Another Lifetime to go

26th February 2019

The selling of our “crap” continued with the collection of an eight foot tall old church door. The lady had driven an hour to collect it. This was another of Kelli’s freebies that had lent against the garage wall for a few years. There is now so much space, we don’t know what to do with it, however I am sure we’ll fill it with something.

News of another sale at Painted Farmgirl, this time it was the sofa table. This took us to within six dollars of our target for the month, with a couple more days to go.

The dresser that we picked up yesterday had already been earmarked for a customer, so that will be a good start to March.

We drove up to Hudsonville to take Megadeath Dresser, a corner bookcase and a table to fill the space left by the sale of the hutch.

25th February 2019

The first customer turned up at 10.00 to pick up a twelve pane door and screen that was as heavy as Hell. The temperature had dropped to 18 degrees, and snow was falling, so both of us didn’t want to be outside very long. With that incentive, the doors were loaded in his van very quickly. Scott, ran the Old Mill, a Brewery and grill in Plainwell, 40 miles south east of Holland.

The next two doors went at 10.45 to Jeff. They were a little easier to handle. In between that, the pair of decorative buoys were picked up in exchange for fifteen dollars. This was a great start to Kelli’s challenge.

We also sold a treasure chest.

The pile of dollar bills was growing on the kitchen worktop, and this was for things we had got for free.

We had to venture out to pick up a dresser that Kelli had seen on Marketplace, she got the price down because it was considerably light in the knob department , but I know it will be a pleasant piece, once we can get it open.

Kelli had a text advising her that there was a discount day at “Ditto” another resale outlet in Holland. I had been to it previously, and it was an okay place, but the prices were a little high to be able to sell on. Anyway with the lure of 30% off everything in the store, I could not hold her back. Within less than a minute she had spotted two steel hoops, her eyes lit up.

I was a little bemused, these were not small hoops, they were large metal rings that might have been stolen off a Amish wagon, but she explained that she had found one similar, and sold it for forty five bucks. I still looked bemused, “they are just steel hoops, who would buy steel hoops? Nothing was going to stop her, so behind the counter they went. We wandered around looking for more things.

A mustard coloured rocking chair then caught her eye. It was a bit rough, and ragged, which is also like the people that usually like to sit on them.

As we paid for the metal hoops, I asked if we had to purchase the spokes separately, that joke fell flatter than a large flat thing, which made me sad as I thought it was funny. Maybe it’s just the way I tell them.

Kelli made a wonderful bean filled salad for dinner which made its return later in the evening, I had enough gas to inflate a zeppelin.

24th February 2019

Strong winds hit Holland most of the day, leaving tree debris in the front garden.

We attempted to sort through the crap in the garage, try to find things to get rid of. There were various old doors, including one we found by someone’s trash bin in Saugatuck. Kelli had a collection of different beds frames, including a sleigh shaped king size that we were given free. It was as big as the truck, and I’m not sure how we got it home. This was a project that never got done, it would have taken more paint than a jumbo jet.

We were pulling things out, dusting months of sawdust (my fault)off just to take pictures. It was like Steptoes Yard, all that was missing was a horse and cart. At one point everything was so finely balanced, it was like a giant domino set poised to topple and destroy everything in the place.

We moved the megadeath dresser into the kitchen to start its transformation.

Kelli has chosen a pair of wooden Buoys as her first item of her challenge . She spent a total of two dollars on these items.

Most of the evening she was posting everything on Marketplace, and there constant pinging on her phone of interested people. By bedtime there were buyers for the doors, bed frames, and those wooden buoys.

23rd February Saturday

I had an email from US Border Protection reminding me that I had ten days left of my current stay. This is the first time I had received this communication and it shows that the country is getting its immigration process working. It has alway been said that America’s illegal alien problem is caused by visitors or visa holders outstaying their time, and not the influx swarming over the boarder, but the Trumpoids can’t seem to grasp this fact.

All morning there have been people collecting items that Kelli has listed for a few dollars here and there. There are still a large collection of things we bought for the wedding that is taking up space in the basement, so liquidating that would be good.

I continued to build a plinth for the island, so this should all be finished.

Our weekend sale is moving a few things. The gateleg table and chairs is due for delivery on our way to Hudsonville. We will visit Farmgirl on our way to remove the sale notices. We will do the same tactic again next week.

Whilst we were in Hudsonville we took the opportunity to check out a newly opened store called Eye Candy for body and home. It was a light and airy place where the owner cared about the layout and the vendors she had selected. It did not have any spare spaces yet, but Kelli made sure she was on the list.

I issued another challenge to Kelli to test her skills of buying items and selling in a kind of pyramid way.

Last night she sold a candleholder for five dollars, so she has to take that stake and turn it into one thousand dollars. This is a project she can do whilst I’m back in the UK without me interfering. I will report her progress as it happens.

22nd February 2019

I tried to get a good head start to the day by knocking together a small table from an old piano stool, and a solid oak shelf from my stock pile. I also managed to repair the drawer runner on the island unit, and start on the new plinth.

Friday is food shopping day, so drifting round Aldi was a wonderful experience.

There was nothing of note at any of the Goodwills or thrift shops, so slim pickings.

Kelli had found a small corner bookcase on Marketplace which meant a drive over to the north side of town. Now to listen to Kelli you would think the place was inhabited by zombies. Even to survive the trip was something to rejoice, but apart from being really flat, with new housing estates, a small lake in the middle, where you see no living thing, except for dead people climbing out of the ground selling corner bookcases, it was a perfect place.

We off-loaded the big white chest thing out of the truck and into the entryway ready for Sunday’s pick-up.

21st February 2019

There was someone on the tall pine unit almost the moment Kelli released her finger on the Marketplace post. Then this morning it was a mad dash to clean up the shelves and buy some shelf supports that were missing. The closest hardware store is near to the Design Yard called Graafschap Hardware. It sells just about everything you need to start a small war. Racks of guns and ammunition makes it a scary place, including the guy behind the counter. He looks like he was the result of a mating experiment between a bear and the whole of ZZ Top. Needless to say he wasn’t inpressed with my purchase of eight shelf supports. I expected him to say “ Hey buddy, you won’t kill anyone with those” to which I would have replied “ Depends where you shove em’ punk” now that would have been the last words I ever spoke, and, it was just as well I just smiled and left the store. He didn’t know just how close to death he was.

The lady eventually came to pick up the furniture, after a bit of confusion, so that was a good sale.

We then drove up to Hudsonville with some new bits and to collect the big white mother chest that had been there too long, and anyway we think we have sold that beast, for collection on Sunday.

We are trying a tactic of offering a weekend sale to a couple of selected items to see if we can move them. We will be the same thing on Marketplace.

On the way back we had a minor altercation with a parked car that spoiled the evening. It happened when Kelli reversed the truck out of a parking space, and walloped a Honda parked in a non-designated area. Our Toyota was unmarked, but the Honda came off worse with a dented front wing.

20th February 2019

We had a house viewing this morning, and the one thing I have learned is that light grey is the new neutral. It was pleasant enough, although you had to be a limbo dancer to get into the basement past the hot air conduit. The place was obviously bought and quickly painted to sell on, but without a garage and small back garden it might take time to sell.

I can’t believe I have been here all this time and not had a fire to burn up all the offcuts of timber I have accumulated. Well today was the day, I was fed up of stepping over/around the pile, so I gave the box a swift kick sending wood scraps everywhere. This I regretted a second later, but that was the excuse I needed to get the stove lit. It was a satisfying feeling to see the smoke rising into the drizzling rain.

Kelli finished painting the pine unit we pick up recently, and in its new colours looked pretty neat.

19th February 2019

So it’s Tuesday, and Kelli has some painting to do. She had picked up a cute shelf with small drawers, and had done a neat paint job on it.

I had some pictures to take, and some worktops to prepare. The top for the island is all glued up, and just needs cutting to size. I would have been in the garage longer, but it was cold, and I was feeling it more today.

Kelli has to help her mother, so I tagged along to cut a panel to size for a small table I am building,and experiment a bit with the book letters.

This is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Cutting straight lines is easy, but the depth of the blade that Dave has on the bandsaw does not permit really tight curves.

I have tried tank cutters, but that just grinds its way through. I guess the next thing to try is a thinner bandsaw blade.

18th February 2019

Last week I issued Kelli a challenge to take some of the odd items she had picked up at the various thrift shops, post them on Marketplace and sell them. Then take ten percent of the money, buy some more items and sell those, and then take ten percent of those, and so on. So far she has exceeded my expectations, by getting things that sell. I have lost count of the number of high fives we’ve had, but every dollar she gets helps the business.

This morning a number of people turned up to pick up things they had bought, I even cleared the path to allow them safe and easy entry to get their goods.

We unloaded the large dresser that we got free yesterday, it was bloody heavy and nicknamed “Megadeath” because if it fell on me I would be dead.

We trawled the usual places for new stock coming up with a big fat zero. In desperation we tried a place on the north side where we’d been before, and luckily found a tall pine cabinet at a good price. Kelli scurried around and found a few other things. When she went up to the register to pay, there was a sign stating that senior citizens got ten per cent off. I pointed it out to Kelli in jest, but she inquired, and got the discount.

God knows was the assistant was thinking, after kelli had already negotiated a price a price for a large glass jar. There must have been the thought “what else does she want money off from?”

“We must try that again” I said, “ there sure are advantages in being retired”

We carried the piece straight into the kitchen so Kelli could start on it. This should be an easy project.

The activity at Farmgirl has been a little erratic, furniture has been put on hold but have not been bought. Sometimes it’s the size, other times it’s the colour, we try to have a neutral pallet, much to our frustration, but it’s the way things play out.

17th February 2019

More snow fell today, I had to drive up to the in-laws to cut up my timber.

Kelli has found a dresser in Zeeland and had arranged a collection time. From the pictures I asked if it was wood, and was assured it was.

So out in the whiteness we went. Thanks to GPS we found the place. Kelli then reversed into their drive making sure she avoided hitting the parked vehicles, in so doing she drove on to the snow bank. Not a problem for her getting out, but for me as soon as I climbed out the truck I sank into the snow up to my knees.

The dresser was as I expected, it was not wood, not veneer, but melamine. Kelli had the thirty bucks in her pocket, but I inspected the piece and said out loud that it was not what I thought it was, and basically wanted to walk away. The lady selling it must have sensed that there was no sale coming from us, she then said we could have it for free. They didn’t need to tell us twice, in the blink of an eye it was in the back of the truck and we were away down the road. I still didn’t have much interest in the piece, it was large and heavy and had some damage, but Kelli was confident she could turn it into something wonderful, so it’s over to her.

This meant we could spend the money on some new paint ready for the transformation.

As February was tax time, Kelli needed help with hers. Luckily she has a friend who is an accountant, so we stopped there on the way back. Kelli, who is alway unsure of her footing, and frightened of slipping, did just that on the driveway. Splat! right on her arse. I blame her extraordinarily small feet, as she can fall anywhere, I am surprised that she was able to walk down the isle at our wedding.

So there she was wallowing in the drift, whilst Kevin, the accountant, was desperately trying to open the front door, and control his large black dog at the same time. I helped Kelli get to her feet, brushing the snow off her back, as she clutched her now slightly damp paperwork. We entered the house, the large black dog straining at the leash barking loudly about six inches from my face. “ Oh he doesn’t bite” Kevin said, his knuckles white with the strain. All I was thinking was that my head would fit in that dog’s mouth. In a relatively short time Kevin had most of the information he required to finish Kelli’s tax returns, so as the black dog shot out of the door in front of us we made escape to the truck.

After the trauma of a damp bottom, and avoiding becoming a dog’s breakfast, We decided to have dinner at the Curragh Irish pub, in downtown Holland.