Big Rocks

Stacey and I worked with the tractor cleaning out ditches around the hay field today. Then went to town and picked up some stuff for lunch after we took the DVDs back to the video shop. After Linda came home from working at the school, we used the tractor to move some 'big rocks' I had found earlier. I used a chain through the bucket of the tractor and wrapped it around the rocks to lift them and set them in place. I turned the tractor around and used the backhoe to position the rocks where they were level and overlapping. We were building a stairway and an area on the hillside behind the house for Linda to plant flowers and fill her bird feeders while standing on the rocks.
 

We didn't finish the placement of the rocks because we received a phone call from Brent and we went to Glasgow to meet Pauline and him. We met at Tumbleweeds to eat and see the 'big rock' that Brent had gave to Pauline. It was a diamond ring that they had picked out last weekend.

 
We ordered and while we were waiting on our food, they both seemed happy about the ring and were giggling and having a good time. Stacey ordered a gigantic 'appetizer', she orders it every time we eat there, and we all had a laugh about the size of it and that there was NO WAY she could eat even half of it. We were right!
   
 
We left the restaurant and loaded Pico and Poco in the car with us as we were keeping the dogs over the weekend for P&B. They told us they were going to Frankfort for a swim meet that Brent is working for WKU's Coach Powell. On the way home, Stacey said she wasn't ever going to order that appetizer again.

District Championship Game

Linda was working at the school so Stacey and I went to Subway for lunch. While we were at Subway, Karen the owner, mentioned we should go to the girls ballgame later in the evening. We went home and finished working on a tree I had cut down the other day. It was mostly work for me, as Stacey had picked up the smaller pieces that I had cut a few days ago. I had already stacked those in the hay shed, so all that was left was to cut up the trunk of the tree and load it on the trailer we were pulling with the Mule. We were almost done and were taking a break when we saw Linda driving home in her Mustang. We finished and I loaded the pieces on the trailer and headed back to the hay shed. I split enough of the pieces with the log splitter so I could unhook the trailer. Linda and Stacey took the dogs walking around the hay field while I was working on the wood. Linda wanted to go to the ballgame, so I took a shower while they were changing clothes and we loaded in the car and headed to Albany for the game. On the way, we stopped and ate at Burger King and watched as police arrested a guy riding a bike for being drunk or under the influence. After eating we went to the game at Clinton County High School. The gym was about full with probaly 1,500 people by game time and there were competing bands and cheers going back and forth. It was a noisy crowd ready for a tipoff. The game started and it was a hectic pace. Both teams were a little out of control fed by adrenalin and teenage spirit. Clinton County took an early lead by as much as 15 points in the first quarter. During the second quarter, Cumberland County came roaring back with several 3 point field goals. The crowd was wild on both sides of the court as the half ended with Clinton ahead by only 3 points. During the halftime, we were surprised by Tony Boils coming over and talking to us. Tony and his dad were the contractors that built our home. Tony pointed out his wife and son and then talked with us until the second half started. It was nice to see him. Clinton lost the lead a few times in the remainder of the third quarter as the teams traded buckets, three pointers and turnovers. Cumberland fell behind in the fourth quarter but tied the game with roughly 2 minutes left in the game. A series of important calls went against Cumberland and add in one crucial turnover and all of a sudden the game was nearly out of reach. Cumberland took a time out and decided to start fouling to try to get back into the game. Clinton could not hit their free throws and Cumberland was able to foul and get the rebounds. They played this strategy until the clock ran down and with a last second shot had a chance to tie the game at 74 with an off balance three point shot, but missed as time expired. Both sides of the gym stood and cheered and applauded as they had witnessed a good close game that had been played hard. Stacey, Linda and I left as they were passing out the trophies. We listened to the radio announcers describe the activities that were continuing in the gym while we were on the way home.

New Batteries

I mentioned to Linda that I wanted to get batteries for two of our four wheelers and we needed to take them out and with us when we bought the new ones. We used the Mule to pull one of the ATVs over to the hay shed. There I took the batteries that were in the worst shape out of the two ATVs. Stacey, Linda and I headed to Columbia for lunch at Wendy's then over to Wal-Mart to buy the two batteries. We took the old ones in for the core charge and to compare to the new ones so they would fit in the ATVs. After checking out and driving home, Linda had to work at the school for a couple of hours. Stacey and I went back to the hay shed and I put the batteries in one of the ATVs. I started it by hand and had Stacey ride it around for awhile to charge the new battery, while I was replacing the battery in the other ATV. Once that was done, we took a ride around the farm to charge both batteries.
   
 

Daffodils And Dog Sitting

   
I thought the daffodils by the old corn crib had come up too early, but they survived a couple light snows and are standing tall. There are others around the farm that are up and blooming too. We have been dog setting for Pico and Poco since last Thursday and today we took them on a walk up to the pond and let them get some exercise. They ran around the pond and it was a race for about ten minutes, almost nonstop. Cooter and Missy went along for the walk also.
   
   
The dogs stayed outside for about a half hour and then we took them back inside. Once they were inside a few minutes, all three of the little dogs laid down on the back of the couch pillows and took naps.

Regional Game And New Tires

Stacey, Linda and I bought tickets for Cumberland County's Regional Basketball Game for Wednesday night in Diddle Arena at WKU's Bowling Green Campus. We went past and picked up Brent and met Pauline at Puerto Vallarta to eat before the game. After we ate, we headed to the WKU Campus and Brent suggested that we park at Coach Powell's house to save the parking fees for two cars. We parked in their drive and talked with Joey and Coach before walking to Diddle Arena to watch the game.
   
Cumberland County played Franklin Simpson and from the opening tip off to the final buzzer it wasn't a close game. Franklin Simpson had bigger players and more of them than Cumberland County. The game was the same as over early, FS led most of the game by at least 15 points. Late in the fourth quarter CC did pull within nine points at one time, but then time ran out as the gap was getting larger. One good thing about Cumberland County's team is, they are mostly under class men and will have more years to play. Pauline wanted to see their dogs before they left for Louisville the next day, so we left Diddle when the game was over and went to P&Bs to stay the night.

Thursday morning we all were playing with Pico, Poco, and Missy. Brent left for work and Stacey, Linda and I headed into Bowling Green for Stacey's appointment with Dr Zhu. After having a good checkup and talking with the Dr for about thirty minutes we drove through Rally's and picked up some burgers on the way to Sam's Club. We went in Sam's, bought four tires for Linda's Mustang and gave them the keys so they could pull the car inside and mount the tires on the wheels and then put them on the car. We went shopping while they were working on the car. A few minutes later, Linda's name was called over the store's speaker system and we returned to the tire counter to find out that the Mustang had wheel locks. We didn't have any way of taking the locks off, so we searched through the car to try to find the key for the locks. No luck. They refunded our money and we drove over to the Ford Dealer and had a service mechanic take the locking lug nuts off the Mustang. The locks were standard Ford parts, so they had a socket that fit inside the lug nut and removed all four locking lugs in about five minutes. We drove back to Sam's Club and bought the tires again, gave them the keys and went shopping. About an hour later we had checked out and were setting at a picnic table drinking pop, when the guy came over and said the car was done and we could pick up the keys and leave. We loaded our groceries in the car, went by P&B's house, and picked up the dogs. Pauline and Brent had already left for Louisville. The new tires helped the car ride better as we came on home.

Dog Pickup

We started our day by going to town and eating breakfast at Jone's. We went to pick out our food at the breakfast bar and when we returned to our table another family was setting at our table. I guess the lady could tell they were at our table from the look on Stacey and my faces, so she said they were sorry and moved over to the next table. We set down and ate and started talking with them. They said they were from Alabama and had just bought property near Burkesville. The guy had plans he showed us, they were for a log cabin from Abe Lincoln Log Homes near Celina. They said their land was north of town on Highway 704. We knew about where they were describing. I mentioned that they should check into the water situation as soon as possible. They said they had heard there might be a problem with getting to 'tap on'. We talked about how we had moved from IN and they told us their stories. They lived near the Gulf of Mexico and were extremely tired of the hurricanes blowing things away and were ready to move out of that area. We ended up talking to them for about an hour, then we paid our bill and headed home. Stacey, Linda and I were at the pond when Pauline and Brent drove up on their return trip from Louisville. They were stopping to pick up their dogs. We talked as we walked around the hay field letting the dogs run and play at the same time. I went to town and picked up a couple pizzas at the new pizza and sub shop for lunch. We ate and then Pauline, Linda and I watched a movie while Stacey and Brent watched Kentucky play basketball on TV. They loaded up their dogs and headed home a little before dark.

Takin' Care Of Business

Linda was working today at the school, so Stacey and I were on our own. We had some business to take care of in town. We drove to town and I parked and went in the Post Office. I had so many tax forms in the envelopes, I knew that a regular stamp would not be enough, so I took them to the Post Office and had them weighed and postmarked. That way there would be no doubt as to the correct postage. Next we stopped in front of the new Justice Center. Stacey and I went inside, stepped through the metal detectors and up to the County Clerk's counter. Stacey had been placed on a list to serve for jury duty and we had stopped a couple of weeks ago and filled out forms to have her removed. I told the clerk that Stacey's name had been printed in the newspaper to serve, and then reminded the clerk about us filling out the papers and she checked the list. She said that Judge Hurt had requested that a Doctor's excuse be submitted. Hmm, ok, we went to Subway and ate lunch and then to the movie shack. We found nothing interesting to rent, so we headed on down to Dr Rice's office and asked for them to fill out an excuse for Stacey. They said to come back later in the afternoon to pick up the paper. We came back home and did some house work. About 1:30 we loaded back into the truck and went to the grade school and picked up the prescriptions Dr Zhu had written for Stacey last Thursday. We then drove to Dr Rice's office and picked up the paper for Stacey's excuse. I then went to the new Morgan's Medicine. It is a pharmacy that was opened recently by the pharmacist that was working at Rite Aid, where we were getting Stacey's pills. Mike told me he might not be able to file a claim with BCBS Insurance and he would need to check before I left the prescriptions. Hmm, now what? I told him I would wait and see if he could work it out with BCBS before I would leave the prescriptions. We went back to the Justice Center and turned in the excuse. The clerk told me to call Judge Hurt's office on Thursday to find out if Stacey was excused from jury duty. We headed home again, but at Sadie and Bob Smith's driveway we saw a car stuck with the rear wheel hanging over a culvert. We stopped and as we were getting out the sheriff stopped too. We stood and looked and then I decided to go home, get the snatch strap and the big truck and go back and pull her out. I drove home, traded trucks, left Stacey home and I went back. A couple more people had stopped, and the woman said she was going to wait on her husband to get there. We agreed to wait, so when he got there we used the snatch strap and pulled her out of the ditch. She thanked everyone and I came home.

Beautiful Ride And A New Flag

I called Judge Hurt's office and was told it had been decided that Stacey would not have to server as a juror due to her medical conditions.
About 10 AM, it was beautiful weather, around 70 degrees and sunny, so Stacey and I took a ride. During this last winter Cooter had a tough time, it seemed as if he had a problem with his neck, but today he ran like a pup as we rode the Mule around the farm.
   
Flowers were blooming where Linda had planted them and there were flowers coming up wild in the woods too. We drove back in the 'holler' and then went around the hay fields. We parked the Mule and then Stacey and I took rides on two of the 4 wheelers down to the other hay field. We went all the way around it and stopped to watch Phil Garmon. He was disking one of the fields he farms on the opposite side of the creek from us. Cooter ran the entire time we were riding and on the way back he laid down in the creek to cool off while he was drinking the water.
 
Once we returned to the house he laid down to rest as I took a few pictures of the new USA Flag we had put up to replace the old wind torn flag. The previous flag had hung in the barn hallway an entire year.
   

Anita Visits

Anita stopped at Pauline and Brent's house on the way down from IN. They all rode together from there and arrived Friday evening about 8 PM. We sat and talked until everyone was sleepy and Linda and Anita continued late into the morning.

Linda was helping at the school Saturday morning, so I loaded everyone else in the truck and we went to Burkesville for breakfast. After eating we stopped by the school to see what was going on, Linda was working in the cafeteria helping pass out food. There were several hundred people attending a scholastic tournament. We came back to the house and Stacey, Brent and I worked on tearing down the little building in front of the hay shed while Pauline and Anita were inside watching old TV shows. We tore the roof off the side of the shed and hauled it away to be buried in the cellar.
 
Then I pulled the tractor up close to the remaining walls and Stacey and Brent loaded in the old pieces of wood and I hauled them to the fire pit to be burnt later. We took a break for lunch. Pauline fixed spanish hamburgers for lunch after Linda came home from the school. We finished lunch and went back to work on the demolition.
   
We used the saws-all to cut the remaining wall in two pieces and a crowbar to pry it away from the posts holding it up. We laid the pieces of the wall on the trailer and used the Mule to take them over to be burnt later too. Once that was unloaded we used the tractor to pull the posts out of the ground and Brent dropped them on the trailer. Later I scooped up some creek rock and we filled the holes that were left from pulling out the posts.
 

Sunday morning Linda fixed a sausage and egg breakfast for everyone. Pauline was working on her quilt while watching TV and Brent was playing with their dogs. Anita stayed a little while, but was anxious to get on the road home, so we said our good byes and she left for home about 10 AM. We messed around for a little while, then put the ducks in the cage and hooked up the trailer with Brent's lawnmower inside, piled the dogs and everyone in the truck and headed for Smith's Grove. We stopped in Glasgow and ate lunch at Mancino's and then went to the trailer in Smith's Grove. We loaded the love seat, Pauline's grandfather clock, and some other stuff in the trailer and towed it to P&B's house. We unloaded the stuff and then walked over and looked at a new home being built just across the street. We stayed a little while and came on home about 8 PM.

Mowers Are Working

I unloaded the ATV that was still inside the trailer after we had it serviced. A wheel bearing had been replaced and the oil changed. I parked it in the hay shed and started the mulching mower. I rode it to the house and filled the tires with air, then mowed along the front walk. It was working ok, so I went back to the shed and started the larger mower. After filling the tires, I mowed the slope in the front yard and then went and filled the gas tank and finished the entire front yard. While I was mowing there were two different times people stopped campaigning for the primary election. I put the mower back in the shed and filled the gas tank on the ATV and adjusted the brakes because one wheel was sliding without the the other wheel braking. I beleive it was out of adjustment from being serviced. I just tightened a wing nut to adjust it. I took a short ride around the hay field. Once back to the hay shed, I hooked up an old radio and two speakers that I had used in the pole barn in Smith's Grove. Around 4:30 Stacey and Linda returned from staying the night in Smith's Grove at Pauline and Brent's house.

Mobile Home For Sale

Brent thought he had the mobile home on almost an acre sold in Smith's Grove, so we took his mower over in the red trailer and picked up some of the larger pieces that were still left in the trailer and hauled them to their house. Linda and Stacey went over in the middle of the week and hauled off some of the junk we had left and brought some back to Burkesville in the truck. We called the lawyer and started to have the deed transfered. Linda used another contract and typed up a copy of a land contract for Brent to use to sell the place on contract. Then Brent let us know that the guy had backed out of the deal. Brent was bummed out, because it was time to start mowing and we were no further along than before.
The weather has been colder than normal for this time of the year. We have been making out our order for mums and dreaming of warmer days. Pretty soon it will be 90 degrees, much hotter than we want and we will be dreaming of cooler times. Seems like it's never just right!

Tractor Trouble

We ordered 1,000 mums yesterday, so today, I decided to use the tractor to clean out some drain holes around the farm with the backhoe and then take it off. I worked about a half hour in three places and then drove the tractor to the lower barn and took the backhoe loose. I pulled the tractor away from the hoe, then disconnected the hydraulic pump and pulled out of the barn. The point of taking the backhoe off was to hook up the plow and turn the ground over for the pumpkin patch. I hooked up the plow and drove to the patch. I raised the scoop up fairly high so I could see where I was going as I laid off the rows with the two bottom plow. It probably took a about forty five minutes to plow the patch. I lined up the tractor to finish the end of the patch and started to lower the scoop to go under a guide wire for an utility pole, but the scoop wouldn't go down. I messed with the joystick control and noticed that it was leaking hydraulic fluid on my pant leg. What the heck?

I fiddled with the control until I was able to lower the scoop enough for me to safely drive up the road to the house and put the tractor in the barn. I examined the valve body and determined it was leaking and not working properly. I shut the tractor off, went inside, took a shower and we went to Columbia and ate at Sonic. After finishing our meal I drove to the Ford Tractor Dealer and scheduled service for the tractor. They said they will pick it up next week, change the oil, oil filter, hydraulic filters, repair the valve and do general service on the tractor while they have it. No telling how much that will cost, but the tractor has a little over 400 hours on the meter, so its time to have it serviced anyway. We came home and washed Linda's Mustang and I dug some grass out of the flower bed we created about a month ago. Linda took the grass and filled in the gullies on the slope in front of the house. She drove the Mule down to the shed and picked up two bags of mulch and then spread that out in the bed where I had dug the grass.

Mowing and Mulch

We started the day by hooking the red utility trailer to the truck and loading the bigger JD lawn tractor into the trailer. We drove to Smith's Grove and unloaded the mower at the trailer. I began mowing while Linda was blowing the leaves out of the flower beds. Stacey was picking up limbs and trash and putting the trash in a bag. I was chopping up the leaves as I would make a lap around the yard. When I finished mowing the yard, I took over on the leaf blowing and Linda and Stacey were working inside the trailer sweeping and cleaning. After blowing most of the leaves out of the main flower beds, I restarted the mower and cut them into small pieces, then loaded the mower back in the trailer. Linda loaded some more trash in the trailer to have hauled away by our trash man in Burkesville. We plopped in the truck and rode to the Glasgow Wal-Mart, where we looked at the price of mulch, next we stopped and ate fish at Cap'n Ds. Then drove over to Lowe's and bought a pallet of mulch. They brought the pallet to the back of the trailer and we had to throw several bags along the side of the mower so the load would go in through the door. They set it in with the fork truck and I shut the doors and away we went. We filled up with gas and headed for the parkway, but the load was heavy in the rear and caused the trailer to wig wag. I decided not to take the parkway and just take the slower road home. The trailer pulled ok at slower speeds, so we made it home without problems. I backed the trailer to the rear of the upper barn and I unloaded the FORTY BAGS of mulch by hand.
   
Linda has turned one corner of the barn into a 'potting shed'. I took a break for a while after unloading the mulch and then unloaded the mower and unhooked the trailer.
 
I ended up the day by mowing the barn lot part of our yard. I guess, mowing has officially started here on the farm, as I have already mowed around the house.

Mulching the Flower Beds

 

Linda worked at the school and Stacey and I went to town for lunch and to return videos we had rented. When Linda came home we decided to mulch some of the flower beds with the mulch we had bought a couple of days ago. We were creating a new bed, so I brought up the garden tiller and tilled the ground to remove the grass and soften the dirt for the flower planting later. Linda raked the loose grass into a pile and Stacey picked up the piles. Then I carried the bags of mulch to the bed and dumped them. Linda spread the mulch with a rake and her feet. Stacey took the empty bags to the Mule to put in the trash later. While I had the tiller at the house, I tilled the area behind the house that was barren of grass. I tilled an area about one hundred feet long and probably five feet wide. Linda and I tossed grass seed on the area and then she raked it smooth to cover the seeds with a light layer of dirt. Then we moved around to the front of the house and finished a small flower bed at the end of the walkway.