Another Lifetime to go

15th December 2019

We started the day with a fresh burst of Yoga.

With all the disruption of the past weeks we let it slip.

For me it was like starting from scratch, my joints creaked like an old schooner, and inevitably, the stifled gas reserves made it’s presence known with a barrage of unflattering bursts, that not only shocked my wife, but also scared the dogs.

I immediately blamed the food, all those beans were a breeding ground for flatulence, and when under extreme physical strain, I could not really be held responsible.

We had a fruitless trip to the store to collect the cheque for last months sales. Because the status changing from booth to consignment from December, it screwed up the system, so there was nothing for us. We would have to wait till later in the week, Kelli was not amused.

I got on with staining some tops whilst Kelli painted the tall dresser, out cottage industry was starting to turn, there were two items nearing completion, and a few in the garage being worked on.

14th December 2019

It was back to the garage, and loading up the last repainted dresser. We had offered to deliver it to the customer in Zeeland. Not only did we need the space, the money was useful as well.

It was a heavy beast, as they often are, but we carefully loaded it, and set off for God’s country.

We stopped off at Kelli’s mum to check how she was doing, and making sure she was stocked up on her protein drinks.

Once we were home Kelli decided to make some savoury muffins, these are my favourites, so I waited in eager expectation.

I knew we were in for some serious baking as she got out every possible cooking measuring device she had. The worktop was littered with cups, spoons, bowls and whisks. Then came the ingredients, and a lot of intensive mixing.

When I came back into the house from the garage the smell was amazing.

The oven door was opened and two trays of heaven emerged. One tray had four large muffins and the other tray had six smaller. I asked if there were other trays still in the oven,

“ No, just these” was the reply. Now in real terms these would have been scoffed down in about a minute and a half. It would have been easier if the mixture was just poured into my open mouth, that would have saved a lot of cooking time.

13th December 2019

The weather was a little milder today encouraging me to fix the outside Christmas lights. Some of them failed about a week after they were installed.

There were about fifty of the hundred lamps that failed, so somewhere in those fifty was the duff one.

I started to remove them one by one, and got about half way before one broke as I removed it. This was promising, so I fitted a new one then had to refit all the others before I would know that they would all illuminate. As the last lamp was pushed into its housing the string there was light. I felt like I had invented something, Blackpool illuminations was back in business.

We drove to Zeeland to pick up a dresser Kelli had spotted on Marketplace. The lady lived in a glorified trailer park, or caravan site as we would call it.

The piece was bright pink, but pretty solid, so with a little work it could be quite good.

There are some that instantly have a cool look and others look simple, until I start to get into it and find the difficulties.

As soon as I got back I checked out the top. It had been painted with a primer as hard as nails. “Oh goody, more hard sanding”.

I started to prime the POS cabinet, this is in the same vain as Fido’s coffin that I transformed a couple of years ago.

These are labours of love for me, and although I can never get my hours back, I’m just a glutton for punishment.

12th December 2019

I think I have spent more time visiting Holland hospital than any in the UK, and I notched up another this evening.

We had a different day than we usually have by doing some Christmas shopping down in the town. Of course we picked up a dresser, and did a Goodwill run as well, and dropped in to see how Kelli’s mum was doing.

I did a bit more sorting in the basement whilst Kelli was doing stuff upstairs.

I was looking forward to a quiet evening, a hot shower and a coffee.

Later in the evening Kelli received a text from her mother, so she had to go and see what the problem was.

An hour or so later Kelli called me to say that her mother had been taken to hospital because she had come over a bit shaky, and as a precaution the emergency services were called. Often the first to arrive is the fire engine with it’s lights flashing to alert the neighbours and get them looking out their windows. There is nothing subtle about their arrival. Then the paramedics turn up with more flashing lights just to make the spectacle complete. Thankfully I was not there for that performance, but Kelli called me to let me know the latest saga.

I hurriedly changed into some warm clothes and waited for Kelli to return so that we could both go to A&E.

It was past 10.00pm when we got there, Georgia was in room seven surrounded by medical staff and monitoring equipment.

Within just over an hour the panic was over, she was discharged, so we drove her back home.

After making sure she was tucked up in bed we drove back to our place, our heads buzzing with all the excitement, certainly not ready for sleep.

11th December 2019

I was trying to spend a decent amount of time in the garage. I had finished the re-painted dresser, and set aside the drawer-less dresser refurb to try and work on some other more simpler pieces.

Kelli had painted a small bookcase earlier and already had a buyer after it.

There was a small cabinet that needed the door repairing.

As I looked at the piece I realised the amount of work required to make it worth selling. Apart from the door, the carcass looked like it had been made from old boards with holes and chunks missing, it was a real piece of shit. So this will be known as POS, and will be another labour of love.

Kelli had been at her mothers for most of the day, and I could tell the lack of sleep, had finally caught up with her.

We drove into town and had something to eat at New Holland Brewery.

10th December 2019

Today it snowed. I woke up to a smattering of snow that covered everything.

Today was the day that Georgia, Kelli’s mother was to have a heart procedure in Grand Rapids.

Kelli has been on tender hooks for weeks caused by a succession of texts messages from her mother. Because of her condition, she suffered irregular heart beats, often leading to anxiety and stress that Kelli absorbed. The date of the procedure, which I cannot go into detail because I would get halfway through and faint, was welcomed.

That did not help with the sleepless nights Kelli endured, but there was an expectation that surgery would cure the condition.

We were due to go to the family house to start the sorting of Dave’s workshop, which was convenient as the house was empty.

I met up with Matt, and we went into the basement and started to empty the drawers.

We didn’t have a clue what we were going to do with any of it. I started filling boxes with hammers, screwdrivers and every conceivable tool that he collected over his life.

Matt found Dave’s old school and college report cards plus more old photographs, many taken before I was born.

Kelli was upstairs searching for the Christmas decorations to hang up and make the place festive for Georgia’s return.

After many hours we barely scratched the surface, but at least we had made a start.

We drove to Grand Rapids for our shift.

The operation was in the morning, and that was followed by four hours laying on her back.

The staff would sit her upright followed by some walking exercises.

Getting to the Meijer Heart hospital was a major task in itself. We followed the satnav but it took us to the huge hospital building, but no signs for the place we wanted.

I ended up walking in and asking for assistance, something that a man rarely wants to do.

The friendly staff produced a map which showed the car park and entrance to the heart hospital.

With a few more stops to get directions we reached the room where Georgia was resting.

This type of procedure is very common and that showed by the number of people shuffling along the corridors taking their exercise.

The number of flapping gowns I saw, revealing certain parts not meant to be seen in public was a little unsettling, but I survived.

We spent three hours in the hospital waiting for the doctors to allow her out.

I collected the truck and waited at the entrance for Kelli and Georgia to appear.

The drive back was good, despite the snow.

We decided that she should stay with us for the night just in case anything happened, I doubt that we would have been any real use. The emergency services would have had to step over both our fainted bodies.

9th December 2019

Rolled up my sleeves again and worked in the garage. It’s so much different from the old place where as soon as the temperature dropped it was impossible to work for more than fifteen minutes before my hands froze.

This is luxury compared to that, the small heater provides enough heat to keep the chill off.

Later in the afternoon Kelli dropped me at Menards to purchase some adhesive and paint whilst she went off to do things Kelli does best. “Could you pick up some bird and Squirrel food as well”

So she handed me a large carrier bag, and we agreed to meet at the nearby Starbucks in an hour. So off I went to do my chores.

I was finished quickly, so packing the bags of seeds into my carrier bag, I grabbed the handles which were longer than I thought. Fully loaded the bag hovered about half an inch from the ground constantly banging my ankles.

I had to cross a patch of grass to get to Starbucks. As I proceeded I noticed that the ground was a little soft, as I went further it became boggy, and I was sinking, the bag was now rubbing on the ground, so not only did I have to drag myself through the bog, I had the bloody bag to worry about.

I must have looked a sad case to the people waiting at the drive through this poor guy dragging a Christmas decorated carrier bag, slowly sinking into the quagmire.

Most waited around to see if I disappeared from sight, leaving behind the bags of bird seeds

I managed to reach firm ground, leaving my muddy footprints on the floor of the coffee shop. The bag handles had stretched so much that it was constantly dragging along the ground.

I was making a dragging noise from where I placed my order to where I had to collect it, many people looked up, I smiled and uttered the excuse “dead dog”

8th December 2019

I made a start on the drawerless dresser. I intended to add three small drawers along the top. I was able to salvage the runners for the new positions, and I had plywood left over from another job to make a floor, so things were looking promising for a low cost restoration.

In the afternoon we took the dogs to the park for exercise, well mostly for us.

I wanted to run up the steps and see how many I could cover before my heart exploded.

It is a wonderful place, but we decided to go off piste and try to find the remains of an old water tower that was covered in graffiti. The climbing up was a strain because there were no steps, but finally we made it.

The return journey was not so easy “you need to find a big stick” Kelli advised. She picked up a branch that looked a bit rotten, I found one that looked like something that Gandalf, from Lord of the Rings, would carry.

We started our decent, I was in front, sticking my staff ahead, supporting my weight. This was working, I could hear a little giggling, as Kelli was trying to control her dog and trying to use the stick. Suddenly she slipped, and fell on to her back, laughing as she fell. This is not unusual, she can trip over her own feet, even though they are so small.

We continued our decent reaching the path with no further incident.

The sun was going down, and we could see a deer standing on the ridge, almost invisible against the trees. Kelli got all excited as she had never seen one there before, it was a fitting end to her arse sliding episode.

7th December 2019

Don arrived early to collect his dresser leaving more space in the garage.

I applied more coats on the other re-paint dresser that should be completed soon.

I am eager to start on something more meaty because painting is getting a bit predictable.

This evening we had a birthday cake party for Greer who will be twenty-two tomorrow.

Kelli had baked an Oreo cheesecake, which tasted sublimed, all those English baking shows certainly paid off.

Kelli’s mum, Georgia arrived with Cameron and brought a collection of old slides and a viewer.

There were a number of pictures of Kelli as a baby which were a riot to see. Many other slides were old family members that I didn’t know, this left me with a strange feeling of solitude, because for a short time, I was on the outside looking in. I have had this feeling before, and it is the only time that I miss being with my friends and family back in the UK.

It doesn’t last long, and I just have to deal with it.

6th December 2019

I went up to the family home with Matt to start the arduous task of sifting through Dave’s treasures.

I went into the basement to sort the vast collection of tools and machinery that had become my second home.

I was hard for me, and very emotional, the first time it hit me. I had tried to keep spirits high during this low period, but the realisation that he wouldn’t be walking down the stairs to see what I was doing, was very difficult for me.

I knew he was passionate about his workshop and I felt I was violating his sacred space by opening drawers packed with his treasures. He had a collection of hand planes of different sizes, numerous screwdrivers, hammers of every weight, chisels, pliers and things for getting Boy Scouts out of horses hooves.

There were so many things I would want to keep, and move down to my workshop, but the thought of getting some of the items up the stairs will require some strong arms.

Matt was upstairs sorting through even more collections.

There were three cardboard boxes full of small oil cans, and enough hunting hardware to arm a small army.

These were just some of the treasures of a man called Dave. Reminders of his military service, notes and drawings from his children, and pictures from his grand children, he kept everything. This was his world that we were uncovering, smiling as we found another drawer full of hammers.