Another Lifetime to go

7th July 2019

I only had to go to Menards for a few items, but came back with many. On the way back Kelli’s super tuned peripheral vision went into overdrive. She managed to spot an ornate bed frame with canopy leaning up against a telegraph pole. This was between two parked cars. Her opportunity to see this must have been measured in milliseconds, of course there was no chance that I would see it even if I was looking in that direction all the time, it would have been just a blur to me.

She spun the truck around and went back to investigate. Sure enough, there was the bed frame, with the canopy bars and side pieces.

Those went straight in the back. The front and back parts would not fit in, and we had nothing to tie it to the roof rack. We had no option but to drive back with the bits we had, and drive back later with bungees and rope hoping that the rest was still there.

Luckily they were, so we lifted them on to the roof rack, tied it down and made our way back home.

We set it up in the garden and took some pictures and Kelli posted it on Marketplace, we’ve had good results when we had a bed frame similar, so here’s hoping it sells just as quick.

Well by the end of the evening there were several people fighting over it. This went on late into the night. They wanted the height, meaning I had put on my shoes, and go out into the dark garage to measure it.

We would have to wait until morning to see if it sold.

6th July 2019

I finished the hoop shelf unit, so we took it to our space. I managed to find a heavy duty hook to hang it on to the peg board. Now I am waiting to hear if it fell off and killed anyone.

The tell tale signs would be two rusty parallel track marks on the first victim. It would then roll out of the store, turning to the right, gaining speed as it heads for the intersection causing multiple pile ups. Someone would find the shelf at the side of the road, take it back to the store, and offer us less, because it had be used.

We had to deliver a dresser that had sold earlier in the week, which was fun to do in this blazing heat.

Next stop was Grandville, where Kelli dropped me at Starbucks for coffee and stirring stick collection, whilst she went off to shop.

We drove down to Saugatuck to a new restaurant called Guardian, that had a good selection of vegan food and home brewed beer. There are so many small breweries in the area, it’s a wonder there are enough alcoholics to go round.

We picked up a couple of low cabinets from a lady not far from where we had eaten, which was good as I was laden down with a couple of glasses of good ale, and couldn’t have given a toss.

5th July 2019

The holiday weekend continued, cable news were busy reporting the latest Trump false fact. In his speech he mentioned that during the war of independence, the American army were in complete command of the land, sea and air, and control of the “airports”. You cannot make this stuff up, he is either a comedian who cannot get the punchline right, or a complete dick.

We were both working on some new pieces in the garage, the large fan was blasting out cool air, and boy was that needed.

I worked on a repurpose project using two metal hoops that we bought last year, sitting in our store cupboard. I decided to make a shelf out of some old timber I had kept during the move.

I was reminded of the Great Interior Challenge we are currently watching, where the budding designers have a few days to transform someone’s room. it took me a day to make just one thing.

I had to make a fixture to true up the hoops, cut the joints for the wood bits, cut the shelf assembly to fit inside the hoops, drill the holes in the hoops, then fit the screws. I could have had a complete series all to myself entitled “Pete makes a shelf”.

4th July 2019

Well another day of celebration has arrived.

I had wanted to put rows of Union Jack flags down each side of the drive. There were plenty left from the wedding, but Kelli advised against it. I didn’t wanted the place “egg’d” so I just got on with things in the garage instead.

Larry came back over to say that he had bought some antifreeze and did a test drive. He said the radiator was fine with no leaks, but I feared there was something else. He went on to say that he feared the heater core was somehow damaged when the car overheated, and water was pouring into the passenger well.

That was the last thing I wanted to hear, so I went over to take a look. I’m not sure why, what did I know, did I have years of experience repairing Audi’s? Not at all. I scoured the Haynes manual hoping the job was a simple one. The book was not helpful at all.

I returned home to look on YouTube, and what I found were a series of videos on various different Audis, but all of them mentioned how difficult it was. Most of them started by stripping most of the car parts and piling them on the garage floor. I watched all of them, and went back to tell Larry what I had found.

“I don’t really want to get into that” he said, and I didn’t blame him.

We talked around a bit, and finally came to the most pragmatic solution. I told him to by-pass the heater with a piece of hose. This will allow Greer to drive it until it got cold, then she can decide what to do. To take it to a garage with end up with a bill of nearly a thousand dollars, so, it’s not really worth spending that sort of money on it.

I didn’t watch any of the Trump extravaganza on television, I spent more productive time collecting the dog poop.

We both walked to the edge of Lake Mac to watch the fireworks, everywhere seemed to be a mini war zone. As we walked away, a short piece of cardboard tube from a rocket landed in the road close to us, we hastened our pace.

3rd July 2019

Kelli’s day at the bookstore was moved from Monday to today, so that’s where we were until 3.00pm

I enjoyed watching the people wandering around, answering their questions, eavesdropping on their conversation, and sharing in their celebration at finding the book they had been searching for.

One lad was desperate to find something that interested him, but his father had little interest in his choices.

Even when he found something, his mother decided what books he should have. His little face looked so forlorn and his lips quivered as he left the store.

Larry came over to the house to tell us that he had fitted the new radiator to Greer’s car. He just needed antifreeze to complete the job.

We learned that we had sold the yellow dresser, and we had to deliver it on Saturday, a good start to the month.

2nd July 2019

The heat hit me as I entered the garage, even opening the door did not have any other effect. I had a list of things I wanted to do, so the heat was appreciated.

I was working on the two desk pedestals which needed a bit of filling. I mixed the “Bondo” with a small amount of hardener, I only managed to fill part of the area before the chemical reaction and ambient temperature made the stuff solid.

There was a lot of noise from the street. Contractors were busy cutting down a couple of large maple trees by the side of South Shore Drive. This was sad to see as we had lived in the shadow of these monsters all the time we were in the other house. There were cranes, cherry pickers, mechanical movers, and a mother of all shredders. This machine’s hunger was insatiable, taking huge boughs and turning it into chippings.

The place had the aura of a slaughterhouse, we were watching the destruction of a wonderful statue, with the cold precision of a death machine. I had seen the red dots painted at the base of the trunk a few weeks before, so I was expecting the worse, but it still shocked me to be witnessing the event.

Within a short time they were gone, the only evidence remaining were the trunks stacked on the grass. We asked one of the guys if we could have a slice from one of the trees. Kelli explained that we had lived in the house, and offered some ice poles in exchange. A little later were were looking at our piece of the tree, I’m not sure what we plan to do with it, but it will have a place in our home.

Kelli left me to get on with my jobs and went

off to do some errands, and scour the Goodwills. She returned triumphantly with a dresser that needed a bit of love on it.

Later in the afternoon the sky got dark, a storm was coming in from the lake. It got so dark that I had to put lights on in the garage.

Then the rain came, a quick burst, and then it was gone along with the black clouds.

The air was fresh and cooler, and hopefully all the fertiliser on the lawn would have soaked in and started to do its job.

1st July 2019

It’s a wonderful hot day as I get a bit of sun at the bookstore.

We are watching the clock till be can head back.

We have some things to pick up, and new pieces to deliver to the new place, then back to the house for the collection of the commissioned piece. Although this was just a strip and paint job it took a bit longer than we thought, but it was good to get it out of the garage to start its new life in a child’s bedroom.

I continued to work on the two desk pedestals, doing a bit of repair work, and more sanding.

I had bought some more garden fertiliser for the back lawn, so that had to be spread.

I carefully measured out the quantity I needed, and loaded the spreader. The instructions stated to distribute the mix evenly to avoid “stripes” so I was conscious of that as I tried to follow the tracks left by the spreader, which was not always possible. As it happened I had to go across the lawn to use up the stuff, so I will expect a chess board effect no doubt.

30th June 2019

We finished painting the desk and bookcase commission, so that is ready to be picked up tomorrow.

We had to drive to Byron Centre which I thought was a church hall, to pick up a desk. This was a part of Michigan I had not seen, but it still made me ask the question “why do people live so far out in the wild?”

There was an endless straight road ahead of us, and the odd house in between the trees.

We passed the town of Drenthe, or D’eath would be more appropriate name. Being Sunday there was no sign of life. Even the place we were collecting the desk from was deserted, apparently the seller fell asleep, leaving us to load the furniture piece ourselves.

The desk was covered in bits of maps glued to the drawer fronts, where an attempt was made to up cycle it into something attractive, but failing dismally.

On the drive home we tried to find a roadside stall selling stuff. We each had a different idea where the place was. Kelli thought we had passed it, but I was certain it was further on. I was right, so we pulled in to view the sorry arrangement of flowers and fruit. There was a handwritten note from the seller about a girl in a red car that had taken a small bouquet without paying for them. Therefore wracked with guilt we felt we should buy something to make up for the gutless thief from yesterday.

We decided on a punnet of strawberries and a banana cake with chocolate bits in it. These were a little expensive at $5 a piece, which made me think about making a fast getaway myself, but being good people we left the money and drove away happy that we were helping someone carving out a living.

I had fun trying to separate the desk top from the pedestals, I spent more of my precious life fishing for the slotted screws hidden deep inside a space no bigger than the height of my wrist with a dumpy screwdriver. I muttered a collection of really bad words as I scraped my knuckles on every sixteenth of a turn. There was only one that defeated me where I had to resort to a crow bar for the final release. Of course the thought of rebuilding, and re fitting the new top did occur to me, but that’s another day.

29th June 2019

Today was a special day in two respects, one the opening of our new space, the other the birthday of Kelli’s son and mother.

We got to “Our Collected Homes “ a couple of hours after it opened hoping to see utter chaos, and most of our pieces gone. Reality was we only sold a few small items, nothing big. That was a bit of a letdown, but not undeterred, we found some small items at Goodwill.

The weather is at last warm and sunny, which causes me to perspire at the drop of a hat, especially if I have any work to do. The merits of air conditioning come into their own when you walk inside the house, that cool air hits you, and my damp tee shirt suddenly feels like an ice pack, brr, that’s cold.

The Bulthouse family birthday tradition kicked off at 7.00pm with presents and cake, washed down with a couple of glasses of Sangria, or for the Christians, a glass of cold water.

The celebration is a collection of laughter and tears. Then it is over, and everyone disappears, all we have left is the remains of the cake and drink. I think curfews last longer, it is a race to see who can leave the earliest .

That takes a bit of getting used too (like not being offered a cup of tea when you visit people) most of the conversations are conducted in the driveway or over fences, but that is their way, and I don’t think I can change them.

We rounded off the day around the fire pit, burning some of the low hanging branches I had cut off from from the pine trees. These had made cutting the grass around them so torturous. It was like being whipped (not in a good way) every time I was dragged by the mower under them. My revenge was watching them erupt in flames, although they got revenge by showering us with airborne ash.

28th June 2019

You get all sorts coming into the bookshop. There are the friendly type who like to be friendly with everyone, and the miserable ones who hate everything. There are those who sit and read most of the book before they buy it, try doing the same in a restaurant buddy! Often there are families where the parents just want a rest from their demanding children. I usually sit up front with Kelli reading my book of choice. I don’t ring up customers, I can’t be trusted. I can’t make sense of the coinage, I never use it, my pockets are often full of loose change clanking about, dragging my trousers south. Kelli is expert in finding it, and placing it is a pot on the dining table. This stash comes in handy when she needs to tip someone, although their appreciation disappears when she hands them a stack of pennies. They walk away with their pockets weighed down to their knees.

I was faced with a dilemma as I was leaving for my coffee. I was going to walk out of the door, but I waited for a mother and daughter to enter. The daughter came in but the mother, of ample proportions stopped in the doorway looking at some bargain books. There then followed a difficult pause, as I waited for her to create some space to allow me to pass. I had to pretend that I was just standing there minding my own business. At one point I was afraid she would pick a book and start reading, then I probably would have slapped her.

Greer had a problem with her car. The radiator had a leak and she was stuck on the other side of town.

We finished work a little earlier so that we could go to her aid, although there wasn’t much either of us could do, we waited in moral support for the tow truck.

We arranged to have the car dropped off at Larry across the road. He had a look and established it was the radiator that was leaking. He couldn’t find a supplier that could get a replacement for such an old car, so I guess it’s the internet again.