Chores.....

     Ah that the weekend is over.  Most people live
for the weekends.  Since retirement my weekends
occur anytime from Tuesday on.  I enjoy camping
so mid week is usually my favorite time.  I seldom
run into more than a couple people on weekdays.
  Weekends of course bring out more people,  but
that's not always bad.  Last week we had a 'club
and guest' four wheeler ride.  About seventy five
members got together for a twenty five mile ride
on trails throughout the club property.  Broken
into small groups we would ride a couple miles
then stop for a while and just relax and converse
with groups we bumped into.  We also set up a
small hot dog and french fry stand at the halfway
point which made for a nice break.

After a 10 mile bumpy ride one has to sample deep fried hot dogs...

      As it usually goes one weekend of playing  is usually

followed by a weekend of work.  You may remember from

a previous blog post that we named our little camp 'Walnut

Grove' .  There is a reason.  Our campground is surrounded 

buy seven or eight good sized Black Walnut trees.  Great 

shade but a real pain when the walnuts fall this time of year.

Makes for tough grass cutting not to mention it's like walking

on tennis balls.  This is the first weekend we started 'The raking

of the nuts'  only three loads today but the trees are still full.

Black walnuts are delicious but really hard to clean  I always 

keep a five gallon bucket of dried ones in the basement for

an emergency chocolate brownie fix.  Trust me the taste is 

worth the effort.  A couple years ago we dumped thirteen 

wheelbarrow loads over the hill cleaning the yard.. this year

may surpass that...

     With the walnuts up and a quick mowing done it's time to start on

the really fun part.. replenishing the wood pile.   Over the past week or 

so  we have cut probably five or six big truckloads of firewood for camp.

You would think that was the hard part but no... now it all has to be split

and stacked.  We have graduated to a hydraulic log splitter but each log 

still has to be manhandled and it is still time consuming.  Thank you

dearly whoever invented Alieve and Extra strength Tylenol !  We did 

get most of it split this weekend but we are  going to cut more this week

so I'll stock up on the pain pills.

     On a lighter note I did develop a new grooming method this weekend

although it's not for the faint of heart.  While tending a fire of scrap wood

chips from the splitter I climbed into the fire ring and inadvertently got a

little too close.  My long gray beard is now a  shorter gray beard.  It was 

a bit crispy and uneven, but cleaned up fairly well..lol   Looking back I 

should have  taken off my hat and I could have saved on blades and time 

shaving my head.   Maybe next time ...................