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Posted on Monday, August 03, 2009
Watching NASCAR
Since the NASCAR race at Pocono was rained out yesterday, Stacey called
Jason and asked if he would want to come to our house and watch the race
with us. He did, so she told him we would pick him up at 10:30. Linda
was working, so Stacey and I picked Jason up and came back to the house
and began watching the race. After Linda finished working, she stopped
and picked up two pizzas and brought those home with her. We all ate
while watching the race. We argued and teased about our favorite drivers
as the race wound down to the finish. None of our drivers won, but we
had fun watching and teasing each other. After the race had ended, we
went outside to take Daisy for a run around the hay fields. Stacey was
driving the Mule with Jason riding along and Linda and I were riding the
ATVs. Stacey and Jason loaded Daisy in the back of the Mule and headed
for the creek to let her out to run.
Stacey
drove the Mule around the hay fields that had just been cut with Linda
and I following on the ATVs. Daisy romped through the hay and around the
edges of the hills as we enjoyed the beautiful weather. When we went to
another field, I stopped Stacey and told her to let Jason drive. She
moved over and Jason took over the driving.
Jason
made several laps around the field and then parked while Daisy ran
around, rolled in the hay and just enjoyed being out of her pen.
We
drove back to the house, put Daisy in her pen and went down to the new
pole barn to pick up a carburetor that I need to have rebuilt. Stacey
and Jason took a couple of more laps around the hay field in the Mule,
then we parked all the vehicles and took Jason home.
Posted on Thursday, August 06, 2009
Barn Demolition
Last week while Linda and I were mowing, Jim Hawkins stopped by and
asked us if we were through with our old buildings. We told him we were
done and he could start the highway relocation on our property when ever
he was ready. Jim is the project engineer for the highway relocation in
Cumberland County. He walked through our new pole barn and talked with
us a while, then as he was leaving he said if we need anything else to
let him know.
Yesterday, three guys drove up and began working on the
barn. I went down to see what was going on and they said they were going
to take the barn apart piece by piece and reuse most of the metal and
wood. They took all the roofing off yesterday, one piece at a time,
stacked it on their truck and hauled it away at the end of the day.
This
morning, they showed up again and began taking the roof lath off. They
were using crowbars to pry the pieces loose and drop them to the ground.
Then they pounded out the old nails and put the pieces on a trailer.
I
turned the web cam in the window so that it shows the barn as they're
tearing it down. Around noon, Johnny Davidson showed up with his track
hoe and unloaded it and started knocking down the frame of the barn. It
didn't take long once he started till the barn was completely on the
ground. Then the guys started hooking chains to the larger frame members
and Johnny lifted them out with the track hoe and loaded the pieces onto
a trailer.
Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2009
Boating Trip With Family
Linda had picked Julie up on Thursday while I watched the barn being
torn down. Friday we played with Julie, rode in the Mule and just
enjoyed her being with us. Pauline and Brent came over Friday evening
and ate supper with us when they arrived.
Saturday was going to be
hot, so we had planned a boating trip to Dale Hollow. The boat was
already hooked to the truck in the pole barn, but we had to put on the
new stickers that had came in the mail from the DNR. After sticking
those on and parking the Mule in the pole barn, we pulled the boat to
town and filled it with gas and bought ice. We stopped at Jones'
Restaurant and ate breakfast before driving on out to the lake and
launching the boat. We were hot after the short ride around the marina,
so Brent pulled us into a cove quickly and we took a short swim to cool
off. Whew, we all felt better after that. It was in the mid 90s when we
climbed back in the boat and headed on towards the dam. I pulled us into
a nice place to swim and as we were almost stopped, I looked up and
thought I saw two ducks in the water a ways off. I quickly realized that
what I saw were the heads of two deer swimming from a small island to
the mainland shore. I pointed it out to everyone and they saw the deer
too. As the deer made it to the shore and walked out of the water, we
all realized it was a doe and a very young deer. We pitched our anchor
out and enjoyed swimming for over an hour before loading back into the
boat and taking a short ride to Mitchell Creek to eat at their new
restaurant We went inside and ate, it took over an hour, and when we
came back outside it seemed even hotter. Another couple of rides, then
stopping and swimming and we were back to Dale Hollow State Park ramp.
We loaded the boat on the trailer and headed back to the farm. We pulled
the truck and boat into the pole barn at 5:30 PM and left them hooked up
ready to go next time. I noticed that while we were at the lake, Johnny
Davidson had cleaned up the debris left from the barn demo and put it in
a dumpster. The dumpster was completely filled with the wood pieces.
This
morning we had breakfast at the house, then took the tractor, hay wagon
and Mule with chainsaws and headed across the creek. Brent rode in the
raised tractor scoop and used the chainsaw to cut the limbs hanging down
around the hay field. He dropped the limbs on the hay wagon and then we
hauled them down to the creek. I slid the limbs off the wagon with the
tractor's scoop and we put the equipment up. It was already hot at 10
AM. We went inside and cooled off as Pauline watched Julie play on the
back porch. Linda fixed us a nice dinner and then PB&J left for home
about 4:30 PM
Posted on Sunday, August 16, 2009
Imon Returns 1965 Mustang
Linda and Imon came down to the farm Friday with the 1965 Mustang on a
trailer behind his truck. Imon had painted the car and fixed several
other issues before returning it. Linda drove it a little and it had
some problems with a dirty gas tank. We parked the car in the barn and
went inside for drinks. We came back out and took Daisy for a run with
Linda and Linda riding in the Mule and Imon and I riding the ATVs. After
that we went inside for the evening and had supper and talked until
bedtime.
Saturday morning, Pauline, Brent and Julie arrived in time
for the breakfast that Linda and Stacey cooked. After eating, we decided
to work on the car and clean the fuel filter and fuel line. Imon and
Brent took the line loose back by the tank and we used compressed air to
blow the line out. They went to NAPA and bought a new fuel filter while
I took Julie and Pauline a ride in the Mule to watch Daisy run around
the fields. I then used a tedder on the hay in the field while they
returned to NAPA for an in line fuel filter that would work. They
replaced the filter and drove the car up the road a couple of miles with
me following and it seemed to run OK. We went inside for lunch, then
after lunch Linda and I took the Mustang for a drive through town and on
the way back the car stopped completely and would not restart. The new
fuel filter was clogged and nothing was getting through. Linda called
and Brent and Imon came in our pickup and towed us back to the farm. We
removed the gas tank and dumped the gas into cans. We notice there was
quite a bit of rust in the gas, so I decided we would order a new tank
so that Linda wouldn't get stranded again. We strained the gas through a
towel into the ATVs and put the car in the barn until the tank arrives.
Inside the house, Brent used the computer to order the gas tank. PB&J
stayed and talked with us and Linda and Imon until nearly dark, then
they woke Julie up and headed home. Linda, Imon, Stacey, Linda and I
continued the conversations until almost 11 PM.
Sunday morning, we
had breakfast, put our old John Deere mower on Imon's trailer and loaded
in a few more old push type string trimmers for him to take home and fix
before Imon and Linda left for IN about 10 AM. Linda and I waited until
a little after 5 PM to bale the hay in the field across from the house.
It was good timing, as we started, Steve Riddle drove up on his tractor
and helped Linda stack the hay on the wagon. A few minutes later, Nancy
dropped in and climbed on the wagon to help. It was short work, only
about 30 bales, and then Nancy and Steve left for home. Linda helped me
put all the equipment back in the sheds and barns and we went inside to
rest.
Posted on Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Mustang's New Tank
Brent ordered a new gas tank and sending unit for the 1965 Mustang from Year One and UPS delivered it. I brought the box inside and opened it. There were all the parts we needed to install the new pickup/sending unit and the gas tank. Linda came home from working and after a little while we went to the pole barn to install the tank. We checked the fit, then Linda painted the tank while I cleaned the flange where the tank bolted on. We opened the tube of caulk and laid a bead around the flange, then set the tank in place. I used the old screws to fasten the tank to the car, then hooked up the filler neck to the tank and the rear panel of the body. I went to get the air compressor while Linda painted the top portion of the tank. We unloaded the compressor from the back of the Mule and plugged it in and let in build up pressure. I then unhooked the gas line from the fuel pump and used the compressed air to blow through the line to remove any debris left from the old tank. I hooked the line back to the pump and replaced the fuel filter by the carb with a new one. Finally, I laid under the rear of the car and hooked the fuel line to the pickup on the tank with a new rubber hose and clamps supplied with the pickup/sending unit. We put gas in the tank and tried starting the car. We needed more gas, so Linda took our gas can and returned with enough gas to get the Mustang started. It filled the fuel filter and ran well. OK, so we decided to drive to town and fill the tank at the station. I followed in the truck with Stacey and Linda in the Mustang. We filled the tank and there were no leaks, so we decided to drive the car a little further. Linda drove to the Chevy dealership and then I drove the Mustang towards Albany. The Mustang ran great until we started up the large hill near Bear Creek. It began to spit and sputter and I had trouble the rest of the way to Albany. We stopped and ate at Burger King and then Stacey rode with Linda driving the Mustang back toward the farm. I stopped and talked with Alvin about what could be wrong with the car for a few minutes. I drove the truck on towards home and found Stacey and Linda stopped in town. The Mustang wouldn't run any farther. I hooked the snatch strap to the truck and the front of the Mustang and Linda drove the truck pulling me home in the Mustang. Back at the farm, we unhooked the strap and let the Mustang roll into the barn where it started and ran OK.
Posted on Monday, August 24, 2009
Track Hoe Takes Down Trees
Linda and I had watched the track hoe take down the neighbors trees
Saturday, but this morning they were working where we used to own. The
trees around the old barn and the house trailer were next in line
The
track hoe operator used the hoe to literally pull the trees and bushes
out of the ground and then piled them in a pile and picked the debris up
with a "thumb" mounted on the end of the hoe. He used it to pinch the
limbs and tree trunks as he carried them across the front of our
property and piled them on a pile of burning debris from the day before.
While
the hoe operator was burning the limbs, another person was cutting down
trees where the old house trailer had been. The track hoe returned and
dug out the steel pipe we had used for a culvert and laid it aside in
case I wanted to use it somewhere else. He made a few more trips to the
burn pile to add more limbs and keep the fire burning as the other guy
continued to cut trees.
I
moved to the other side of the road and took pictures from there of our
house and as he moved the track hoe up the bank to the area where the
trailer had been located. He took over the job of taking down the trees.
He used the hoe to strip some of the lower limbs, then would grab the
tree trunk and break it off, swing the entire tree over to a new pile he
had made and drop it.
After
he broke off the last tree and dug out the stumps, a fuel truck pulled
up and they filled the tank and greased the fittings on the hoe. After
filling the tank with fuel, the operator pumped about 20 gallons of
diesel in to the bucket of the track hoe, then swung it around and
dumped the diesel on the pile of limbs. They lit a rag soaked in diesel
fuel and tossed it on the pile. There was a repair truck that pulled up
and replaced one of the points on the track hoe's bucket and they were
done for the day.
Posted on Saturday, August 29, 2009
Mulching At PB&J's House
I contacted Pauline on Skype and asked if they were planning on working around their house. She said that Brent was still going to work outside and they would be home. Linda and Stacey took showers and washed their hair and then I took my turn in the shower. We left the farm about 8:30 AM and went through Burkesville to fill up the pickup truck with gas. After the ride to Smith's Grove and on to PB&J's house, I pulled in the driveway to find them outside and working on their bushes. I exited the truck and told Julie to come and see me, she ran over giggling and I picked her up and received a big hug and kiss. I told her to give Linda some of that and she did, then went on to Stacey. We watched to see what Pauline and Brent were doing, then joined in the work. As Brent was nearly finished with the trimming, Stacey and I left in the truck to pickup a load of mulch a few miles away. We called on the cell phone and the guy came down and loaded one scoop of mulch in the truck bed with a skid steer. I drove back to the house and parked in the driveway. We worked a little while longer, then went inside for a bit. After playing with Pico, Poco, Coco, and Julie, we loaded into PB&J's Traverse and went to the Puerto Vallarta restaurant for lunch. After lunch, Pauline and Linda wanted to do a little shopping, so we stopped at 4 or 5 stores on the way back to PB&J's house. Brent and I unloaded the mulch into his wheelbarrow and he dumped it several places in their planting beds. Linda and Pauline spread the mulch over the rest of the beds while we cleaned all the mulch out of the pickup and off the driveway. When we had finished, we went around back and watched Julie play on her swing set until almost dark. Stacey, Linda and I headed back to the farm about 7 PM.
