Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Wednesday, July 29, 2009
There are quite a few clouds in the sky this morning, but the sun is shining for now. NWS is predicting no rain and my barometer is showing rain, plus it is cold this morning. Cold enough that after about 45 minutes of thinking the sunroom would warm up, I broke down and built a small fire. It was 62 inside and 50 outside, so the fire was nice to have. The forecast for the week, according to the newspaper I read while waiting on Monday, predicted it warming back up to the high 80s by this afternoon, but then that was for the valley and not at my altitude.
I spent the morning going through the 39 email I had, having ignored the past couple of days worth, and viewing more videos on the state of our country. Zack and I played and because the weather became warmer with the sun shining more often than not, I changed into my work clothes and went out to mow my front acreage. With all of this rain, and then the sunshine inbetween storms, the area has not only stayed green, but grown like . . . well, weeds, or as I should said, meadow grass and wildflowers.
Well, I tried. I got side tracked a few times, but finally got outside and started up the trail mower and Argo and off I went to slay the many tall green stocks, no matter they weed or wildflower. I made one sweep of the area and the bolt that adjusts the height of the mower broke. The front dropped all of the way to the ground and I came to a stop. I got out of the Argo and assessed the situation, backing the mower up to find the offending hardware, trying to reach up under the mower deck (it was already shut off) to see if I could reattach the nut.
I walked back to the shed and gathered some tools and then back at the mower I was able to tread the washer and nut back onto the threaded adjustment rod and tighten it. I then attempted to adjust it so the front of the deck was off the ground, but found that the adjustment rod would only go so far and it wasn’t enough to clear the ground. After fussing with it for some time, I gave up and drove it, or more like dragged it, back to the shed and shut the Argo off. I will need to disassemble the entire system and jack the mower deck up so I can see what is going on under the unit. It was getting dark and cold so I quit.
I grabbed the spray tank and sprayed numerous thistle that I had spotted in my short trip, but one led to another, and another, and another . . . I am sure you get the picture. I sprayed until the tank was empty and then went in to shower and relax.
It is now 8:30, so I will fix myself some dinner, having already fed Zack and Zoey before going out to mow, and watch television until bedtime.