August 17-18, 2013

We had a good rain Tuesday, 3/4" in the gauge, and a nice cool week. The house was 72 in the bedroom and 73 in the living room. Very pleasant for August. The low Sunday morning was 58 and it was mid 80s both days. It was very foggy Sunday morning.

Pella Window

Sally took the broken Pella window in to their store in Springdale. First they thought they might be able to remove the aluminum cladding and replace just the glass. Finally on Friday we found out that they would have to build us a new sash (at their factory in Iowa) and it would take at least 3 weeks. Of course we approved that order, which will run $160+. We have not been impressed by their service so far, and hope this turns out well.

Garden

Sally got one bunch of green beans, a little kale, and no chard. She did also pick one butternut squash which we added to a stir fry. She says they are not ready yet, so we left them all. The squash has just about taken over the entire garden. There were a few red tomatoes, but none of them were good. We've not had any good luck with tomatoes in years.

Apples/Pears

A couple of apples and a pear were on the ground, and many of the apple tree limbs were broken. We decided to go ahead and pick most of them and just make pies with the green fruit. Tender got to share in one we ate right off the tree.

Mow/Weed Eat

The Craftsman wouldn't start. Very strange since it had set for 4 weeks without being used and then started right up. I jumped it from the truck and mowed everything downhill from the house Saturday. Sunday it wouldn't start again. I then noticed one of the batter connections was not tight. We had failed to tighten one post down after putting it all back together following the steering assembly replacement. I finished the mowing, but am noticing an uneven cut that wasn't there earlier. I am certain I have already bent one of the blade shafts running up on some rocks. I am still adjusting to the stick throttle/gear shift. I also slid off the hill out in front of the house and had a heck of a time getting it back up. I need to be much more careful with this machine than I did with the Murry.

I brush whacked around the barn, the spring and some of the area out back. The grass is really growing due to all the rain we have received this month.

Murry

Sally made a couple of phone calls and found someone west of Fayetteville that would take the Murry. I tried parking in the ditch and then piling up a bunch of firewood for a ramp so that I could drive up into the bed of the truck. That didn't work -- I didn't have enough wood and my ramp collapsed when trying to drive up it. I then just accepted the fact that I would need to use the trailer to haul it in. It wasn't too much trouble, and we delivered it before getting home. A bonus was that Bill the Lawnmower Man offered to fix my Poullan for no charge. I actually ended up taking him that and the hedge trimmer that need a fuel line, plus I gave him the old Troy Built weedeater (I never figured out how to replace the pull cord and it was just sitting around).

August 9-10, 2013

Wow, another 3" in the rain gauge -- mostly received early Friday morning. Just a bit of road erosion on the last section heading down the hill. Another warm (90s) and humid weekend, but the house has remained cool at 78.

Propane

I had the tank filled the past week, 268 gallons ran us $458. It had been two years which has only happened one other time.

Craftsman

I had ordered a new steering assembly from Amazon (not available locally) and picked up self tapping bolts and a socket extension from Lowes. I was very worried about not being able to get the old assembly off given the rust and the failed attempt the weekend before with only a short box end wrench. But with the 9/16ths socket, the socket extension, and this long torque wrench it was easy. I did have to pull the deck before getting started, but it was just held on by 6 pins. The hardest part was getting the old bolts (didn't use the new ones) started into the base of the assembly. I couldn't do it with the assembly in place, so I pulled it back out and got the threads going on the ground where I could apply the necessary downward pressure. Sally helped putting the steering wheel back on and the battery cradle. I was very pleased with the way it went.

I then proceeded to mow everything but the very back yard. The grass was sure high down on the lowest part of the road to the pond. Several times the discharge chute clogged up with the damp thick grass. There is no way the Murray could have gotten through this without just inching along. The Craftsman cuts better, has the side discharge (vs mulching), and cuts a bit wider (even though they are both 42"). It is much less convenient with the stick for varying speed and direction vs the foot pedal, and has more trouble climbing up a steep grade in spite of the far better tread on the rear wheels and the added horsepower.

Saturday I cut the grass in the very back. I am not yet totally comfortable working it on this steeper terrain.

Sudoku

Sally and I continue our challenge matches. The previous week she finished in about 15 minutes, while it took me almost an hour plus having to start all over after messing it up. This week I finished in about half the time it took her. It is interesting how she finds a puzzle hard that I find easy, and vice versa. Something different about how our brains work, just proving two heads are better than one.

Burn

Saturday morning I decided to burn all the limbs and bags of thistle (3) piled up on the fire pit. It sure was nice getting this cleaned up. You can see how high the grass was in the back just behind the fire circle.

Walk

Sally and I slipped out of the house without Tender noticing and walked to the pond Saturday morning. Her feet got soaked in the wet grass, and it was a bit warm coming back up the hill, but a nice walk none the less. Some water was coming out of the culverts, but not as much as Friday. The pond was pretty murky, but no signs of grass growing in it!

We inspected the apples, about 30 still small and very green. The tree I still feel is about to die. The pears look much better and we ate a couple. Sally felt strongly that some critter would get them by the next weekend and made me pick these. I think they are safe up until they turn ripe. Its nice getting some fruit.

Garden

Sally still got lots of green beans, kale, and some chard, but the butternut squash are about to swallow everything. None were ripe yet, but we are betting there will be a few to pick the next weekend. The pack rats had picked about 8 small ones and drug them over to the gap between the garden fence and the garage and left them because they couldn't fit through. They had done the same thing the week before by the gate, but I found a stick I could lay in that gap which I believe prevented their access. So I found an old steel fence post and drove it in trying to clog the gap the between the fence and the garage. I did some weeding as well.

Logs

Chris had borrowed the truck and then loaded it up with some of the logs he had stockpiled in his back yard. He said he had planned to burn them, but I said I would just dump them in a ditch at the farm (erosion prevention). No problem chunking them off the side of the road Saturday morning. He still has more I may bring out.

Weedeating

I took the brush whacker up the road with me and did the upper section up to and around the cattle guard. On the way down I did around the 'yard' that is on the opposite side of the spring from the house. Afterward I worked a good 30 minutes picking all the grass out that had gotten wound around the shaft from the last several uses.

Then I took the John Deere and cleaned up around the house.

August 2-3, 2013

It had been 4 weeks since I had been out and three weeks for Sally. I was surprised the grass wasn't waist high, especially when I saw 4.5" in the rain gauge. Temperatures were in the low 90s and the humidity very high -- you couldn't move outside without sweating. In the house though the temperature was 78, sweet. Overnight it started raining and didn't stop until 10AM, giving us another 2.25".

Hot Water Tank

First order of business was draining the hot water tank, because given the time sitting unused the iron bacteria builds up and produces a sulphur smell which Sally cannot stand. (I need to get an aluminum/zinc anoid that I hope will cure this problem.) It took well over an hour to drain.

Craftsman

I had my new gas tank and the install went fairly easy, the hardest part was getting the new fuel line I had bought onto the fuel filter. I got the back mowed and had driven around to the south side of the house when the steering went out entirely. Trying to turn it would just cause it to jump gears. Great, with all that grass needing mowing.

I took the battery out to get a good look at the steering and new I had a big job on my hands. First I just wanted to see if I could get it working at least temporarily, but not a chance.

I pushed it back around to the garage and began disassembling it further. I wanted to get the steering assembly (shaft and gears) out so I could take them in to a shop and make sure I got the correct replacement. But with only a 9/16ths short box end wrench there was no way I could loosen the four rusty bolts holding it to the frame, nor the one attaching the lever to the steering rod. I needed my big socket wrench and socket which were back at the house. I proposed going in to Berryville and purchasing these, but Sally poopooed that idea. Another week without mowing, and only then if I can get the assembly replaced.

Garden

Sally was surprised to find so much produce: lots of green beans, chard, and kale. The butternut squash is taking over as expected -- growing through the fence out into the yard. I dug out a bunch of mint and bermudah from the back corner.

Weedeating/Broken Window

So all I could do was clean things up a little bit using my brush whacker. I did the hill out back and then did the hill south of the house. Sally stopped me to tell me I had thrown a rock and broken one of the thermal windows. I didn't even know it. Damn! I managed with great difficulty to get the window out, cut a piece of plywood to fit and duct tapped it in. I hope it holds.

Back at town I took the window to two glass companies and to Meeks lumber. No one can help me. The glass company can't get to the glass without tearing up the sash. They said manufacturers make them that way on purpose so that you then have to buy a whole new sash. Problem is, there is no indication of who made it -- so where to get a replacement? Meeks didn't recognize the window and suggested I take it to everybody in NW Arkansas that sells windows to see if anyone knows the manufacturer. Just great, just great.