July 17, 2013 Hard at Work

Sunset Monday evening through smoke
from a fire to the east.

Empty cradle and pile of cut wood.

Monday, 7/15.  Another warm, busy day.  It took JB longer than expected to deliver the snow thrower to the repair shop.  He had to stop on the canyon road a couple times to re-strap it down.  While he was gone I did the dishes and laundry.  I washed two loads of my delicates in my hand washer, then put them both in the washing machine on Rinse/Spin.  Saves a lot of water and propane to do small loads that way.

The yellow jackets are back, so JB hung out traps this afternoon and one of them started filling up right away.  I think there is a nest nearby that survived the May snow.

For the first time in several weeks, I didn't sleep well last night so I took a short nap before dinner and a long one after.  Felt so good.  Then after sitting on the porch for a while, we played dominoes.  About 8:00 pm we both suddenly smelled smoke.  Ran outside and there was smoke everywhere to the west and north, which was enough to get my heart pounding!  I called Elsie and she said that they were down at the river a few hours earlier and saw it coming in from the east.  I climbed up the peak and, sure enough, there was a brown cast to the eastern horizon.  I knew the river was the perfect fire break, so we went back inside and I tried to slow down my heart rate. . .

Tuesday, 7/16.  Another clear morning but with thunder storms predicted for this evening.  At least that has changed from a forecast for dry lightening.  That smoke scare from last night still had me going.

We went out right after breakfast and cut the rest of the logs into rounds.  I stacked a lot of them at the splitter, then JB cut the wood in the cradle.  Pulled the long end of the branches up and did it again.  Now there's a big pile for me to stack in the woodshed.  

While JB and the dogs took a short nap after lunch, I took seven empty coffee cans to the empty cradle and filled them with sawdust for the outhouse.  I had forgotten that I didn't gather the sawdust last time we used the cradle as it had rained right afterwards, so I had no trouble filling all of them.

Then we did the dishes.  I washed my hair, and defrosted the refrigerator.  Another busy day.  Tomorrow I get to stack the rest of the rounds and we want to pull out some logs on the east slope directly across from the house.  We are trying to get as much wood to the splitter as possible before JB's back operation.  It is in less than a month and he will be gone for 10 of those days to stay with his Mother while his brother and sister-in-law go on vacation.

After dinner I took four loads of wood to the woodshed and stacked it, then stacked more of the large rounds at the splitter.  Still more to go.  I'll get them in the morning.

A few brief showers went through beginning about 8:30 pm, but most of the clouds are going north of us.  Didn't hear any thunder.  I sat out on the porch sipping my hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps.  Just enjoying the fresh coolness and scent of the light rain until almost dark.

Wednesday, 7/17.  Clear, but with more clouds on the horizon.  Thunder moved in, along with a short downpour, about 2:45 am.  Jesse arrived on our bed within seconds of the first flash.  All the fireworks were north of us.  Finally got back to sleep, then woke with a start at 6:30 am.  Heard thunder rolling to the north again.  This time the dogs wanted out, but just long enough to do their business.

Received the new "Mary Jane's Farm" magazine.  A very informative "Health & Wellness News" section, as always.  Also delicious sounding  recipes and lots of other good "Farm Girl" stuff.  Her "Glamping" section makes me want to get going on a small guest cabin.  Won't happen until at least next year, but I can make decorating plans for it til then.

Thank you, Peggy, for your comment.  So glad you are enjoying my blog.  And from another reader, yes, it is good to be back.  Thank you.

Thought for the day:  A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing and the lawn mower is broken.  James Dent