The temperatures started in the 20-22 degree range as the full moon was setting in the west-northwest at 6:30 AM. (Thank you, Chester! I might have missed seeing that glorious moon if you hadn't howled at the bedroom door at 6 AM.) The sun stayed with us all day--as soon as it came over the hill anyway--and that meant the temperatures would rise ad rise and rise. It reached 48 degrees at 3:30 PM. But, as usually happens, the temperatures are falling again now that the sun has set. Luckily, a bank of clouds has moved in and should keep the heat from escaping.
We had a visit from the locksmith this morning to test our alarm system (and collect his annual fee). We seldom use the system because 1) we are seldom away from the Aerie for more than a few days 2) the cats, if we leave them on their own for those few days, would set the system off. Only when we are both away for more than three or four days as last fall when Terry went to Atlanta while I was at the Bolt Hole (I took the cats) or when we went to San Francisco in June for a wedding (the cats got boarded at the vets) do we turn the alarm system on.
We tested the system today to see if it would go off if it detected motion (yes, indeed! Loud bugger!), if it would detect a power outage (yes again), if the low temperature sensor would work (Yes) and if the low battery sensor would work (once again : yes). The system passed with flying colors. So if we are hope there is a warning siren and if we are not, the system will call us, our friends, and/or the police.
When the locksmith left I rounded up the junk mail and all the cardboard boxes we've accumulated since Christmas and went out and torched them all in the burn barrel. With nothing but the slightest breeze blowing and the woods still harboring a coating of snow, it seemed to be a good day for a little pyromania. The barrel (a 55-gallon drum with the top and bottom removed) is covered by 1/2 inch mesh hardware cloth so even if a piece of ash wants to escape, it has to be a small piece to succeed.
Lunch was sausages on a bun. Unlike C.M.O.T. Dibbler's, these were very good. (Actually, it was fresh kielbasi on a bun. No wonder they were good.)
Then it was off to the hardware store for some minor supplies (glue, L-screws, drywall screws and finishing nails) with which to build birdhouses.
From 1 to 4 in the afternoon I turned a lot of pine boards into birdhouses. I finished six houses to add to the five I did yesterday. All eleven await a meeting with boiled linseed oil. I thought I had some down stairs but I must have stored it in a "safe place." You know the one. It must be a secret Black Hole for anything put in that "safe place" disappears for ever. (Or at least until you buy an even more expensive replacement.)
Terry made stuffed peppers for dinner using some fresh salsa and ground venison. The peppers were huge so she cut them in half top to bottom and filled each half before baking them. We were good and only ate one and a half of the halves for dinner leaving yet another whole pepper for tomorrow's lunch. (I know it doesn't add up. She had half a pepper left from yesterday.) Tomorrow's dinner will be sausage and peppers.
I'll be spending tomorrow in the workshop again. First I'll check all the birdhouses to make sure there's no globs of glue hanging out of any seams. If there are, I'll be scraping and sanding. Then I'll spend time cleaning up as much of the saw dust as I can. I've already got one large garbage bag full and I'll be starting on another. I'm saving it to mulch around the garden in the spring but it may end up in the compost pile if I end up with too much. Once the workshop is considerably tidier than it currently is, I'll don some latex gloves, grab a brush and go to work applying linseed oil to the birdhouses. It shouldn't take me more than three hours or so if I can do one birdhouse every 15 minutes.
While I was working today, I did a little math and figured out I can do a complete birdhouse from one 60" long 1x6 pine board. Cutting it first into three different lengthed pieces, then ripping each of those into the different widths needed and then cuttting each of those into the two pieces each will yield. One becomes the top and back; one turns into the front and bottom; and one becomes the two sides. Drill five 1/4 inch holes (one in the back to hang from a tree and two in each side for ventelation). Drill one 1 1/2 hole in the front piece at least 6 inches from the bottom of the box to serve as an entrance. Pre drill all holes for screws and finishing nails. Hardware to complete the box includes nine 1 1/4 inch drywall screws, two 1 1/2 inch finishing nails, and one 1 1/4 inch L-screw. That and a little glue and voila! a birdhouse is born.
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