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Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Around Lunch
Linda had been cleaning the carpet in the bedrooms and we were about to
take a break for lunch when the door bell rang and the mail man
delivered a package for Stacey. We opened it and there was a jacket I
had ordered for her. It was a NASCAR themed wind breaker.
Stacey
tried it on and it fit fairly well, so I took a few pictures and Coco
had to jump into the last one. We were about ready to leave for lunch
with Stacey wearing her new jacket but the phone rang. It was Linda's
brother, Imon, saying they were going to stop by in about 2 hours. They
had been to TN to buy a motorcycle and were coming by and stay with us.
After the conversation, we went to eat and came back to the house. We
had to hurry and put the bedrooms back together before Linda went to
work at the day care. She left and about an hour later Imon and Linda K
arrived. They came in and Imon wanted to show me the bike he had just
bought. He wanted to look it over as much as show it to me seeing how he
had just purchased it and really hadn't seen it that long. As we drove
the Mule down to his truck and trailer, I noticed the bike seemed long
and low. When we were closer, I saw it had a Chevy V-8 motor and wasn't
a Harley Davidson. It was called a Boss
Hoss motorcycle. He started it and it sounded like a small block
Chevy with open headers, which is exactly what it was. Awesome!
Everything on the bike was heavy duty and it looked factory made. He
said that a company was manufacturing those bikes in Dyersburg TN. We
went back to the house and a little bit later Linda N returned from
work. We decided to park the trailer with the motorcycle in the pole
barn and unhook it from the truck to unload the lawn mower Imon had
repaired for us. Linda N went with us to do that and check out the
motorcycle. It was dark when we finished looking and talking about the
bike, so we went inside and spent the evening by the fire in the wood
stove catching up on things.
Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010
Imon's Boss Hoss
After breakfast and some talk while the stove was warming the living
room, Imon and I went outside. He drove his truck down to the equipment
shed and parked it in the gully so the rear of the truck was as low to
the ground as possible. I put our ramps on the tailgate of the truck and
Imon backed the John Deere mower out of the truck bed. I parked the
mower in the shed and we loaded the mower deck on the back of the Mule.
I hauled it over to the pole barn where there is a concrete floor and I
will put it on the mower later. Imon brought his pickup over to the pole
barn and after we unloaded the mower deck, I went and started the
tractor. I drove the tractor back to the pole barn and we used the scoop
to load the sewing machines into the back of the pickup. I returned the
tractor to the shed while Imon moved the machines around in the truck
bed. I then drove the Mule back to the pole barn and Stacey, Linda K,
and Linda N had joined us. Imon and I finally laid the machine bases
down in the bed and took the heads off and put them in the back of the
cab. As that job was finished, we moved inside the pole barn and our
attention turned to the Boss Hoss motorcycle.
While
we were inside and out of the wind, we were able to really take a better
look at all the little details of the huge motorcycle.
After
everyone examined the bike, we decided it was very well made and the
workmanship was all high quality. Everything on it looked like it was
made just for the bike and that no shortcuts had been taken. The
painting of the flames on the bike are done with the type of paint that
changes color depending which way you are looking at it. I'm not sure if
you can tell that in the pictures, it is a paint job that needs to been
seen up close to get the effect. Linda K and Stacey walked back to the
house while we latched the sliding doors and talked a few minutes before
going inside too.
We
drove our truck to Albany for lunch at Major's Pizza, then took a ride
out to Dale Hollow State Park to see what had been going on out there.
After the ride as it was getting dark, we stayed inside and played with
the Wii until everyone went to bed.
Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010
Linda K & Imon Head To IN
Linda N fixed french toast and sausage for breakfast as we drank a few
cups of coffee. When breakfast was done, Linda K and Imon began packing
for their trip back to IN. After he carried their bags out to the truck,
we all went down to the pole barn. I helped Imon hook up the truck to
the trailer with the Boss Hoss motorcycle on it. He pulled it out of the
pole barn and they were ready to leave. Stacey snapped a couple pictures
of us right before everyone hugged and said good bye.
Linda
K and Imon left about 8:30 AM CST. Stacey, Linda and I pushed the hay
wagon back in the barn, closed the doors and went to the house. Pauline,
Brent, Julie & Kyle are coming over later this evening, so we had some
things to get ready for their arrival.
Posted on Sunday, March 07, 2010
Week End Vistors
Pauline, Brent, Julie and Kyle arrived around 5 PM Friday evening. We
all went to town to eat supper.
Saturday morning, the sun was out and
the weather warmed up quickly. I went and started the tractor while
Linda, Julie and Brent went walking in the woods behind the house. I
used the tractor to rake the debris out of the hay fields. Before I was
finished, Brent drove the Mule across the creek with the black trailer
behind and Julie, Stacey and Linda riding along. They picked up the
piece that were too small for me to get with the tractor. They piled the
small limbs and sticks on the trailer as Stacey drove the Mule through
the fields. When we had finished, I let Julie ride with me on the
tractor and then Brent and her rode in the scoop when we crossed the
creek and pulled to the fire pit. Stacey followed with the Mule and
trailer. We tossed most of the pieces into the fire pit and then went to
the house for lunch. We had hot dogs for lunch, then Pauline took Kyle
and we all went down to the fire pit. Brent lit the fire and we finished
tossing the pieces onto the fire until the trailer was clean. We sat
around the fire and enjoyed the warm weather and the heat from the fire
until it was nearly dark, then we went inside.
Sunday morning was
another nice day. We didn't do any work, but were outside most of the
day. Pauline waited a little longer than everyone else to take Kyle out.
Once it was warm enough, she took him to the pond area. Stacey, Julie,
Pauline and Brent took Pico, Poco and Coco for a hike in the woods
behind the house. Linda took care of Kyle while she sat on the bench
beside the pond. I took pictures.
A
little before 5 PM, Pauline and Brent were preparing to leave, Brent was
carrying out their bags when Nancy and Steve Riddle came in the front
door. They were wanting to see our new grandson, Kyle. Nancy held him
for a few minutes and her and Steve talked to Julie, Pauline and Brent.
Soon, Nancy and Steve needed to leave to attend their church services
and PB&J/K left a few minutes later. Linda took a nap as Stacey and I
watched the recording of the NASCAR race.
Posted on Thursday, March 11, 2010
Stacey & Linda Leave
Linda spent a large part of Tuesday on the phone taking "Happy Birthday"
calls. Brent was scheduled for a school conference in Louisville on Wed,
Thur & Fri, so Stacey and Linda went to stay with Pauline, Julie and
Kyle for a couple nights. They left around 11:30 AM on Wednesday in the
HHR. I worked on the ditch between the hayfields with the tractor after
they left. I used the scoop to level out the bottom of the ditch and
move the rock and dirt. I then dumped the dirt over the top of the
cement culvert tiles and along the dirt road that I had built next to
the ditch. 
It's looking like rain today, so I'm going to work on filing our taxes. 
I
also noticed that we have the first flower blooming, it's good to see a
sign of Spring.
Posted on Saturday, March 13, 2010
New Shirts
The University of KY basketball team has been playing in the SEC
Tournament and around Burkesville, that's important! Friday evening,
while Stacey was talking with Jason on the phone, she asked if he wanted
to come to our house and watch the game. He did, so they made the
arrangements for us to pick him up on Saturday.
Saturday, Stacey and
I went to Jason's house and picked him up in the truck. Jason gave
Stacey a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle as we drove to Pizza Hut. I went
inside and ordered their favorite pizza and a taco pizza for Linda and
I. While those were being made, I drove to Capp's Pharmacy and picked up
the prescriptions we had ordered over the phone. We went back and picked
up the pizzas, then on to the farm. Jason carried them in while Stacey
picked out the drinks. We ate and began watching the KY Wildcats play
the TN Volunteers. The phone rang, and it was Tonya calling from David
Bean's Shop. She said the shirts that Linda and I had ordered were done,
so I drove back to town and picked up 40 shirts. I returned home and we
watched KY beat TN by over 20 points. I asked Stacey and Jason if they
would wear the new shirts for me to take pictures to put on the Cumberland
River Cruisers web site. They said they would, so each went and put
on a different colored shirt.
We
gave Jason his pick of the shirts when Stephanie and Tommy came to pick
up Jason. They took Stacey with them to Hazel and Odis' house for supper
and brought her back home a couple of hours later.
Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Engine Shop
Stacey, Linda and I left the farm in the HHR around 8:30 AM and headed towards Glasgow on the Cumberland Parkway. We exited the parkway on the south side of Glasgow and took 31-E south to Scottsville, KY. We went west from there towards Bowling Green for about 5 miles, then turned south on a narrow twisting country road. I was using the DeLorme GPS program to give me the directions to Southern Kentucky Engines. I was able to drive right to the place without making a single wrong turn. That program for the laptop is marvelous. I stopped the car and went inside to chat with the owner about having an engine rebuilt. We probably talked 10 minutes about rebuilding the 200 CID six cylinder engine for the 1965 Mustang. His description of their work and price sounded good, so we headed back towards Scottsville. I stopped at Sonic for lunch since the one in Columbia has been closed for remodeling. I drove on to Burkesville and we stopped at D&C Auto Service. Linda and I asked about them taking the engine out and cleaning up the under hood area, then replacing the engine after SKE rebuilds it. We agreed on the time and price and left for home. Linda went to work at the after school day care and Stacey and I took Daisy for a run. When we returned from that, Stacey watched wrestling while working on a puzzle Jason gave her.
Posted on Friday, March 19, 2010
Airiana Grace Summers
Linda had a message on the answering machine and it was her mother. Nana
said that our niece, Jessica Summers, had went to the hospital. We knew
it was nearly time for Jessica to deliver her and Jeff's baby. Linda
called Imon later and he said that Jessica had a little girl and that
both baby and mother were doing good. Shelly sent us an email with a
picture of Trevon and his new sister, Airiana Grace Summers.
Airiana
Grace Summers
Born: March 19, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Height: 18.5 inches
Weight:
5 lbs. 10 oz.
There are more pictures of Airiana posted on
Brent's Gallery HERE.
Posted on Saturday, March 20, 2010
Outdoor Play Set
Stacey, Linda and I had loaded several pieces of equipment in the back
of the pickup, including the tiller, to take over to PB&J/K's house.
Brent had made 'BIG' plans for us to help Pauline and him with a outdoor
play set for their kids. We left the farm around 8:30 AM and stopped to
pickup some Egg McMuffins on the way. Julie had been a little sick, but
was up and running around when we arrived at their house. She seemed OK
most of the day. Brent and I plugged in a long extension cord and used
the reciprocating saw to cut the old play set apart. Our first off site
mission was to drive the truck to Sam's Club and buy the play set.
Pauline and Brent went with me and they purchased the Highlander
Cedar Swing Set and a roll of weed block fabric.
Next,
we trucked over to Lowe's and bought some edging material and a 5 gallon
can of Thompson's®
WaterSeal®. Pauline picked up a couple of roller and trays to
use to apply the sealer to the play set. They wanted to get something to
eat, so P picked Zaxby's and I went through the drive-thru and they
bought lunch. We drove back to their house and everyone ate their
lunches, then we began working on the play set. Julie came outside and
noticed we had cut up her play set and started to pucker up and cry. We
showed her we had a new play set in the truck and let her go down the
slide that we quickly set on the rear of the truck and the ground. The
play set came in four heavy boxes that we set off onto the patio and
opened. Pauline and Linda began applying the sealer to the wood pieces.
Kyle was in his stroller, so Stacey took him and Julie for a walk up and
down the road in front of the house a few times. Kyle was good and
remained outside for most of the time.
Brent
and I drove the truck about 5 miles away and he bought mulch. The guy
loaded two scoops of mulch in the pickup with a skid steer and we headed
back to the house. I parked the truck in the driveway and we moved to
the backyard and began our job. I started the tiller and tilled up the
ground in a circle we had measured and marked with a can of paint. I
went around and around until most of the grass was loose while Brent
began shoveling the loose grass and dirt into a wheelbarrow and dumping
in low spots in his yard.
Pauline
and Linda were continuing to seal the wood pieces when Kyle began
getting grumpy, so I picked him up and patted his back. That worked for
a while, but eventually, Pauline had to take him inside and let him
breast feed.
I
gave Brent a little help with the grass and dirt and then I backed the
truck into the back yard. I backed onto the circle of weed block that
Linda, Pauline and Brent had laid down. Brent shoveled the mulch out of
the truck while the rest of us spread it out. He plans on getting
another truck load once we have the play set assembled.
The
plan is to eventually cut the weed block neatly, then edge the dirt with
a shovel and put in the edging. This should let Brent mow right around
the edge with his riding mower. The daylight was almost gone when we put
the tiller in the back of the truck and Linda and Brent picked up the
tools. Pauline fixed supper and we ate while watching the KY Wildcats
play in the NCAA Tournament. After checking the weather reports and
deciding it was going to rain the next day, that meant we would not be
able to assemble the play set, Stacey, Linda and I headed to the farm
about 9 PM. We listened to the final minutes of the ball game as we rode
home.
Posted on Monday, March 22, 2010
Motor & Transmission Transport
About a week ago, Jason gave Stacey a jig saw puzzle. This morning,
Stacey had it done! I only put in a few pieces and I'm surprised that
Stacey has it done. It was really odd shaped pieces and a lot of the
same colors, so I thought it would be a hard one to do.
After
eating an egg sandwich, Stacey and I took the pickup truck to
Burkesville. Our first stop was at Jeff's Auto Tire Service to borrow a
couple of junk tires. Andy let us have two old ones. We drove to D&C
Auto Service. Dave had taken the 6 cylinder engine and transmission out
of the 1965 Mustang. Dave finished removing the oil pump and used his
engine hoist to set the engine in the back of the pickup truck.
They
also set the transmission on the second tire in the back of the pickup.
We talked a few minutes, then Stacey and I left. We dropped off a
prescription form at Dr Rice's office on the way towards Glasgow. We
turned south and drove to Scottsville and then west from there to
Southern KY Engines.
I
talked to the owner about their rebuilding the engine, he figured it
would take about 10 days, then pulled on back to another building to
unload the engine. They set the engine off the truck and we left and
were on our way to Bowling Green. We stopped and ate a late lunch at
Mancino's, then took the transmission to Myle's Transmission Repair
Shop. It should only take a few days for them to rebuild it the service
man said. We left Bowling Green and took the Cumberland Parkway to
Columbia and SR 61 south to the farm.
Posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Construction
Shortly after I climbed out of bed, I heard noises outside. I looked out
the front window and realized the road crews were working across from
our house. They were unloading large pipes to make the culvert under the
new highway and bulldozing dirt.
It
was the start of a nice day, so we went ahead with our plans to help
Pauline and Brent construct the playset. After the drive to their house,
we started work about 9:30 AM. Brent and I used power drivers to
assemble the wood pieces that made up the base, then carried them to the
location. We set the sides up and hooked them together, then leveled the
unit and screwed anchors into the clay soil to hold it in place.
While
we were doing that, Pauline, Julie, Stacey and Linda carried all the
wood pieces closer to the assembly area and separated them in stacks
according to assembly numbers. I began sorting out the screws, washers
and fasteners that were required for each step as Brent was screwing
things together. We had several hundreds of pieces that were in
individual bags laying in a wheel barrow to keep from losing anything.
The girls kept us supplied with the wood pieces we needed and the
instructions were excellent at describing all the parts needed for every
assembly step. Pauline went inside and fixed sandwiches for lunch and
when she called us around 1 PM, we all went inside and ate. Stacey
cleaned up inside and tried to keep Kyle occupied when he would make any
noises. We worked steady until the daylight started to fade. We decided
to skip ahead and put up the beam and swings so Julie could at least
swing on the playset.
After
Linda and Brent stress tested the swing set, I went to the back door and
told Pauline and Julie to come outside and try out the swings. They came
out and Julie slowly checked out the swing set. Soon, she was setting in
the swing with Pauline pushing her.
Before
we went inside, Julie was laughing and liking it. I think Pauline and
Brent were happy too.
There
is still quite a bit of work to do to finish the play set. Things like
attach the slats on the guard rails, assemble the swinging teeter totter
and a few other odd jobs. Brent thinks he will be able to do most of it
after work during the week. I ate a piece of chocolate cake while
Pauline and Linda were packing a bag for Julie to go to the farm with
us. We left for home about 7:30 PM.
Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2010
Something Going On
Friday was strange. Steve Riddle called and told us about his brother
being in a wreck. His brother's little girl had to be flown to
Vanderbilt Hospital because of her head injuries. She had to have her
forehead stitched together, but otherwise was OK. I told Steve about a
wreck on I-65 that 11 people were killed and was in the news. He called
back a few minutes after we hung up and said it was people that lived in
Marrowbone, about 10 miles away from Burkesville. We found out that it
was the people that I had bought a storage building from, John Esh and
his family. John and eight of his family had been killed in a crash with
a semi-truck. Lester Geingerich had also lost one of his sons, they had
worked on our pole barn last summer. The truck driver was killed in the
crash too.
Julie had been staying with us, then Pauline, Brent and
Kyle came over to join the group around 5 PM.
Saturday was nice, it
was nearly 70 degrees and sunny, so we were outside most of the day.
Brent and I went outside and took the bush hog off the small tractor and
hooked up the finish mower to it. I made a quick run to make sure the
mower was working, then parked the tractor. We went to the pole barn and
attached the mower deck to the larger John Deere. I tried it out, then
Linda took over and mowed around the fire pit. Pauline, Julie and Kyle
came outside and joined us. Julie and Pauline played down by the creek
while Kyle was rocked to sleep in his car seat. That was all the work we
did all weekend, we just enjoyed being together. I asked Linda to call
Stephanie and find out if Jason could come out to watch the KY
basketball game with Stacey. She called and Stephanie and Tommy said
they would bring Jason to our house after they had ate. Brent and I
picked up three pizzas and took them back to the house. Stephanie and
Tommy were there and both held Kyle while they watched part of the game.
Julie was doing somersaults and cheers when Stephanie and Tommy left a
little before halftime. KY lost the game and a little while later, Linda
and Stacey took Jason home.
Sunday morning was rainy and cooler, so
we stayed inside and didn't do much of anything to write about. We took
turns holding Kyle and playing with Julie or the dogs. Linda fixed a
nice dinner and then Kyle and Julie took naps right before Nancy Riddle
stopped by to give Julie an Easter Bunny bag and see Kyle. Nancy held
Kyle while setting and talking with us. About an hour later, Pauline and
Brent loaded their car and headed home.
Posted on Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Greening Up
The grass is growing faster and faster each day. We've started mowing and have been moving some flowers that the highway relocation would have taken. We didn't move them earlier because we didn't know they were there until they popped through the ground. I used the back hoe on the tractor to turn them over as Linda picked out the bulbs. Stacey and Linda planted them in another spot while I dug out the bottom piece of an electric pole that the company had just cut off at ground level. I dug around it, then Linda and I hooked a chain to the piece and lifted it out. We were both surprised about the piece being 6 feet long when I pulled it out. I have also used the back hoe to clear the sand and rock out of the ditches between the hay fields. Linda drove the Triumph TR3 to town for a meeting with the manager of the day care. It was just a perfect day, nearly 80 degrees and no humidity.
