Monday, September 1, 2008
This was filling-in-the-ditch day. After a couple of hours working on a map of the yard, I spent a few hours with the WD and loader scooping up dirt and dumping it in the ditch where I intsalled the new water line to the barn. I also took some time to find out where the short was in the electric line to the barn, applied at least a temporary fix, and got the power back on. I decided to try the grinder in the barn, and when I pulled the switch the thing hummed like it wanted to start, but nothing moved. I shut it off, and grabbed the wheel and turned it by hand. Dried mud fell out in a little cloud of dust. After I turned the wheel enough to knock all the mud dauber nests loose, I pulled the switch and the grinder started right up the way it should. I turned on the drill press too, and it also had to knock loose a few mud dauber nests to get going. They have been busy little critters.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Did a little seedling removal in the back yard, then went to work on the WD. Yesterday I found that the loader wouldn't raise more than a couple of feet off the ground, so this afternoon I had to refill the hydraulic fluid. I put in almost a gallon of the stuff. Apparently there's a leak I'll need to find and fix. With the loader working properly, I started to do more ditch filling, but then the rain started. Tomorrow is another day.
Friday, September 5, 2008
After too many weeks of neglecting the project, took a little time to work on the TT. I was going to replace brake expander bushings in the rear end case, but when I got an old one out and compared it to the new one I found that the replacement is much too big to fit. This is all too common. A repeated gripe about reproduction parts for old vehicles it that they often don't match the originals in fit, quality of materials, or quality of manufacture. Now I'll have to conduct a search and find something that matches the original part or comes close enough to be usable.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
After doing laundry first thing this morning,
I drove down to Tonkawa for an auction. It was a very successful
trip. I bought a 225 amp Lincoln welder for $85 and tax. I was
delighted to get exactly what I went for, and get it cheap. I
drove home by way of Ponca City and did some shopping. After another
good dinner at La Fiesta, I went and saw Bangkok Dangerous
this evening. It won't be regarded as a classic film, but it's
a well-made and well-acted shoot 'em up.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Yesterday
was drizzly here, so I took advantage of the soft ground to pull
a couple of patches of weeds that were in my way, then did some
tree trimming. There were some branches getting down low enough
to be face-grabbers when I mow, so they had to go. While I was
at it I took time to cut off little locust trees that were starting
up in the lawn, and dosed the stumps with Tordon. The stuff I
had sprayed on them worked on the broader leafed stuff, but didn't
finish off the locusts. Some of Miss Kitty's bunch came out and
kept me company.
Monday, September 8, 2008
I thought I'd get more ditch filling done today, but I hadn't been at it more than about fifteen minutes before the rain started. Maybe tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 9, 2009
Today was a dry one, so I was able to get the tractor out and do more ditch filling. I got a couple of dirt piles back into the ditch, and have one big one still waiting. I hope to have it pretty well done this week, and be ready to dig the ditches for the last part of the project this weekend. If all goes well I should have the new lines in, the ditches filled, and the ground leveled by the end of the month.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
With the return of wet weather, it was another day for inside work. I removed the worn bushing from one of the TT rear perches. Having the spring and perch bushings out to compare, I found that the reason the new ones didn't match was because their labels were switched.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The monsoon continues, and the forecast is for more rain tomorrow and on into Saturday. After that the hurricane presently coming ashore in Texas may push some moisture up this way and add some more. I was planning on digging ditches for the last water lines this weekend, but the weather's putting a stop to that. With a family reunion coming in a couple of weeks, I probably won't have time to get those new pipes in until October. I spent part of the afternoon checking measurements on those TT brake expander bushings and trading emails with the manufacturer. He's going to make some new ones in the right size.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Today I removed the brake expander bushing from the other half of the TT rear end case, and removed the other spring and perch bushings. With the perch bushings removed, I put the perches and spacers into a small tub of rust remover. Tomorrow I'll take them out, install the new bushings, and paint. One of these days I'll get back to sand blasting some parts, but that will wait until after I get this place ready for the family reunion and, I hope, drier weather arrives. I was surprised to find only .4" in the rain gauge this afternoon. As soggy as everything is, I expected more.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
What a bummer! I spent a couple of hours driving over to Anthony for an auction only to find it was cancelled because of all the rain. I guess I should have looked at the auction company's website before I started over there. I spent the rest of the day painting the TT rear perches and getting started on house cleaning. The big part of house cleaning is putting away all the stuff I set down with the thought that I'd put it away later. Now it's later, and there's a lot of stuff.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Today's auction wasn't rained out, but it was moved. The neighbors sold a lot of stuff, but the sale was moved to town because parking at their place would have been a muddy mess. There wasn't much of interest to me, but I did pay $2 for an ice cream freezer pail. My old freezer is still good except for the pail, so this was a good find. After the auction I spent the rest of the afternoon mowing.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Mowed again. All the wet weather has kept me from it for awhile, so the high grass make it pretty slow going. About fifteen minutes before quitting time the tractor died. The fuel filter had a lot of debris in it, including a spider carcass, so I suspect something clogging the carburetor. I took the carburetor off, and tomorrow I'll clean it out and hope that solves the problem.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Cleaned out the carburetor, blew compressed air through the passages, and put it back on. Problem solved. I spent the rest of the afternoon mowing.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
It was another afternoon of mowing. I had to go over some areas with the mower up high to keep it from bogging down, then lower it and mow them again. One more session should finish up the mowing, then I'll get to house cleaning.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
I almost finished the mowing. Unfortunately, as I was nearing the end the mower came down with a broken control spring, so I'll have to get a new one tomorrow. My other chore this afternoon was to bring home 150 feet of pipe for more new waterlines in the yard. I won't get around to installing them until October, but I might as well be ready when the time comes.
Friday, September 19, 2008
With family reunion just a week away, I got started on house cleaning today. The part that takes the most time is deciding where to put things. I also found out where Zeke has been hanging out. He's been pretty scarce for a couple of days, and today I found he was at the neighbors' across the road with his lady friend.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
After doing the laundry, I spent most of the day on more house cleaning. There's enough to do to keep me at it for at least two or three more days. After dinner at La Fiesta I went and saw Swing Vote. I thought it was very good. Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, and Kelsey Grammer are all as good as one might expect, and Madeline Carroll as the daughter is wonderful. Some parts are laugh-out-loud funny, and at least one scene is a pretty good tear-jerker. I would call this one of the best pictures I've seen this year.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
This was the day to clean the bathroom and the kitchen, so I got to do a lot of vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing, and wiping. I suppose I need to do that stuff more often so I'd have less of it to do all at one time.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Grocery shopping and a visit to the dentist ate up my whole afternoon. Little brother Mike arrived about 3:30 with his three Saint Bernards and small auxilliary dog. They'll be here until after next weekend's family reunion, so Zeke will have plenty of company to play with. Miss Kitty and her bunch may not enjoy it so much.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Finished sweeping and mopping the kitchen. Cleaned the top of the stove. Whoopee. More house cleaning tomorrow and Thursday.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
I didn't have much time after work, so I just did a little yard work. I'm taking tomorrow off to get ready for the weekend, and will probably spend most of it on the house.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
As expected, I spent most of the day on cleaning house, with about a half hour of yard work at the end. I got most of it done, with a little more to finish up in the morning.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Some reunion attendees arrived today, and we visited the Cherokee Strip Landrush Museum. The museum commemorates the land rush of September 16, 1893, as well as Arkansas City history. We ended the day with a cookout in the yard, with hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The big day brought a turnout of over thirty, ranging in age from one year to eighty-eight. After a morning of visiting and a lunch under the trees, we went up to the cemetery for a burial service for our late cousin Clara Mae. We ended the day with another cookout and had a good visit.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
After breakfast in town with departing relatives, I got busy in the yard. One job was to go to work with pick and shovel and uncover a sewer line and a phone line to avoid hitting them when digging with the backhoe. I should be ready to start digging Friday for the last water lines.
Monday, September 29, 2008
This afternoon I laid out several sections of pipe to plan where I'm going to dig next weekend. I staked out a string to make a straight line, and will add another before I get to digging.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The first chore this afternoon was to take the truck and buy some fill sand. I used that to fill the hole in the barn where the faucet comes up. The pipe to the faucet will have a brick floor around it, a couple of feet square, and any water spilled can go between the bricks and down into the sand. Then I fired up the WD and used the loader to start filling in the ditch next to the barn. I want to get that part done this week and get that ditch out of the way for the truck and the tractors.