Day off? O the things to do now that it is autumnal...




Day "off"-- it's cold, damp, and Holly's here for the entire day. The last part is a good thing, but the cold and dreary part is not fun. At least I have some baking to do to warm up the house. I refuse to turn on the oil heat, and the pellet stove needs a deep cleaning. 

Due to the serious drought conditions, we have been dealing with a marauding bear. It's pretty much left our trash alone, but has repeatedly hit Meg's. Last night, the dang beast got into the newly-cleaned out woodshed and wrought havoc with some sealed totes, looking for vestiges of bird seed. We take our feeders in at night, but there were traces of old seed in the totes. Damn. What a mess. G cleaned up ours and Meg's around 5am. The other neighbor didn't even try-- his trash is strewn across his side lawn, right next to our house. I sure hope he cleans it up later-- not a fan of leaving it out there to lure the bear back.. 

And there's been some Norway rats policing around under where the feeders are. I hate rats. That's not usually an issue for us at all, so I can only assume that natural forage has dried up-- literally-- and they are scratching for leavings. Gross. G raked up all the seed shells and so on the other day, so maybe that'll send the hint.

It's hard to enjoy the little things like our small bird sanctuary when it's continually threatened. We'll stop feeding for a few days, let things calm down, put out traps, and see what we can do. The state will do not one thing about the bear-- they tell us to lock the trash up (where?), and wave a pamphlet at us. Bears will rip the siding off a garage, even if we had one. And it makes little sense for Meg to put her trash in her breezeway-- who wants a bear attempting a home invasion? 

At any rate, the excitement is palpable. 

The work week is over, and I have no papers to grade yet, so this four day break is going to be a real help. I have house stuff to accomplish, and I desperately need to tie up some loose ends around planning for the AP kids. I think we are off to a good start in both of my classes-- I sure hope so. I, for one, am so tired. This start to the year has been a bit more work/effort than most. And next week, we'll figure it the Holly schedule. 

Tomorrow, we'll literally pull the plug on the pool. I'll turn off the pump, open up the valves, and watch it flood the area around it. It'll take a day or so to empty and dry-- the goal is to have it dry and stowed on Wednesday. Last year, when I was putting things away, I caught my foot and fell, wrenching/tearing my knee. I am not going to do that again. Meg and G will work on it, and I will help the best I can, mostly figuring out just what to do with the pool floats and so on. Meg's can go back to her house, I think. There are other things I have no idea what to do with, so ?? I will likely have to buy a large plastic tote. 

Hey, and you know what else is awesome!? Today's payday! First one since June. 

Have a good day, and hug your loved ones. The news is scaring me.

C

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