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Posted on Thursday, August 01, 2013
Middle Of Week Trip To IN
We mowed the grass on Sunday and Monday, so we didn't have much planned
for the middle of the week. We decided to go to IN on Tuesday and check
out a company in Anderson named Direct
Kitchens & Bath. Stacey, Linda and I left the farm and drove the
Malibu to Anderson. We stopped and looked at their displays of cabinets,
sinks and counter tops, asked some questions and then drove on to
Daleville. The owner had agreed to stop at the house later and measure
the area for the cabinets that we wanted installed. He came by a few
hours later and we talked as I helped him take measurements. He was
about ready to leave when three of my old friends dropped in to chat.
The cabinet guy said he would take his figures and compile an estimate
for us and he left. Jeff Babb, Bobby Huffman and Steve Sargent remained
and we talked for a few hours before they left.
Wednesday, Linda and
I emptied the cabinets and set the stuff in tubs or in the china cabinet
in the dinning room. I carried the tubs of things to the basement and
stacked them out of the way. Linda cleaned up the area where they would
need to work in the basement too. She wiped off the counter top and
removed everything that was left.
After
we had finished that job, we walked through the back yard and ate at
Elbert's Bar, then Linda and Stacey went to the Muncie Mall and I
remained at the house. After 3 or 4 hours, they came back and we went to
Pendleton to visit with Nana. We took her to Jimmie's Dairy Bar for a
sandwich and drink. Linda and Nana really like the Bar-B-Que sandwiches
they fix. Linda nailed up an old horse shoe over the entrance to the
porch and then we went inside and stayed a while.
We
went back to the house in Daleville and stayed the night, then closed it
up and left for KY Thursday morning about 8:30 AM. We stopped at
Kingfish and ate outside by the Ohio River, then made it back to the
farm by 2 PM.
Posted on Sunday, August 04, 2013
Birthday Boat Trip & Dixie Cafe
Friday afternoon, Shelly and Jeff Huck stopped by the house on their way
to a party that Pauline and Brent were having at Hidden
Cave Ranch. Pauline and Brent stopped a few minutes later and
dropped off Julie and Kyle. Linda and I were taking care of the kids
during their weekend get away. After about a half hour of conversation,
they all left.
Saturday morning we had breakfast early and then I
pulled the Sea Ray out to the State Park Dock and left it and the truck
in the parking lot. Linda picked me up in the Malibu and we went back to
the farm. Mike Lamont, Frank Miles, Shelly, Jeff, Pauline and Brent took
the boat out for the day on Dale Hollow Lake.
Saturday
afternoon, Linda, Stacey, Julie, Kyle and I went to Byrdstown and ate at
the Dixie Cafe. We met Jennifer and her husband Lee, who was playing
guitar in the Backroom Band. After finishing our meals, we sat and
listened to the band play for a couple of hours, then took the tired
kids and went back towards the farm. On the way back, I stopped at the
State Park and drove the truck with the boat back to the farm as Linda
followed me in the Malibu.
Sunday
around 10:30 AM, all the guests from the party stopped by the house to
say bye and relive some of the events of the weekend. I snapped a group
picture right before they all left for home.
Since
they were all laughing and talking loudly, I guess they had a good time!
Posted on Wednesday, August 07, 2013
NASCAR Collectibles
In order to continue with the tradition that Chuck Anderson started
before he
gave his collectibles and cars to Stacey, we ordered a NASCAR die
cast of this year's Brickyard 400 winner. Ryan Newman had won the race
and we ordered the replica die cast car a couple of days after the race
was over. The postman left the package on the front steps and a note in
the mailbox. Stacey picked up the box and brought it inside, then we
opened up the box. The Generation 6 Car is slightly different than ones
of previous years. The hood and windshield are made different and the
hood opens a little oddly. Something else that I noticed, is the paint
is done in a flat finish, no shine or gloss.
We
will place the new car in "winner's row" inside our display case the
next time we go to the pole barn.
Posted on Monday, August 19, 2013
Stacey's Checkup
Pauline & Brent with the kids were over for the weekend. We went to the
Health & Fitness Center in Albany and went swimming Saturday morning,
then Brent drove to Central Furniture. Pauline and Brent finally picked
out a couch and love seat and purchased those. Linda and I agreed to
pick the couch and love seat up in a few days, they are trying to have
their new carpet laid before putting the new furniture in their living
room. Back at the farm, we moved the old cars around in the pole barn
and hooked the red trailer to the truck so we would be ready to go when
they called.
Stacey had an appointment with Dr Zhu in Bowling Green
this morning. We drove to the Graves-Gilbert Clinic and went inside and
registered. A little later we were called into the exam room and a few
minutes after that Dr Zhu came in and began talking with us. I gave him
a print out of the times and dates that Stacey had needed Valium since
her last appointment. He quickly read those, asked a few questions and
began tapping the keys on his laptop. Stacey had one three day period
where she needed a dose or two of Valium during the 6 months since her
last visit, so he recommended he see her in a year. We are to get her
blood tests before the next visit and have them faxed to Dr Zhu. We were
done and Stacey was happy, no blood tests right then, and don't come
back for a year. All good news! Stacey was ready to eat lunch, she
picked Mancino's. After that, we stopped at Sam's Club for some large
quantities of grocery supplies, renewed our membership and then back to
the farm.
Posted on Saturday, August 24, 2013
Furniture Delivery
As I had previously mentioned, we had hooked the red trailer to the
truck, so Thursday, Stacey and I were ready to go pick up the furniture
that Pauline and Brent had purchased. First we drove to town and filled
the truck with gas, then mailed a large envelope to the UAW Legal
Service in Anderson. After that we headed to Greensburg and on to
Central Furniture. I pulled around back and parked the truck and
trailer, then went inside. They had moved the couch and love seat to the
back door, so I went outside and backed the trailer over to where they
directed me to park. Two guys loaded the couch in the trailer, then set
the love seat upside down on top of the couch. I used a couple of
afghans to cover the new furniture in hopes it would not get damaged. We
closed the doors and headed back to the farm. There I backed the truck
and trailer into the pole barn and closed the doors. Later in the
afternoon, I messaged Brent and let him know we had the furniture, then
we set Saturday morning as the time for us to deliver it to their house.
Saturday
morning Stacey fixed Linda and I each a sausage biscuit for breakfast
before we left the farm at 9 AM. We drove to Pauline and Brent's house
and I pulled the truck into their back yard and then backed up to their
back patio door. We talked a few minutes while we looked at the new
carpet and fresh paint job in the living room. After laying a piece of
carpet across the door threshold we began the job of carrying in the two
pieces of furniture. The door was too narrow, so we had to stand the
love seat on end and slowly turn it with the top going through first,
then turning again so the seat went through and then the foot rest was
last. Crymanittly, that thing was heavy! It is a rocking double recliner
love seat, so there was excessive amount of steel frames under it. We
took a break to reevaluate our plans for the couch. Brent and I decided
there was no way the couch would go through the door, so he measured the
doors and the kitchen looked like our best option. I moved the truck and
trailer into the side yard where we wouldn't need to carry the couch
very far. We hoisted the couch out of the trailer and began inching it
through the doorway. Push, turn, lift, turn, tilt, lift and push,
finally it was through, now one last lift into the living room. We
quickly set it down! OK, that went well (sarcasm). We both decided that
they would include delivery when they bought their next set of
furniture. LOL Everyone had to take a turn setting, reclining and
rocking before we left for lunch in Bowling Green. When we finished
lunch, we made a short stop at Jo Ann's Fabrics for Pauline to pick up
some stuff and then went back to their house for 'discussions' of where
to put things in the living room. Linda and Brent began loading the red
trailer with things Pauline and Brent no longer wanted at their house.
I'm not sure what we're supposed to do with that trailer load of stuff,
but of course, Linda has a plan for it. Once we were back at the farm,
we simply unhooked the trailer and left it behind the pole barn.
Posted on Monday, August 26, 2013
Mule Troubles
Our trusted Kawasaki Mule began giving us trouble. The temperature light came on, so we parked it and waited for it to cool down. The next day, we tried it out again, but the temperature light didn't light up. We drove down the road and back, maybe an eighth of a mile, as we pulled into the driveway, it quit running. I brought out the tractor and Linda hooked the chain so I could pull the Mule the rest of the way in the driveway. This is where the work really started. We needed to clean off the black trailer that I would need to haul the Mule to get the service done in Columbia. It happened to be filled with old barn siding from the barn we had torn down and had a tire that needed air pumped into it. We planned on storing the barn siding in the upper barn loft, so we needed to move the hay wagon out of there with the little tractor and put the wagon in the tractor shed. Before we could do that, Linda needed to air up the tire and I needed to hook the red pickup truck to the black trailer and pull it out of the tractor shed. We progressed through this juggling act until everything was in the right places, oh, and in 90 degree heat. Linda began knocking the nails out of the old boards and stacking them in the corner of the barn. I helped a little, but decided it was too hot and it was taking too long. She wanted to continue anyway, so I told her what ever she didn't get done, I would do in the morning when it was cooler. The next morning, Linda went to work at the school and I went to the barn to finish the job of moving the boards. I didn't take the nails out, but made a separate stack so we could remove the nails later. I swept the nails that had fallen out and pieces of debris off the trailer into a garbage can so maybe we won't get flat tires in the future. I pulled the empty trailer down to the pole barn, aired the tires up to the correct pressures, then pulled the trailer over near the Mule. I let down the tailgate and drove the Mule onto the trailer. Stacey and I closed up the house and I drove to Columbia with the Mule on the trailer. I filled up the truck with gas, then we took the bypass around Columbia and stopped at Rex's ATV & Cycle shop. After going inside and setting up the service work order, two guys came out to unload the Mule. It wouldn't start or roll!?#$%^&*!?!? We finally were able to push it forward a little and then roll it off the trailer. No telling what this is going to cost, I saw a sign stating their labor rates were a crisp $85 an hour. I hope it only takes a few minutes to fix it. Stacey and I left, ate lunch and picked up groceries on the way back to the farm.