It appears there is a very brief respite from the rains, but more
is in the forecast.  Rainfall is well above average for the month
which has helped to reduce the fire risk.  Thus far, it has been
light, but steady rains and temperatures have remained in the 50s
and 60s.  The landscape is slowly greening up after the dry summer
season.  Although the weather has pushed back the well project, at
least the shallow well is getting recharged as the water slowly
percolates into the substratum.  I suspect the ground water in that
location of the property is fairly close to the surface as the
vegetation in the area is thick and green even in the dry season.
It appears our water conservation efforts may be bearing fruit as
the site gauge on the water tank is holding steady at the full
mark.

*The art of busting kindling*

I am sure there are plenty of people who are light years ahead in
the firewood processing department, but due physical limitations, I
am not able to swing a splitting maul.  Harbor freight to the
rescue...the manual slide log splitter:

https://goo.gl/XtjcUI

This one uses a weighted slide to impact a rod which drives the
wedge into the wood.  It still requires some work, but it is much
easier on the back.  We had some trees taken down last year and
thankfully, the crew split the wood for us.  I use the sliding
splitter to split the logs a bit further into manageable chunks and
then split these into kindling with a hatchet and a 3 lb hammer.  2
or three logs break down into a sufficient amount of kindling for
several days worth of fires.  There probably are mechanical devices
out there that can bust kindling very rapidly, but there is a
certain pleasure of taking my time, getting some exercise and some
fresh air. It is certainly better than reading about a shamefully
contentious presidential election and polarized nation, but I
will spare the reader from that particular rant.  Anyway, the wood
gets beaten down to sticks which, if they are well seasoned, catch
fire quickly with just a little newspaper to get it going.

Getting back to the well project, we're still waiting for the
weather to break for a few days so the crew can use their excavator
to search for hidden well #2 and clear a path to well #4.  They can
then test the recovery rate and water quality.  Just not sure when
that is going to happen given the current weather conditions.  The
forecast is for clearer weather this coming week.