I was lazy, I slept late wand wasn’t feeling guilty about it. I had my breakfast and then took the green waste to the tip. The place was exactly the same as last time, people will always find things to throw away.
After that I went to Lidl’s for some supplies. It certainly wasn’t like the Aldi back in Holland, the place looked a mess with boxes blocking the isles. I collected the things I needed, including a sourdough loaf, paid and went home.
I wanted to make some frames that the new feather board cladding would attach to.
I set up a small manufacturing cell outside. I had my mitre saw and an assembly table, I felt so efficient. I even managed to fit two frames to the side of the shed, one day ahead of schedule.
I got frequent updates from Kelli, actually many updates, it was like Breaking News all the time.
It’s not easy for her, but she is getting things done.
This was not a work day, instead I was travelling to Whitney on Wye to see my friend Martin.
From my previous blogs, I have mentioned this is the guy who has suffered most of his life with Tourettes. He has battled for years with many other illnesses, the latest, bone cancer.
It is a long drive, observing the speed limits in wales, makes the journey seem even longer.
Once there it is an intense period where we cover everything possible, his health, his doctors , dentist and don’t mention politics.
I try to stay as long as I can, and promise to visit again before I go back.
It feels a long day, I’m exhausted, not sure if it’s dealing with his situation, trying to remain positive, or that I’m old and gets tired easily.
I don’t think that’s the case, I have energy but sadness and driving home in the dark is taxing, but I owe him my time especially now.
It was a tidy up day, I needed to bad up all the stuff I cut down yesterday. All the tree trunks were cut up and stacked in my little cart, this has been so useful for carrying all the building crap, it’s a little battered but still functional.
I cut everything small so I could maximise the space in the bags.
I couldn’t take them to the dump as they are closed today. Instead I made my first visit to Wickes to buy timber to make new supports for the new cladding.
Derek came over to return the hard drive with an adapter so that I could plug it in to my other machine and transfer the files I thought I had lost. Everything fired up perfectly and I was able to retrieve the CAD files I had spent a lot of time on, a great relief.
With a good breakfast inside me, it was day 2 of vegetation clearing.
I felt like an explorer cutting through the jungle, it was a battle. I was well armed, with my saw, loppers and snippers.
First to go was the holly bush, that had sprouted wildly out of control. It was pretty dense in there, everything fought me all the way.
I was wearing thick gloves as the thorns were everywhere, and had to be handled with extreme care. That is when I discovered that one of my gloves had a hole in a finger, ouch!
I worked my way down the side of the shed creating a good space to do my re-cladding job next week.
By the end of the day there were huge piles of various vegetation stuffed into large garden bags ready for the tip.
If you recall, I had problems with the laptop that I have been using in the US, stopped working. I had idea what was wrong, but I knew someone who might.
So I brought it back with me. It was an old machine that weighed the equivalent of a paving slab.
I had arranged to meet Derek, my sister’s ex husband who I had promised to gift him a wooden guitar that I had made as part of my Guitar shaped project. He had repaired another laptop the last time I was here in October, so the timing was perfect. He kindly took my old machine back to his home to check if the hard drive still worked. I kept my fingers crossed that the data on it could be saved.
He later messaged me to say that the hard drive was okay, but the laptop was not.
First day on the job. I was ready straight after breakfast, bow saw in hand to tackle the trees in my neighbour’s garden, she had agreed for me to cut them down, as the place was a little overgrown.
I then encountered my first problem, I couldn’t get my work boots on.
It was not that my feet have grown, rather it was the thickness of the socks I was wearing.
Holland winters require some serious feet warmers. The kind I wear are Scandinavian, and are as thick as a moose’s hide. After struggling for ten/fifteen minutes, and fearing that it might bring on a heart attack, I loosened the laces, and my feet slid inside.
I am not a tree feller, fortunately the trunks were thin but tall.
One by one they came down, I was careful that they didn’t fall across the path and damage a neighbour’s fence.
The only tool I had was a small bow saw, and it was difficult, progress was slow, but I kept at it.
It was exhausting work, almost the second time I could have had a cardiac arrest. There would have been a bit of credibility in dying on a proper job rather than just putting work boots on.
Once they were down came the cutting up and separating the thick bits from the thin. I used my chop saw to cut up the trunks.
I then had the idea to burn the thin twigs in my incinerator, but I didn’t have any paper to start it.
I looked in the letter box, there is usually some junk mail in there, and I wasn’t disappointed.
I screwed the paper into tight balls laying the thin twigs on top and striking a match to get it going.
There were flames and smoke, but it didn’t last long. The wood was too damp to catch, it needed something extra. I looked in the shed and found a bottle of white sprit, hurrah! I thought, this will get it going.
I sprinkled the liquid all over the twigs, lit another match and dropped it in expecting a sheet of flames singeing my eyebrows.
Nothing happened, then I checked the bottle, and found that it was non-inflammable.
As flights go, this was a good one, everything was on time, and it wasn’t full.
The person in the window seat in my row was sitting behind his wife, who had a complete empty row, maybe she had enough of him.
The cabin crew on American tend to be a little more mature, but they were friendly and attentive.
Once we reached Heathrow the fun started. The passport control was buzzing with activity.
The processing is mostly done with scanners and facial recognition these days, which in this case confused a bunch of old dears that couldn’t get the hang of the passport scanner. They kept pushing it in and out with no idea what to do.
My small case made it through, was one of the first off, so that made me happy. I made my exit looking for a place to have breakfast, and I couldn’t find one. I’m sure there was a place, but not any more.
So disgruntled, I made my was to the bus station hoping there was something there, and there was, but cash only.
So I didn’t get any refreshments as I waited for the coach to arrive.
I read my book for an hour then the coach was announced.
I did try to sleep on the coach, but I kept nearly falling off the seat.
Eventually I got to Bath Bus Station and Nicola was waiting.
Arriving back at the cottage was great to see. Nicola had already left some food for me, they are so thoughtful and kind, so that first cup of coffee was like nectar.
I relaxed for the evening speaking to Kelli many times as I planned my jobs, that start tomorrow.
As human beings we tolerate a lot, and that is tested at the airport.
Gerald Ford International has changed out of all recognition. For one thing you could always find a parking spot close to the terminal, not now, you are lucky if you find one on the first floor.
Next, you could arrive quite late and still get checked in, now it is different.
I got there with forty minutes to go, and was told by a young uniformed Asian lad, that I had missed the baggage check. At least I think that’s what he said.
My option was to take it all through security and try to get it tagged at the gate.
Of course they found my shaving foam.
“ That container is too large to take through” the officer said, “I will have to confiscate it”.
Fortunately that was the only issue, but then I had a long walk to the gate.
It certainly has changed, it is all very modern, It used to be a small cosy place with plenty of seating to wait, if you were getting up courage to fly, or wait for people to arrive.
The flight was full, and I hate it when someone has the aisle seat and immediately close the shade. They don’t own the bloody shade, that and the baby crying made the start of the trip annoying. I was watching a girl in a row in front constantly on her phone furiously typing messages then opening up other apps, all the bloody time, there was not a break, it was like her life depended on it.
Once in Chicago, I called Kelli to let her know I had arrived, and stopped for a coffee at Starbucks, but they were only accepting cards, I had a crisp twenty, another annoying situation.
There are Asian people working everywhere, and I was fed up with asking them to repeat everything.
All this trauma, and I wasn’t on the big plane yet.
It was a mad rush to get things ready for Kelli to carry on to finish, but we did get one complete and posted
.
This was the piece we found at the side of the road in Grand Rapids that had two drawers missing and one severely damaged. After a massive amount of work, it didn’t turn out too bad.
There was another dresser that needed two doors fitted, in itself a simple job, but nothing is that straightforward. Although the door were made square, the carcass was not, but the hinges were adjustable.
The temperature was around sixty degrees Fahrenheit, so just my shirt today.
Once the storage room was cleared I was able to get to my case, so that I could start my packing.
We decided to move all the pieces that have been sold, but stored in our room, out into the garage. This should make it easier to move when it’s time for them to be collected or delivered. The timing is not ideal, we did try to get things done before I left, but that didn’t happen.
Kelli is resourceful and she will get someone to help her.
It was a rush, I certainly felt it by the time all the jobs were completed.
I wanted to take very little clothes with me this time, because I still have stuff to bring back.
I had problems checking in on line, especially when I had to fill in my Green Card details.
Of course being America it has to be difficult.
I had to add my card number, which I thought was on the front of the card. After trying for half an hour, and many many times adding the same information, I had to take a break, it made no sense. I went on line to check my understanding and discovered that the number was amongst a seventy digit number on the back, but when I tried that it still didn’t work.
Out of desperation I took my American phone and did the check out procedure on that, and it worked!
There must be some conspiracy about using iPhones to check in, I’ve never had that problem before, I guess I will have to sort it out when I want to go back.
There was no intention of going out today, except to deliver the long dresser to Zeeland, finally. But also we picked up a dresser from the car park at a pharmacy. Kelli needs things to work on and sell whilst I’m away, and this fitted the bill exactly.
I was on a time crunch myself, wanting to get a dresser repaired and ready to hand over to be painted.
It was a pleasant fifty degrees Fahrenheit, with the sun shining a good day to be working outside.
It wasn’t the greatest of days, Kelli was not in a good mood, this always happens when I’m due to fly, she imagines all the bad things that could happen, blimey, if I thought like that, I wouldn’t go outside.
Anyway I need some space, so I went for a long walk, and by the time I got back things were better, and my head clearer.
We didn’t plan to go anywhere today, I needed to get any furniture pieces that required work done before leave next Monday.
The weather was dry and certainly a bit warmer than the day before, so the garage door was wide open.
The thought of the journey back hasn’t yet dawned on me, time without Kelli and the dogs does feel strange, but it’s necessary.
I made good progress on one dresser, finishing the drawers and staining the top, the larger white one has the most to do.
After a days work it’s alway nice to have a hot shower. However ours is so sensitive, the slightest touch on the control is the difference between bearable hot, and unbearable, but it certainly makes the skin sing.
Another Lifetime to go 