I woke up to 27° F this morning and the leaves were dropping off the trees like crazy. That means that finally I can get out for a walk around the acreage and not be eaten alive by chiggers, mosquitoes, or covered in ticks. As soon as it gets a bit drier out and not as muddy I will be doing just that. It will certainly be nice to get out for some exercise since the county road out front is a dangerous place to try and take a stroll.

After going to do some laundry this morning I took the day off. I have been pretty busy around here for the last few weeks without taking a day off for me so I decided this morning that today was the day.

The afternoon warmed up nicely into the upper 50s so I got the dogs out to play some Frisbee. They just love that and I start them off on the concrete to file down their claws – it really works. If Rider catches it Rumor has to run over and grab the other side and they play tug of war while running up to give it to me. It is hilarious and neither one gives up. Rumor may be short but she is an uppity little bitch who really thinks she is in charge. Rider goes along with her doing that but every now & then he has to inform her which of them is really the big dog.

It is that time of year. I started a fire in the woodstove to warm up the house this afternoon. Temps in the 50s are not cold, but even with the thermostat set at 65 it is still colder than that outside.

Wood heat sure is cozy, plus it is free no matter how warm you make the house. It certainly helps with the electric bill and I still had a full propane tank from last year so there is no expense for that right now, but if I can extend it by burning a bunch of free wood I have that is what I do. Plus, that dry heat really gets the drywall mud drying much faster. I even open up the door from the house to the garage to let heat out there so there is no cold air within the walls of the house. That keeps the whole house warmer.

🔨 🏡

I don’t really have much on my schedule this week; a couple of follow-ups on my former kidney stone is about it. I should be able to get several of the house projects knocked off my list this week and keep on with the progress until and getting everything done while the weather is still decent. I think I will have everything finished up within a few weeks. At least that is what I am working toward.

I have to get a piece of door glass to repair a broken pane in a door so I will get that first thing tomorrow, fix it, then work on the wall. I basically have it all filled in so I only need to sand some, add some fill in the low spots and repeat the process until it is level. While that dries I will load up a truck full of stuff for the dump and be ready for Tuesday when they reopen. Then it is back home to hopefully finish up the wall then fill the truck up again while the wall dries out.

Still very pleased with the progress being made. It will look a lot different around here soon, and it really is a much-needed change. Some new paint on the walls will really brighten things up and having the basement cleared out will be so different after all these years.

It has been nice having a day to kick back and recharge a bit.

Talk with you again soon.

Shawn