Chop, Chop, Chop goes the Maul

Tuesday was really a nice day! At noon, it was a very comfortable 20°. There are still only sunny days in the forecast. Already, I am praying for a day of rain. Last Summer was pretty nasty, but nothing like the Summer 0f 2021 when it reached 42° here on Gabe. It’s going to take a couple of days to refresh the Fern Garden. It has never been properly refreshed since I planted all the ferns. It’s going to look great when I am done. 

But what a horrid job! I’m trimming all the old and dead fern fronds off the gazillion ferns in the Fern Garden. It means bending over all the time. The fronds needing removal must be clipped at its base, and that means bending over to work at ground level. Oh, how it tires me out this gardening! Regardless, I love it—and the rests.

I did not push myself to keep at it yesterday. Today is going to be brutal, so I didn’t want to overdo things. I started splitting wood, but most of it is too dense for my strength, so we’ll do it today. Yesterday was another glorious day. There is still no sign of rain and it’s really weird to be so worried about drought so early in the season. 

All I did on Wednesday was chop, tote, and stack. Do you have any idea how tiring working with a maul is? It’s a monstrously heavy thing, a maul. It is essentially, a huge sledge hammer with a blade on one side. It is really heavy, but it is an awesome tool. I was able to keep busy all day splitting wood and stacking it in the shed. It is fabulous wood. It’s seasoned. I cannot believe my good fortune. And I am really proud of all I did yesterday.

I, of course, needed breaks. I needed lots of them, but I returned to work each time refreshed and eager for more. My rests were not long, but they were vital. The fan revived me handily.

If there’s no past on Friday morning. I died from fatigue. After 1:00, I’d go out, chop enough wood to fill the wheelbarrow, then I’d stack all I’d chopped, and then I rested. I needed a rest after every barrow load. It’s cumulative fatigue, not just from the work I was doing. I felt rather chuffed that this 75-year old asthmatic person with a pacemaker could do such work as I did yesterday!

At 3:30 yesterday, I quit, very content with all I’d achieved in the day. Since Dave is helping me today, I feel very good about the work I did today. All I did yesterday means less work for us on my wood today. But what total body fatigue I felt when I quit. I had a good rest and then went for a walk with Her Highness before slipping most happily into the cool water of the spa. 

One great thing about doing physical labour all day is that I sleep like a rock all night. I get such great deep long sleeps, it’s wonderful. I go to bed, and the next thing I know, it’s morning and another day of labour awaits me. Today will be a long day of splitting, but Dave will be helping me and we’ll have the splitter. 

Black Strawberries.