Waxing moon

Winter is holding off for the time being despite a few snow flakes that appeared at the end of October.  Harley and I noticed them as we were leaving Blind River to go to do Magical Paws therapy work.  Needless to say the flakes all melted away, for now that is.  A new activity for me for the week was working on the first in a series of correspondence courses.  I am studying to register for a real estate sales licence in the spring and have lined up a brokerage to article with.  The bed-bale-breakfast plan is slow coming together, so I thought that I would branch into a related field.  So far the first course is interesting and the self testing is not too difficult.  I am looking forward to meeting lots of people and having the opportunity to see local houses and properties.  Bob may be concerned that this will add ideas to the to-do list....??? October closed with an early evening waxing moon and I dedicate this photo and post to Alan Moore, a dear former colleague (and recipient of this letter series) who passed away suddenly on Friday evening.  I'll miss his witty insightful comments, as well I will remember fondly the more than twenty years that we worked together.

Indoor progress

A little progress was made indoors this week.  Bob constructed the stud framing for the wall that is to go behind the wood cookstove.  It is a partition to make a visual separation between the kitchen/dining area and the living room, and is just over six feet tall so that the view into the vaulted ceiling and loft is not obstructed. This will cause the rooms under the cathedral ceiling to remain airy looking but also a little tidier.  Theoretically that is. The wall will be clad on the cookstove side with non-combustible cement board for a later masonry and stone siding.

Mago tried to help with carpentry

 We worked this week on outdoor cold weather preparation and a few repairs.  One of the jobs was to fix a large bale hay feeder.  This was of no interest to the three mares, but Mago stayed the whole time and was fascinated by the portable drill, saw, ratchet and hammer.  He kept a close watch on Bob and followed me back and forth to the barn to get extra supplies.

The second shot of him was taken by me from inside the feeder.  I was trying to use the ratchet socket wrench to tighten the bolts when I snapped a picture of him investigating the cordless drill.  This was just before he stole the paper bag full of nuts and bolts and emptied it out.  This was followed by moving other tools around while we were not looking.   Fortunately he believes that bringing things might get him a treat, so he generally brings things back.  He did find a couple of broken plastic pieces that Bob missed on the ground and he kindly brought them to me.  Now there is something useful!  The only catch is if he finds something quite edible, he'll tend to munch it instead of returning it.

Angara is watched over by not only Harley the Wonder Dog, but a few scarecrows and pumpkins too.  The pumpkins were grown by and are the courtesy of my trail riding chum Elaine, after today they will retreat inside and become pies.  Needless to say, although I stocked up on goodies for treat-or-treater's, none came to the door.  We shelled out some to Bob's granddaughter Olivia yesterday when she visited for her birthday, plus to her brother, Mum and Dad too.  The rest will have to be nibbled on by Bob, which should be no problem as it seems that I stocked up on his favorites.