Random thoughts from the moose cave.

damn.

never made it to the chainsaw. split 5 or 6 logs I already had cut to length. got dizzy and nauseous with a splitting head hurt. (not allowed to puke after taking a pain pill, they are too valuable)shut off the loud ass splitter and headed for the cabin.

made it to the bed, and stinky purred against my chest while I did breathing exercises for an hour or so. getting tired of these spells, we are...

now I can see again, but feel made of lead. dunno if I feel like fighting down food or not. mebbe a popsicle...

Popsicle would probably be good. Maybe you will feel more like eating more a little later. I never throw up pain pills either. Such a waste. Hope you feel better soon.

If I do, I puke in a glass, and...

you get the picture. the punishment is worse that the crime.

the cycles have been quicker of late. I may still actually get something done later. it makes very little sense, but it's a scary ride.

wish I could get off the damn thing.

I keep getting further behind while I try to figure it out.

my weather window will only hold for so long, and my check is still lost in the mail between here and the land of camels...

Hedge trees? When I last visited Kansas, they used Osage Orange for hedges. You might have a marketable commodity there, Rock, and January - February ain't a bad time to be cutting for useful wood.

Sucks - wish it would be over too. Keep hoping for you.

the problem with hedge is that it is Hard. hard to cut, especially after it starts to dry out. but it makes awesome firewood if you don't mind the little explosions now and then. (I kinda like 'em. they keep stinky on his toes)

that is part of the reason for buying and fixing up the great big saw, however.

If I can cut and split more than I need, I can always sell it. $100 a rick (a rick is a mythical figure hereabouts)

The effort involved is more than if I just try to fix cars and weld broken farm stuff, mostly...

also, until I get the door hung back onto this S10, I got no way to pull my trailer down by the river to get to the hedge. it's kinda muddy to get there, you gotta cross a field.

the transmission is out on my truck, and I let my insurance lapse. (very bad move, and a story I won't go into just now. firkin thieves)

ok.

Ima pretend I dint fall down earlier, and go out and work for a bit. bubba will be glad, as Ima fire the stove. and take it verra easy.

It's too late to cut wood now, but I can close the door, and cut hinges off. unless I start to tip again. then we'll just fold up and call it a night.

gonna drop a tater in the little oven on a positive hope for appetite later.

my coconut popsicle stayed put...

Two questions:

You fell down? Oy.

How come you don't mention Stinky? How's he doing?

Ok, three questions.

fell down as in I had a dizzy yucky spell and wobbled to my bed to try and recuperate.

Stinky lives a life of indoor leisure, guarding the cabin by napping in the sunbeams.

bubba tags me like a furry shadow wherever I go outside or in the shop. she is more directly involved in my car adventures. (she sat on the tire pile and squinted while I was grinding away old welds from the door and post. Stinky is more like the boss cat that never leaves the house...

he is munching his wet food, and showing his annoyance at eating at 1 am. but will be ready for bedtime petting detail at the drop of my slippers beside the bed.

I decided to skip eating for the most part tonight. gonna have a few frozen cherries and try to crash.

If I am better tomorrow, it will once again be cut the sh*t outta some wood day...

I think my shop has finally surpassed the one I left behind over in gooberville. but dubious about putting up another sign.

I still have major roof leak issues, but the stove works better over here, and my power and lights are now superior. and I upgraded the air supply system when I built it, knowing I planned to paint here.

still got a long ways to go, but I can turn on the lights, open the big door, and be ready to make money now. almost feel professional about it. my neighbors have got to where they stop here first when something breaks. a heated garage helps make friends.

and bubba is in heaven as long as I work every night. on her army blanket next to the stove...

What kinda roof/roofing material is it, Rocky?

corrugated tin with rotted supports in places. it leaks all over.

major work and expense. dunno if I'm up for it...

feeling very much the kid this avo...

been sawing great big logs with my great big saw...

I feel like a lumberjack, I do.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg

I didn't want to be a barber anyway...

now I gotta split a giant ass pile of wood, and stack it away.

snowplow guy brought me some of what we were missing of the hinges, and I think I feel good enough to weld tonight.

lotsa fun big boy toys to play with when we feel kosher...

Sounds not good. What about a $30 interior tarp sloped to a simple trough which then flows outside or to a rain barrel/pond?

maybe.

it's a 50 x 50 pole barn, and it's cut into two sides.

I got bigger issues for the moment. the roof only bothers me when it rains...

got the shop all warmed up, and think Ima try and do dinner before I work. (sometimes that is a bad idea)

having Bob fries, in his memory tonight, along with some leftover ham from smoky's christmas dinner, and some baked beans.

a pioneer meal for a pioneer day.

I honestly don't know how they did it. without big power tools, I would do nothing but cut wood in the winter to stay in front of it. no wonder they had lotsa kids.

and that one there, we call him Woody. get back to cutting, son...

done for tonight. boiling up a shower. I'm covered in iron shavings. and I'm tard.

carried a buttload of wood and stacked it into the back of the shop. gonna cut some more tomorrow, and maybe go try and hit the hedgerow on sunday.

gotta go borrow some fish food from mr vw tomorrow, too. still no check from the war...

Sending you Hugs and Hope that you find some stability in your health and home next year.... starting tomorrow!

hope is a double edged sword. has been for a while now...

having another spell. smelled burning soup, and remembered I had started it before deciding I better lay down. Stinky started getting restless, and then I smelled it, too...

anyways, I think the rapture is starting here. lots of gunfire, and some three wheelers racing around back where cars don't go. maybe my distant neighbors are having a world war 3 party or something...

smoky went to town without me. not sure why, but it really don't matter, as long as he makes it back ok. I got no coin until after the holiday weekend.

ready to be done with holiday weekends.

If I can get my head to quit splitting, Ima go drag some more logs from the pond to the shop for processing into firewood.

cold front hits tonight. no more 60 degree afternoons...

Dear Rock,

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

g'day miss letty. care for some burned soup? it's gluten free...


an ode to firewood...

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.


(kilmer)