I arrived at my cabin a little after dark. The first thing I noticed upon entering the cabin was the lack of any musty smell. Everything was dry. The patches I put on my skylights are all holding nicely, which means that replacing the skylights just went from critical on the must-do list to when I can get to it.
I settled in for the evening, and I was reading a little, but I kept nodding off. I decided there was no reason to stay up just because of the clock, so I went to bed at about quarter to nine. I slept myself out completely, not getting out of the bag until daylight was abroad. When I finally checked the clock upon going downstairs, it read 8:20 a.m. So, not counting bathroom breaks in the night, I got over eleven hours of sleep.
This is astounding. It is a special gift of God. I mean, you might think me crazy for rhapsodizing about sleep like that, but I lead a very busy, high stress life. I have lots of things for which I am responsible, and all of them require preparation and/or follow-up reports. My sleep deprivation has gotten to the point where I don't even try to make it up; I just swill more caffeine. So, if I got nothing else accomplished this weekend, to have spent the night in the peace of my cabin and got that much sleep was worth the trip.
It was chilly when I got busy outdoors about ten o'clock, and it stayed cool all day. That said, I was moving fast enough that I was sweating a bit, so it didn't matter. The main chore was to lay block. I was trying to get the end finished down on the low side of the building site. I got over nine feet laid, and the corner turned. This was the really awkward spot to get down into, and I'm glad it's done. I now have three sides of my foundation course completed. The back side will require 12" block. I hope to get that done before the hard frosts arrive.
First course, far end
It's booful
After cleaning up my tools and the cabin, I was hanging around, waiting for the guys from Aurora Tire to come out and install my new ag tires on my tractor. They got there at 4:30, but couldn't get the job done. One of my rims had a rusted-out spot around the valve stem, so they had to take the rims off and take them back to the shop. They'll do a little cleanup and some welding and then come out and install everything next Friday. Well, I'll be there. Praying for good weather to lay some block!
Meanwhile, the day was beautiful. I heard a noise while working and looked up in time to see a Whitetail buck -- about six or eight points -- go clambering down into the creek and across to the other side. Meanwhile, his companion buck -- about four to six points -- ran up the draw whence they had come. I said to myself, "It's a stag party!" I also saw a box turtle over in the Hallows while checking on the pets' cairns. Life is at the full now, at the crown of the year. Praise God!