Another Lifetime to go

27th July 2019

I had the sleeper ready, I had timber cut to make shuttering to cast a concrete plinth for the sleeper to sit on. I was ready.

Then fate stepped in, it told me “Pete, you have been working hard for ten minutes, you need to take a rest for fifteen”

“ No I don’t I’ve just started, I don’t need a rest”

At which point I knocked over my jar of nails. It bounced down the steps depositing all the nails all the way to the bottom. It took me fifteen minutes to collect them up and put them back in the jar.

So you see, if you are deemed to take a break there is nothing you can do about it.

I used the nails the assemble the shuttering, mixed the concrete and went to have a break.

I had my sofa delivered from Ikea. Eleven boxes arrived, so I finished my break and started to open them. I had decided earlier to save the assembly until the evening, when my other work was done, but my excitement drove me to fit together a couple of parts. The base frame was an aluminium extrusion held together with castings. The parts went together perfectly. It was a pleasure to build.

It became addictive, I wanted to see if the other parts were as perfect. The upholstery was made from memory foam that is compressed and shrink wrapped. On cutting the wrapping, there was a sound like a dog fart, and the foam started to expand. The instructions noted that the foam would reach the full dimension within seventy two hours, so I thought it would be a good idea to fit the covers before the foam got too big. This was not easy, but with dogged dedication I managed it.

I was really impressed with the quality of the whole package, it was quite expensive for an Ikea product, but it was, in my opinion as good as any top branded product.

26th July 2019

I met up with my old friend Rob for lunch. We both had Masala Dosa which was wonderful. I haven’t found an Indian restaurant in Holland, so my first spicy meal is always welcomed.

We took a walk into Bath along the canal and then through Sydney Gardens.

Rob will talk to anyone, sometimes to my embarrassment, but time with him is alway interesting.

On the way back, he decided to catch a bus back. I had my bus pass in my wallet that had never used before, so this was a first time. The bus arrived, and nervously held my card out like a lost soul. “Lay it on the reader” Rob urged, so I did, and everything went perfect, no red lights or sirens, I felt elated.

25th July 2019

My first job of the day was to fit a lock to the small bedroom door. This I carried out with precision, and to my delight, it went smoothly, no blood, or bad language.

Next, it was time to pick up the sleepers, it was a struggle carrying them up the slope in the heat. They just got heavier with every step.

Halfway up the path I met Mike the local mason, who was rebuilding a stone wall. This had looked like it was due to collapse for years, but he was given the job to make it good. We shared the fun of trying to move large blocks of Bath stone on your own, and the ingenious ways we each devised to do it without causing us physical harm.

I used my recuperation time to work out my schedule of work, trying to use the time wisely and efficiently.

Kelli had been equally productive by selling the dresser that I had bought last week. She had done a wonderful job of selectively painting various parts but leaving a lot of wood exposed, one of our best pieces I think.

24th July 2019

There was no evidence of the storm this morning, the plants still greeted me when I looked out of the bedroom window. I was lazy and slept in, I had breakfast, and my first coffee of the day.

I went through my mail and found a couple of cheques from the DVLA and insurance company, pretty rare to actually get something back.

I was reminded of the Jag yesterday. It was parked next to the Shogun, I did pause to remember the fun it gave me.

I drove to Trowbridge to bank the cheques, All I heard were people talking in Eastern European languages, and I tried to remember which province of Poland Trowbridge was.

I walked around for a while seeing how empty it was. The deserted shops, mirrored the emptiness in people’s eyes.

Nicola had stocked the fridge with a few essential, including her vegetable soup, that makes the travel bearable.

This was a day of action, to get materials for the jobs I needed to complete on this trip.

First stop was Haven Timber to purchase oak sleepers. They are so heavy? I worked out why they were given that name. By the time I carried them up the slope to the cottage, I just wanted to crash out on the sofa.

23rd July 2019

Touchdown felt like the plane had square wheels, if not it certainly had them after.

The time was 2.45pm whereas it should have been 1.15pm. The delay leaving Chicago was due to an “engineering issue” the pilot announced. His voice sounding that he had lost the will to live, and not the tone you want to hear as you are preparing to fly across the Atlantic.

Fortunately they had only let on the Priority boarders, before they halted everyone else, so there were only a few seats occupied.

I settled down and started the first film. Intermittently the pilot would update us on progress in a drawl that sounded like he was deflating. The “issue” was something to do with damage to one undercarriage door, possibly a stone. I could only imagine the engineering crew trying to beat out the dent.

So the film ended, and I was still on the ground, but the good news was the other passengers were embarking.

As it happens the aircraft was not full leaving me with a completely empty row to stretch out on.

I was totally unprepared for the weather when I landed, standing out in the blazing sun in a long sleeve shirt.

Damian turned up ten minutes later in his black Porsche GT3, we loaded up, and roared off to join the traffic queued on the M25.

I picked up the Shogun and headed back to Bradford on Avon.

When I arrived, I was greeted with an abundance of flowers, the garden look great, completely different when I left three months ago. I owed a lot to my sister and my friend Rob who had added extra plants and to them plus Louise for keeping them alive.

It was a wonderful sight.

I settled back and started planning what work I needed to do, it felt like I was in a hotel room, I was not yet connected to it, my mind was still in Holland wondering about things I should have told Kelli about how to fill the lawn mower with petrol using the new can.

I was looking forward to a long restful sleep.

However the thunderstorm put paid to that.

22nd July 2019

Today I head back to the UK for a short period. I still have a few small jobs to finish off before I offer it up to AirB&B.

The flight was a late evening one, so I was able to finish off some jobs in the garden.

I managed to cut the grass, remove an old fence and collect more dog poo.

I found my case, but could not think of what I needed to pack. I added some token clothes and my toiletries and that was it.

The drive to the airport was a bit hairy. There was a lot of roadworks on the motorway, so we thought we would chose an alternative route. After saying my goodbyes to the family, and picking up Cameron who would keep Kelli company on the drive back, we set off.

There was a bit of traffic about as a lot of people were leaving work, so progress was slow. The GPS then took us in the opposite direction, but we missed the turning to get us back on the right track. We were then driving back towards Holland with no exits for miles. I was a bit worried that time was slipping by, but I kept quiet. Then up ahead we saw a truck turn on to a track between the carriage-ways.

Kelli asked what she should do, I said follow it, finally we were heading back in the right direction.

Now it was a race to the airport, the poor truck had never been driven so fast, and we arrived with about six minutes to spare.

There was no time for our usual goodbyes, as I grabbed my bags and ran to the check in.

Kelli had done a brilliant job under the circumstances, but now I had to get through security. There were people waddling along without a care in the world, and there was me desperate to get to the plane.

Finally I got through, putting my shoes and belt back on I made a dash for the gate.

On the plane I took my seat only to find myself in the business class. I’m not sure how that happened, but the seat was wonderful, but that only lasted about twenty minutes as we landed in Chicago.

Then I started my five hour wait. I bought a coffee and found a place to sit. I was aware of a strange wailing sound that didn’t come from the vehicles roaming up and down the terminal. I managed to locate the source of the sound. There was a guy with headphones trying to sing along with whatever he was listening to. I tried to identify it, but couldn’t. I didn’t want to disturb him as he was also playing an air guitar and looked a bit strange. I chose to be in ignorance of his music and just enjoy my drink.

21st July 2019

I was determined to bury the dog poo composter, and as the temperatures was a little lower I grabbed the spade and went for it. I decided to work fast as I thought the sweat would not have time to seep through my tee shirt. This however was rubbish as is most my theories.

Within minutes two wet patches appeared in a cool Bruce Willis way.

I dug down, removing the roots as I went. The soil was so sandy, it didn’t take too long to reach the necessary depth, I lowered the composter into the hole, making sure it was level. I gave the honour of tossing the first shovelfuls of soil to Kelli, for which I’m sure she will remember for ever.

I finished the filling in, then came the important part, adding the first poos. I had collected them over the past two days so they were good and ripe. We had to add the water with the enzymes to start the composting process, followed by a lot more water. With the soil being so sandy the water drained quickly. I kept adding more water, and more, but it kept disappearing, that is when I stopped, otherwise the lake would have overflowed.

A least we have a place to put the poo that is underground and not in the wheelie bin.

Later we went up to the in-laws for dinner. Greer brought her boyfriend Dylan, for the first time, he had the pleasure of the family inquisition. I had gone through the same experience many years ago myself, I just told them I knew the Queen, that seemed to make them happy.

20th July 2019

I decided that I would dig a large hole to bury the dog poop composter. “You are mad, it’s too hot for that” said Kelli.

“It will be okay there is shade over there”

Those were my last words.

I started digging and got about six inches down when the roots started to hinder my progress. So I decided to try digging in a different place. The soil was very sandy, and I got down about a foot. The shear action of cutting through the roots with the spade was exhausting. The sweat ran down my nose, dropping like lemmings off a cliff. It was 84 Fahrenheit, and Kelly was right, it was too hot to continue.

The dogs were freaking out as I was digging the hole, thinking it was for them, because of what happened to poor Tetley.

We sat and watched a storm roll in, the speed and formation of the clouds was like a dynamic oil painting with each swirl a giant brush stroke. I was so enthralled that even the rain didn’t disturb me.

19th July 2019

Had my last coffee at Uncommon Grounds for this trip.

I was intrigued by, what seemed to be a home schooling one on one class on the table next to me. The subject was elementary English grammar, something the president of the USA needs to study.

Home schooling is quite popular over here. Greer did it for one year during a difficult time for her.

Kelli has a text from our English friends Lesley and Mike to say that they had to have their dog put down. It had been a hard year for them as Tetley has been ill for a while, and even when you are prepared for it, it still hurts.

Kelli bought a small bouquet of flowers and we dropped them in on our way through.

Lesley was distraught, Kelli held back tears as they hugged, having gone through the same experience many times herself.

We went to the new space to drop off a pair of side tables stopping off at Goodwill on the way back.

A lot of the furniture was priced high, which defeats the purpose. Kelli mentioned it to a cashier on the way out, and they had someone new pricing the stuff.

We always look for things priced between ten and twenty dollars, but a lot were over double, so they stayed where they are.

As I was walking around I spied a Mexican guy looking at dog cage, trying to check the size, I felt like saying to him “Yep! You could get a couple of kids in that”

18th July 2019

I did my good deed for the day by saving a family of ducks that had miraculously crossed the road, and who were trying to get back.

It was a tragedy waiting to happen, so with no thought of our own safety, Kelli sent ME to make sure they made it safely.

I waved the traffic down until the mother and chicks had crossed back. I felt quite emotional at the end.

I then got back to business by cutting, sanding, staining and oiling various pieces for our backlog.

Kelli proudly announced that she had found a dog poo composter on Marketplace. We had talked about getting something to deal with the doggie issue, but I didn’t think it would happen so quickly.

Our new habit of composting has meant that we were able to downsize our wheelie bin from two dead body size, down to a wrinkly old grandma size, which is quite considerable.

We had arranged to meet at a car park outside Family Fare, which is a favourite place for anyone with stuff to trade. Cars would park, others would pull up, doors would open, stuff and money would be exchanged, and then they leave. The police are not bothered that a pair of turquoise pants, which should be illegal, are flaunted in full view of the public, and no action taken, well it’s beyond me!

Our lady arrived, and showed us the doggie composter. I asked her how long it took to train her dog to use it. Skipping over that remark, she told us they had never assembled it, and kept it so long that their dog eventually died.

When I assembled it I was shocked to see how big it was. It was nearly the same size as our wheelie bin, so you could stuff an old granny in that as well.