Yes. Yes it is.
The Re-Farmer
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Some Handy Hooks
The sun room does not have any power to it, other than the light. Even the switch for that is in the old kitchen. When my dad used it, he had a radio and a clock going, powered by a household extension cord going through the window to the old kitchen. The cord was long enough to go up and over the door, then down to where my dad could reach it from his seat, kept in place behind nails hammered into the door frame.
That cord is still here.
With getting an electric weed trimmer, I needed something other than a household extension cord. So I added my own heavier duty cord through the window, which you can see in this picture, here.
I found those flowers while cleaning the room out and stuck them on the household extension cord as it leads up to the top of the door, but the orange cord has been kind of in the way. Putting it into that shelf works for now but, in time, the shelf will be used for other things.
Today, I came up with a solution.
While emptying the drawer in the table we took out of the sun room, I found two coat hooks. Perfect!
Here they are, now.
I just screwed them into the wall, facing away from each other, and now they keep my extension cord neat and tidy, while still being convenient.
Putting the prie dieu back in front of it, and it’s hidden away, too.
Easy peasy! :-D
The Re-Farmer
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Royal Colours
More goldfinches came, en masse – with a purple finch joining them for a bit!
My older daughter took the photos with the purple finch. :-)
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Repair – Updated
I got the mower in to the shop this morning, to fix the broken belt.
Because I had to drive in from out of town and was going to wait, they worked on my mower first thing after they did their parts run.
It was the drive belt that broke, which controls the cutting blades. The entire section had to be unhooked for the new belt to be installed. They got me a high end Kevlar belt, so it should last many years!
But…
There just has to be a but, doesn’t there?
When I was leaving home, as I braked to take a turn turn, I felt what I thought was the ramps sliding forward to hit my seat. Nope; it was the mower rolling forward, then pushing the cooler into my seat. I commented on it when I got there, and the guy reminded me that there is a parking brake. I didn’t even think of it, partly because I was already driving when it happened.
So when they loaded it into the van after the repair (not an easy job, because once the wheels clear the “lip” of the van, the whole thing drops, then the outside half – the rear, which has the full weight of the engine – needs to be lifted to get it the rest of the way in or out), the guy that guided it from the inside of the van set the parking break for me.
On the way home, however, it still rolled forward.
When my younger daughter and I unloaded it, I did confirm that the parking brake was still on.
After it was unloaded, I took advantage of my daughter being there and showed her everything to check on it and how to work it, then got her to start it and drive it around.
Which is when we discovered, the brake doesn’t work. Not only that, but it will keep rolling even when the drive pedal is NOT engaged. It should come to a stop when the drive pedal is disengaged, even without the brake being used.
I think something broke when it was being loaded back into the van.
I’ve sent them an email, copying my brother who bought it for us, describing what it’s doing. My husband has a medical appointment tomorrow, so the earliest we can take it back is the day after.
Damn.
At least it’s still under labour warranty.
Before I try loading it back into the van, I will have to find something a few inches thick to lay down on the floor of the back, to keep the mower from dropping.
The Re-Farmer
UPDATE: I checked the van and discovered some of the foam insulation that was used around the house during the winter was thick enough to match the height of the “lip” at the back of the van. Not only that, but after checking the space, I discovered that we wouldn’t even have to take the seats out again to fit the mower. I phoned the shop and they were unsure what it might be. I had time enough for my daughter and I to load up the van and drive it over (a 40 minute drive), about an hour and a half before they closed. They unloaded the mower – using their own ramp, this time – then the guy that worked on it before started it up and tested it out. Sure enough, as soon as he put it in gear, it started moving and the brake didn’t work. In fact, he ended up getting hung up on a corner of the ramp, because he couldn’t stop it. He had to shut it off!
So he pushed it into the shop and checked it out. The brake mechanism was working fine. He thought a belt might be loose, but that was also fine. So he went even further under the mower. It turns out there are two bolts that were too far forward, as if they were too tight. It’s possible, he tightened them too much when he reassembled it earlier, or it’s possible that when it did the drop as it was being loaded into the van and the front tires passed the point of no return, and the deck bed hit the ramp/edge of the van opening, it got jammed forward. No way to know for sure. He adjusted them, though, then tested it out. Forward and reverse, driving it out of the shop, and doing a loop before driving to the back of our van. It was working fine!
Unloading, testing, fixing, testing again, then reloading: about 15 minutes.
I just got back from mowing the lawn. :-D
I did as much as I intend to in the outer yard; the grass it just too thick to do all of what I’d wanted to do. It’s not just the new growing grass, but the thatch from last year’s grass underneath, that it making it so hard on the mower. I’ll just have to make sure to keep up with maintaining the parts I have done, so they don’t get overgrown again. As long as we can access, the barn, storage shed and burn barrel.
Then I mowed the south yards by the house. Because I could! :-D
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I’ve Been Rolando Mooned!
We’ve noticed that, when we get the fire pit going, Rolando Moon likes to hang around.
Last night, she decided she really wanted my hot dog.
When she couldn’t get it, she demanded neck skritshes, instead.
It was either that, or she’d fall right off me!
(photos taken by my daughters)
The Re-Farmer
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What is it? A Guessing Game
Today, we went around the vehicle graveyard with a scrap dealer that my mom called, to check out what is here that might be hauled away. Among the old farm equipment was this. Can you guess what it is, or what it does.
Here is the front of the device.
And here is a look at the other side.
I have fond memories of using this thing!
The Re-Farmer
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A Bird in the Hand
Fire Status
First, thank you to everyone who has sent kind words and said prayers for us about the fire. It is so much appreciated!
I have since learned that two homes were lost yesterday. Sadly, one of them did not have insurance. I hope to learn more soon, and see if there is someone organizing help for them.
Just another reminded, of house important it is to have insurance! My mother has property insurance, though it is inadequate, so when we take that over at some point, we intend to improve it. Plus, we have our own content insurance. If anything every happened, we are covered.
One thing I found encouraging when we were preparing for the possibility of evacuating. We now know that, if need be, we could probably be out of the house with our bug out bags and the cats in less than 10 minutes. There just isn’t a lot that we would need to take with us. It’s all just stuff. As long as we have our IDs, medications, and some clothing, plus food for that cats, we’re good. Everything else is replaceable. About the only thing we’d add to the list, if we had time, is the computer towers and laptops.
I went into town with my husband for a medical appointment. We got home shortly before noon. I had to wait until after 2 to go and pick up a parcel in the mail, and my younger daughter came to get some driving practice. We were thinking of going to town to play come Pokemon Go after, but when we got to the post office, there was smoke, everywhere. The fire station parking was full of vehicles from the volunteer firefighters still, but the fire trucks were gone. I asked at the post office and was informed that there is another fire to the North of us.
Of course, the winds are coming from the North, today. :-(
It’s further away and doesn’t seem to be a risk to where we are, but we decided not to go into town. We did drive out to see the fire area before coming home, though.
Here, you can see how the roads themselves can act as fire breaks. This is 1 mile north and about 1 1/2 miles south of our home.
You can’t really see it in the above photo, but there is smoke in the distance, still.
In this area, the fire mostly followed the road, but in some places, when further in.
Every now and then, we’d see an opening like this, and smoke in the distance. The fire is out, but still smoldering in places.
One of the burned out homes. I honestly couldn’t see where the house had been.
It’s a good thing this area is rather marshy, and there are still ponds around as well, with how dry this winter has been.
Still smoking in the distance.
The next videos were taken after the above photo, and while we were on our way back home. Probably about 4 -5 miles from our home, as the crow flies.
Now, if only that predicted rain would actually show up!
The Re-Farmer
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Fire in the area: Update.
Got a call from my brother next door, letting me know there is a fire in the area. We couldn’t see it from our windows until I went out clear of the trees. I then drove a mile south up the road to see better.
This is to the south west of us. The winds are from the south east. It seems to be a few miles away. I called the fire department and did get a call back to confirm they are on site, however we’ve got bug out bags partially packed. The gate is open and the van is by the door. If we need to evacuate, we can be out in a matter of minutes.
Meanwhile, we wait and watch out the windows. I will be going out to see past the trees every now and then.
It’s supposed to rain soon. Pray that it does!
The Re-Farmer
Update:
This fire has apparently been going on for much of the day. It must have been the source of the smoke I was smelling earlier today.
One home has been lost. The fire department has roads blocked and are monitoring, but there isn’t much else they can do. Several farms in the area had done controlled burns in previous weeks, so there is only so far the fire can go before it runs out of fuel. Fires, however, are so unpredictable!
It seems that someone had tried to do a burn on the side of the road, even in this wind. There is an automatic fire ban if winds exceed 20kph, and we were well past that today. From what I’m told, the fire kept jumping the roads and has already covered quite a distance. My brother said he could still see it from a high perch at his place, whenever a spruce tree would go up. Those pretty much explode, they go up so quickly. He, however, was confident enough to go to bed.
I think I’m going to be a bit too wired for that for a while.
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Cats, cats, cats!
Definitely not feeling well today.
Woke up and discovered I’d lost most of my voice, and what speaking I could still do had me sounding like Barry White.
It was a beautiful day, though. My husband actually made it outside. Not only that, but he was able to walk to the end of the driveway and back. Twice!
Okay, that second time was pushing it a bit, and he did have to stop and sit in his walker a couple of times, but it’s the first time he’s been out of the house, aside from doctor’s appointments, in months.
While out, I took a look at the area in front of the shed where we are storing my mother’s stuff. Right around it, things are clear of snow and dry, but there is a large area of water and ice that I’d have to drive through to get to it. We probably could still do it, but I’d rather not deal with all that water while hauling household goods. I’ll check it again in a few days.
Not feeling well meant getting some quality time catching up on projects – I finished a rope basket I was making and got it blocking, along with another basket I’d made a while back, with a lid. I’m testing out a stiffening method that uses Epsom salts.
Blocking 3 dimensional objects is definitely a challenge. The round basket and its lid have a forest of bamboo skewers sticking out of it!
I also got a couple of beaded bracelets done. Need to get my Etsy shop going again, and new inventory is always a good thing.
Which all meant I was near the living room window for much of the day, and finally got photos. Along with the deer, I got cats, cats and more cats!
And a story, in pictures.
Nasty Crime Boy: So there I am, munching on a rodent, minding my own business…
Nasty Crime Boy: … when suddenly BAM!!! I get attacked! Like, out of the blue, Man!
Nasty Crime Boy: And then he was gone, just like that. And I was like… whoa. What just happened, Man?
Squishum: I know nothing.
Squishum: The leaf! I caught it! I have vanquished mine enemy! Bwahahahaha!!
Trüllbus the Crime Eater: I am not associated with those guys over there. I just want my sun spot.
The Hand disapproves.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 