11.6.2022

Well...it was a nice thought but we settled on pancakes for breakfast!  But unfortunately, still have the changing the clock chores...

Jim actually got to spend a little time in the wood shop today doing woodworking!  He's starting to prep the wood for the package drop box...

Doing some gluing...

Another wonderful day so it was back outside this afternoon.  But can't forget winter prep - these days won't last forever.  Jim brought in my winter tires to swap out soon...

Then we went deep into the woods to see if we could forge a path to get back to collect our cut wood.  I moved fallen branches, cut little trees, and Jim cut some of the bigger stuff with the chainsaw...

Pushing a fallen tree out of the way...

But we did it - you can see the Bobcat coming up through the woods!

Loading up the bucket...

Dumping it down below...

Back to collect more logs...

We ended up bringing 3-1/2 bucketsful of logs out...

Wow - what a difference it makes from down below...

The view from the driveway - so nice looking into the woods and not seeing those downed trees!

High 70.5/Low 62.7 - wonderful!

11.5.2022

Kind of a long story, but we decided that our new treadmill needed to be returned.  Although it was the same model number as the one we were looking at, it was a different year and didn't offer some of the features that were important to us.  Amazon was wonderful with their return policy and we were told the shippers would pick it back up today from 9-12.  Then last night, they changed it to 6-9 AM.  They were supposed to call 30 minutes before but of course didn't.  They showed up about 8:30 and took it away.  The other one is on order!

Jim worked this morning in the metal shop - he's drilling holes in the steel and countersinking them so that he can attach wood spars to use to attach siding...

Then we had to go back outside to take advantage of 70° weather in November!  Jim first put the bucket on the Bobcat and went up and gathered a bucketful of the wood we had split earlier in the year...

Then he brought it down to the end of the driveway and we started organizing and stacking the wood from the trees we cut down...

Wow - three trees worth of wood!

The remaining two trunks are back a bit further but we wanted them out from the side of the house...

I marked the lengths off and then Jim started cutting...

Using the lumberjack...

Making good progress...

Hard to take pictures through the screen, but this is the view from our bedroom - Jim is finishing up the last of the two trees...

Weather permitting, hopefully tomorrow we will gather up all these logs and take them down to our stack as well.

Church time!

High 70.8/Low 52.5

11.4.2022

 Jim did some more work in the metal shop this morning, including welding the handle on the lumberjack - it's meant to come apart but that makes it difficult because it tends to get wobbly when using it.

This afternoon, we were back outside, gathering up all the logs that Jim cut up yesterday...

Our first bucketful...

Dumping them down at the edge of the woods near the end of the driveway...

Yikes - these are giant logs that Jim has to lift...

Dropping the second load...

The last load...

Wow - getting rid of those 3 trees made a huge difference in how the woods look below the west side of the house.  We have two more to go but they are off to the side and not as readily seen as the 3 were.  

High 68.1/Low 43.9 - beautiful!

11.3.2022

Jim worked in the metal shop this morning, continuing to work on assembling and welding the brake for the press...

The metal work on the package box is all done - Jim moved it over to some sawhorses.  Next will be adding wood pieces.

Then it was back outside in the afternoon - we did more clean up and Jim cut up two more big tree trunks...

Lots of cut up pieces - next job will be to load them up in the Bobcat and take them down to the end of the driveway...

Jim took the Bobcat up to the top of the hill to cut up and put some of the old wood in the trash for pickup tomorrow.

High 66.5/Low 36.2 - beautiful!

11.2.2022

 Mom and I had some errands to run today; Jim was busy in the metal shop - he's putting together and welding the pieces of his press part that will allow him to bend metal using the press...

Another fabulous fall day, so in the afternoon, we headed outside.  Jim got all the tools ready...

Then we headed down below the pole barn to do some cleaning.  Jim had cleared a path before so that he could bring the Bobcat back...

The main motivation to work back here was to start cutting up these tree trunks that we cut down a couple of years ago...

I marked lengths off to make it easier for Jim to just cut.  He used his lumberjack tool as well to keep the log off the ground...

First tree all cut up...

Loading the logs in the bucket...

For now, we dumped the load down by the end of the driveway near our stacked pile.  Once we get a few more, we'll start stacking.  Jim may advertise these logs on craigslist and see if we get any takers.

High 65.8/Low 44.5 - beautiful!

11.1.2022

We had to start the day by going to the dentist - never the best way to start the day but a necessary evil!  Mom's appointment got rescheduled so she'll see the dentist in a couple weeks.  

This afternoon, we headed back out to see if we could get the last post set.  First digging out the hole...

Then Jim put the braces on the post and lifted it up...

Setting it in the hole...

We have lots of references for making sure this post is in the right place...

Making sure it's plumb...

Putting up another brace...

Filling in the hole...

Putting up another brace to tie it together...

One last double check that everything is plumb and the pavilion foundation work is done!  

Another project coming up is some generator maintenance to make sure it's ready for the winter, so first a cleaning...

Nice to clean off some accumulated grime...

Then it was time to get all the tools and equipment put away and come in to get ready for Holy Day Mass.  

High 66.2/Low 50.9