Monday Catch Up

Good morning!  

So, in no particular order . . . .

• I finally fired up the outdoor wood furnace on Saturday night when I got home.  The house was down to 52 degrees on Friday, and not being home much to stoke the three house wood stoves meant a cold house.  I'd put it off as long as I could (trying to save money since the batteries are so old which means the generator will have to run more in order to provide the 24/7 electricity the boiler requires), but it was time.  Obviously.
• This past week brought the first snow flurries to Swamp River Ridge, and it was even flurrying this morning when I put the dogs out.  Temps have been as low as 26 (or was it 24?), and it's in the 30s today.  It was a GORGEOUS day on Saturday, though:  beautiful blue sky with the sun sooooo warm on your face.  During my lunch break from the Roe House, I was sitting in my car with the window open.  I decided to put my seat back and close my eyes for a minute while the hot sun shown down on my face . . . but quickly realized that would noooooot be such a good idea!  Lunch time over:  where's Chicken Mama?!  ;)
• Friday night marked my 4th moose sighting in 24 hours!  I'd seen a nice, super healthy bull on Thursday night and then a mama and BIG yearling calf (almost her size) on Friday morning.  That night, as a drove a different way home, taking the circuitous route in order to make sure no tree had fallen on the canoe I'd sold for friends, I saw another cow.  NICE!
• Yup, I sold the Grumman canoe I'd posted for friends on eBay for FULL PRICE!  Whoo-hoo!  The buyer and a friend drove all the way up from Owatonna (southeastern MN) on Saturday to pick it up . . . about 370 miles, one way!  Super nice guys:  the buyer has 3 grown daughters and 1 grandchild with one more on the way.  He wanted a solid, dependable canoe to take on trips when the girls and their families come home to visit.  PERFECT!  His friend was a real character (read that as a positive), and I vowed right then and there to make sure he and Papa Pea never meet:  it was outfitting tips and tricks here, trucker's knots there, and folbots in between!  By the time I got home and checked in with my folks, Papa Pea said he was giving me until 6:30 before he sent out the search team.  It was 6:25 - whew, needless trip avoided!  ;)  Super neat meeting these two guys, though, and I'll make a bet that they'll be coming back to the area in the not-so-distant future!
• I've hardly been in my office at all these past few days.  I think I got one solid day in.  I made a spur-of-the-moment decision on Wednesday night to make a run down to Duluth for supplies on Thursday.  FINALLY!  I hadn't been down since the spring, I think, and I so desperately needed to stock up.  I plan to make a post about the deals I got for the (little) money (that I hardly have) spent.  I got home, wiped out, at 12:09 AM Friday morning.
• The Roe House isn't yet up to full steam (no long days yet), but I already feel like an old pro there, at least when it comes to roe picking.  I *have* discovered that I feel much less beat up at the end of the day if I wear my glasses while I strain to find impurities in the roe.  Next up and as money allows, bifocals, I fear.  But, at least then I'd be able to see the roe AND the person across the room!  ;)
• Yesterday was a very short day at the Roe House.  All we did was salt and pack.  Wait for a story on that part of the process to come.  And some super interesting facts and perspectives I'm getting from a new friend there:  a 23-year old Russian woman.
• Since it was a short day spent with fish eggs yesterday, I got into my office AND got in a visit with My Girl . . . all before arriving home early enough to get a decent bit of wood cutting and stacking done!  Blessed be the daylight!  I'm planning for a wood cutting day with Mama & Papa Pea, but my hope is to get all the birch cut before they arrive so I have them to help me with the maple that remains.  Those trees are BIG, and so it's going to be interesting cutting and stacking it:  the normal ~15" size that I'm cutting the birch to ain't gonna fly with that huge maple.  I think I'll have a lot of funny-looking 8" rounds . . . any larger than that is gonna be too large to comfortable manage.
• Annnd, what else?  I think that's about it.  The new header of Tucker was taken during one of our potty breaks during my Duluth day last week.
• I only have five things on my list today although a couple of them could last for days:  get a website live for a client, wash my Roe House clothes (pee-yooo!), clean the house (this is one of the 'could last for days' tasks), get a particular pile of long-waiting paperwork finished, and work on the woodpile.

Other than that, I sure am looking forward to the "quiet, winter months" (insert great laughter) when I can catch up on what YOU'VE been up to lately!  :)