Another Lifetime to go

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 78

3rd June 2020

The carnage continued. Not the political and moral unrest in America, but in the garden at Central Bay.

Following our brutal attempt at pruning the lilac, we thought we’d continue on another poor defenceless plant.

This time it was a Japanese weeping larch, it had looked sad and uncared, so we took our implements of doom and started to cut away years of neglect.

Things were going well, Kelli was using her newly acquired skill in hairdressing to clip away the dead foliage. Gradually it started to look better, the tree develops new growth on the outside in layers so it was easy to see what needed to be removed.

Kelli directed me to cut a branch that she thought was dead.

Snick! Went the loppers jaw, and swish as the branch fell, unfortunately it was full of green.

Kelli was devastated. With tears in her eyes she felt the loss, I tried to re-assure her that the tree will still live, and next year it will be wonderful again.

We sold the bloody heavy entertainment centre that we had so much trouble attaching the doors on to. The buyer had brought a back-up person to help lift it into their vehicle. I’m sure, judging by her bulk, she could have done it all by herself.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 77

2nd June 2020

I got on with sanding another table leg. All the apron parts are complete with just one leg to go.

To make life a little more interesting I re-assembled the large dresser. I had to make a few new parts, and to my amazements everything fitted as it should, even all the drawers, now it’s down to Kelli to transform it.

The most significant part of the day was the complete and utter butchery of the lilac. It had been left for many years and needed some tender loving care. I had watched a YouTube video last night, so armed with my loppers, and a saw I commenced the bloodbath.

Kelli kept making alarming sounds as the branches fell away, I kept repeating “ it will be fine, it will grow back” with my fingers tightly crossed behind my back.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 76

1st June 2020

Kelli had been given a number of perennials by a friend, so the first thing that had to be done was digging a new border to plant them.

There is a lot of pruning that needs to be done, then I can complete the border and sit back and enjoy it result.

This meant I took a day off from sanding table legs, and instead went with Kelli to collect a large bookcase, it was a pleasant change.

We took a bike ride down towards the lake. We passed some impressive houses with magnificent lawns. Obviously they are professionally maintained, but they are all perfectly flat and even with no marks of the mowers at all. It is like the man and machine hovered above the grass using laser precision.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 75

31st May 2020

There were protest riots in Grand Rapids last night, the downtown area became a battlefield. Most businesses experienced some damage with a number of police vehicles set alight.

Across the country there were identical protests against the police murder of George Floyd.

I see the evil side of this country, the people paid to protect the citizens are the ones who can kill without remorse. It is no wonder that the only recourse people have is to riot. I watched a YouTube video by Trevor Noah who is the host of the Daily show, which is a comic look at the news. However he set aside the jokes, and spoke from his heart. It captured the essence of the problem, he should know having being brought up in South Africa during Apartheid.

The video is entitled “George Floyd and the dominos of racial injustice”, it sums up the issues so well, it begs the question, Why don’t politicians talk like this?

Kelli had so images sent to her by a friend of the carnage, and Greer, Kelli’s daughter, who now lives in Grand Rapids was giving us an up-to-the-minute report of the situation.

Many have opinions, I don’t condone the looting and the vandalism, I understand, the establishment has let the people down, and this is the only voice they have, it’s a sad day.

I used the day to trim the edges of the grass that the mower cannot reach, and some small jobs on a dresser re-build. I noticed that some new grass I had spread started to come through, which made me happy, and gave me some encouragement to seed more bare areas.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 74

30th May 2020

It was a good day for working on the garden.

I needed more mulch to continue covering the flower beds, so a trip to Menards was on the cards.

With my list and mask we headed off.

Whilst I was there I wanted to get another pack of solar lights for the front of the house.

We worked our way around the store keeping away from other shoppers, most of which I’d stay away from even without a mask.

Kelli picked up things on the way that she always does whenever we get to the store.

She wanted to get a few plants for her mother’s garden, I scurried off to get my mulch.

When I got to the racks everything was gone, every colour, every size had been taken.

I looked up in disbelief as these racks reach to heaven, not even the split bags that nobody wants were gone, I was so disappointed.

We drove back home with our measly purchases, Kelli had an appointment to cut her mother’s hair, so she collected up the implements needed, including some old sheep shears and a scythe and went off.

Left to my own devices I did a couple of jobs before tackling the front lawn.

I was encouraged to see some new grass coming through, so I had to be careful.

Kelli came back, so we got ready for a bike ride. It was a bit cooler than the past couple of days that required long sleeves.

As we were on our return leg of our ride, Kelli spotted something in the road that turned out to be a bat.

We spent many minutes trying to coax it on the nearby lawn, with no success. Of course we didn’t bring our bat retrieval kit, so we had to make do with a stick, which didn’t work.

In the end we used my cap to cover it and try to move it. This worked really well, so well that it didn’t want to let go. It must have thought that it smelt like a musty loft, which is exactly what my head smells like most of the time.

Faced with a bat gripping my hat like it was mating with it, we decided to wrap it in the cap and carry it home in Kelli’s bike basket.

We got a little way before the bat decided he had enough of my hat and was now hanging upside down in the basket. This sudden movement freaked Kelli out, so we had to stop, and try to get it back into the hat. This was not easy, but after prodding it with a stick it climbed back in, so Kelli was able to place it under a shady tree, and the bat eventually crawled into the dark area, this was our chance to escape.

Bat girl Kelli and I then rode as fast as we could just in case the rest of the bat’s family came searching for it.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 73

29th May 2020

I decided to do an easier job on the dining table. After two days sanding legs, and waking up with aching fingers, I chose to work on the apron instead. This was much more straight forward, and quicker, this allowed me more time to work on re-assembling the carcass of the large dresser.

Kelli tore herself away from some aggressive sunbathing to help fit the doors back on to the entertainment centre. The curious thing about this unit was the doors were made to look like drawers. They were heavy and awkward, this was not a job that should have taken much time, but an hour or so later it still wasn’t right.

I took great pleasure in watching Kelli cut the grass this evening. As it was her idea to get a push mower, she volunteered to do the back garden. After a few rows, her face was glistening, and the audible grunts got louder the more she did. I had to stifle my laughter, as this was only a few days growth, my aim for a rechargeable electric mower grows ever closer.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 72

28th May 2020

Leg number two, the thought of repeating what I did yesterday was not appealing, but that was my target. The timber was not as good as I was led to believe. The table appears to be a light, pale timber like spruce but probably originated in Asia.

The finish has tinted the wood, so the final stain will have to cover all that.

I broke up the leg sanding to lighten the tedium, in between I laid up a pine shelf for the entertainment centre Kelli has been working on.

The news was filled with the killing of a black guy in Minneapolis by a policeman. All this was filmed, and splashed all over the networks. It was a disgusting spectacle, and of course sparked off riots, burning and looting.

There is no excuse for this action because it serves only to detract from the initial atrocity.

The pandemic has claimed over a hundred thousand American lives, and there had been little mentioned by the President, this is just collateral damage to person that values wealth more than human life, what a scumbag.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 71

27th May 2020

The humidity has hit me like a wet blanket, it has drained me of all my energy.

I was working in the garage, sanding furiously.

I had started on the dining table, instantly regretting quoting for it. Although I charged double the last table it’s still not enough.

I decided to do a leg a day. I got well into it, doing all the easy bits first. It got worse as I had to tackle the detailed sections, although the beer at lunchtime didn’t help, I kept at it.

A bike ride later finally did me in.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 70

26th May 2020

To compensate for the steady influx of new clothing Kelli finds on line there is an outlet at Granville that takes all the item she no longer wants. Up to now this has been closed, but today it has opened with certain restrictions.

Plato’s Closet is Kelli’s Mecca, so we just had to stop there. With two full bags in the truck, she dropped me off for a coffee whilst she went off to worship at the alter of nearly new garments.

I know I can go through the summer with one tee shirt and one pair of shorts, and I’m not ashamed to admit that, but she is horrified at the thought of that. She would have to change to meet the apocalypse.

I had to sit outside to drink my coffee, all the chairs and tables inside had been removed, but what was worse, and quite unforgivable there were no wooden sticks to scrounge.

We managed a bike ride getting back just in time before we were hit with a thunderstorm, that saved me wrestling with the hose to water the plants.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 69

25th May 2020

Today is Memorial Day, when Americans remember the dead from all the wars they’ve been involved in, and stuck their noses into.

Of course with Covid 19 deaths reaching 100000, there should be thoughts given to all the families that have suffered losses equally as traumatic.

The sun brought about more blooming iris’s, so slowly the garden is coming to life. I laid mulch on the new bed before running out. I’m really no good at estimating quantities, I’d be no good in the kitchen.

With some of the relaxing in gatherings of family groups we held a small Memorial Day party at our house. Kelli made the killer potato salad plus a few things from the corner store. All of us refrained from the usual hugs and instead made up alternative elbow greetings.

We had many flyovers by the local duck squadron but no bombing.

There are a pair of ducks that have become regular visitors to our garden, they peck at the seeds underneath the bird feeder, causing our dogs, with their noses up against the glass doors, to freak out.