Day 304 - Under Cover

big job

We had a particularly unhelpful delivery of logs yesterday.

I ordered half a pick-up full of logs, and nearly half a tonne of coal, from a local supplier...I put the order in last week, and waited for confirmation of a delivery date.

Upon not receiving one for a few days, I completely forgot about it...until I got home yesterday to find a huge log pile strewn across the lawn...

Now, I don't pay to have them stacked, preferring to do it myself - I build a large, compact block next to the back door...it's under the porch, which both keeps the logs out of the rain, and makes them conveniently accessible through the Winter months. 

Usually, the supplier dumps the logs right next to the stack by the back door, and so it's a simple matter of spending 2 or 3 hours sorting and stacking. 

Yesterday, they dumped them around 10m away from the log pile, which essentially doubles the work required...now I have to pick them all up and carry them those 10m, and then stack them...

That's a quite a heavy load in terms of both time, and effort for my slightly dubious lower back...

...and they gave me no warning of when they'd be delivered, thus not giving me the option of leaving a note asking them to dump it in the right place...

...and it was pouring down with rain - by the time I arrived home, they were soaked and getting wetter.

I spent a little time moving a few dozen logs, which barely made a noticeable difference to the pile, before realising I didn't have time, and I was getting drenched through, to boot.

So I went hunting for a large sheet of plastic I knew I had somewhere, eventually finding it in the dark recesses of the loft, where it had been protecting against last Winter's leaking chimney. 

I took it out and covered the logs up to keep the worst of the rain off them, and perhaps give them a chance of drying out.  I'm going to move a couple of crates of logs to the log pile each day, if I can...should take about a week or so to complete the stack and get them all under cover...

And maybe give my back some recovery time between loads.

In other news, I've been hoping to photograph some nice Autumnal colours...

hints of autumn

As you can see, it's not quite happening everywhere yet!

It's interesting to note the power of perspective, though...if you turned to the right from the spot where this photo was taken, you would find yourself under the imposing artificial face of the ugliest building in town - a concrete monstrosity that looms high on the skyline as you drive into the town centre, giving quite an inaccurate impression of the place - otherwise, the buildings are old and interesting, in a variety of flavours...

homeward bound

Still, it's fair to say that warm Autumnal colours are on the increase, and I'll hopefully catch some nice shots of them soon...watch this space!

Well, it's now 8.30 pm, and already I'm struggling to keep my eyes open...what's happened to me?!

I'm so sleepy of late, it's not even funny...

}ozzzzzzzzzz