Return to Action

When you get back home from vacation, you realize that the world goes on without you, irregardless of whether or not you are there. Case in point, our house, including the millions of projects that are a part of it. While we were soaking up the sun and olive oil of the Mediterranean, things that needed to be done around here weren't getting done. Now why do you suppose that is?

Before we had left, I knew that the lawn was going to be a mess. I had wanted to mow it before departure, but it hadn't really grown enough, so I waited. Upon our return, the grass wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, though it was long. I noticed on the weather that we got a lot of rain while we were away, tons of it, which usually encourages growth, but maybe because there was no sun, it didn't get as bad as it could have. Also, it's hard to mow the lawn in the rain, or even if the grass is wet, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I had a one day window to fire up the Toro, which thankfully came to life no problem, and I managed to spend the one day since we've been back that wasn't rain soaked mowing 80% of the grass. Boy was I relieved, something about that lawn that gives me anxiety.

The wood for this coming winter is about 98% complete. I'm glad for that, but still disappointed that we dipped so heavily into this year's wood. Oh well, live and learn. I cut the log pile into blocks before we left, which means I now the have the pleasure of hauling those blocks to the splitting site, then splitting them. Since next year's wood is not an urgent situation, I can do it at my leisure and focus on other important matters, like building a barn and finishing projects around the big house. I want to get those clapboards on and painted.

The fact that it has been raining puts a bit of a damper on things, no pun intended. I can't believe this weather, it makes working outside a bit more challenging, but when you're training to be a real man, with greater challenge comes greater reward. The question then becomes, where's the reward? Just kidding.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to RIC for the pics.