The Never-Ending Day?

I am trying *not* to complain, but this day was just toooo long!

I slept in this morning (7:20), and once I was up, I was UP! I started the day by feeding the dogs, taking them out, washing the endless dishes in the sink, and doing two loads of laundry. I have been trying to not use the dryer, as it seems like such a waste of electricity. The first load of laundry, I hung onto my nice folding rack from Lehman's. http://lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=2793&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=drying+racks

I took the drying rack out onto the front porch and left the clothes to dry. The second load of laundry was sheets, so after removing them from the washing machine, I hung them on the railings of the front porch.....really *classy*, eh? Living in the woods warrants using things like railings for drying laundry, as there are so many trees, they are always dropping junk on the clean laundry.

Oh, and speaking of laundry....I LOVE my front loading machine! You don't need to mortgage the house to get a front loader, either, as there are less expensive machines than the Maytag models! Mine is smaller than the Neptune, and cost a whole lot less....it is a GE. I have also discovered that adding a cup of baking soda per large load really freshens the laundry and helps keep things from getting too "stiff"!

So, as the laundry was out on the porch, the wind began to kick up and things went flying by the front windows! I grabbed the sheets which were almost dry, and the drying rack and dragged them inside. The drying rack went in front of the woodstove, and I threw the sheets into the dryer for a few minutes.

Meantime, I had to help Ben with his schoolwork, as he had fallen behind a little. He needs little help, but every time I got up to do something else, well, you can guess! After lunch, we kept working until I thought my brains were going to EXPLODE! Finally, at about 2, I decided perhaps a little walk in the woods would refresh us! But, before the walk, I needed to fix a mess I made the other day!

When we got the snow the day before yesterday, I started to shovel, then got sidetracked. I forget what other activity drew me away, but over the day or two of sitting, a lot of the little piles turned into ice about 2" thick. I had to salt and try to break up the pieces. I also needed to clean around the trucks.....yeah, 3 bay garage......trucks parked OUTSIDE. Ugh......

I finished my little task, and off we went! I, of course!, grabbed the camera as we headed out the door.

Ben brought along a small pruning saw, as he was looking for a sapling to cut to whittle. Living in the heart of wine country, we find ourselves surrounded by grapevines....some out of control! This bugger was about 3 1/2" in diameter. Ben decided to cut it at the bottom so it will die. We have seen much smaller vines take large trees into their grips and kill them!

I am not sure what this particular conifer is, but it is a one of a kind in our woods! We have very few conifers, and most are red or white pines. Not as pretty as this tree! And under this tree is a very special little area.....

Ben made a little cross to mark the spot where we buried Carly's dear little Doxie rescue, Oscar. Little Oscar was only with Carly's family about three days when he passed away from a dreadful disease called HGE. This disease comes on like gangbusters, dehydrating its victim through vomiting and bloody diarrhea...the only hope is getting the pet to the veterinarian immediately!

My heart nearly broke to bits the day the family buried little Oscar.....it was so sad.

We made our way to the back of our property. It is really nice back there, and it is a brisk walk in the best of conditions, as it is entirely uphill. Ben and I went to survey one of my little tasks when spring comes.....This huge white oak fell last year. It is on our neighbor's land, but he told us to go ahead and take it. Mark says there is over a cord of wood in this tree. I had to smile at how little Ben looked standing on this tree!

As we walked along the stream in the back, I just had to take some pictures!

This one was of some "crunchy" dirt along the banks of the stream.

Just looking out through the woods..........

And lastly, this is a spot that I would LOVE to put a little cabin on. It is near our back property line, and it is just so nice there.

I was correct about this little walk refreshing us. Ben and I went back to work on decimals when we returned. We were able to work until it was time to fix dinner. I had bought some thinly sliced Ribeye Steaks last night, so I fired up the grill and fixed those. Mark was feeling good enough to eat normally again, so I made the steaks, veggies, and a salad for dinner. After dinner, there were dishes to do, then I needed to grab the sheets out of the dryer. Fold the sheets, make the bed.....

Finally, I think I am ready to settle down for the day!

Oh, I forgot to mention another one of those "little tasks".....Last night, I stopped by the Dollar Tree to see if they might have some glasses. I broke one last night, and they haven't had them since Thanksgiving time, but I thought I would check anyway. They had them! I looked around the store a bit, as they sometimes have some cool things. I found an interesting item called "The Works" for the toilet bowl. It said it removes lime scale and hard water stains. I thought we were going to have to replace the toilet upstairs, as it looked HORRIBLE! Not any more!!!!!!! That stuff bubbled up and removed all of the mineral build up! Yay!

Such an exciting entry.....laundry and toilets! Ah well, even life in the Bristolwood is sometimes mundane!