Sweetie, two of the three teens and I loaded up the cars and headed to our cabin for the weekend. Sweetie had to leave early, but we got the woodstove and doors down there, so next time down we can get started on installing them. Then down to our lakeside lot to clear it so the kiddies can be out there during the 4th of July celebration and away from the drunken adults. We burnt two bonfires on that spot, and began prep on the other bit of land on the other side of the creek/ditch so we can burn it next time. We also shifted/sorted a big stack of reusable wood that, mostly, isn't usable anymore. Bill didn't put it up on a non-biodegradable riser, nor did he cover it and the bottom of the stack turned into mulch already, while the rest was well over 2/3 trash. We got most of that burnt, too, though one stack was so wet we couldn't light it with gasoline!
So, I'm a bit sore from all the lifting, shifting, tossing, raking, carting and carrying we did. Feels good to have gotten that much done, though. We'll go down again in a couple weeks and start the work on the cabin. My list of To Do items grows every time we go down, as I get a better handle on what all was just cobbled together. Like the deck with 4' spacing on the support beams. Ummm... dude. No. we'll remove the flooring and put in the needed extra support, then see what can be salvaged of the materials. Lots of the deck boards are so badly warped they're junk now. Damn it. Incompetent boobs shouldn't be allowed to operate a circular saw, let alone build decks if you ask me. Morons. We've got to go make final selections on our hearth stone and our tile for the firewall behind the stove, too. Then it's off to the stove shop to make sure we have the right stove pipe and chimney for our new heat source. THEN I will set to work with steel wool and a wire brush on the stove, get it all nice and free of rust, then rub it over with melted beeswax to prevent reoccurance of the rust. I've argued and won the debate on how to protect cast iron from rust. I'm a cook. I know how to season cast iron, damn it. :D
So, lots of work ahead. I'd like to make another trip down this coming weekend, too, but with our boy leaving for boot camp next Monday, it'll wait.
I'm still not sure what to think of that. I'm proud as hell of him, and yet I know it is going to be weird to say goodbye to him, knowing it will be a long, long time before he's home again. Ten months isn't long for someone to be a part of your life, but he's become ours as surely as the girls are, and it definitely feels like I'm about to set one of my own nestlings out into the Wide World.
