Remember the saying, “Make hay while the sun shines…” ?   Well, I have to keep that in mind because the chores are stacking up faster than the days are getting enough daylight to do them all.   Not that I’m complaining… After a long winter I’m thrilled by the tee-shirt weather and I hope everyone is enjoying longer days and pleasant evenings.  But there is a lot to do…

A few weeks ago we bought a wood stove and got the chimney installed, but to pass the required permit/inspection it has to sit on a non-combustable surface.  So, it’s inevitable that we chose to put in a tile floor pad.   We’ve done a fair number of small tile projects in our previous place and have had good results.   In addition to the stove floor we decided to tile the entry off the porch to keep the dirt and wear on the carpet down.

Stove Pad, in process..

Done!

Mortar…

Grout…

The finished product…

Next it’s a platform for the truck topper,  dropping some trees to open up sunlight for the creek,  starting the interior wiring in the barn, continuing transplanting pine trees and shrubs to the open areas of the back half of the property, and on and on.    It’s a great time of year and so each task is a moment to enjoy the time and effort… and the inevitable relaxing naps that follow.

We’re fairly sure the foxes have moved off into the woods and so we haven’t seen them for weeks now.  Our attention has turned to all the birds that have come to the feeders and suet blocks.  Just today the goldfinches have arrived – Easter Peeps with wings!