The Log Splitter: The Man

Last winter, our first winter on the Mainland, was an eye-opener and a wallet-opener.  Mentally we were prepared for the cold, physically, not so much.  I was cold all the time.  As a result we heated the house to a cozy 75 degrees.  Day and night.  Imagine our shock and dismay when we received the first electric bill.   A month later, the second bill was only slightly lower.

So Pretty, So Cold

  
We promptly installed an efficient wood-burning insert into our 1980's fireplace.  We bought a cord of wood, sharpened the axe, and learned to build a fire.  A good fire.  A fire that does-not-leave-creosote-in-your-chimney-that-could-burn-your-house-down kind of fire.  A very hot fire.  Not an easy task it seems.

Now, that's a fire!

During the spring and early summer months The Man performed major tree trimming to ensure the property was fire-safe and in the process harvested quite a bit of wood.  We have different varieties of trees on the property but they're all Oak - solid, hard, tough-to-cut wood.  Especially when The Man is impersonating "Mr Lumberjack With An Axe and a Chainsaw".

We got wood

I have been urging (ahem, nagging) The Man to buy a log splitter which although pricey would be cheaper than Rotator Cuff Repair surgery, physical therapy, pain, and (my) suffering.  Of course, he loved the idea of more Man Tools.


~ ~ to be continued~ ~
The Log Splitter: The Machine 

    

Imu Optional

(Imu: a cooking pit in which food is cooked by means of heated stones.) 

I'm sure The Man would have dug me a pit if I asked him to.  Of course, he would first need to visit the local John Deere Dealership and come home with various tractor attachments: an excavator, auger, auger bits, and. . . .  I shudder to think about it.

 

Luckily, there's an easier way to make Kalua Pig.  In a Slow cooker.  I've been cooking it this way for at least 8 years after finding a recipe on Allrecipes.com.   With my big fork I pierce the pork then lomi (rub) the Liquid Smoke and Hawaiian Salt into the meat and cook it on the low setting for at least 16 hours.  I usually turn it on before I go to bed and wake up to the Oh-So-Ono smell in the morning.  I just wish I had some poi to go with it.

Oh-So-Delicious

Disposable Camera

My camera died.  I have the dreaded "Lens Error" message.  Although it's not the first time to happen, this time around the usual fixes haven't worked.  Even The Man can't get it to work and he can usually repair anything.  My Nikon Coolpix L3 was released seven years ago today (per Wikipedia) and in the world of electronics it's way past obsolete.  With a heavy heart the little camera is off to be recycled.  A sad turn of events for a camera that was branded as part of the "Life-series" in the Coolpix family.

2/21/06 - 2/21/13

Girls' Night Out

I try to regularly check my work email because they're always giving away Great Stuff.  Last October I won tickets to Cal Poly's Homecoming Game.  This time when my name was selected from the virtual hat I won two tickets to see "The Streisand Songbook" with Ann Hampton Callaway at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts in Arroyo Grande.  I was excited to win these tickets because The Man's Mom was visiting and I thought it would be fun for us.  And it was.

Great seats at a beautiful venue

Butterfly Grove Groove

(Groove: a fixed routine, an enjoyable time or experience.)

We took a drive south to Pismo Beach to visit the Monarch Butterflies that overwinter here from October through February.  It was a cold overcast day and not much butterfly flitting going on.  The hardy docents thought there were about 20,000 butterflies clustered on the eucalyptus branches.  Beautiful place to spend the winter.  Smart insects.

 

Butterfly Cluster

Happy Groundhog Day

Forecast: The rodents predict an early spring.

Sunset