With the wood cutting and other assorted strenuous activities the past few days the aging bod told me in no uncertain terms that I had to take it (much) easier today. Spent the morning sorting and hanging tools in the workshop and the first part of the afternoon clearing out stuff from the back room. Finally got to the south wall and started taking the old plastic off and removing the staples in preparation to putting the bubblepack insulation up. Got the south most section on the east wall by the door cleaned and insulation hung but still lack the upper 4 feet + on the east wall. Have about half the south wall stripped and ready to hang, and then will be able to remove the platform behind the wood heater and work on that section as well as start on building the storage loft in that room. Been going slow and reading between work sessions and am not quite as sore and exhausted as I have been the past few evenings. Fixing to go and heat some soup for supper. Then plan to do a bit more reading and call it an early night, so until tomorrow…

And I am glad it’s almost over. Still got soup cooking on the stove but other than that and keeping the fire going I am about done for the day. Got all but the door area of what was the back porch (and is now a work area) at least dried in. Still got some caulking to do and trim to put up but otherwise the outside is done. Just put the last bottom section of the outside walls on a few minutes ago. Got enough wood stashed under one of the work benches for the next few days, and the rest is stacked back on the trailer and under a tarp until after the rain. Now that I have gotten the back work area usable I’m hoping to be able to get to putting insulation up in the back room tomorrow, whether it rains or not. After the insulation comes the second floor storage area everywhere but above the woodburner. For now am gonna go back down and stir the soup and sit in front of the fire while reading a bit, so till tomorrow…

Went down this morning and started the tractor and it fouled a plug. Drove it up to the compound and changed it out for a clean one. Once it was running right took it down and after clearing out around the camper that was abandoned here almost 2 years ago now, hooked to it and after removing the blocks pulled it out and up to where the other camper is situated in the field. Will call the previous owner and see if it was ever paid for and if not ask him to come get it. Otherwise am thinking about running an ad in the paper for an abandoned vehicle and applying for a new title. Next went back down and after clearing out around and under hooked to the 8×8 building and moved it up by the old trailer as a temp new home. After large amounts of moving, clearing, and rearranging will move it on up close to the back door of the compound and use it for trade day storage with sheds on 2 or possibly 3 sides for firewood storage. Took a break for lunch and then hooked to the trailer and went across the creek and into the cedar thicket where with the help of about 75 feet of steel cable, snaked a large oak tree out of the woods, one section at a time. Afterwards snagged a large section of wild cherry out of the creek and dragged it out to where the oak was waiting to be cut up. Cut some and then sharpened the saw, and cut the rest. Bill came over and split about half of it while I was cutting the other up. Cat was loading as fast as she could. After I finished cutting it up, I started loading, and Bill started just splitting the rounds in half so we could load them easier. Finished just a dark thirty. Hooked the tractor back to the trailer and moved it back to the compound where it sits fully loaded now. Came in and sat by the fire for a bit and then cooked and ate supper. Cat and I are both totally worn out. Suspect it will be an early night. Not sure what the morning will bring. With what remains to be done both inside and out I rather suspect we will be working around here all day but will see when we get up in the am. Till tomorrow…

Exhausted and done. Started out with going down to crank the tractor and an hour later after running down and then charging the battery and finding the bad ignition condenser got it cranked and moving. Then spent another hour + trying to find the 3 point trailer hitch, which I finally did at a place I and Cat had both looked 3 + times each before finding it there. I think our local ghost/poltergeist is working over time the last few days. So about 2 hours after I should have been able to get started, managed to get hooked to the trailer and moved it to an area to remove the top tarp and sides and clean the tools and assorted crap off. Got that done and then did lunch. Afterwards located the fuel containers and went to Wally World and got tractor fuel. Came back, filled the tank and after finishing sharpening the chain saw chain headed out to find the wild firewood. Had talked to Bill this morning while trying to find the hitch and he had suggested some downed trees along lakeshore drive. So we headed that way first. And after doing some interesting backing, unhooking and dragging managed to get a trailer load of wood. Brought it back to the compound and after moving the yellow Toyota got the trailer backed into position and partially unloaded and some wood split. By then was dark and we were both beat. Came in, built a fire, fixed and ate supper, and did a bit of reading and then browsing. Am looking to get some more insulation put in tomorrow as well as some more firewood cut and brought in, so am gonna call it an early night. Till tomorrow…

Done and overdone. The eating part anyway. Went to the Village Inn and had too much of a good thing. Shoulda stopped at the first plate full but didn’t and have been mildly uncomfortable all afternoon. After finishing headed over to the folks house and sat around and talked for the better part of the afternoon, then came home and started clearing out the room that used to be the greenhouse so we could use the woodburner. Got it cleared out enough to unroll the bubblewrap insulation and cut a piece to put up in the back room between the plants and the east wall. Got it stapled up and then moved the plants back into place. That cleared the area around the woodburner enough to light it but there was a piece of flue that needed replacing so rather than waiting till tomorrow like I was going to do, I located a piece of pipe by flashlight, marked it to length and cut it with the jigsaw. Used pliers to flange the end a bit and got it to go into place. Put a couple of screws in and called it done. Had cleaned the rest of the flue outside earlier, so fired it up, first with paper and cardboard and then wood scraps and finally some logs. Worked as usual so guess it’s go for the winter.

Was planing on selling at Poor Man’s tomorrow (Friday) but the firewood situation is critical so am going to see about cutting wood instead. Tis another of those sequential vortex situations. Got to clear the stuff out of and off of the trailer, and to do that I need to finish enclosing the back porch and putting plastic and carpet down on the floor. Also go to get the tractor out and tune up and sharpen the saw. So hopefully at some time tomorrow I will get some wood cut, split, loaded, brought up to the compound, stacked, and a new shed built to house it out of the weather. Oh and get the Ranger and the old Toyota trucks moved so I can make the circle with the tractor and trailer. I’m thinking it may take more than one day to get even part of the above list done. Guess I need to get to bed so I can get an early start, so till tomorrow…

Twas a day yesterday, ended up more worn out than I had thought and made an early night of it. Started with cooking the stuffing and assorted veggies, then loading them in the truck and heading to Calcis. Got there, unloaded and cleared off a place so we could eat, and then did so. Cat stayed in and did some computer and other stuff and I went out and wandered around the yard a bit and then sat and read. After she finished the things she needed to do we went to Vincent for a few and then back to Pell City where we stopped at the Treasure Chest on Highway 78 and did a bit of browsing. Found a few items that looked like they would sell so got them and picked up a piece of art glass for a friend. And then came home via the usual stop at Wally World for a few (very few with the crowds) things. Fixed and ate supper and then crashed early so am posting this late.

Or almost anyway. Still got to get up in about 3 hours and put the turkey in the fridge but otherwise I’m about to hit the sack. Started out this morning working to close in the south porch area where I added the 8 feet of roof yesterday. Got the east end wall done by lunch and then started on the first section of the south facing wall. Got the 4 window sections put in and as finished up as they are gonna get today and then made a trip to Wally World just after dark. Took a while there but after fighting the crowds and crazies, got everything we had to have and got back, fixed and ate supper. Afterwards fixed the stuffing, stuffed the bird and then put the turkey in the oven and started it cooking. Came in and sat down at the computer, when I noted a call had come in via skype from Steve. Called him back and then went with him to check his truck. Made a rough diagnosis and came back here, got parts, then went back to Jacksonville and put them on and it cranked so guess my guess was right or close enough anyway. Came back and sat and talked a bit then checked the turkey and it was done so took it out and cleared an area in the fridge to put it later after it cools a bit. For now am gonna call it a night, so till tomorrow…

Spent most of the day building another 8 feet of porch roof on the south side of the mobile home. Finished it up about 4 pm and started clearing the ground underneath and digging trenches around the sides to put down sides to keep water and cats/critters out. Am going to put up walls with windows on the south and east sides and build additional work tables and storage shelves along the existing mobile home wall. Still got some hole patching to do on the old part of the roof but should be able to get that done before any more rain hits. Fixing to go and start putting up some insulation in the furtherest south room off the qhut, so till tomorrow…

At least the trade day part of it. As it was raining quite hard this morning at 5 and then still at 6 I decided to wait a bit and see if it was gonna slack off. By the time it did and we were able to load the truck it was nearly 8:30 and we decided to go to Bill’s in Glenco instead of making the 62 mile trip to the Greater Shelby County one. Got there just after 9 and unloaded. Without the tables and First-Up we can haul 16 totes which is a LOT of stuff. Ended up spreading it out over 4 of the 4×8 tables under the shed roof and still had stuff left in 3 totes. Did about as little as I have ever done at one. Fortunately the owner decided to forgo rent for everybody as there was just no traffic so what little we made stayed in our pockets. Took about an hour to repack all the stuff and get it in the truck, then we came home. Think we are going to take the next two days off and get some more stuff ready to go and set up at Poor Man’s Wednesday. Was thinking about trying for Summerville Tuesday, but with a 2:30 am wakeup and 3 am get on the road time, to get there by 6 their time and maybe get a spot and maybe not, I’m thinking that getting some other stuff done around here and building some displays for the necklaces and bracelets will be better use of the time. For now am gonna take a afternoon siesta and hope that whatever bug that has started to get hold of me will go away. Till later/tomorrow…

This being driving and that being flea market I guess. Went down to the Greater Shelby County Flea Market between Harpersville and Wilsonville on highway 25. Rather interesting market. All under roof and all but the front two wings with walls. Looks like we will be going back in the morning and give it a try. Had it recommended by another seller at Poor Man’s and after visiting today looks like it’s worth a try. Open from 9 to 5 on Saturdays and Sundays. Several of the vendors we talked to said it did it’s best on Sunday from 12 to 3. As it doesn’t open till 9 that means we can leave here around 7 and make it in plenty of time unlike some of the others were if you aren’t there by 6 you don’t have a spot. They also furnish the tables so don’t have to carry all the setup stuff. Will know more after the trial run tomorrow. For now am sorting beads that we bought today. Got 6.5 pounds of assorted mostly glass beads from someone down there that wasn’t able to string them any more so just bagged them up and was selling them. Guess I need to get back to it, so will close. Till tomorrow…