At the Bolt Hole, July 6, 2011

Drove up to the Bolt Hole today just to see how things are. They are just peachy-keen! If you forget the tall grass that still needs cutting (Mark did the largish area west of the cabin and in front of the barn and garage, but the rest needs mowing), the deer flies (Mark says they are horrible, I've not seen one), the need to cut firewood somewhere, and the thunderstorms that rolled through at 3:15 PM while I was doing some of the grass cutting. Those storms lasted for an hour and a half and dropped quite a bit of rain on my yard. Using the old "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three..." method, I estimated the closest lightening was about a mile away. At least the rain dropped the very warm temperatures (82 degrees) to more reasonable levels (68 degrees). (I got readings of 90 and 91 degrees on the NYS Thruway on my way up.) The rains put a halt to any plans to cut the remainder of the yard today. There's still a watch on until 9 PM tonight but the radar looks pretty tame at the moment.

I'll get out there tomorrow around 10 AM if there are no more showers and get the rest of the yard done. Might even get a little of the shooting lane and the ATV trails cut if they're not too tall for the mower. Then again, I could pull out the brush hog.

Then it's off into the woods to scout up some firewood. I've got my thoughts on some old blow downs that--in the past--were just a little too far off the ATV trails to make hauling cut wood out easy. Might have to look for a way to cut a new trail in closer to those downed trees.

I've also got to get some measurements for a new propane line. I had the energy supplier pull his tanks (two 100# hulks) since I only use about one 20# tank a year for my cooking purposes. I'll need to figure out how to run a line from the woodshed into the stove and what size fittings I'll need. I thought about using the same stuff we have on the trailer, but that's rubber hoses and mice and red squirrels trouble me on that count. There's also a metal flexible fitting available at Tractor Supply that just might do the trick if the diameter is AOK.

So those are my tasks for the next few days: cut grass, find firewood, hook up stove to a new source of propane. None of them are difficult--if the bugs remain scarce and it doesn't rain any more. (Even then, the stove stuff is indoors!)

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Terry's off to see her Mom in NJ tomorrow. It's Mom's birthday. The Lady will be 87 88 years young. She's been complaining about some sciatic pain but it's hardly slowing her down a bit. (Well, except for begging out of the trip to Maine last weekend.)

Terry will have to return to the Aerie by Friday noon. The new furniture will be delivered "between 2 and 4 in the afternoon" they say. We hauled the old stuff out in to the garage this morning before I left and I'll take it to the dump when I get back. There are a couple of pieces here at the Bolt Hole that need discarding and I'll be taking out with me. The cats were looking around as we hauled the stuff into the garage and you could see the little cogs in their heads whirling as they thought about the loss of lounging chairs. I'm sure they will have the new stuff broken in by the time I get home Sunday night.

[UPDATE: Terry had to cancel her trip. Seems Mom was going to AC for the day, sciatica be damned! It's "only" a 2 1/2 hour bus ride. One way.]
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It's that time of year again. Saw signs this morning for U-Pick Blueberries at our favorite farm. Guess I'll have to give Joe a call as he wants in on stocking the freezer and jam shelf. I know I'll be there come Monday morning. That's the best day of the week since they are closed on Sunday for some family time, R&R and grass cutting.