Off The Beaten Path

Last week friend and fellow musher Karen Harris and her daughters, Larissa and Ashley were camping in town and both Mark and I had a chance to hang out with them for a couple hours. Loyal readers might remember the post last year the girls surprised us by calling saying that they were in town and we brought them up to our place for a visit and they ended up staying overnight, staying in the Bunk Barn since the weather was so cruddy.

This year they weren’t able to visit Off The Beaten Path, so I had lunch with them instead. (Thanks for lunch Karen…she wouldn’t even let me leave a tip!). Mark was working during the day, so after work, he found them at their campsite and took Ashley (his little “girlfriend”) to Dairy Queen. The gang might be coming back sometime in August and if they do we’ll be sure to have them out for trivia and dinner.

For long-time readers, you might remember we met the Harris’s at the annual Streeper Auction two years ago. Ashley who is quite the little character, got the nickname “The Dancing Queen” as she kept Mark and all the other guys on the dance floor in the tent until nearly midnight. She’s a fun one to hang out with as are her mom and sister, so we know where she gets her spunk from. It was great to see you girls again, and hopefully on your next visit we can spend more time together!

What’s wrong…this photo of our woodstove was taken last night, the last day of June! When I got home from work, Mark had a fire going to take the chill out from the inside of the cabin. With the temperature barely getting into the 50’s the last week or so and no sun shining in the windows, it had gotten a little cold inside. Add to that the chills he has been experiencing with the “crud” he’s had, he felt a fire would feel good. I have to admit, he was right as after coming in from doing chores in the cold drizzle, it sure felt good to go into a warm cabin.

It looks like the cool, wet weather might finally break tomorrow as the forecast from the Wunderground Website is calling for sunshine and temperatures in the 60’s and 70’s through the weekend. Just in time for the 4th of July holiday.

Today
Mostly cloudy. Areas of drizzle in the morning. Scattered rain showers through the day. Highs 53 to 58. North winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.

Thursday
Mostly cloudy. Highs 63 to 68. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph.

Friday
Partly cloudy. Highs 65 to 70. West winds 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday Night
Mostly clear. Lows 48 to 53.

Tuesday
Partly sunny. Highs 68 to 73.

The weather today is once again what I would call cruddy…rainy, cold, and windy. Highs today are forecast to only be in the 50’s. It feels more like September than the end of June. Not only is the weather cruddy, but Mark is feeling cruddy too. Yesterday morning he reported for work at 7:00 a.m. and was sent home at 8:00 due to the cruddy weather. He headed home and started working on the garage, but by mid-afternoon wasn’t feeling very well so he went inside to lay down. When I got home I found him on the bed sleeping. Everyone of his joints ached. I changed and went outside to scoop and he came out and did the watering chore with me before going back inside to lay on the recliner under a blanket. Today he’s still in bed and won’t be heading to work today. With the weather the way it is, he more than likely wouldn’t be working anyway. Hopefully he’ll get over it and be able to go back to work tomorrow.

Mark and I felt like resucers yesterday. First it was a toad that had somehow gotten under the plastic we have under the floor for the new workshop in the garage. Later in the afternoon we heard the dogs barking like crazy and looking toward the garage. I went out to investigate and found two baby bunnies (I know they are really Snowshoe Hares) not far from where Johnny and Moon are staked out. I scooped up the little guys and placed them safely away from the dog yard  (hopefully their family found them later). Then around 6:00 as we were finally enjoying a cold one before doing chores, there was a chipmunk trapped in the dog shed. Lucky little animals, huh?

In-between the resuces we were able to get most of the floor of the workshop done. All that’s left is a couple sheets of plywood to be screwed down. After doing chores and showering, I came into the cabin and found Buster sprawled out on our bed and thought to myself “if there is a thing such as reincarnation, I want to come back as him”.

I guess we had our summer last week. Yesterday was a rainy, cool day with the temperatures in the low-60’s. The rain was welcomed as the gardens really needed it and so did the dog yard. Right now the thermometer is reading an even cooler 55 degrees and the forecast isn’t calling for it to get much warmer today.

After wasting two hours going down the hill to pick up Mark’s truck and the trailer full of lumber, he spent the afternoon working in the garage while I worked in the cabin. (By the way, the road is passable, but the crew only has one lane of traffic open and they still have more work to do…Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. I digress…)

What took the most time for Mark was moving all the “stuff” out of the side that is going to become the heated workshop/storage area. You don’t realize how much stuff you have stuffed everywhere until you have to move it! By mid-afternoon, the generator was running and he was cutting 2×6’s for the flooring. Hopefully by this evening when it’s time to come in for a shower and dinner, we’ll have the floor in so we can  move some of the stuff back to the other side.

I guess I best shag Mark out of bed so we can getting working. Times a-wasting and the sooner he gets the garage done, the sooner I get a closet in my bedroom!