breaking it apart.

I decided to work on another piece where the top and drawer fronts needed to be stained.

Kelli had done the bulk of the work leaving me with the staining.

That was okay until I saw the swirling marks caused by the sander.

Now everything will have to be sanded back to remove the marks.

I went on to do something else, hoping that something would give me some fulfilment.

There was another top that was sanded, and a new cabinet that Kelli picked up this morning, all of which that needed something, but it was difficult to get focused on.

Which brought me back to my beer. It was lovely, and it was Stein night at New Holland.

It slipped down nicely, I could feel the effects after the first mouthful. Kelli was looking great in her summer dress, she had cut my hair that morning, so maybe that added to the effects.

She is very good at making he feel human again, and although she used dog cutting scissors she still made a pretty good job of it.

Not once did I have the urge to lick my own bottom or howl from the roof, however the evening is still young.

14th July 2020

The weather was supposed to be in the nineties today, but even in the land of the free the forecasting is shite.

We had to drive to Grandville to pick up a dresser, and quite by chance a quick visit to Plato’s Closet for Kelli to sell off some surplus clothing, what a coincidence.

I got to have my coffee at Starbucks, my usual luxury.

What I have noticed, with my mask on the barista hasn’t a clue what I am saying. I have to slow my speech, and over pronounce my words just to get a grande latte. They usually have problems with my accent, often responding with “What?” but we get round it eventually, but the mask muffles everything.

Also the heat it generates, especially on a humid day is really uncomfortable.

We picked up the dresser, Kelli was excited how old and crackled the paint was, I was thinking how long it will take to strip.

It looked like it was missing some drawer bottoms, but it looked solid, so a miracle might have to happen.

We had to drive back quickly as a prospective buyer for the dresser, we posted yesterday was coming to look it over.

We moved it out on to the drive, and as often happens there were things missed that had to be touched up.

The lady liked what she saw, she was interested in it’s age, for which I had no answer. The fact it had wooden casters and a sectional back dated it about a hundred years.

She asked far more question than the majority of people we sell to, but she seemed happy with our response, and handed over the money.

There was no time for pool activity, which was a bit depressing, but maybe tomorrow will be better.