I Was GOING To Say....

How wonderful it is to rise early before everyone else when there is quiet and stillness all around. Just as I began to write these words, however, a certain little brindled fellow began skidding his plastic food dish across the ceramic tile floor in the kitchen. It was SO loud, and made a noise akin to the old "scratching the fingernails across the blackboard"! Yes, I picked the bowl up from the floor and quiet has resumed!

When I took the dogs out this morning, I was totally shocked by what I saw! Remember I said our leaves were falling rapidly? Check this out!

This picture is the hickory tree on the front eastern side of the garage taken on October 6.

And the same tree taken early this morning! The other trees are still "clad", but have lost so many leaves, they are barely clad!

I have written about our firewood this year. Almost all of the wood we have this year, I cut in the spring of 2005. Mark and I could hardly believe it, as he was a bit worried we were going to come up short. Another interesting fact is that in the spring of 2005, I only worked at cutting wood for about a week! We always laugh, as every winter trees topple over under the weight of ice and snow, along with brisk winds; we always say the angels are harvesting our wood for us so I don't have to fell the trees!

And, speaking of firewood...Before Mark suffered the injury, he always enjoyed cutting firewood. But, there was one part of woodcutting that disturbed him. When he had to cut a live tree, he was quite disheartened that the beautiful (and usually very straight) first 8 or 10 feet of the tree should become firewood.

Mark also loves woodworking. He looked around and found information about cutting firewood into planks, using portable sawmills. Well, most of these mills were far too pricey! After looking and looking on the internet, he devised a system that used his Husky saw with a 36" bar and chain. He took his blueprints he drew up to the neighbor, and they welded up a simple, but effective, sawmill! Now Mark was producing beautiful red oak planks he could plane into breathtaking oak boards for woodworking projects!

When we first built the house, I was stubbornly opposed to cutting any trees that were not entirely necessary. So, we somehow wound up with a tree in VERY close proximity to the driveway. One day, while backing up the truck, I somehow "dinged" the side of the truck against the tree. I thought that I had run over a root. OOPS! Later that evening, as I saw the dent, I told Mark what happened. Needless to say, THAT particular tree was removed!

But, the story doesn't end there! A portion of that tree lives on in infamy! Yes, it hangs in my living room...are you curious yet?

OK, here it is!

Yes, when we had gone shopping at an outlet mall, I saw cute little cabinets made of pine with a fabric backing to show off little chatchkes! Mark looked the cabinets over and over and made up this design. I treasure this cabinet, and now would like him to revise it a bit. Since it houses mostly my little Scottie trinkets, I think it should have a red plaid fabric that will show off the Scotties better. Also, I would like a little halogen light added to the top, along with glass shelves. Not asking for much, am I?

As an aside, Mark made this cabinet with wood that he thought wasn't properly dried. He expected the little cabinet to twist and turn and become distorted. But, it did not!

Perhaps a walk in the woods will be in order today....Enjoy your weekend!