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We spent a few days in Cullman this week. I created a work list which we attacked once we got there on Thursday. I had some appointments this week that kept us from leaving as soon as usual. Two of the biggest jobs I wanted to accomplish were to cut the access hole in the brush hog so we could remove the blades and to reconnect one of the brake cylinders so the 284 would have at least 1 brake. It turned out that the bolt was much bigger than I expected so the 2 inch hole wasn't big enough to allow the socket to reach the nut. Since we had already opened a hole, I had to come up with a plan to enlarge the hole without the help of the pilot hole that you normally drill with the hole saw. It occurred to me that I could use a piece of plywood to cut a 3 inch hole and let that hole control the hole saw. It worked. With a little patience, we cut the 3 inch hole and gained access the the nut. Then we encountered the next problem which wasn't unexpected. The nut had not bee...

So Tuesday Dr. Tropeano gave my hip a shot of steroids. They had to put me to sleep to do it. I thought I'd pop up feeling great and ready to over do it. Wrong. That thing hurt like heck. And my throat was irritated and sore. Didn't expect that. It was a very uncomfortable afternoon and evening. With the aid of some Tylenol and some liquid Benadryl to sooth the throat, I got a decent night's rest. That next day the pain was much better. Today is the third day and I'm feeling very mobile. We are about to go up to Cullman to do some work. I'm ready. The hip is feeling good. If only it could be this good from now on. ------------------- Here it is Tuesday. One week later. Hip began to hurt yesterday.  ------------------- Tuesday 8/4: The hip is working better but I am not stressing it a lot.

We arrived Wednesday. I had to replace an ABS sensor on the truck so we got a late start. After lunch I got the extension set and we blew the leaves out of the gutters. We took a ride around the farm and sized up our jobs for this week. The shed had some groundhog holes in it so we released another smoke bomb in there. Thursday started early with spraying all the weeds around the lake and buildings. Diquat really works fast. The grass in the road that I sprayed with Glyphosate was only slightly yellowing by the time we left, but the Diquat sprayed grass was already dead. The suggested Diquat dilution is 7.5 oz per 10 gallon. The suggested dilution rate for Ranger Pro is 2 oz per gallon or 20 oz per 10 gallon. I got started on the big tractor and David relieved me after an hour due to the heat. I rested a bit then fired up the zero turn to get some cutting done that would be hard for the tractor. We tried to take the blades off but couldn't without a pneumatic air wrench.  I had an...

Another rainy week to try and get something done on the farm. I managed to get my grass mown and some of the rotten wood burned up here at home. We were headed up to Cullman on Wednesday morning but I discovered a lost filling. Wound up spending the afternoon at Dr. Henry's getting a crown. With the rain, we hoped there would be breaks so we could get something done. No such luck.  Our projects for this trip included: more rodent control, rabbit control, repair the mail box, service the 55-66, replace the bell post, clear the gutters, and exercise the generators. With the aid of some smoke bombs, David and I filled the holes and released the smoke. After 24 hours, there were no signs of activity. We may have found the answer to those pesky rodents. I sure hope so. They've been a difficult problem to gain control. Bunnies are eating up the tender young plants. We may have to resort to a rabbit proof fence. There is no method to keep they away. There are just too many. The mail b...

A nother work session at the farm. Both boys joined in this time. I took a couple of days working on the back yard deck disassembly. David helped some. Earlier this week with the tropical depression, the humidity made work a sweat shop. We got over half the deck removed. Wednesday was my day for Doctors. I saw the dentist and then the ophthalmologist, Eyes and teeth are ok. We drove up Thursday morning and went to work on the shop. Working quickly, we got the orange paint covered with a coat of barn colored paint. Although we got everything a first coat, some touch-up will have to be done and the trim painted. That took pretty much the first day.  I was able to set up the Fire Stick on the downstairs tv which allowed a little better media experience. I also had a little time to get the belt put back on the Old John Deere mower. It looked like someone tried to put it back on but got it all wrong. The belt is chewed up so a replacement is in its future.  We worked down at the Ga...

We are in Cullman today. David and I put in a good afternoon of work to get most of the grass cut. We took MawMaw to the store to get another lawn mower. The old Murray has gone kaput. So she bought a new John Deere. We also got the right color paint. If the rain stays away tomorrow morning, we can paint the front of the shop. We went out early Tuesday to begin work on the shop but as we were preparing, I noticed the weather radar was getting very close. We just had enough time to get the stuff back in the shed. It started raining and continued thru Wednesday. Mawmaw bought a new John Deere mower. I put a part on the old John Deere which seemed to fix the belt coming off problem. Her hoe handle had come off so we did a little work to get it fixed again. All the old shotguns got a cleaning. We took the down time to hunt varmints on the farm. Managed to get a few. Perhaps we will be ready the next time we go up.

We came to Cullman to have another work week. The boys and I painted the shop but the color came out wrong. Probably need to apply a second coat. A lot of grass was cut. We did some minor work on the mowers and tillers. I even let the boys hunt the groundhogs. Max put a bullet in one of them.  Mawmaw brought out all of the guns that Pawpaw has collected over the years. Most need some attention so I'll bring my cleaning stuff and get it done next trip. The things to do list seems endless, but the constraining factor is how much time we can spend. We are beginning to see what that is.