Another Lifetime to go

8th September 2023

It was the usual run to the shops for the weekly food run. It was cloudy and cool, and of course I had short sleeves on which was slightly inappropriate as Kelli pointed out. This coming from a person who will cycle ten feet then turn back to change her clothes then spend the rest of the ride complaining about them. At least I do it right from the start.

We finally finished the dresser that had been half eaten by squirrels, with all the damage repaired it looked a completely different animal. This piece is different from the usual as it had a mirror, we have had them in the past but all are still in the garage.

For once we didn’t have any distractions, no pick-ups of stuff Kelli bought on Marketplace, it was food stuff then straight back, quite a relief.

7th September 2023

Today I did a dirty and disgusting thing that I’m ashamed to admit.

We left home to do a few errands, I had to go to Lowes to buy a sheet of plywood to make floors for a number of drawers that I have rebuilt, Kelli wanted to go to the bank finally.

As we were driving along south shore her head spun round and exclaimed “Did you see that crate in the trash?”.

Thankfully I didn’t.

“Shall I turn around and get it”

I made some unfavourable noises by which time we had traveled some distance, and I hoped she would forget about it.

“We don’t want anymore crap, we have loads already, and we need to get rid of it” I replied.

“But I could use it as a prop for our pictures”

I then made the big mistake.

“Look if it’s still there when we get back then I’ll get it for you”

“But it’s trash day it will be picked up and it will be your fault that it will go to landfill”.

We drove on to do our shopping.

I don’t go to Lowes very often, Menards is much closer, but they don’t stock the thin plywood I needed.

We needed a replacement cistern for the second toilet, this became searching for a needle in a haystack exercise. Walking up and down the isles was a thankless task, and Kelli was getting bored. Eventually I had to ask an assistant, she tapped things into her handset and said to follow her, which we did.

There it was in the toilet parts section, I expect we would have found it eventually.

It seemed we had to ask someone for everything we needed, but finally the last thing was the plywood.

I did know where that was stocked. Once we were past the checkout, there was the problem of loading it into the truck. In the past I had no problem, it was a case of getting the right angle and pushing. It would mean it would rest on my head for the journey home, but that was acceptable.

So there we were driving along south shore getting closer to the bin with the crate. I could see it in the distance, my heart sank. The trash hadn’t been collected as Monday was a holiday, so my worst nightmare was looming up ahead.

I was hoping that she would drive slowly past and I would lean out of the window and grab it , but no she had to pull into the drive and stop. I then had to open the door, get out, walk around the back of the truck, grab the bloody crate, walk back around, open the back door throw the crate inside, close the door, open my door and get in, and only then would Kelli would reverse out and leave the scene.

So I actually lifted something out of a rubbish bin in broad daylight, I felt dirty, unclean and violated, the kind that would haunt me forever, and it wasn’t even a good crate.

6th September 2023

Elaine came to collect the parts for her kitchen restoration. I had made some fitting templates so she could fix the drawer runners in the correct position, and it took a while, and several attempts for her to understand.

In my haste to educate on the assembly process I bloody forgot to take any pictures of the pieces, hopefully Elaine will take some if they ever get assembled in her kitchen.

Kelli was busy preparing a small storage box for painting, I spent the day sanding a mirror frame, I certainly know how to enjoy myself.

This is the time for harvesting the elderberries.

We have quite a few now and the branches are weighed down. I spend the evenings removing the berries with a fork. The rate the bushes are spreading we may make more money from elderberry juice than furniture.

5th September 2023

It was another stonkingly hot day, possibly the last one of the summer. Kelli had forty dollars that she got from the last sale, and she wanted to pay it into her bank.

“ Let’s take a bike ride to the ATM on thirty second”, she announced, as we have done this before, I was game.

There was one big road we had to cross, but most were side streets. The route we took led us to road construction. Throughout Holland they are laying fibre optic cables, so they decided to rip up all the roads and pavements leaving absolute carnage.

We had to push our bikes around the ruts and holes, through soft sand that would have been impossible to ride through. These bikes are not light, making the progress rather slow.

Once we cleared all the obstacles it was plain sailing to the ATM.

Well that bit was simple, when we arrived at the site there was an ominous collection of vans and cardboard boxes in the area.

As we rode round to where the machine usually is, we noticed it was now blocking our exit, and in its normal place was a brand new unit being fitted by two installers. “Can I have any cash left in the old machine” I asked jokingly “Sorry there was none left” one of them replied.

So we had cycled miles through searing heat and dug up roads with forty dollars to pay in and we couldn’t, the day couldn’t get any better.

As we were making our way back Kelli looked at me and burst out laughing. Now I expect that from strangers, but not my wife.

She pointed out that I still had my reading glasses on and not my shades, and I hadn’t noticed. I remembered that I had my sunglasses on before we left, but I had to read something, so I placed them on the countertop and put on my readers, I guess I just forgot.

I hadn’t noticed that everything was so bright, I suppose it was the excitement of the ride that made me forget to change back. That became the source for giggles for the rest of the day.

Now most drivers are very curious to bike riders, and let us cross the roads in front of them. There are others who don’t. We encountered one of those on this trip. We both had to stop in the middle of the road as this person just ignored us.

“Thank you” we both said sarcastically in unison, then continued on our journey home, thinking nothing of it.

Quite content, and back in familiar territory, a van passed us and the driver was shouting at us

“ Do you always yell at a mentally ill person, or are you just a bitch all of the time? “

This was bizarre, I didn’t know what was going on, then I recognised the van, it was the one that cut us up at the crossing. They must have backtracked and chased after us.

The van then turned around and came towards us, this time the passenger was filming us on a phone.

“Wow” I thought, “ I might be on YouTube” then it got weirder, “ Why would a mentally ill person admit they were mentally ill, if that were me driving that colour and make of vehicle, I would want to admit that?”

Once that excitement was over, we got back home, all hot and bothered we decided to jump straight into the pool. For an hour we floated around watching the birds fly between our holly bush and the fence.

We finally got energy to do a bit of work, I finished off Elaine’s project and Kelli did a bit of painting, that was it.

Another amazing event that happened was the light under the microwave oven started working, no one knows why, but after four years there is light, maybe it’s a sign?.

4th September 2023

It was Labour day and it was bloody hot.

We had to collect two dressers from a Duplex that Kelli once live in, how coincidental was that? Whilst we were there we were able to look around and see how the garden area had changed. The current owners were moving and had started to clear things out.

We brought back our treasures, and Kelli had to quickly respray of the bed headboard that was being picked up. At last that bloody thing sold.

We were hosting a family gathering to christen our new grill. It was odd that on one of the hottest days I would have to light the grill and make it even hotter.

The meat sizzled and the aroma wafted around my nostrils “welcome back my old friend” I thought as I flipped the burgers over.

The pool was a great source of excitement for Matt’s two grandchildren, never has the water been moved around so much.

There was great debate over the state of the nation and how the independent media has been covering news that the mainstream hasn’t. There is far too much to discuss within the boundaries of this blog, it appears that there is little difference between the Democrats and Republicans, they are both supported by the same sponsors.

There are also a lot more information about the origins of Covid than I could have ever have imagined.

3rd September 2023

The mornings have a different smell now, as we head towards Autumn there is a bite in the air.

I have always been reminded of these smells at the different times of the year. Holidays and the first day return to school were quite distinct as were the different countries I have visited.

There are the unpleasant smells as well, one being the Heinz pickle factory that we pass on our bike ride to the park. One would expect the smell of pickles, but no, this smells like the pickles have just used the toilet, nasty.

Bangalore had quite different smells, cross a river and you needed to hold your nose, but the parks were an array of many fragrancies.

There was the thick smoke from the traffic that often masked the incense from the temples.

These reminders are what I carry around in my head and it’s not easy to convey to others.

2nd September 2023

It was a fiver night, just those few hours to sleep. It was a hard time, and unfortunately I was not in the best frame of mind to lend my support. I wish there was a pattern to the behaviour, something that I can understand.

Kelli can go about ten days between events.

Despite that setback, she made a great effort to put it behind her and get on with her day.

She did a lot of sanding to a oak dresser, getting it ready for painting, whilst I managed to turn some good timber into waste and sawdust.

We had a good ride in the morning checking on progress of the farmhouse that appeared to have stalled. No progress has been made for several weeks now, and with the autumn around the corner they should have least worked on the roof.

We sold the dark dresser, it had taken longer than was normal, but a couple from Muskegon came to collect. I helped to load it into the back of the van, but first the guy had to make room. It was filled with junk, it looked like they hadn’t used the back door for ages.

There were all kinds of beach equipment along with empty bottles and cans. It made our truck look clean. But it was good to see the piece go.

Later in the afternoon a guy turned up to collect the two bar stools. These had been hanging around for a couple of weeks, making us doubt our original buying decisions.

Now we have two pieces that we are trying to turn into gems, a bit of a task, but we continue to be optimistic.

1st September 2023

The early morning awakening is back. Kelli awoke at 3.30 and couldn’t get back to sleep.

This single thing ruins the whole day. I can usually ride this storm, but it effected me more this time.

We had a number of tasks to do that we forced ourselves, we had to drive to Zeeland to collect a supplement that she was short of, then back to Holland to do the weeks shopping. It was gone three before I was able to do any project work.

It was difficult to concentrate, I would walk about trying to focus on what needed to be done.

It took me a while, but I worked on the doors for the kitchen unit commission. All the materials I have used was recycled timber, there were knots and nail holes that had to be filled. When completed I will have used a whole tube of wood filler, what a great product.

31st August 2023

There are many really noisy cars that drive up and down South shore. It’s like they don’t have any silencers, it rattles the windows and makes the dogs bark.

There is alway the distinctive sound of the V8’s throbbing, but this sound is brutal.

Kelli alway rolls her eyes and says that it’s to make up for some male shortcomings.

Kelli dropped me off at Starbucks so that I could treat myself to a coffee and a cake whilst she went to Plato’s to sell even more clothes, and then on to Goodwill for god know what. She messaged me later to tell me the truck was ready to collect. As she was out and about I would have to walk.

Easier said then done as I would have to cross six lanes of traffic. There is the cursory pedestrian signal, but it was the distance. In a car, things seem closer together, but on a walk reality hits home.

After crossing the big road I picked up the pace a bit, I still had coffee in my cup that I gulped every so often, but you really have to stop to do that.

I reached the garage with seven minutes to spare. Angel, the owner, not the arch, was smiling, as he alway does, greeted me. I explained where I had come from, He was surprised, “You need to take things easy at your age” he said jokingly. I reminded him that I have done a lot of walking in my time and wore three inches in height off my legs.

I paid the bill reluctantly, picked up the keys and bid him farewell.

The drive back was much quieter, I could actually hear the radio, not that there was much to listen to, but it made a nice change.

I got home first, and I fed the dogs, I swear they are only pleased to see me when I have a fork in my hand.

Later Cameron came round wanting help to change a lightbulb in his vehicle. He had sent a YouTube video in advance so I was confident that it was easy to do. Three minutes later it was done, nothing broke, or fell down a narrow gap, it was textbook stuff.

30th August 2023

We were all poised to take the truck to the garage. There were the complex logistics to take into account, getting Kelli’s mum’s van and picking me up and taking me back, all those kind of things.

Kelli did call ahead just to check but was advised to drop it off tomorrow instead.

Oh well the best laid plans.

I continued to work on the doors for Elaine’s project, gluing up the timber for the door panels.

Later we dropped the truck off at the garage, that saves us getting up too early.