7 Days and Counting

Can you believe it? One more week and summer is over...the dog days of summer and it feels like fall's been here for a few weeks already. I'm not complaining - really I'm not - the coolish, sunny days are simply divine in my book. Absolutely perfect for doing almost anything! But...it's just kind of sad. Once again, another summer come and gone; and as usual, I'm feeling like we've done very little fun, summery stuff. You know, like horseback riding, camping, swimming, bar-b-ques with friends, lounging around in the sun sipping frosty, cool drinks...sigh...I simply cannot wait for when I can retire! I know, I know - I can almost hear my mother's voice echoing in my ear..."don't wish your life away" - "the older you get, the faster time goes" - blah, blah, blah...I just want to NOT have to work all the dadgummed time!! I long for days to myself where my time is not dictated by the clock, and I don't have to spend 50ish hours out of every single week somewhere I'd rather not be...just to earn a paycheck to pay my bills, to live and survive!!! Aaaghhh!!! I'm soooo tired of working for someone else to earn my living!! *sigh* Okay, I'm done...I think. I just long for a different life.

So, Labor Day weekend was spent in an emotional whirlwind. I wish it would have turned out differently, but like the saying goes..."it is what it is". We had plans to go to the state fair and take a road trip somewhere adventuresome and picturesque. That didn't happen. It's actually been long enough now that my memory's a bit hazy, but Friday and Friday night was not good - that I remember distinctly...the dogs and I spent a day at the lake, lounging and hiking, and the dogs had a blast swimming. I cannot swim in a lake where I have to walk in a foot of mud before entering and upon exiting the water. Simply cannot do it. Yuck! Lakes require rock bottoms, or better yet, a boat. But it was alright, and the dogs were over the top; so not a bad day overall. Home from there, only to head out again with the dogs...this time the destination was the beach. I had no plans, just started driving - west over highway 6 through the coast range mountains and when we reached Tillamook, I turned right and headed north, up the coast. We were very fortunate to find a room over a holiday weekend. God answers prayers. We had a partial ocean view, a lovely deck, king-sized bed, full kitchen and a fireplace. Not too bad. We walked on the beach until sundown, then headed back into town for a take-out pizza, icey cold Blue Moon complete with orange slices and movies on cable. Very nice. The next morning we took an early morning walk along the beach again, took a bunch of pictures and then headed back to our room for coffee and a shower. From there, we headed north up the coast to Seaside and then back home on highway 26. It was a gorgeous weekend at the beach! Mid 70's, beautiful blue skies and absolutely no wind. Perfect! Then on Labor Day, we labored. We stayed at home all day after a quick breakfast out, and got caught up on some projects around the house and yard.

Last weekend, we went and got some firewood and bought a new chainsaw. Now we have about 2 cords all neatly cut and stacked in our woodshed. Nice...how I love squirreling for winter!! I'm actually looking forward to getting a wood-cutting permit and getting out in the woods and chopping some more firewood. I feel like Paula Bunyan!!! However, I'm not the chopper - I'm the pitcher into the trucker. There's something very satisfying to my soul about storing for winter use. I do believe I have a little squirrel in me!

In other areas of winter preparation, we've been working on filling up the pantry with canned and dry goods, filling up the freezer with everything imaginable and making lists...yes, I am a list maker. My list includes everything that I can conjure up to make our lives easier throughout the long, cold, wet, fall and winter months. Such as...hiring our neighbor and his tractor to move our manure pile from last year so we can make room for this season. Making arrangements for at least 1 truckload of slag/gravel to spread around the areas where we park our vehicles and those spots that get a lot of foot traffic...anything to minimize mud is a good thing. :) My hubby has plans to build us a wood storage box - one that will hold a weeks' worth of firewood handy, just outside the door on the back deck, thereby minimizing treks back and forth across the soon-to-be muddy yard to the wood shed. I've seen his plans and it's going to be a great wood box! Like Martha would say...it's a good thing.

Also on the "to buy" list is a couple of tons of bedding pellets for the horse stalls and at least 1 ton of stove pellets for those nights when the woodstove isn't quite enough, or we're too tired to build a fire...whichever comes first. I still LOVE my pellet stove - it just wasn't quite enough to heat the entire house, and on those rare occasions when or if, there's a power outage. No power - no pellet stove. You know the drill.

And, if my list wasn't already long enough...I'm in the market for a new washing machine. My beloved 20 some year old Speed Queen finally died a few weeks back. I'm still in shock over it! I had so hoped she would last forever...but alas, she's a goner. So, to market to market I go!! The only major problem with this cotton-pickin' list is that it's a fair amount longer than our cash supply!! Isn't that always the way it is!!?? So...slowly, over time and with careful prioritization...we'll tackle things as best we can!!

The story of our lives!!!

As always, and with many, many blessings to each and every one of you dear friends, this is once again, Cingspots signing off for now...

p.s. next post will be all about the pictures - I promise!! :)