Long sleeve shirt

10/16/07 Tuesday
This is the first morning I’ve put on a long sleeve shirt. Yep, winter’s on it’s way. After my first Texas summer I suspect I’ll be more sensitive to the cold but I really like it. I think the puppies like it too as they are full of pep and vinegar this morning. But that’s not unusual for these young guys. I am amazed at how quick Trixie has bounced back. She scares me as she gallops and summersaults at full speed when rascal tackles her. She still has the row of stitches on her belly. I check them and a few have fallen out but it hasn’t broke open as I fear.

Yesterday I spent twenty three bucks on parts for the tiller. It was all stuff for the carburetor and the most important was the air filter. I had folded up a piece of T-shirt and made a wire screen backing to hold it in place but when I took the carb off it was full of sand. Really not good. I hope the sand didn’t do too much damage to the interior of the engine but I know it didn’t do it any good. At some point in the future I’ll need to pull the head, hone or bore out the cylinder, and put on new rings. It’s too nice of a classic to let go. Besides, new ones cost six or seven hundred bucks and don’t look near as sturdy.

"Please, Please give us some of your scrambled eggs daddy" Oh yeah, they've got the look down pat.


We went for our walk this morning. Getting back into the habit. I do it mostly for Cherie so she can get some exercise and in better shape. Unfortunately walking is hard on her back and has increased her pain. I think one of those bicycle exercise things would be better and easier on her back. Those are usually not hard to find used as lots of folks get them with dreams of sculpting a perfect body and quickly lose heart. Yep, those failed new year’s resolutions will work to our advantage in this. I’ll start looking for one when we have some spare cash. The CRP check hasn’t been released yet and we don’t know when it will. We got it last year around the tenth of the month. That sucker will get spent fast but on nothing frivolous, all useful and essential things. We’d love to go visit family and friends in Toledo but I don’t think it will happen. That’s about a thousand dollar trip when all’s said and done.

This morning I’m getting back to work on the tiller. I’m debating whether or not I will pull the engine to see about fixing the clutch. That’s allot of work and will turn it into an all day project. I think I will as an investment in this machine. Hopefully I’ll have it running after we get some rain because that will make this hard soil much easier to till. I burned off some more of the land yesterday. When it got dark I was still doing so and it caused a little consternation with the passing motorists. I could see lots of brake lights as they went by and a few stopped and turned around. Most of them seemed relieved when they saw me standing out there with a shovel in my hand. One old guy pulled up to check with me. I told him how much I appreciated his doing so.

Time to get to work folks. The morning started out clear and cloudless but then a fog rolled in. At first it looked like a rain storm with it’s big cloud on top but turned out not to be so. Rain would have been nice for us but I don’t know how that would affect the cotton around here.

See ya later.