Mission Accomplished!

Conditions at 7:00 am - 13* and sunny

Expected later - 20* and more sun

What a wonderful feeling to have the wood all split and stacked! My goal was to finish the job this weekend and I'm extremely happy to report that it's done! I spent all of Friday working on it, and most of Sunday, but it's finished.
It was a wonderful weekend, weather wise, so that was a big help. Thursday night, after work, Brenda and I went into town to Old Home Week. It's essentially our version of a fall fair. There was a midway set up, that the kids would have loved. horse shows, various craft and baking displays, and horse racing going on at the same time. We toured around and looked at all the exhibits, and I took some photos of some of the quilts that were on display. Some were absolutely gorgeous, and certainly inspiring to a beginner like me. By the time we'd toured around, it was getting late, so we had time to go for a ride on the ferris wheel before picking up caramel corn to munch on while we drove home.
Friday morning I got up a little late, almost 8:00, and started in right way splitting wood. It was quite warm and sunny but the bonus is there were no mosquitoes. There were some flies that were a bit bothersome, but that was it, so it was a pleasure to work outside and not to have to drown yourself in bug spray. By Friday evening, I was exhausted. So it was a hot bath, a quick supper of homemade pizza cooked on the BBQ, a little TV then off to bed. I had thought about parking myself beside a bonfire later in the evening, but around 8:00 it just poured down with rain, so that put an end to that idea.
Saturday was supposed to be rainy so I had planned to work inside. It was going to be my bread baking and laundry day. It was a little overcast in the morning then it cleared right up and was a beautiful day. But I stayed with my original plan and made a batch of Brenda's bread, and did laundry. The bread recipe makes about 16 loaves of bread, and of course I didn't have enough freezer space for it all, so I took a loaf over to Daralen and 3 loaves over to Brenda. She was out cutting grass when I got there but Will and Ethan were working on the back porch. I told them I brought bread and was just going to put it on the table. They were both very happy, complaining that they hadn't had any bread in a while. I'm sure that was a bit of an exaggeration, and I know they had store bought bread, but it's also really nice that they appreciate the effort their mom puts into baking them bread, although they probably don't tell her that. But they told me in a round about way, so I'm passing it on.
Later in the evening, Brenda asked if I had any left for me. I told her I had LOTS and she said, well you don't have to make the whole recipe you know. But there's something very gratifying in manipulating that huge piece of dough, and turning it into something wonderful. I've tried so may times over the years to make bread from scratch and it's never been successful, but this one turns out great. I can't tell you how great it is to finally be able to do this. So thank you Brenda.
Saturday afternoon, I had my first shift at the liquor store giving out samples. It was only four hours, but that was long enough to stand in one spot. I'm working on another plan of how to do it so I can bring a stool. I'm doing two shifts this Saturday, and I've got to figure something else out. But I have an idea....
Sunday was again bright and sunny, not too hot, and again no more bugs, so I started in right away working on wood. Brenda called and we got together for coffee and muffins at her house before heading out to have a bike lesson. Last week sometime, Bernie suggested that Brenda and I could go on a bike ride as they have an extra motorcycle that I could use. But it's been a very long time since I last drove a motorcycle, and I was never too experienced to start with. So Brenda suggested that we go to the school and I could ride around the parking lot to get the feel of it again. So I took my car and she drove her bike, and we met at the school. I spent a little while driving around the parking lot doing figure eights around the roadways in the lot. Finally I felt comfortable enough to head out onto the road. The plan was to ride from the school out to the main road and then see how it felt. If I still wasn't confident enough then we'd switch vehicles when we got there. But by the time I got to Fort Augustus Road, I felt okay, so I just kept going and drove it home to Brenda's. I still need some practice but she suggested that I just come by some evening when I have some spare time and take it for a run. We were both quite excited that it went so well, as this opens up a whole new realm of possibilities - just one more thing we can do on Sundays! I was talking to Lloyd last night and he suggested that I be careful not to get talked into buying a bike! Guess I'll just have to learn to ride the Honda. How scary is that???

When I got back home I split wood till I was done, a little after three. I then poured myself a tall gin and tonic and sat outside in the sunshine and enjoyed looking at all my hard work. There was such a sense of accomplishment in finally finishing it. After relaxing a bit, it was time to clean up, so I got the rake out and raked up all the small pieces of wood that collect on the ground around the splitter. I started a bonfire and put them all in the fire to burn, while I got the lawn mower out and cut down all the giant weeds that had grown in and around the wood pile. Now it's nice and neat again.

Sounds like Lloyd had a great weekend. He played Grandpa Saturday night and had Tristen for a sleepover. They went for pizza for supper and then he took him for breakfast with the guys on Sunday morning, then a tour of the airport to look at some planes. I think they both really enjoyed their time together. He also went to Stratford with Rose on Sunday to see Evita, and he said it was fabulous and they had a really great time. So thank you Rose, for taking him. He really enjoys those kinds of things but it's not the sort of thing he'd do by himself.
This week is also going to be busy, as he has plans almost every night. Next weekend is Ribfest so I know there will likely be more than one trip to Riverside Park!