This morning started foggy, changed to sunny, although a bit hazy and I went to town and bought a new camera… Woohoo!!! - But by the time the battery was charged, the weather had started to move in - gray overcast skies… not the best day to play but I did manage to have some fun.

Fun, fun, fun!

We left for an afternoon walk with the sun starting to hit the tree tops and a strong breeze which was causing larch needles to drop all around us. The first vista when we cleared the woods was of gold and mountains and blue, blue sky…

Karl had been napping in the motorhome most of the day. Random gunshots kept him in one of his favorite hidey-holes between the back of the motorhome and the bed. I was in and out of it most of the day and kept trying to coax him out but he was having none of it. Finally, I got a bit more insistent and off we went. Once he got going, he was full of it - sure, HE was plenty rested!

…afternoon walk…

Stand and sniff the air…

Sit for a bit and enjoy…

Get a good bottom scratch…

…and a bit more gold at the end of the walk.

Bob has taken to coming with Karl and me on our evening walk. In the past, he would come to the edge of the woods and then be waiting for us at the point where we returned to the property. Last week, one night he came the entire loop - only half a mile, but he follows along. He has been coming along most evenings since. He usually stays well behind Karl as Karl sometimes wants to play and they have differing ideas of proper play. Karl, though, keeps an eye on where Bob is and if he thinks Bob is to far behind, will wait for him.

Are you coming???

On the edge of our property, we wait for Bob…

Bob is a blur as he heads inside for a bit of a munch after a long walk…

And then a nap…

To the right of the road in the above photo.

In the park by the lake before returning home: the larch are starting to turn - light green to gold.

A gray, drizzly day meant Karl and I had the park to ourselves.

Yesterday was a chore day… first up was dusting and cleaning floors. I don’t do these things on any kind of schedule…I dust when the sun shines at such an angle that it forces me to notice that I can write my name in the dust on shelves, etc. Although I vacuum the floor nearly daily, because it is wood, I am fairly sure that all I accomplish with the vacuum is blowing the dust, hair and dirt to the edges and under things where it forms gigantic dust bunnies. They hide until someone visits and then they skitter out to betray my “only when things get desperate” style of housekeeping.

I noticed that in the last several days the floor was feeling a bit gritty - that is my signal that it is time to get serious. In the living room, I picked up the pet bed and put it on the back of a chair while I worked in there.

“Where my bed goes, I goes”…

Next up on the chore list was firewood. I have about 1/3 of a cord of small larch pine that was cut to length for my stove 2 years ago. I had cut several small live trees that were in the way of the motorhome spot and they are now nice and dry - easy to split and ready for a nice crackly fire - the larch “spits excessively” - snap, crackle, pop in the stove.

My method of splitting I call aerobic splitting…

I like to set 3 or 4 logs in a semicircle and take a whack at them in succession. I use a splitting maul vs a hammer and wedge. Splitting wood is more about letting the tool and momentum do the work vs strength, but it does take some effort to swing the maul with accuracy and to coordinate motion so that body and maul weight is doing most of the work. I find that the rhythm of doing several at once works for me.

Karl supervises….from a distance.

They all split on first whack - but some I split again. I’m splitting these small larch fairly small to use as fire starter and small fire fuel. I have a stock of larger fir and pine for larger, longer stove use.

Wheelbarrow full from 7 smallish rounds.

Karl and I had taken a walk before the wood splitting commenced. The walk was partially my “warm up”. I hadn’t done any hand splitting for 2 years. The fall I moved into the house I bought 4 cords of wood and the handyman that worked for me at the time had a splitter which we used. And while feeding the splitter and then stacking is still work, it was much faster and easier. I have nearly 3 cords of dry wood leftover from the logging done in early 2007. I am doing a wonderful trade with my friends Kris and her husband, Hal. Some of my computer/photography expertise for Hal cutting the wood to length, as well as taking down several dying trees and downfall that can dry for next year. I will rent a splitter for that project, but until then I enjoy hand-splitting a bit now and then.

I split 14 rounds - 2 wheelbarrows full - 1/4 of the little 1/3 cord…enough for me for the day!

Karl thought it was enough also.

We played “Karl’s rules soccer-football”….

“You get it, Mom”

Done for the day.