A Damper On The Game Saturday & The Chimney

Well the Tennessee game did not have the final result we were looking for but we still managed to get a few things done this weekend.  Saturday was totally consumed by the football game.  Brent and Jennifer headed over to Knoxville, in the morning and did not return till early Sunday morning.  Despite the loss they had a great day together.

The mama bear and her three cubs visited us on the Ridge twice this weekend.  She came by on Saturday and Sunday with Cookie giving us notice.  The cubs have gotten a lot larger and they are all moving a lot quicker.  Just to be on the safe side, we did clear a lot of the underbrush and smaller trees in the lot next door to allow us better visibility and not let the bears sneak up on us as easily.

Brent installed a top chimney damper on one of our fireplaces this weekend.  He also did some motor repair work on the chimney and expects to put another damper on the downstairs fireplace if the first performs as he expects.

Last few days to vote on the poll.  Currently thin crusted pizza is winning.

Heading out to the game.  Cookie wanted to go but Brent would not buy her a ticket.

Even having the Tennessee cheerleaders in our section could not produce a win

I am glad she shaved under her arms before the game.

The new damper with the concrete patch work.

The new damper and modified rodent screen.

Brent stopped to take this  picture while traveling through North Carolina.

Kudzu appears in front of house

We continue to make progress on the outside area prior to the approaching winter.  Brent got a new chain saw on Friday and promptly put it into use.  The side area of the house has been cleared of some small trees and  rhododendron trees growing up the side of the hill.  We are planning to locate a swing in a dug-out of the hill with a few steps to the platform.

General Kudzu (the name for a black bear) made another appearance over the weekend.  Brent was outside with Cookie when the medium size black bear suddenly showed up near them.   Brent was able to pick-up the door and made it into the house without any incident.  Brent just raises his arms above his head to make himself as big as possible, avoiding any sudden and/or threatening moves.  Again his concern with the front door wide open was that the bear might go inside the house, so he slowly moved forward which backed the bear up and allowed him along with Cookie to go inside and close the door.  Once inside, Cookie begins to act brave as she quickly made her way upstairs to the deck overlooking the bear and began to bark.

This week Brent and Jennifer will spend all day Saturday in Knoxville, for all the pre-game activities and attend the Tennessee- Florida football game.

Outside Work

The past few weekends we have been taking down trees and working mainly in the yard.  This has not warranted any pictures.  Once the weather turns cold, we will continue to work and make improvement on the interior.

We did install a Rubbermaid Vertical Shed last week and during the construction, our favorite bear, General Kudzu paid us a visit.  While we were focusing on the assembly of the shed, he surprised us by coming up the steps and standing ten (10) feet away watching the construction.

The downstairs and the downstairs closet has been cleared of all the kitchen cabinets we had purchased several years ago as a closeout from Home Depot.  This took three (3) trips to get all the cabinets (they are in flats and require assembly) back to Buford and we plan to sell on Craig's List.

Over the next few weeks Brent plans on installing a top mounted damper on the chimney and preparing Blackbearry Ridge for winter.  He already has plans on installing a deck on the back of the house extending into the side of the mountain.  This will allow us to move the grills to be the back and have an outdoor fireplace.  Once the door and window designs are finalized and installed, then the design of the kitchen will also be finalized.  Longer range projects include installing a driveway up to the house (this will be accomplished after the sale of Zelda) and enclosing the second story deck to increase the upstairs living room and master bedroom.

We are never out of ideas just time and money.