Another Lifetime to go

1st April 2026

This is the real start of the new year. The trees are covered with buds waiting to burst into life and repaint the landscape with colour. 

This is a great time, we are ready to extract the bikes from the shed, and plan what to do in the garden.

Also my social life is becoming busy again. I met up with Henry for coffee, I hadn’t seen him for many weeks, and it was good to see him again.

He talked about him getting back into graphic design, that he had produced several books in the last few weeks of conceptional art ideas. What he described sounded interesting especially when he added his dry humour.

I think we share a curiosity, me with timber and manufacture, and him with clay and the camera.

I think that is what draws us together.

I’m sure at some time we will combine these skills and make something amazing. We have talked about landscaping, he has a lot of land that he wants to tame, that could be the one.

The small buffet that we sold was picked up, that gives us some breathing space to work on other things, and there is plenty to do.

The tree that we rescued from Larry’s yard looks okay it it’s new surrounding, there are buds that look healthy, but that might be short term, I don’t know what shock has occurred, and what damage to the root system it had sustained,I hope it will survive, we need trees, I hope it senses that we want it to grow.

31st March 2026 

It was back to John the wood’s barn after a long break. I was looking forward to getting on with the sofa. The last area is the base frame, the main structure was completed before I left, but I need to add the skirt and legs, so that was the aim for today.

I had a flask of coffee and a packet of biscuits for our rest breaks.

My panels had been stored in a corner of the barn, when I came to remove the base frame there was a thick layer of dust over it.

It took a while for me to remember where I was four weeks ago, but gradually it did come back to me.

John’s condition is still the same, he rambles on about things then forgets the point of his conversation. His eyes still light up when he sees a good size tree growing, he know what type it is, and he remembers that he has a lot stored in his basement.

I had forgotten how far John has traveled down his one way pathway, he has his medication, but we all know that is just a sticking plaster, a lot more is known about dementia, and how diet changes can help, but once it takes hold there is only one outcome, sad because I know he gets frustrated forgetting simple things he should know.

30th March 2026

There was a catastrophe in the house today.

Winnie was on the floor chewing one of her toys, as she does often, when she got her collar hooked on the leg of the foot stool. What happened next could only be described as scary, and frightening.

Not able to release herself she ran across the room dragging the foot stool and crashing into a side table spilling the pile of books over the floor. Poor girl she was freaking out, I rushed over trying to release her collar, finally I managed to do that, and looked back over the trail of debris.

It must have scared the shit out of her as we found a couple of nuggets on the floor. Calming her down, we let her out where she finished her business. This was not the start of the week I had expected, but it broke up the monotony of a usual Monday.

That being said, it was food shopping day, the cupboard was bare, as it usually is, not even stuff I can secretly nibble, the shelves were empty.

We have started to take Winnie with us on short trips this is in an attempt to tire her out. Sometimes it works other times is gets her hyped up more. This is the most difficult part of the training, just when you think you’ve got through she goes back to her crazy ways.

She is getting good with her ball control though I kicked three balls in different directions and she got all of them, I have nicknamed her “The Cat”.

29th March 2026

We were anticipating someone coming to look at the small buffet that was posted yesterday, I needed to do a little more work on it.

I gave the top another coat of finish, left it to dry.

Later I heard that the person had crapped out, that happens a lot, however Kelli had several more interested players, and one paid up front for it. 

I did a bit of tree pruning. I missed out last year and most grew out of control, so this year meant a drastic cut back at the expense of fruit.

Winnie enjoyed chewing some of the branches and generally running around like a mad person.

Thank goodness the temperature was up in the fifties, a wonderful change from the cold.

I’m looking forward to the week ahead.

We had our usual ice cream fest at Kelli’s mums house. Then it was a walk around the block. With the dogs.

There is so much to do in the garden, there are new things I want to do if time and finances allow. 

28th March 2026

We ended up with two long dressers when we were only planning on one. 

As it happens, eagle eyed Kelli saw one at the side of the road as we were heading to West Olive to collect another.

Painted in a crazy blue animal pattern it was a decent quality, the drawers worked and all the hardware was attached. This is a rare occurrence, but it looked mid century, and with some love we will make it beautiful again.

We drove home, and unloaded it, leaving it tucked around the corner, out of sight, something painted that wildly is not for people on South Shore Drive to admire.

Now it was back retracing our steps heading for West Olive.

We arrived at a trailer park, my heart dropped, I was not sure this piece was going to be good quality, but to my surprise, it wasn’t bad. The drawers all worked fine, it was just the top that had seen better days. We loaded that one up and headed back home. 

We took pictures of the small buffet we finished yesterday.

David, the guy from over the street came over to fix our rear brakes, they had been making a bit of noise recently, and I had bought a kit a while ago in anticipation, so now was the time.

These are jobs I used to do when I was just starting out, in those days, with little money it was a necessity. Nowadays I prefer that someone else lays on the ground and gets dirty.

27th March 2026

The losing of my spreadsheet was on my mind as soon as I awoke.

I asked the question on Safari about recovery of spreadsheets from the cloud, but that wasn’t helpful.

My last hope was looking at deleted files, I’m sure that I didn’t knowingly delete anything, but I was clawing at anything.

Well to my relief the file was there, there was a date of the 21st February which must have been when it was deleted. Recovery was then simple, the wheel of death turned, and then it was back, like a long lost child, my relief was tremendous.

Kelli, who doesn’t always share the sense of importance that I have was relieved, because she wouldn’t have to hear me moaning on about it all day.

I had a breakfast with Lloyd, at our regular place. A chance to catch up and tell him about my trip. He is due to fly into the UK in a few weeks time with his sons for a vacation. 

Breakfast seems very popular amongst the old folks who probably can’t be assed to cook it themselves. I have my regular choice of Farmer’s Platter consisting of two eggs, hash browns diced onions and peppers, washed down with lashings of coffee.

I between all that excitement, I applied a finish to the small buffet and sanded the heck out of the two pedestals and a small storage, getting them handed over to Kelli for painting.

26th March 2026

We sold our first piece since I got back which wasn’t saying much. To say the market is weak is an understatement, but with all the optimism in my heart it will get better.

I did the repairs to the drawer pedestals, the weather and the workman working on Larry’s old house was showing his crack. It’s not a pleasant sight, but at least it was not the full moon that he displayed whilst I was away. I don’t know why he doesn’t feel the draught on his delicates, maybe it’s toughened up due to the constant exposure.

I spent a bit of time going through the hard drives that I brought back. Most of the old recordings were there, including some I had forgotten about, it was like opening a time capsule and finding gold. 

I had a horror moment during the evening when I tried to update our Bristol Cottage spreadsheet.

As always there updates to the OS system on the iPhone, and that changes the appearance of the apps. I opened the”Notes” app to be faced with a different looking page. I scoured the sheets but couldn’t find my current one.

I kept looking, but it had gone. All that was left were previous years, I had lost all of 2025 and what I had for 2026.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach, not the best way to go to bed.

25th March 2026

The American people are being squeezed, I expect the British are also victims of the economic blitz that the world is being subjected to.

Wars can be conducted without force, pressure can be applied, and life can change.

Lyndon B Johnson once stood up in 1965 and told his audience that “Those that controlled the weather, control the world”. A chilling thought, that led to the start of a bio engineering experiment that has gone on ever since.

The whole subject of climate change has been planned, in effect created. It keeps us concerned about how much oil is still in the ground. Oil is the single element that controls everything from fertiliser, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, energy, textiles and household products. We are locked in, and they know it.

The Iran war illustrates how a small bottleneck can strangle the world, slowing squeezing the supply, driving up the prices and hurting everyone.

We should know this by now, but they want to keep us in our place, down at the bottom. After a while we get used to it, food prices will not go down, just the value of our hard earned cash does.

What new laws will this war bring? Could there be rationing, restrictions of travel, all in the name of national security.

24th March 2026

I had to forgo my visit to John the wood’s due to a dental appointment. I was feeling better than yesterday, when I could have fallen asleep standing up. 

There were many things to do in the garage, I wanted to complete the new base for a small  buffet. This was just an assembly job, it certainly improved the look of the piece.

Kelli had a call from my dentist to say that they cancelled my appointment due to a shortage of staff, and rebooked it for later in April, part of me was relieved.

Now I could start to strip down the desk I picked up yesterday.

Some old desks can be a problem taking apart because of their construction. Almost all get damaged and need repair, but this one came apart easily,  meaning a quick flip job.

Winnie is very demanding. Since I have introduced her to ball chasing, she now follows me about with a ball in her jaws and a soulful look in her eyes, how can I resist that?

23rd March 2026

Nothing has changed in the food stores, no reduction in the prices, and petrol is nearly four dollars a gallon.

All thanks to Trumps involvement in the Iranian war that the American people did not want.

The general consensus is that he got played by Israel and now cannot get out of it.

This is what I’m involved in now I’m back in the US. Unfortunately all the west will suffer as a result, it’s a no win situation.

It’s another tightening of the screw of fear keeping us scared, and when we are scared, we are controlled.

Some say that ‘this war is another distraction, the continued release of the Epstein files draws Trump evermore into the web of perversion and deprivation. Although this seems a bit over the top, it follows a pattern to shift attention from one event on to another.

I’m sure the forthcoming moon shot will absorb the news away from what is happening in the Middle East, after all that is so important, isn’t it?

I started clearing away the winter debris from the back garden, I even packed away the snow blower, that is a brave thing to do, but there wouldn’t be much snow this winter even if it were forecast.