Cheap Labor

 

Phew!  The weather has been hot and humid this weekend.  As I sit here on the front porch working on this post, I can hear thunder off to my right.  Severe thunderstorms are in the forecast tonight and if they cool down the temperatures, it will be a good thing.

I had several chores in mind that I wanted to work on this weekend.  Friday evening right after work, I cleaned the interior of both cars.  That meant vacuuming the carpets, scrubbing the all-weather floor mats, polishing the dashboards and especially needed in my car, cleaning the inside of the windows (my windshield was atrocious inside).  I usually take care of keeping the interiors of the cars tidy while Mr P gets out the hose and bucket to spiffy up the exteriors.  

Saturday, I wanted to split some firewood that had been cut into fireplace lengths by Mr. P before his second surgery in early January of this year.  It's been five months since his surgery but the many tasks are off limits and splitting firewood is one of them.  I've done my fair share of this type of work over the years and it can be back breaking.  I'm sure my willingness and ability to handle some of the tougher tasks here at the Puddle Pond are one of the reasons he's never sent me packing.  

I split wood for about two hours starting about 9AM so we didn't disturb the neighborhood to early with the noise.  By the time the wagon was almost full, the splitter was out of gas and had to be refueled.  I finished filling the wagon and put the 5 ft snake skin that a black snake had shed under the tarp on top of the load of wood to be brought down to the house.  (You can see it in the foreground of the picture directly above which is where it was found when the tarp was lifted.)  I'm saving it for Grandson's #1 and #2 and if they aren't interested, one of my coworkers might want it to show to his two young sons.

After a break and the determination that the sun wasn't hitting me directly, I got back at the splitter.  This time, I tossed what I split on a pile near the logs that remain to be split.  I wanted to work until the splitter ran out of gas again, but instead, I ran out of gas and stopped the splitter myself.  

It felt good to get that much done and while I was splitting wood, Mr P was working in the garden covering his potato rows with layers of newspaper topped with straw.  

Today I cut asparagus and leaf lettuce in the garden but it was too hot to do much else. 

We spent time over the weekend watching a pair of red winged blackbirds fly to and fro from their nest in the cat o' nines down at the Puddle Pond, wrens who seem to have taken over a blue bird box along the driveway and the beautiful yellow finches at the thistle feed on the deck.  

There were also early morning treks of deer at the back and side of the yard and after moving the outdoor camera to another tree, several shots of deer moving through on their way to bed down or go wherever they go during the day.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend wherever you are.  I'm still hearing thunder, but no rain is falling just yet.  Until next time.