Another Lifetime to go

6th June 2019

We both needed to get our respective asses into gear and work on some furniture.

With the work on the houses, and the closure of Painted Farmgirl there was little money coming in except for what Kelli could get on Marketplace.

I had a couple of side tables that I completed, ready for finishing, and Kelli painted a dresser.

So we were back.

I repaired a skill-saw where the motor and blade spun independently of each other.

We drove to Grand Rapids to pick up a pair of speakers that I have seen on Marketplace. I wanted to build up the music system now that we had a better place to appreciate it. These were B&W DM220’s, British made and similar to a set I have back in the UK.

I met Mark at his place of work, which was asphalt processing plant. We had to drive past two mountains of old chunks of motorway that would be turned back into new resurfacing material.

He was a big black guy, dressed in black standing in front of a black pile of rubble, it was a wonder I saw him at all.

We did the deal, then set off back home. I resisted saying “ Ta Mac” as for one, he wouldn’t understand what I said, and also what I meant.

Our English friends Lesley and Mike came down to sit around our fire and drink wine. My problem was we had burnt all my wood scraps the day before, so they brought their own. We have now started the “Bring a bottle and firewood” party.

5th June 2019

Today the big fan above the living space was coming down. Kelli hated it from the beginning, and found a better one on Marketplace.

Because the ceiling was so high I required help to tackle the change over.

Enter John and Patti our furniture making friends. He seemed to know his way around a fan, so he was in charge. A few precarious minutes later, and it was finished. Now with the fan looking less like the propeller from a Lancaster bomber Kelli is happy. Of course the bloody thing is now spinning all the time, but I will get used to it.

Greer finally emerged from her sickness cocoon, like Dracula, pale and thin scavenging for food.

4th June 2019

It was great to wake up without thinking about cleaning or moving stuff, it was great back to some normality.

We wanted to get back to doing yoga, because we had misused our bodies over the past five weeks. I had shoulder, arm and neck aches that made be feel like an old git.

So that was the first thing on our list, and although it was only a fifteen minute session, it felt good.

I then grouted the remaining tiles in the entry way whilst Kelli made a bit of headway organising things in the garage.

“You need a haircut” the voice of my wife proclaimed. I didn’t deny it, I didn’t look like a hippy, but it needed a bit of work.

Then on to Grandville for Kelli to indulge in some retail therapy, and for me a visit to Starbucks for a coffee and to grab some wooden stirring sticks.

I still have a few jobs in the house to do, but they have to be worked in between getting new stuff ready for the new space.

There is still no news when we will be getting our money from The Painted Farmgirl. This was a serious blow to our income, but there is hope that the owner will eventually pay everyone back.

The only positive thing that has happened is we don’t have to struggle to make rent now.

The negative part is it hit our cash flow required to buy things to work on. Fortunately Kelli has be selling what she could on Marketplace to make up for it.

3rd June 2019

Move out, clean up day 10

Kelli had to start her part time job at the book store in Saugatuck. This had been delayed a month so that we could decorate the new house. This was a welcomed change to our routine, and a chance to read some books and visit my favourite coffee shop.

As soon as we got back, with this being the last day of our tenancy of the old place there was the last minute check that everything was gone, and the place was clean.

Walking through with the landlord, we realised how small the old house looked, it had room for everything we needed, but it was as if the space was sucked out with the furniture.

I cannot wait to get started on new furniture projects, but first I have to sort out the garage. There are things that have to be got rid of, but that’s Kelli’s expertises. I have to find homes for all the tools and the boxes of screws.

2nd June 2019

Move out, clean up day 9

I fitted the ceiling light that Kelli had found on Marketplace last night. It meant an early run to Menards car park to rendezvous with the seller. That was really the last job that needed to be done, apart from some small holes that needed filling.

Outside, there was a constant flow of cars stopping to look at the free stuff still at the side of the road. These people will travel miles for something for nothing, much of it worth less than the fuel they used to get here.

The last of my project pieces went during the late afternoon whilst I was cutting the grass. This was the leg frame for a mid-century cabinet I had been planning. I had hoped that it would have been left, giving me the incentive to finish it, but hey-ho it’s gone now.

1st June 2019

Move out, clean up day 8

We had purchased enough toxic chemicals to make Chernobyl look safe as part of the final big clean.

Kelli placed more things by the side of the road that attracted attention, including a project piece that I started two or three years ago. I thought that would never go, and was expecting to cut it up for firewood. I was really surprised when someone loaded it up, and took it away.

I swept up the basement for the last time, moving out the last of the rubbish.

Kelli has coated the cooker in some lethal liquid whilst I tackled the bathroom. It was clean, clean and scrub, gradually we made progress and the place was looking presentable. The garage was as empty as I have ever seen it, mainly because we’ve moved it all over to our new place, on the understanding that it gets sorted out and not stored indefinitely.

We worked our way to the front door cleaning as we went, finally closing the door for the day.

Tomorrow there is just a final touch, and a ceiling light to add in Greer’s old room, then that will be it, 1326 South Shore Drive will be history and 593 Central Bay the new home.

It will be interesting to watch the owners redecorate, and new tenants moving in.

31st May 2019

Move out, clean up day 7

I never, ever, want to repeat this day ever again. We eventually got the piano out of the basement, it was not easy, and took most of our combined strength to do it. I was still determined to separate the wooden frame from the cast iron chassis, but in the end I had to admit defeat, and after an attempt to lift it step by step failed despair set in. I had to lighten the structure, and do it with the tools I had available. At one point I snapped at Kelli for allowing the piano in the first place, but I immediately regretted it, and apologised. This was not helping, but I was frustrated. Kelli went to see if there were people in the neighbourhood who could help, but they must have hid themselves away, so no help came over the hill.

My frustration turned to anger as I attacked it with a crowbar at the corner were I had removed screws, it lifted, I then kicked at the timber until the joint gave way. This was that glimmer of hope, the light at the end of the tunnel that wasn’t a train approaching. Attacking the other side yielded the same result. I now have three sides wood free, now we were getting somewhere. The plan was now set, we would slide the frame up the stairs on the last piece of wood that was attached. Kelli was at the front, with a rope tied around her waist, she would pull as I pushed. It took a couple of attempts to get it up the first section of the stairs. Poor Kelli was straining so hard her teeth gritted together looking not unlike the piano keys on the bloody instrument we were trying to move. With extraordinary effort, pulling every ounce of strength we had we got it to the top of the stairs.

Now we had to get it down some stairs to the garage. That proved relatively easy, had it got out of control it would have pushed me through the garage wall, with Kelli not far behind.

Using the last of whatever muscle power we had we slid it into back of the truck. It creaked and sank a bit, this was only part of the crap we had to take. We borrowed Cameron’s vehicle as it was larger, but we also filled up the Toyota, and drove in convoy to the dump.

There was a feeling of elation as we slid the piano chassis into the dumpster. These were the last musical sounds it made as it hit the floor, a sad end to it’s life, but it fought all the way and almost beat me.

Kelli was an amazing power house, without her it wouldn’t have happened. What was appropriate is her favourite album is “ In search of the lost chord” by the Moody Blues, well I think we bloody found it.

30th May 2019

Move out, clean up day 6

I added the skirting to the entry way to allow Kelli to bring her glass door cabinet that holds all her winter hats and gloves. It is the last piece of furniture to be given a place, and it looks good there.

I started on the dismantling of the piano. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I tried to approach it as a reverse assembly project.

I did pretty well up to the point of trying to separate the big steel casting from the wooden frame. Some of the fixing screws were beneath the strings, meaning the strings were added last.

I had reached a dead end, the only option left was to be brutal and remove as much casing as I could.

I ended the day with just the big heavy bastard frame to move upstairs tomorrow.

Kelli did her magic again and got rid of more unwanted shit, including some old dolls and toys. They disappeared into the back of a truck and was gone. One lady was even going through tins of old paint we had stacked up ready to dispose of.

I even managed to get rid of the nine sheets of OSB that I had bought last year, so even space in our new garage is freeing up.

29th May 2019

Move out, clean up day 5

I ventured into the shed to clear all the stuff that had been stored there.

It was an jungle of bicycle parts, old toys, and a stack of storage boxes all belonging to Cameron. Everything was covered in old walnut shells, the floor was inches thick in them. I laid everything out on the grass whilst I swept up the floor of the shed.

Kelli came out and had a fit. “You can’t leave that stuff there, we’ll get into trouble with the city”

“Well that was the point of clearing out the shed” I retorted.

Earlier, on our first donation run to Goodwill, yes imagine, we were actually taking thing to the place instead of carrying it away.

We stopped off at City Hall to pick up a couple vouchers allowing us to take crap to the city rubbish tip.

“ I have an idea” Kelli announced, “we will put the bike stuff on Marketplace and take the rest of the boxes to the dump” So that is exactly what we did.

The bike stuff disappeared into a truck shortly after it was posted, now if we could only do that with the old TV’s.

“ You threw my old toys away” Cameron cried, when we told him, and as a consolation we said which dumpster they were in.

At the end of the day the shed had been emptied out, so mission accomplished.

Amongst Kelli’s selling triumphs of the day was finding a buyer for a pair of old windows that she found in a skip. We were busy dumping our rubbish, when she made the discovery.

One again she showed me that money can be made from anything, if you are prepared to dig deep into a large smelly skip.

28th May 2019

Move out, clean up day 4

It is cold in Holland, and the wearing of coats and hoodies is essential. The big clean-up continues. We are down to the dregs but the task of moving the piano still looms over us.

I went round filling in holes in the wall where pictures once hung.

I did more work on the floor tiles, and finished another tub of grout, but still not able to finish

Greer is still confined to her room with her sickness.

We sat around the fire, watching the dogs race around the back garden like mad animals. This is their first experience of running free. It is like having front row seats at a horse racing event, sods of grass kicked up as they pass.