Rainy work session

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 box that had been bashed so hard by idiots back in March had finally fallen apart. I had put some work into reattaching the box to the base but the upright had finally broken away. After a trip to Lowes, we installed a new mail box post with new numbers has been installed. While there, we picked up a new post for the bell PawPaw got at the auction. During the process of removing the bell from the pole, the holder tipped and I lost my grip. The bell, which was only sitting in the yoke fell and landed directly on a rock knocking off 5 pieces of the edge. I went ahead with the pole replacement. I hate to return work that is less than perfect. My first thought was how can we weld or braze the pieces back together. I don't know anything about welding cast iron or any kind of metal actually. But I remembered JB Weld. I picked up a package at the NAPA store. You mix the two ingredients and use a toothpick to apply it to the borders of the break. Then carefully, I placed all the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.  In a moment of inattention, I tried to move the bell and it fell apart. With immediate attention, I returned the pieces to their places. After a few minutes I could see where each seam appeared to be bonding. Now the whole thing has to cure. When we left, the bell was assembled in the back room with instructions not to move it for a few days.

Service of the 55-66 was more of a challenge than we expected. There are 3 fluid filters on it that are all the same size as the oil filter. Paw paw had a collections of filters in the shed. But there weren't any oil filters and had to go get some. Then during the change process, I pulled off the hydraulic fluid filter first, then had to put it back and replace the fluid. The oil pan held just under 2 gallons, not the 4 gallons I was told it used. David found the Manual for the tractor, but nowhere does it given fluid capacities. You have to accept the evidence of your catch bucket. After changing the filter and replacing the oil, I acted on the hunch I had about the many gallons of pre-mixed antifreeze I saw in the barn. The 55-66 was low on coolant. I'll have to  check the levels every time we use it in the future.

Exercising the generators went smoothly. It only took a few pulls, and some starting fluid, to get the smaller generator going. The Honda generator started quickly with a key. I need to label the panel and make a guide for starting it when needed.

Finally, all the rain was making it flood off the front porch, spilling out of the gutter I held the ladder for David and he cleared the down spout on the western side.  The other side was very high and we couldn't get a confident placement for the ladder. I have an idea for a long tube I could connect to a shop vacuum to suck the leaves out of the gutter.

Boys on the farm

Another 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 Galin place Friday morning. With help from Max, I moved the tree off the house and cut it up for the burn pile. I got David on the Bush-hog to cut the high grass that Sonya hadn't cut down close to the area where they are taking hay.

Preston had removed the old Farmall tractor that belonged to "Big-un" so that opened up some room in the barn. So while David roto-tilled the garden and did some more bush-hogging and Max used the zero turn to mow below the barn on Friday afternoon, I went on a reorganization mission and moved things into a more efficient plan, at least for me. First we took all the trailers and tractors out of the barn.  I needed the 3 point hitch to move the implements, so I used the old 284 tractor despite it not having brakes. Turns out you don't need brakes so much. You just have to keep it in gear. I even moved the old finish mower from under the shop. My next move is to go over it and replace the belts needed to get it operating. If that happens, we will start using it for some of the mowing jobs. Maybe even some plowing.  

Memorial Day Work Days

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.

Another work week at the farm...

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.

Changing times

On April 3rd, Bev's father passed away. He was taking immunotherapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma so it wasn't completely unexpected, but it was actually a bout with pneumonia which lead to this end. Just prior to his hospitalization, he spoke with me about the many projects that were necessary to keep the farm operating. He was concerned that Bev's mom had what she needed to continue to live there. We spoke about what needed to be done to maintain the equipment. He would speak about each tractor or area of the farm and what needed to be done with them. After a portion he would conclude with, "Now this is yours". I realized he wasn't giving them to me, he was giving me the responsibility for each. It was touching. I was reminded of a similar time with my own dad back in 1984 when he was dying with cancer.

The isolation required by the pandemic made visiting him and attending to him so much harder for Bev and Mom. They were taking turns with one staying all day and the other all night up until the very end when they were both there most of the time. It was exhausting for them. Then there was the funeral arrangements that had to take the COVID 19 restrictions into consideration. Finally there was a grave side service with just the immediate family. The community came and stood outside the fence at the graveyard.
 I'm making a log of my activities here so I can search them to see what I've done and to be able to reference what was done when.

So now I've taken on the task of keeping the grass mowed, the fields bush-hogged, and tools working. There are a lot of things to keep running.We drove up this Monday and started putting the mowers and tillers in order. I aired up the tire on the big trailer and transported the Big Country 6 wheeler to get new tires. The belt replaced on the John Deere. The blade removed and sharpened on the Murray. Next the Troy Bilt carburetor cleaned. Then the reverse gear sorted out. The pond grass was sprayed with Triclopyr. Then attention was turned to the shop. Years worth of accumulation were taken out and sorted. Years worth of sawdust was vacuumed up. Shelves put up. Peg board put up. And the process of reorganizing begun. We found boxes and boxes of assorted bits that evidently were purchased at the auction. The shop is down to a couple of corners that need sorting.

Next time I'm there I need to get the auto ramps for the zero turn blade changes cleaned up. Sharpen the blades on the old zero turn. Bush-hog some. Change the oil in some of the mowers with that new tool I intend to make and the 55-66. And perhaps get the boys to help me paint. I also need to collect the waste oil and take it up to Ricky Baker's. If all the grass in the lake doesn't die, I need to get it sorted out.

Meanwhile, I've ordered a part for the mower deck on the John Deere that I hope will keep the belt on better. Also still looking for those covers for the pulleys. Oil changing is something of a problem with so many small engines so I'm ordering a vacuum device to make it easier.

A new schedule for living...

Now that I'm about to embark on the Citizens Hospital job, I'll work a different schedule than Coosa. No more mornings to either sleep in or go hike or ride. Instead I'll have evenings after 7pm more or less and after 4pm on weekends. I am thinking I could resume karate for a time to rebuild flexibility and strength. I don't know if the lesson structure would be worthwhile to do that given the dojo's predilection for talking and ranting. They waste a  lot of time we could be working out. So I've given thought to the 24/7 workout place.This would also be a good time to enforce a good diet plan. I also want to continue to study.

Citizens Hospital

So after 15 years I'm making a change. The continued warning signals about cash flow and other considerations have forced me to pursue a position at another hospital. It seems the best thing to do considering my need for a secure work situation. With my age being over 60, I didn't want to wait for things to fail and have to go into a potentially saturated job market hoping to score a spot somewhere. So now I have a new position. Time will tell.