It's crunch time

The first thunderhead of the year

3/10/09 Tuesday
It’s crunch time. There is lots of rain forecast to hit the area over four days, starting tomorrow. Yesterday we saw our first thunderstorm of the year. Unfortunately it was south of us so we didn’t get any rain but when I think of it that was probably a good thing as it gives me one more day to prepare for it. Yesterday the live plants we ordered arrived and I don’t have a place prepared for them yet. We got three kinds of mint, peppermint, spearmint, and something called applemint. We are looking forward to seeing what that’s like. We also got some French Tarragon and a plant called Stevia. It’s a natural source of sweetener and the catalog said it is something like three or four hundred times sweeter than sugar. Can’t remember for sure but it’s way up there. The other thing we got was strawberry plants. The ones I planted last year all died from neglect, that being a lack of water due to me forgetting to water them regularly. This year, with the drip irrigation equipment I hope to be more diligent about that. That is where keeping a written schedule becomes important. Eventually we will be able to afford timers that will turn the water on and off as programmed. That will help a bunch as I still forget and have left water running all night.

Today I plan on finishing up on the tiller and if it goes well I’ll have it up and running again. I never could get the one the old man gave us running but don’t have time to take it apart right now. Then I’m going to get as much rye seed in the ground as I can before this rain hopefully hits. Other than that it’s a “poop scoop” day so I’ll be going into Midland. While in town I will stop at the farmers co-op and check out fertilizer prices.

Here's another project I'm working on in the spare time I don't have a lot of. It's a wood sculpture that belongs to the old man and has spent a few decades outside so is in real bad shape. When he learned of my extensive woodworking experience he asked if I could restore it. It needs lots of work to say the least. You can see it's forearm and hand laying at it's feet. I'm more than happy too though much of my woodworking abilities I must relearn, having forgotten much. Relearning usually comes fast as the memories still remain in this brain, just need to be unlocked and released.

It looks like the pipeline deal will go through and the timing couldn’t be better. We hope to buy a tractor with it but will shop carefully. I’m going to call Cherie’s nephew, Nate, and ask him to see what might be available in Toledo area. The economy is so bad that I think there is a good possibility of getting a steal of a deal up there. If the price is right it will justify driving up there to get one. With the new used truck we’ve been blessed with it will be much easier as it has a V-8 engine and is much nicer than mine. That one is well worn and in it’s “twilight” years, despite being four years younger than Cherie’s truck. It’s just seen more wear and tear than Cherie’s “98”, kind of like me.

That’s it for now, time’s a wasting. Would love to chat more but I’m under the gun.
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Hurray!!! My workhorse is back. You know, it’s a lot harder to put something back together than it is to take it apart. Of course not remembering how you took it apart doesn’t help at all. It took me four frustrating hours to get the carburetor back on the tiller and when I pulled on the starter rope it was with a combination of trepidation and hope. It took a few pulls before it started but when it kicked over it ran great, I think better than when we first got it but can’t really remember back then.

Man I’m tired. I might be coming down with what Cherie had as I had to make a rush for the bathroom. Not good timing with all I need to do in such a short time. Like it or not I may have to take a short nap. Rascal and Trixie, along with Carman kitty have all climbed up on the bed with me and are crashed out. My eyes keep closing as I fight dozing off. This mental fatigue thing is so frigging weird but I guess it’s a common problem with TBI. I used to put in eighty hours a week and ran hard the whole time but that’s all changed now.