It’s been hazy, hot and humid here in north-central PA the last few days. So, instead of spending time in the cool basement doing some sheetrock work, I’ve gone outside to burn some stumps and dig a hole to plant a tree. The first task, performed Wednesday afternoon, involved using an iron bar to lever the stumps out in the open where there was no danger of having the fire spread and a chainsaw to cut the trunks into manageable sizes. I then spent several hours in the sun feeding and watching the fire. By the time I was finished I was roasted by both the sun and fire.
On Thursday, Terry and I drove over to Sears to pick up a bistro set so we could have a comfortable breakfast or lunch on the deck. They had called last week to tell us the set had arrived but not the gas grill we had ordered. We chose to wait until the grill arrived but, after a week and a half, finally decided not to wait any longer. However, when we arrived at the Sears store, they could not locate the bistro set in the storage area. The delivery truck that was being unloaded did, however, have a gas grill. So we picked up the grill and were promised they would deliver the bistro set when it arrives next week. I then spent two hours of Thursday afternoon putting the grill together. It was worth it. The venison steaks on the sear-and-grill were excellent as were tonight’s pork chops.
Thursday evening we watched as a thunderstorm swept eastward maybe three miles north of our location. Weather maps showed a similar storm just south of us. We got just enough rain to wet the ground. But we did get the cooling benefits of the front as the outside temperature dropped 15 degrees in half an hour.
Friday morning we went birding at the Lamb’s Creek Recreational Area. At 7:30 in the morning the fog was so thick we were wondering if we would have any luck at all but the fog burned off and we did see quite a few interesting species. There were several Baltimore Orioles and 3 Yellow-billed Cuckoos.
When Terry and I arrived back at the Aerie, we found that Don, our contractor, had stopped by not just to take some measurements of the chimney and some photos of the fireplace, but to drop off a very nice flower box for the deck (including flowers) made from left over siding and tongue-and-groove, a nice batch of brownies, and a five or six foot tall redbud. All the gifts were semi-late housewarming presents. Unfortunately, Terry and I had to dig the hole for the redbud—and it was another scorcher. (If 85 degrees can be called a scorcher.) Since the soil at the site we picked was fill material from the excavation for the basement, I thought it might be loose. HA! We employed the iron bar quite liberally to finally dislodge several large rocks (up to basketball size) and loosen the soil enough that the roots of the tree had a fighting chance. Since the soil is primarily clay, shale and sandstone in this area, I bought some peat moss and mixed it with screened soil to keep an area several inches thick around the root ball of loose, organic containing, soil for the roots and water to pass through. Let me just say that the iron digging bar was well worth purchasing. It made pretty quick work of the packed, stony soil. And weighing around 20 pounds, it just has to be lifted and dropped to do most of the work. Granted, you have to lift and drop it a lot of times in this hard packed soil, but it did pay for itself as no other tool could have done as well.
Terry good some pork chops on the grill and we ate our dinner as a thunderstorm rolled over us. As we ate we watched both the rain and the temperature fall. In half an hour we got approximately a quarter of an inch of rain from the swiftly moving storm and the temperature dropped 15 degrees from just over 80 to 65 degrees.
At this point I can honestly say that my back injury of two weeks ago seems to have healed. Whether it was a rest of almost a full week or the additional exercise, everything seems to be fine now. And I know that sounds strange: rest or exercise. But the fact is rest will help an irritated nerve in the lumbar region and exercise will strengthen the muscles needed to support the spine plus remove and tense muscles due to the irritated nerve. Whichever it was, and I tried both, it seems to have worked.
Now if I could only do something about the sunburn I have on the top of my head. I really do need to remember the hat or a bandana.
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