Another Lifetime to go

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 68

24th May 2020

We were greeted by the first blooming iris in our garden, a great cause for celebration. This is the first bit of colour this year, so it was enough for Kelli to go dancing around the garden.

We have been fortunate to have wonderful customers who really appreciate what we are trying to do, so when the money get put straight into hand without them even looking at the piece, must say something.

We had a bike ride around the block, and then I started the task of watering the plants. For some reason unknown to me, there is only one hose point which is at the front of the house, which is fine for that, but when I have to water the back garden the hose has to go through the garage.

This is a drag, often it gets twisted, and the water flow stops, then I have to un-twist it, not easy when it’s like trying to straighten a boa-constrictor full of antelopes.

But when that’s all over I can sit outside and listen to the birds, there are some that even know my name. “Peeter , Peeter “ they chirp, it’s a shame that I don’t know theirs.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 66

22nd May 2020

There is a frantic feeling around 593 Central Bay to get furniture out to boost the month’s numbers.

Often this is a subject of an ongoing debate about how much things are worth.

I believe we continue to under value our work, but we also don’t want things hanging around for weeks.

The case in point, Kelli posted the mid century pieces and immediately had someone interested. We also have earned a reputation, and we get requests for furniture that we haven’t even started yet, so there is plenty of incentive to move things quickly.

We also took some time out to go and get some things for the garden. I bought bags of manure and top soil to fill the new beds. The bags weighed a ton, but hardly went anywhere.

Somewhere on this garden is a pile of shit and dirt but I can’t see it.

Kelli got some plants for some tubs to bring colour to the back garden, and I got some solar lights for the front of the house.

When we moved in, the house had a series of flood lights to illuminate the frontage, buried in the berm. I guess over the years they got damaged, and never replaced.

I wanted to replace them, but they were expensive so are low down on the priority table, so these solar ones will do for now.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 65

21st May 2020

Well two sunny days on the run is something to get used to, and to make a point I put on a pair of shorts. This was the first time my legs had seen the sun, and the reflection from them blinded folks sailing by on the lake. Kelli has advised me to only expose them one at a time, to let the neighbours get used to them.

We had a major job to complete today. The glass door cabinet had to be stripped back to the base finish and vigorously sanded to give a better key for the primer.

The first attempt failed totally when the paint finish came away in sheets. We were against the clock as we had a buyer already lined up.

It took a few hours, but we finally finished by mid afternoon.

I had news of redundancies at Herman Miller. It is always sad to hear of this happening to a company I gave much of my working life to.

Since retiring, I have become detached from the business, but there were many good people who were committed to keeping the ethos of the company going. I feel sad that they are being let down, and cast out into an uncertain world.

The Corvus-19 pandemic with have far reaching effects to the office furniture industry, not that things will happen quickly, but more people working from home there is a trend that will take it’s course.

HM had dabbled with furniture for the home market before, this was an adaptation of its office ranges, but this was out of scale, and not suitable for British homes. I had proposed some ideas that were sized more appropriately. As usual, these went down the toilet, but the prototype is at least being used in my son’s home.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 64

20th May 2029

It was a glorious sunny day, the first real one of the year, so the excitement was rushing though our veins to finish off the glass cabinet.

There had been a few issues of paint adhesion that had plague us, but we were optimistic that we would overcome them.

However that did not happen, and no matter what we did the paint chipped off. Just fitting the doors cause chipping, it was like we expected the whole cabinet to shed it’s skin like a snake.

We always use a special primer for difficult surfaces, this was a nightmare..

It was like the Universe was saying, “ Just sit in the garden and enjoy the sunshine”

Sounds like a good idea to me.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 63

19th May 2020

There is a lot of resistance to the restrictions imposed by the Governor of Michigan. Although there is lifting of some, the wearing of masks are the main thing that people are opposed too. Their argument makes no sense to me, generally it helps to reduce the risk of me giving it to someone else. This illustrates how selfish this some people really are. Although no one will put a figure on the number of people it would be acceptable to sacrifice in order for the economy to resume.

It takes this pandemic to show who in society we really value, but will they be rewarded? or will they get forgotten when things eventually find a new normal.

My sheet of teak veneer arrived in the post today, I was all excited to see if it matched the drawer front of the dresser. I was underwhelmed when I saw it, just one piece 12″x 6″ and it was nothing like the grain on the furniture. I tried to make a repair, but I was not happy with it, so it looks like plan B.

Most of the day was spent preparing a cabinet we collected a few days ago.

I lovingly masked the glass doors and primed them. This cabinet was not the normal material we normally work with, as it requires so much preparation, but sometimes we have to take what is available.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 62

18th May 2020

“Cameron has lock himself out of his apartment” Kelli said, walking into the garage after returning from doing some errands.

“Can we go and break in and get them, his car keys are there as well”

“No, I’m not doing that without him” I said.

“Why, what difference will that make” questioned Kelli.

“Because I don’t fancy getting arrested by the police for breaking and entering” I said, adding, “I don’t think it would go down well with my residency, if I get a criminal record whilst it’s being processed”

“Good point” she conceded.

When Cameron finished work we drove round to collect him. We all wore our masks, we’re never sure about the crazy people he might get around with.

I had taken a collection of putty knives with me. I have to stress that I have never broken into anywhere in my life, so I wasn’t sure what I was expected to do.

I looked at the door, and yes it was locked. Kelli suggested that I use the most flexible knife to slip down between the jam and the door. That would have meant that the knife would need to bend through ninety degrees, and there was no way that would happen. So I looked for another way.

I noticed there was a slight gap between the jam and the doorframe, just enough for the thinnest knife to slip underneath.

I pushed the knife in, and it went all the way, but there was a nail hindering movement.

Kelli moved forward, took the knife, wiggled it about and bingo the door was open “Fingers” Kelli had struck again.

Of course she took all the credit, even though it was my idea initially, but I’m modest enough to give it to her.

She reminded me of all the times when she had locked herself out of her home in the past, and had to use something to slip the lock, often it was a credit card.

It was the only time she had ever used it without buying something.

Earlier in the day the postman had struggled up the driveway with a large brown box. I could see him as I ate my breakfast. I mentioned it to Kelli who looked blank.

“ I’m not expecting a parcel” she answered.

“Well it’s a big box, and it won’t be for me” I said.

She went out and picked it up from outside the front door. She laid it on the kitchen worktop. It measured about eighteen inches cubed.

“I don’t know what this is” she said innocently, cutting the packaging tape.

Lifting the flap, there was a look of realisation.

“Oh it’s the rugs I ordered” she squealed.

Pulling them out and chucking them down on the floor.

“Terrific” I said.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 61

17th May 2020

It was a day of rain, lots of it. We had a couple coming to collect the big ass coffee table just after 1.00pm. I was volunteered to greet them and complete the transaction.

I had been out in the garage giving the top another polish, so it was looking good.

Everything went great, the couple loved it and loaded it up, and off they went happy.

We then had to deliver a head and foot board to an address in Byron Center. We had acquired these pieces as part of a job-lot of two dressers which we had sold last week, so this was a bit of extra profit from that deal.

It gives me a great opportunity to see the different places that people live. This address was down a private road, and set in a wooded valley, so they weren’t short of a few bucks. The heavily pregnant buyer was delighted with the bed parts, so with cash in our hands we made the trip back.

“Oh we have to stop off on the way back to pick up another dresser”

“Another bloody dresser? we have a shed full of the buggers.” “You can never have enough dressers” I kept saying to myself.

We got to the apartment and there was this dresser, ready to be loaded. It was not a great example although it was fully assembled, but there is alway cobwebs and spider’ shit in the base. A quick grunt and it was in the truck, and we headed home.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 60

16th May 2020

“We have to go and pick up something from Grand Rapids” Kelli announced, adding the Grand Rapids part rather sheepishly. I have no problem with that, although I give her grief more in fun than anything else. I trust her to select furniture that we can turn over quickly, and she knows what will sell.

She punched in the address on her GPS and we set off, stopping off to get fuel. The prices have steadily risen over the last few weeks to $1.90 an gallon, so all that cheap fuel has been exhausted.

We pulled out of the petrol station and headed off to get some garden edging that Kelli had ordered from Ace Hardware. There was a bit of confusion over the quantity that had been delivered, but that was quickly sorted out. We loaded the box full of edging into the back of the truck and pulled out of the car park.

I expected her to turn right, instead she turned left.

I looked at Kelli, the GPS lady was giving out directions, and Kelli was following the directions to the letter.

“Don’t we go in the other direction?” I inquired.

“It’s okay, it’s taking us to the highway this way”

What followed was a head scratching discussion on why we were going in a completely opposite direction. Okay we would hit the highway, but further down, and then we would eventually drive past the junction we would have reached, had we gone in the direction I thought we were going.

Anyway we hurtled along towards the big city, and found ourselves in a bland suburb, stopping outside this house that had the furniture piece in the driveway.

We decided to fit the edging around our flower borders. From my experience, I knew this needed careful planning to avoid an uneven mess. So we used a length of 4×2 to set the height and straightness, and it worked a treat. Kelli always looks oddly as I try to explain my ideas, but when it looks like working she gets onboard.

Pete and Kelli’s social distance day 59

15th May 2020

It was a wet start of the day, the morning was dark, with the rumbles of thunder all around the lake area. I had plenty to do on the large coffee table. The top was a bland wood that I had stained, now I was building up the finish with layers of polyurethane.

I had assembled the dining table and stripped the remnants of the green paint that had been left on the top. Generally it was not in too bad condition. The extension leaves worked, and I stripped everything down and sanded and cleaned, and even repainted all the metalwork.

I even managed to clean my bench, in between adding more coats of finish to a mid century sideboard.

As it cleared up in the afternoon, I dug out another border, buried deep were large root balls which meant at some time there were more plants than the previous owner had left us.

To say it was sparse was an understatement, in the year we’ve been here Kelli has added and re-arranged plants to make it a lot more presentable, but I know from my own experience at the cottage, you can spend a fortune on what you think is half a nursery, but once back home they have dwindled to a pathetic array. However once they have a chance to establish themselves it all changes, and we can reap the visual rewards all through the summer.