Gotta keep pluggin away

3/8/08 Saturday
I’m pretty discouraged. Worked all morning on the carburetor for the tiller. Took it all apart and carefully cleaned every part. Then I went online to learn how to adjust it and followed the directions as closely as I could. Didn’t have any new gaskets for it so used the silicon gasket maker I bought a while back for this kind of thing. After getting it all back together and mounting it back on the tiller I had high hopes everything would be fine. As soon as I poured gas in the tank it started running out of the carburetor from every little hole and orifice it had. So it’s worse than it was before I “fixed” it.

It’s 1:00 now. I’ve spent the whole morning on this. I did manage to start watering the rye again and brought one of the sprinklers in that had again frozen up from the mineral buildup caused by this hard water, and cleaned it. That’s it. Working on the fence is not possible for me to do by myself right now. The wind is blowing maybe twenty miles per hour and there is no way I can hold a section of this fence up with one hand and try to attach it with the other. Hell, in this wind I can’t hold a section of this fence up with two hands. I doubt I could do it by myself with no wind blowing. Cherie had to help me carry it from where you see it stacked up behind the fence. I think that was Thursday but am not sure.

When I downloaded the pictures from the camera I saw this one. It reminded me of what we did yesterday as pictures so often do. (that’s why I take so many, even of mundane things because it helps me remember) So I’ll write about yesterday as that is a bit more uplifting. Besides it gives me something to do other than dwelling on that carburetor as I lay here to relax the back and reduce pain.

The Afghan pines were waiting for us when we got there. It is hard to believe there are ninety trees in these three little boxes. Cherie said “Oh! They’re so cute” when I opened the box. Fortunately the directions say we have a month to plant them. That will take the pressure off. I’ve got to construct ninety little shelters to protect them from the wind and heat. They suggested using roofing shingles but it will be cheaper for me to make them out of some of the wood fencing we have and maybe easier too. I’ve got to do some soil preparation too for them so all this will get added to the list. It’s getting to be a pretty big list.

After we picked up the trees we went to the Apple Country Orchards to grab a bite to eat. This is the orchard we visited to research creating a pick your own orchard here on the farm. The owner came in for lunch too so we talked a bit. He had some real useful suggestions. Too bad he lives a hundred and thirty miles away cause I would sure like to pick his brain on how to do things. Going to visit the orchard was how we discovered the place we got the trees as it is just down the road.


Anytime we are gone for a while we always wonder what the dogs got into. They are fine for a couple of hours but after that they seem to get pretty restless and into everything. The other day they pulled the stuffing out of a pillow we have on the couch. Yesterday they disappeared a loaf of bread that was on the counter as well as a few other things but this time…well the picture is worth a thousand words. I heard Cherie cracking up and came in to see her holding up her hands. The little buggers surgically chewed the rubber part of these pot holder gloves out. It’s funny but there goes nine bucks out the window.

Janie invited us over for dinner last night so we went to Rosa’s. It’s always good to visit with her. With Janie Midland becomes a really small town cause she always sees people she knows. Not just one but several. Her new job has her doing a lot of traveling. She went to Florida for business and her husband Steve went also. They didn’t have time to enjoy the sites, just worked the whole time. Steve’s plate is as full as Janie’s. I used to keep that kind of pace before the accident but in a way am glad I can’t now. I get frustrated and depressed about not being able to do what I once could but at the same time am glad I have time to “smell the roses”.

It’s 2:50 now. The back pain is down, thanks in part to the medication, so i must get back out there. I’ll try once more to figure out this carburetor. If I can’t I suppose I’ll have to buy a new one. One way or the other I need to get this tiller running. It is vital to me being able to plant what we’ve ordered.