Towing the backhoe into the woods to make a new trail.

October 27, 2014 - Monday

41 degrees/heavy rain - thunderstorms/calm

Pentoga Road

This is the quintessential Monday morning that everyone dreads. It's cold, it's rainy, it's storming... the perfect ingredients for one to stay in bed and sleep the day away. That's not happening, at least here on Pentoga Road.

Sunday was almost perfect. I began the day by cutting down and working up two gray birch trees out of a clump of three. Though none of the trees were huge, growing in a clump presented some challenges. In the end, the two came tumbling down. Both were cut in chunks, split, hauled to the shed, and stacked. Not bad for a morning's work.

It's that time of year to clean the flue on the wood stove. I hate that job; absolutely hate it. Sargie and I tackled it head on and after an hour of being smothered and covered in suet and dust, the stove and pipe are both ready for another year of burning wood.

We attach a garbage bag onto the bottom of the pipe that runs through the ceiling to keep the suet from coming into the living room.

... and then it's time to scrub the flue

We took our usual Sunday drive, grabbed a Coke each, and observed others working in their yards, doing all those last minute chores before the weather closes in for the year.

I was attempting to rake leaves, but ran into a bulldog. Brutus thought I was making a mattress and kept trying to lay in the middle of the pile.

Sargie followed me into town where I left the truck at the plant for another load of wood. We also saw this house for sale. Other than the newer front door, I'm pretty sure it would qualify as a "fixer upper."  

It was such a beautiful late afternoon that neither Sargie or I wanted to go inside. She busied herself putting away outside pots, transplanting perennials, and doing whatever else needed to be done.

I'd found a dead wild cherry tree earlier in the woods. Only problem, there was no way to get there by four-wheeler or tractor. I ended up towing the backhoe and making a trail to it. 

Though it wasn't a large tree, for the second time in a day, I cut, chunked, split, and put away a load of hard wood.

I've never believed in chemtrails (the government's supposed attempts at manipulating the weather by spraying aluminum oxide,) but after observing yesterday's paths in the skies, it made me wonder.

I had (what I believe) is some sort of sinus attack last night. It felt like my teeth were going to fall out and one eye was swollen and runny. And the pressure behind my face... wow. I took three chlortabs, two pain relievers, and four Echinacia pills before going to bed. The pain subsided and I slept well. 

Sargie's working early today. I'm going to grade papers first thing this morning then work in the barn putting things away for the upcoming winter months.

But first, it's time for a cup of coffee and to think a few deep thoughts. After all, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...

Multi-tasking... surrendering to the urge to think a deep thought while trying to drive the tractor. Here I was close to arriving at the solution to world peace or to solve world hunger. I can't remember which.