Another Lifetime to go

19th June 2024

We went to see Stacy our interior designer to look for window blinds. We have been without window dressings since we moved in, so now we thought we should get a quote for some.

I measured the internal frames, and asked for various options including electrical operation.

This might be a trifle elaborate, but you got to ask.

We then did our usual shopping expedition. There were no issues at Natures Market this week, so straight on to Aldi.

Today was a little different because we saw Kelli’s former sister-in-law with whom she used to be good friends. However with Kim’s strange attitude and lack of tact, they hadn’t talked for a long while. I was busy getting something from a shelf, when I heard a “Hi Pete” turning round I saw Kim. There was no stopping to chat, she just went on her way, which was a little out of character. I dashed round to where Kelli was to warn her, but she had a “Hi Kelli” moment herself. It seemed a little awkward, so we purposely slowed down, but down every isle we saw her, she was zigzagging her way throughout the store with no pattern. We had no way of knowing where she would appear next. Eventually she got through the checkout and we breathed a sigh of relief, now we could finish our shopping.

Returning home we jumped straight into the pool, after inflating a new float that I needed.

It was nice just to drift about, not thinking about doing any thing.

There had been a nagging thought that kept chipping away at my brain. Last year I bought a five disc CD player on eBay, when it arrived it was damaged, so I complained and got my money back. I knew what the problem was, and found a spare part, again on eBay.

I replaced the damaged part and the unit switched on and the display lit up, but the carousel would not open. By this time I was fed up with it, so I stored it away, but I was determined to find out the problem.

I brought the machine out of storage, plugged it in, switched it on, and it worked!!

It certainly did work, until I put the top cover on, then it didn’t. I could not see why? There were no obvious interference, I was scratching my head.

I spent the evening watching YouTube videos of people fixing the same model, but of course they never found the problem I had.

I decided that was enough for the day, I will find the problem if it’s the last thing I do.

18th June 2024

The heatwave continues, although Kelli is not a fan.

Awaking at five thirty was not very popular, and that was an understatement.

I was asleep, content in my dreamy bliss, but all that came to an end.

Whether it was her hormones, or the heat, she was pissed.

Her MO is to storm off in the car, draining the last precious drops of fuel in he rapid acceleration.

I put the coffee on, I’ve seen it all before, I needed the stimulus, I found something to do in the garage.

There was a customer due at eleven to collect the two dressers, I went through them cleaning out the drawers and putting wax on the runners, it was good to see them go.

We had been contacted by a customer asking if we could repair/ restore five window sills that had been damaged by rain.

Always looking for any challenges that could supplement the furniture, I drove over to have a look.

The house was a duplex on a modern estate bordering a golf course.

The windows trim was a coated MDF that was flaking off the sill.

The main challenge was to stabilise the exposed material and seal it with a shellac based primer.

With several coats of this primer it will be sanded to blend into the remaining finished trim, then it will be painted with colour matched paint.

Well this is the plan, if she accepts the estimate.

17th June 2024

It was even hotter today, opening the front door hit me like an oven, it was going to be a day when I perspire without effort.

I cycled down the road to collect some eggs. Kelli was informed that two dozen were in the box at the side of the road. Scraping together the money, I went on my way.

I knew it was going to be a hot one because there was no breeze as I tore down the road.

I took out all the empty egg cartons that I had in my saddle bags, and loaded in the two full cartons, then shot back.

We had our breakfast, the cool watermelon was a treat, we were ready for the day.

Our mission was to complete the dresser that was part of a pair that we had sold. This was the one I drove to Muskegon to get.

Kelli has to paint the carcass and drawers, I had to fit the top and other fine tunings so that it could be collected tomorrow

We did manage two pool dips, it was glorious, I could have floated all day.

16th June 2024

It was another hot day, although the clouds covered the sun most of the day, but we attempted a dip in the pool anyway.

I did some stripping of paint on a drawer front, but the humidity slowed me down a bit.

It was Father’s Day over here, and I had messages for Cameron and Greer over here and Ryan from the old country. It was a shame I didn’t get a greeting from Damian, I guess he has a lot going on. It’s funny that a made up holiday can have such meaning. Being a parent it nothing you train for, when it happens, you learn on the job. Getting acknowledgment feels good, it means you’ve done something right.

We drove up to Kelli’s mums for Sunday ice cream, and to lay some mulch on the small flower bed at the front of her property

15th June 2024

Another glorious day in America. Kelli had some returns to do at UPS and I had to buy some modelling clay to make a mould of a lock escutcheon to add to other drawers where they were missing.

We also had to pick up a couple of furniture pieces from our storage facility.

I got my clay from Hobby Lobby, a vast emporium of reproduction farmhouse furniture and every sort of craft materials you can shake a stick at, and even the stick itself.

On display were stocks of autumnal paraphernalia, and it’s not even summer yet.

These sorts of stores leave me cold, there is no soul. I enjoyed the small arts supply shops that draws you in and you can’t leave until you have bought something. I have numerous drawing pads, crayons and pastels that have yet to be used.

Fortunately there is a stationers in the town, where I used to buy the primacolour coloured pencils that I used to take back for my friend Martin.

Yesterday Kelli got some gossip from a neighbour about the noisy vehicle that has suddenly appeared across the road. Apparently it belongs to the lodger that lives there, so it won’t go away any time soon.

This brings the total number of cars over there to five, it’s like a bloody car park. Kelli will be monitoring the noise level from this vehicle, so City Hall, get ready.

14th June 2024

What a glorious day, definitely shorts weather, now this is what I like.

We even had our inaugural float in the pool. Kelli launched her new flotation device and I searched in the shed for one that didn’t have a puncture.

There wasn’t much of an appetite to do much furniture today, I potted about on the one dresser we have left to do, scraping around some fine details getting it ready for Kelli to prime.

The lake was buzzing with boats guzzling precious fuel going nowhere and looking quite pleased about it.

We sold the blanket/toy box at last, things are really slow, I’m not sure if people are putting food ahead of buying furniture, I wish they would get their priorities right.

Kelli made the first sourdough bread, after feeding the starter for five days. The smell that filled the house of freshly baked bread was wonderful. She has made bread from almond flour, and another using Eincorn flour, but sourdough is better for the digestion, and more suitable for people who are sensitive to conventional flour.

Her first attempt was really good, as she gets more confident she can make other bakery items as well.

She also made her own granola, the non grain stuff you buy in shops are so expensive, and there is so little in the packets, it’s daylight robbery in a bag.

So what she came up with used coconut flakes and various seeds and tastes terrific.

13th June 2024

We had to deliver the long white dresser this morning. It all happened quickly, this is usually the sign that something would go wrong, but they were seduce by the free delivery.

This is when we realised how heavy it was, it was solid, not in a quality material way, because the only real in it was the top, and that was a veneer.

On the way back we picked up some plants that were set by the roadside, Kelli had seen them on the way out to do the delivery, but having a full truck we couldn’t stop.

There were quite a few blackberry lilies, which, if they survive might spread like crazy, but we’ll deal with that, if they overrun, we’ll set them out by the side of the road.

I wanted to work on the cover for the raised bed.

I had some chicken wire, so I found my electric stapler and the staples.

Dealing with the wire is line handling a snake, it has a mind of its own. Eventually I positioned it where I wanted and fired in a staple. Then I stretched it and tried to fire in another staple, but nothing happened.

Was there a jammed staple? I couldn’t see anything, but it wasn’t working.

I thought that taking it apart might be the best solution, so I started to undo the eight screws holding the mouldings together.

I carefully prized the two pieces apart, suddenly all the parts fell out, oh no! Doomed.

Now I was face with the guts of my stapler in my lap, and no idea how it went together. Panic took over, I couldn’t understand how the part was designed like that. I would have expected the components to be assembled so that the top part lifted off exposing all the parts.

With a bit of thought, and trial and error I rebuilt it, refitting the eight screws, I gave it a test. One staple fired, then nothing. Removing the eight screws and lifting off the cover I discovered that the solenoid had interfered with the wires that connect to a micro switch. I noticed one of the wires had been detached from the switch.

I found my soldering iron and reattached the cable.

This time I rerouted the wires to avoid the solenoid, refitted the eight screws, and gave it another test, this time it worked, hurray!

It had only taken me an hour, only fifty eight minutes more than the six year old had taken to assemble it in the first place.

12th June 2024

Two cents?, that is what can change a day from good to bad.

Kelli had a doctors appointment, another round of resistance testing, supplement sampling and frequency adjustment, with a little bit of joint pulling thrown in.

All this went well, one supplement less and another reduced.

Then it was back to Holland to do the weeks shopping. The first one is Nature’s Market, where all the good food is selected at a premium price. All was going well until we got to the checkout. All the goods were in the paper bags and the total was calculated. At no time was this total mentioned, Kelli handed over the notes and the cashier announced that the change was ninety eight cents. Kelli said that she had the two cents, so could she have a dollar note. By this time the drawer was closed.

“Sorry, the drawer is closed, there is nothing I can do about it”

That was it, Kelli, with a face like thunder stormed out of the store leaving me to face the startled cashier.

“Oops” I said, slightly embarrassed by the scale of the confrontation. I also had to struggle with two bags of shopping.

She was angry, there was no reason why the drawer could be re opened and the change altered, but maybe due to inexperience the girl didn’t know what to do.

Anyway that put the mockers on things as we drove to the next place. I tried to make light of the situation, but it fell on deaf ears.

I even said that I would look for something that cost ninety eight cents so she could use up the change, but that was met with a stern look.

After a little while she settled back and without any issues at this checkout we drove home.

We finally sold the small dresser that had three different drawer handles in its short life. We were glad to see the back of it.

We also sold the finished the century dresser that was picked up by the customer that had commissioned us.

So a day of different emotions, “love is a battle field” queue for a song.

11th June 2024

I can be bloody minded sometimes, I know it, I can’t stop it, I just try to control it. If the truth be known everyone has the ability to be awkward and stubborn, we get to know the signs and try to avoid confrontation.

The story starts when I should have paid my American phone on Sunday, but we were at Kelli’s mums for ice cream and by the time we got to the shop, it was closed.

“Don’t worry you can pay it tomorrow” I was told.

Monday came, and I suggested that I pay my phone bill today.

“Pay it tomorrow, we’ve got to go out” I reluctantly agreed.

Tuesday came, I had a dental appointment so Kelli suggested we pay it on the way, but this is my wife, she is late for everything. Needless to say we didn’t have time, so we headed on to the dental surgery.

I was now two days late with my bill meaning I had no phone service, but I thought I could still use the internet.

Kelli dropped me at the surgery and then went off to do what Kelli does.

My appointment lasted an hour, quite long for a cleaning, but they squeezed in a couple of X-rays for good measure, and to boost the bill.

I tried to use messenger to say that I was done and waiting for collection, but I didn’t have any service. How was I going to contact my wife?

I thought that she might be at Plato’s closet, she is always there, so I walked to see if she was there. I survived crossing the big road, and made it to the shop, but she wasn’t there. I had no option but to walk back to the surgery and wait.

Now this is where my bloody mindedness came into play. I could have gone back to the surgery and asked to use their phone, but no, I wanted to wait and see how long it would take for her to get concerned and finish what she was doing and drive back to see what had happened.

I waited over three quarters of an hour before she turned up, by then I had calmed myself down.

“Why didn’t you asked to use the phone in the surgery, they have my number”.

I had no answer to that, I now looked a prat, and she knew it.

I could smell the wood burning under me, my martyrdom was a pointless demonstration of male stupidity, and I didn’t like it.

10th June 2024

A cold breeze made me realise that I should have had sleeves as we took the dogs for a walk.

We tried to start much earlier in the day, there was a lot to do this week.

The temperature is due to fluctuate quite a bit this week, although it is bearable in the sun, the shade is a different matter.

I hauled out my work coat, but as I was wearing shorts it looked like I was wearing a dress, or a flasher Mac.

I spent most of my time rebuilding the dresser I collected from Muskegon. I stripped and sanded the top which was solid walnut, the second dresser we have, and this is going to the same customer. I had to set in a piece of timber to an area where some was missing. This is satisfying work, I also had challenges with the top. It had been attached with screws, leaving large ragged holes that had to be filled.

Kelli was busy spraying a clear finish to various tops and drawer fronts.

We decided to add a darker tint to the mix, that didn’t work out as planned, so a lot of sanding will have to be done tomorrow.