80 Years since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is something I hold against no Japanese living today. The world was different then. Hopefully. I guess we’ll find out with Russia and The Ukraine in the coming months. There is nothing like a spring offensive to ruin one’s hope for peace. But for today, I remember. I hope for peace.
I woke up this morning at 4AM. Joy. Then I felt kind of like rambling. Time for a blog entry! But to ramble about what? No idea!
I have walked the dogs twice this morning so far and made breakfast for Missus. Getting outside, even in the dark, gets me looking about at the place and what I would like to see done with it in the coming months. I know where my current goals stand and how I would like to get there, and it requires some rearranging around the yard to do it. I also know where Missus wants to go and how to arrange things to her benefit. For not, it is that driveway I want to add. It was meant to snow yesterday, but my oldest daughter is the only one who saw any of the white stuff coming down at all. I never saw a single flake when I was out. The temps are meant to get to mid 40’s today. That is pretty perfect for digging post holes and setting them to hold a gate. I can set the post for the hinge next to a post that has been there already for a couple of years and brace it to the established one. That ought to give it the strength to hold the gate while it is closed, which it will be for the next couple of months at least as I will need to put the dirt into the borrow pit to complete the driveway.
But first, I need to close off the end of the second llama pen, which is ready to do if I use the pieces of fencing I have against the property line. Only trouble there is that I will have to set in a three-post brace at the end of the llama pens. That all amounts to hand digging five post holes today, if I am up for it. Gah! Maybe. We’ll see. If that gets done, I can open the driveway up and at least take the truck over the borrow pit (most likely) for now. What would be really good is to get a dump truck full of that soil they are taking from the canal to start the fill till I can get some roadbed grade stuff to top it off. I know it would be best to put road grade stuff in all the way, but it is a pit that has only ever had water in it once that I have seen and should have time to settle. The bottom of the canal is the same as all of the other “dirt” around here. There should be no difference there. This whole place is sand.
I am fairly happy with how the driveway is shaping up. I got a trailer out of the new trailer parking area yesterday to clean out the junk that has been in it the last few weeks. It was fairly easy to access barring having to turn around in front of it at the back of the property, which will be remedied when the new drive and gate are finished. That will allow me to circle in from the west side and point out the mid drive right from in front of the trailer parking. Voila! Hook up and it is a straight drive out! Then when it is time to park, circle around from the west, and back the trailer only a couple of feet back into its spot. That is the real key issue to me. I am trying to always minimize backing on the property. It’s not because I cannot back a trailer. I am fair at it. It is because I don’t want to ever risk backing over a kid.
It appears I get to finish the workshop in the garage. I really need to start planning that out. So far, I see a bench up the east wall, and a proper workbench towards the middle of the garage. I’d like to remove the shelves and redo the southwest workbench, too. It does not go all the way to the wall and was only ever built to hold boards to the chop saw. The chop saw is fine for rough work, but I could do with a proper miter saw. Somewhat important. Not huge. Most important is a mill and a bandsaw. But first, electric properly installed in the garage. That’s of prime importance!
My hips are still sore from chasing llamas the other day. I really need to get a new pair of shoes. That would have prevented this. It buggers me off that I turned fifty in March, and now here it is just coming up to Christmas and I realize I am about to March again, and this time fifty-one! What’s happening to fifty? Can’t I enjoy that for another twenty years before fifty-one comes barreling in?
I can hear the goats waking up now. The dogs are finally settled down after a morning of raising absolute hell. I have walked them twice so far. Our oldest daughter is on the schedule for the next walk, then it is me and our youngest for the rest of the day. They are our dogs, after all! So, when I get busy, I need to not get too busy to do that.
I think our oldest son may end up with the log splitter from us in the end. I have contemplated which way to send it when it comes time to get rid of it, and that is the right direction, apparently. I don’t like certain elements of its design, and I am too old to put up with that. I see the Yardmax at IFA, and everything that is wrong with the Champion is not wrong on the Yardmax. I can see me getting that before the next splitting season. Maybe. It always depends on finances, doesn’t it? Anyway, we’ll have to work out how oldest finances the getting of the splitter.
Good grief! I can hear oldest daughter down the stairs now. It is too soon to walk the dogs again! But she is meant to walk them while she does her morning chores. The dogs are sleeping. Do I have her skip it, or walk them? Our youngest has come down in matching clothes! What is this? Who is this child? Oh, her hair, which she claims is already brushed, is a total mess. Of course! I recognize her now! She is mad at me because I told her her hair was a mess. Poor kid. Pout while you brush.
I expect I better go get a load of laundry going then plan on a shower later. It would be a good day to get those posts started in the llama pen area where the new drive is going in, and maybe do some cleaning on the garage to ready to up for presentation as a shop. Off to a day.