Aug 10 - piling wood

Unpiling and piling. Basically I moved the pile of wood from behind the woodshed that had been covered by a tarp, to the woodpile by the cottage. I now have that space, which can hold about 1.5 cords, free for new wood. I also moved the rest of one row in the woodshed down, which leaves two rows open in the woodshed, which together can hold about 3 cords. If my calculations are correct that leaves me with about 1 cord more delivered by Halle for which I'll have to figure out a destination. I may simply pile it in front of the woodshed because I'll be using wood during the fall and may be able to move it into the woodshed before the snow flies ... or not.

We are planning on going out west for Christmas, which means that we won't be here as much this year and won't burn as much wood. That remains to be seen, however. If we have a cold fall we'll burn more, conversely if it's warm we'll burn less. Now wasn't that simply a waste of typing ? Speaking of burning wood, I really should have gotten David's help with the chimney when he was here. He is much less afraid of heights and could have helped my clean the chimney. I need someone else up on the roof when I tackle that job. I don't know whether Alex is any use in that regard.

The only other thing that I can recall doing yesterday was mowing the lawn. I call it a lawn but really I'm mowing the weeds. I did a so-so job on that, since by this time of year the weed growth is erratic -- thick in places with the grass and sparse in others. Oh -- I also double checked my bike cleats since I'd noticed some clicking. They seem ok but I might bring along the spare pair. They are small and light -- these are the Speedplay Frog cleats -- and could easily be changed on the road if they give me any trouble. I wouldn't want to DNF this ride due to cleat problems.

I'll leave after lunch today with Kylie and head straight to Stef's. Geoff gets in around 8pm at Toronto airport.

At this point, or should I say as of last night, the forecast for the weekend was for summer. Yes, it looks like we're finally having summer. There is also no rain in the forecast. It would be great if I didn't have to carry my rain jacket but that would be tempting fate too much. I need something more packable than my high-vis jacket but have not found anything yet. In fact, I need something more waterproof than that jacket, and more packable ... perhaps one of those 99 cent ponchos in a wallet sized pack ? Wouldn't that be great on the bike in a thunderstorm !

I'm thinking that I might bring my laptop with me for amusement tonight, tomorrow and when I get back. I'm assuming / hoping that there is wireless service at the college ... but of course there may not be. Since my car will be there, I can stash it while I'm riding. The arrangement with Durham College (part of UofT) is that we pay for the nights that we're at the college and we can leave our stuff in our rooms in the meantime. Geoff reserved the room -- which is a two bedroom unit, and we'll split the cost.

We heard late yesterday that we're supposed to bring towels for the overnight controls, which is a bit strange since one of the controls (Bancroft) is a motel ... but better safe than sorry. Perhaps that's because they'll re-use the rooms and there won't be enough towels otherwise. Also, the last night's control -- Tyendinaga -- is a community center / fire station, which likely has cots for sleeping, and doesn't have showers. As long as there is a sink I can do a lot of cleaning up. I need to clean up before re-applying suntan lotion -- it's hell over dirt -- yucch.

Before I forget I'll have to throw in another pair of shorts etc. for a ride tomorrow. Undoubtedly Geoff will want to go out for a short ride to do a checkout on his bike. His bike has the connectors that allow the frame to be taken apart so that the entire bike fits into a large suitcase, as opposed to a bike box, and travel without paying surcharges. I also need clothes for tomorrow, coffee, cereal ...

Sandy and Kylie took the kayaks back to Bonnie yesterday, paddling one way and walking back. Ours are now on the small dock -- their normal home. There are a couple of kids toys still on the beach which I'll pickup shortly as I do another round of cleanup. Things are almost back to normal -- kind of depressing in a way -- evidence of kids and crowds mostly put away. It will be very quiet here for the next few days with only Sandy and Abby, but of course Jason et al arrive tomorrow so there will be activity next door.

It's really foggy this morning. That's probably because the water is cold and the air is warm. Mid-day yesterday, after a slight rain shower, the sun came out blazingly hot. Abby was laying on the deck by the back door panting while I was hauling wood. I made a million trips up and down those stairs yesterday carrying wood -- thankfully carrying it down -- one of these days I'll come up with a different system. I need to be able to at least run the wheelbarrow from the pile at the top to the pile by the cottage. Carrying a couple of cords of wood by armful from the top of the stairs down is crappy work. I define crappy work as something that I'm doing for which there has to be a mechanized approach. When I rebuild the stairs from the driveway down I'll have to account for wood moving.

That's it for now, and may be it until next Monday.