Ten sixteen litre pails of rocks.

The aftermath of ten 16 L pails of rocks pulled from the front field at the farm over the course of the last six weeks.    (Fig 1.)

Ever since I started to split wood at the farm in mid September the dog and I have pulled armfuls of rocks out of the tilled field each weekday. Some days we found more than others, but I eventually wound up with eleven separate piles along the north/eastern edge of the front field where the apple orchard isn’t. Those are in the next field directly north, across the farm. I’m working closer to the peach trees hidden behind a hedge row out of the direct winds.

Anyway, I have been meaning to grab a bucket and haul them away, but I was more focused on the picking them out of the field portion, and not the hauling them off to the culvert to dump them. Less fun, more tiring work lugging 90 lbs buckets over to the ditch to pour them out.

But with yesterday dental issue I thought my outdoor time was going to be severely limited, but it was a quick fix (read inexpensive) and I had my child back to school before recess was over. This meant I could cut the grass one last time purposefully, and mulch the remaining leaves with the mower. We’d just had a big storm so the trees are fairly bare now. Which also means no more leaves to worry about until Spring time! At least on my property. I’m sure we have leaves to do at the inlaws, and the cottage too.

After that task was done I took the dog back to the farm and brought six buckets from my shed with me. I had previously filled two yellow pails conveniently left by the field already that morning when walking the dog. So not only did I move six buckets out of my shed, but I moved eight full buckets of rocks, then went back for two more full bucket loads, and voila! Rock job now done. Until I locate any more that is!

But I have paid work now. So no rocks, and no wood splitting to do until I complete this report. After this one there are only two more (that I know of) on the books for this year. I could get surprised with one additional random report, but given the current state of the economy both north and south of the border, I don’t hold out much hope for extra cash flow making its way into my pockets.

But I have paid work now, and that’s all that matters right this second. I had best hop to it then! Have a great Wednesday in early November 2025.

Friday, friday, fri-yay!

Wasn’t there a terrible song about Friday’s written and performed by some music executives tween child about a decade back? Oh, fun memories. Can you believe it is the fourteenth already, holy shit. This month is just a zooming on by! What a wizzer! Phfoom! Aaaand it’s gone. Can’t forget about Halloween on the way to Christmas!

Having to really think about whether we’ll wait until after remembrance day this year to put up our Christmas Tree & exterior lights. I think that if I get a nice day between Nov 1st and 11th, I’ll just go ahead and do the outside lights. I dislike putting them up in heavier winds and near freezing rains. Plus i need to check the downspouts and it’s better on a drier day for that sort of mucky business.

I took a turn on my Record brand wood lathe recently to turn a few small Walnut bases for my sculptures. Unfortunately I had already put my finished items onto permanent wooden blocks, so that means I need to do some new things to fill them up. But not just new. New and good. The Walnut, after a clear coat looks pretty top notch. So I don’t wish to waste them on generic, run of the mill silliness. I’d like a slightly higher quality bust to go one or two of them. There is no time line for these, so I can have them ready at some point next year. Though I have the bug right now, and the finger tip sensitivity you build up when you really start going again. So if I can manage it, I’ll keep going rather than wait until after another long hiatus.

I picked up some regular sculpey and it’s so sticky & oily it feels more like the soft wax clay I was using. It’s kinda nice. Could do without the dye being left on my hands, but it spreads like oil based clay, and tools nicely. If I can keep myself from rushing, or growing impatient I might make something reasonable this time around. Maybe? Maybe not. It’s just a hobby man, don’t over think it. Be present in the moment. Remember the things you’ve learned along the way, and use the reference materials you have!

The farm ran a little light on pumpkins this year. The July to mid August drought was rough on the patch. Still got a good few, but not the teaming masses of them from years previous. Need to grab some for my kids school, but it has rained a bunch and I don’t fancy slogging through all that much to grab twenty pumpkins. Hopefully we get a clear day this weekend, and I’ll grab them then.

Not much else to say, except the fridge looks to be going off – again. Not sure what the deal is there. Must have been more moisture in it than I could see, as it kicked off some ice while the fucking thing was empty. So. Yeah. Fun times. Ciao Bella!