THE DAY WAS SULTRY, OR SUMMER IN MISSOURI

Well, it is getting hot here in the mid-west, or for those who didn’t know, Missouri, not too far from St. Louis and the Mississippi, Missouri, and Cuivre Rivers.  So not only is the temperature rising, it is getting  HUMID!!  Or, as Anne Ramsey says in “THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN”,  it is getting “sultry”.   And with the heat and humidity on the rise, getting the outside chores done has become an early morning, late afternoon endeavor.

The tiller is still in pieces in the garage, and appears destined to stay that way.  Such a shame, but I refuse to throw it out, as you just never know when that part may fall into my lap, like manna from Heaven.  So for now, it will lay on the garage floor, like an old toy that has been forgotten by it’s owner.   The neighbor has managed to borrow a tiller from an uncle, so when it cools off this afternoon, we will till and weed the vegetable garden.  The plants are growing nicely, but so are the weeds, and they always grow faster than the crops.  

We have several other projects in the works.  We are going to paint the shed to look like a barn, but we need to clear the forest that has grown around it before that will be possible.  Of course, we need the chain saw for that.  So, naturally, it spent 15 out of the last 21 days in the shop, over a span of 5 trips.  ARGHHHH!!!  Every piece of power equipment I touch this year has decided that it doesn’t like the idea of manual labor, and has crapped out on me.  I did get it to work long enough to finish the rebuilding of the retaining wall around my flower bed under the bedroom windows.  In pulling the weeds last week, I discovered it was rotting and needed to be replaced.  So, intrepid homeowner that I am, I decided that we would tackle the job ourselves.  For those who don’t know me personally, I am very stubborn when it comes to these types of thing, and once I decide that I can do it, I will not admit defeat.  It took 3 days and the help of the hubby and the son, but it is DONE!!!!!!!   WE pulled the 6x6x8 timbers out from another bed that we decided we didn’t want enclosed anymore, and recycled them into a new wall.  I used the chain saw to cut the timbers, and yes, I did do part of them.  Jacob (the son) did one, I did the rest.  When we were almost done,with the exception of the last 4 pilot holes for the 12″ spikes to tie the timbers together, the drill died.  So I drove those last 4 spikes with the sledge hammer!  So the hubby, the son, and I built that wall all by ourselves. Granted it is not a very big wall and it is not perfect, but none the less, we did it!   I told the hubby that by the end of summer, if we keep this up, I will be a buff, tanned, 50 year old, short person, and he will be a buff, tanned, 57 year old, tall person. 

Well, I need to get the inside chores done, so that I can get to the outside ones that are scheduled for today.  Hope all of you have a great Memorial Day weekend, and for those who serve, both active and veterans,  THANK YOU !!!!!   Don’t forget to thank our service men and women, and to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defending our freedoms.  

Read Full Post »

THE TILLER SAGA CONTINUES AND VARIOUS OTHER TIDBITS

Thought I had found the parts for my tiller, but they have been discontinued.  The tiller is only 8 years old (found the date on the tiller) and they have already decided to stop making the individual parts for the transmission, but they will sell me the whole thing.  I spent most of yesterday searching for a used part, finally found it, the fella was going to sell me the gears that I needed for about $25 each, I was going to come home and put it back together myself.  Then I made the mistake of telling him the reason I needed to buy it from him, he called the supplier, found out that it was truly no longer available, and decided he could not sell me just the parts, but now I had to buy the whole darned used transmission.  And he would so generously lower the price from $300 to $200 and throw in a 30 day warranty.

The whole time he was trying to sell me this “new” transmission, which had grass wrapped around both the wheel and tine axles, he was complaining about how we are a throw away society.  I explained to him that I did not have $200 to spend on the tiller, and that I really wanted to just buy the pinion and the gear assembly.  No go.  He got dollar signs in his eyes.  I then told him that there was no way those transmissions (he had 2) were new, that they were rusted, pointed out the grass wrapped around the axles, and the paint that was peeling off.  He then informed me that was because the fellow that owned them, used to work for Sears, and that he did repair work in his off time, and the building had flooded, so that was why they looked so used.  I then asked him if they were new, why were they in the guy’s repair shop.  He replied that he suspected that the man had stolen them.  That was my cue to leave, but not before informing him, “I will be sure to tell everyone I know how helpful you were to me.”  

I then went to Wally World (anyone who read my previous blog, knows how I feel about them, but they are the only store around with halfway decent prices) for some wasp spray.  I noticed some bald faced hornets on the back porch, and they are mean, so if and when I find the nest I will spray it and kill them.  But I digress.  While in Wal-Mart, I noticed a small tiller, just the size for me, I thought.  I asked the price and the associate told me $99.  That is a deal.  I went back out to the van, told the hubby, and went home to make us a late lunch, and discuss it.  When I got home I got on the Internet and looked for the parts for the old tiller.  Absolutely no luck at all. So we talked about it, and decided that for $100 it was worth it so that I don’t have to hoe the 10,000 square foot garden.  So off we went to Wal-Mart again.  We looked at  the tiller, they offered an extended warranty, we discussed it and decided to buy both the tiller and the extended warranty, as that would give us a total of 4 years coverage.  And we asked, once again, what the price was and were told $99.  We took it to the register, rang it up and the total was $237.  BACK THE TRUCK UP!!!!  $99 plus $19.97 and tax is NOT $237.  She said it must be a mistake, deleted the item and re-rang it.  Nope, she was the one who made the mistake.  It was $199 not $99,  so we left, once again, empty handed.  Guess there is a reason that I am having such a hard time with these tillers, and though I don’t know what it may be,  for now I am giving up the ghost.

When I got home, I got out the power washer, and cleaned the large patio out by the pool.  At least that worked.  When we turned on the pool, the pump wasn’t working, but after calling the pool guy (and informing him that he left part of the stoppers in the pool lines out, that the pool was green as grass because he didn’t put enough chemicals in it, and that this has never happened in the 20 years we have had the pool),  he told me how to fix the pump motor, rather than coming out and charging me $75 for the trip, then $75 an hour, with a 1 hour minimum. I was very nice to him, as I always am.  I don’t generally get upset, as it doesn’t accomplish anything and generally makes things worse.  The person you are talking to gets defensive, and then doesn’t want to do anything to help you, even if they can.  So maybe he picked up on the tension in my voice, as I had really had it with things breaking down by this point.  At any rate, he told me to take the back off the pump motor, spray the shaft with WD-40, then use a pair of pliers to move the shaft.  Put the cover back on, and turn on the pump.  Well, after about 5 tries it finally worked. 

Hopefully, that was the last major breakdown (although the spa still needs an electrician), and now I can get back to my yard and get the rest of the spring work done.  I have 2 more flower beds to clean out, the rest of the concrete to power wash, the screened porch,  garage and shed to clean out, and the rest of the railroad ties along the driveway to take out.  So we are getting there, slowly but surely, and by the end of summer, we probably will be done and ready to hunker down for winter.  AHHH the life of the homeowner.  LOL!!!

Below is a picture of a bald faced hornet nest, taken on my driveway, in one of my red sunset maples.  It appeared almost overnight.

                                                                                       

 This nest was about 18 inches long and 14 inches across.  The hornets (crawling around the outside of the nest) are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, black and white, and have the temperment of all wasps and hornets.  In other words, they are usually angry. LOL!!

Read Full Post »