Feeling Cranky? Take a Vacation

Another two weeks has come and gone.  I can't really act surprised about how fast it has gone, as we have certainly made the most of it.

On last Saturday we had cousin E's birthday party.  N just loved swimming in the pool, and was very good on the ride down to Staunton and back.  After we got back, I took L for another ride on the Ten, to retrace the same path we had the oil pressure problem with last time, to make sure it was OK.  The Oil pressure was OK, but L has developed quite a habit of falling asleep on tractor rides.  I don't know if the heat has something to do with it, but he has now fallen asleep multiple times on both the Ten and when mowing with Johnny.  Neither tractor is easy to get off of with a sleeping child on you, but this weekend, after L fell asleep while mowing, I did make it all the way up to his room with him still asleep.  I got him laid down in bed, but taking his shoes off woke him up.  At first he was upset, probably because he didn't know where he was, but then he just smiles really big and says "RIDE, NITE-NITE".  Of course at that point he doesn't want to go back to sleep, but instead go for another ride.

After the nap/ride on the Ten, I decided to park it outside so I could take out again more easily on Sunday.  Doing so without first checking the weather turned out to be a mistake.  Upon seeing that rain was expected late Saturday night, I went back out to "quickly" start it and put it away before helping put the boys to bed.  On my first attempt to start it, the starting crank broke.  The crank had been repaired before, and it broke at the repair.  The orientation of the crank makes it impossible to start without some sort of handle.  Against my better judgment, I slid a box-end wrench over the end of the crank and used that as a makeshift handle.  Thankfully the tractor started on the second pull, and I promptly put it away.  Now the quest begins for replacing or fixing the handle.

With the Ten out of commission, what better time to go on vacation?  That is precisely what we did.  We had a great time on the west coast of Michigan, where our projects consisted of making sand castles and splashing in the waves.  All of us enjoyed some much needed R&R.

And speaking of "R&R", the Rail Road continues to be N's primary interest.  Our dining room has been taken over by the Thomas and Friends "Trackmaster" set.  We even had to take some with us on vacation.  I have to admit, I kind of enjoy it too.  We have fun seeing how many trains we can get going at once without having and crashes, and N is all about re-enacting the different episodes of the TV show.

One of the first things we had to do when we got home was check the pumpkins.  L and N both enjoy watching the pumpkins grow, and now we finally have some small watermelons starting to grow too.  L is just the right height to spot the little ones starting to grow under the leaves, although he gets really excited about the "BIG, PUNKINS". 

And finally, I couldn't take a whole week off without taking on at least one home improvement project.  When I first put up the windmill, I had envisioned putting up some cedar split-rail fencing with it.  This weekend, Menards had the fencing on sale, and I had the time to do it.  L and N both enjoyed helping at various points in the project, although they had better sense than I did, and went inside after a bit to cool off.  The heat was brutal, but I think the finished product was worth a gallon or so of sweat.

Talkin' Trash

Working on dozers, it's bound to happen sooner or later; a trip to the landfill.  Landfill customers aren't a large percentage, but they are important.  No matter what housing, mining, or oil and gas do, people still make trash.  Fortunately the tractor was just moving dirt at the landfill, not actually working in the trash.  Still, the active unloading site wasn't far away, and we were, unfortunately, downwind from it.  Thankfully, the visit was only about 30 minutes long, not long enough for the smell to saturate all our clothes.  It was a good visit, and we got some good feedback from the operator. 

After a trip to the landfill, what could possibly top that for the week?  How about birthday festivities for N.  Saturday the boys and I went for haircuts to get ready for the birthday.  Saturday is just walk-in's and was the first time I took the boys without an appointment.  C couldn't make it, so thankfully Grandpa saved the day and helped corral the boys while I got my hair cut.  It was an hour wait before any of us even got in the chair, but the boys were pretty good. 

The birthday festivities started on Saturday night with a Chiefs game, and then resumed Sunday morning with the family birthday party.  N definitely takes after his old man, and would rather be doing something than just sitting and watching.  He did sit and watch like a big boy with his older cousins for a little while, but after the novelty of that wore off, he was ready to go to the playground in the outfield.  There were fireworks after the game, but we didn't stay for the end.  That turned out to be a good thing, because the game went into extra innings.  The party went well too.  We had a nice time visiting with family and N finally got the train set he has been asking for for the last few months.  He played with it for 5 hours straight after we got it set up, and would have gone longer if we hadn't make him take a break.  That is some kind of a record. 

With the party and the hot temperatures, the workshop has been fairly quiet lately.  At the tractor show last weekend, I noticed the Ten's oil pressure started to get low after running a while, and repeated it taking L for a ride during the week.  I decided the first thing I would try is just changing the oil, which, as it turns out, seems to have fixed the problem, at least for now.  L was very curious watching me drain and refill the oil, but was content to keep his distance so he didn't get messy.  The other project for the week was completing a model critique for a new Antique Cat club model.  The manufacturer sent me a prototype, and I had to compare it to engineering drawings and pictures and find any discrepancies.  I found a few issues, but it was pretty good overall.  It was a good inside project for what has so far been the hottest week of the year.  Despite the heat, I did spend a little time cleaning out the creek behind our house and the spec house next door.  Turns out it was a good thing I did.  We got about a 1/2" of rain in a matter of minutes late Monday afternoon. 

Workin' at the Car Wash

10 action packed days have elapsed since my last post, including a holiday and a week of "staycation".  The most important output from the workshop over the 4th of July weekend was the kiddie car wash.  C had found the plans for it online, although I improvised a bit on it.  It is incredible how much fun the boys have gotten out of it considering how easy it was to build.  It has evolved some from it's first iteration however. My initial design had a misting nozzle, which at the working pressure was more of a dribble nozzle.  I replaced that with a rotating sprinkler I had left over from when we put the yard in, and that worked much better.  The most popular improvement though, was the water balloon filler.  Alot of the time I may as well turn the rest of it off, because that is the part the kids spend the majority of their time with.  It is so popular, in fact, I added a second filler on the other side.  With the hot weather we have been having, it continues to be a hit. 

The 4th itself turned out much more low-key than we anticipated.  Grandma, Grandpa, and both the boys didn't have it in them to stay up to go to a fireworks show, so C and I just set up our lawn chairs in the front yard to see what we could see.  There were fireworks going off in all directions, and a few pretty impressive ones, but it's just not the same as going to a show. 

The majority of the subsequent week was spend adding wainscotting to the dining room.  I had never done that before, and like most of my projects it took much longer than anticipated.  It's still not done, but we should finish it this week.

My only big plan for the week off was to get my tractor ready for the Penfield show.  Due to the dining room remodeling, the tractor work didn't get done until Thursday afternoon.  It was rushed, but I did get everything done that I hoped to get done.  The show on Friday and Saturday was alot of fun.  I had alot of good conversations with my "tractor friends" and really enjoyed myself.  The fact that the tractor behaved itself and didn't have any mechanical issues helped make it enjoyable.  I'm already looking forward to the next one. 

It was a very good week and weekend, but unfortunately, this week it's back to reality.  It will be a busy week getting caught up at work after a week off, and of course getting ready for N's birthday party next weekend. 

I B Dozin

I yet again find myself overdue for an update.  Where does the time go?  Since my last post I have celebrated Father's Day, been to Texas and back, and, of course, have made some progress on a few projects.

The highlight of Father's Day weekend was a family get-together.  While the annual family reunion is nice, it seems in recent years that attendance by the cousins that I grew up with has fallen off.  Most of the relatives that do make it regularly are the ones that I know mostly from, well, seeing them at the reunion.  This one was nice because it was only the relatives that I grew up with, and it was pretty well attended by that group.  Like all family events, I spent too much time chasing/entertaining the boys and not enough visiting with family, but it was still a very enjoyable event.  I hope it is an event that we can repeat on at least a somewhat regular basis.

The weekend was somewhat bittersweet because I knew I was leaving the next day for a work trip.  I like to travel and see fun places, but don't like leaving C, N & L.  This trip was nice because it was only a few days, and it was to San Antonio, not to the edge of civilization somewhere.  The first two days of the trip were hot, and the third day, it rained for the first time down there in 6 months.  They were all happy for the rain, but it hampered our efforts a little bit.  Still, we were able to get done what we needed to get done, and I made it home on schedule. 

While I was gone we got a torrential rain.  Fortunately the only ill-effects we suffered was a considerable amount of dirt washing out of the field behind us into the water way.  This light, loose silt was the perfect excuse to try out the blade on the front of Johnny.  I tried to do it on Saturday but my efforts were mostly in vain due to insufficient traction, both from lack of weight on the tractor, and it still being too muddy.  I decided to hold off until things dried out a little more.  My second chance came this week, and allowing adequate time for drying made all the difference.  I leveled the dirt with the blade, and then finished it with the disc.  It was a little painful to use the recently repainted disc, but I got it to use it, not to just look at it. 

L was disappointed that he couldn't ride for the dozing, but that is definitely a two hand task.  He did get to ride along for the discing part.  He is also figuring out more how to drive on his own.  He is getting the starting and stopping down pretty good, but is still only part of the way there on steering.  Still, that's progress from where he was only a few weeks ago. 

Time Marches On

I'm again overdue for a post, so I will pretend like this weekend hasn't started yet to get caught up with the last week's events.  N and L demonstrated yet again how quickly they are growing up last weekend.  N is going through a phase where he is obsessed with Thomas the Train.  Every time he sees an episode of Thomas that features a train he doesn't have, he wants to go get it.  It is incredible how he can watch an episode once and then re-enact it with his toys, but obviously we can't just get him all the Thomas characters.  To keep the incessant nagging for each toy at bay, C introduced N to the concept of saving and spending his own money.  While we still are fairly restrictive on getting new trains, if you offer N a dollar, or even a quarter to do something, he generally jumps right on it.

I took advantage of N's newfound ambition last weekend.  The neighbor down the street uses an edger along his driveway, sidewalk, etc., and has offered to let me borrow it several times.  I have never used an edger, but our grass had started to spill over the edges, and even C mentioned (several times) how nice the neighbor's manicured edges looked. So, I took the neighbor up on his offer and edged the front yard.  Of course that leaves a bunch of trimmings to clean up, which is where N came in.  I swept it up into a few piles, and then for a dollar had him scoop it up into the yard cart.  He did a great job, and of course L did his best to help too.  Not only did N do a good job of scooping up the grass, he did a pretty good job of looking out for his little brother, who despite his good intentions, was frequently in the way.  Any job completed without any nagging to stay on task, and without any tears, I consider a tremendous success. 

Of course L has to show off some newfound independence as well.  He has now graduated from just riding along with Daddy or N, to actually driving himself around.  He has figured out how to make the Power Wheels go.  Steering, on the other hand, he has yet to master, but for now we can turn the steering wheel one way and he is content to drive himself around in circles as the older kids drive around.

Naturally, there is no lack of projects in the workshop.  A couple weeks ago I took apart my disc to refurbish it.  I brushed all the rust off with a wire wheel on my angle grinder, and then primed and painted it.  The metal is pitted enough that it doesn't look "as good as new", but if you don't look close, it looks pretty good.  I still need to install the Brinly decal, and want to add a clevis style hitch, but am happy with how it turned out.

Never content with just one project, I have a couple others I have been working on as well.  I was finally able to meet up with the guy from several weeks ago that was selling a snow plow that would mount on Johnny.  It's not pristine, but will get the job done I think.  I have been taking it apart this week for cleaning and straightening a few pieces.  I plan to reassemble it for a test fit on the tractor before I get too carried away with refurbishing it.

And finally this week, I have been gathering up some pictures of the family's tractor pulling history for a scrapbook and video slideshow.  Today I was going through the pictures with N, explaining each picture.  I got to one where I had to explain that his grandpa was my dad, my grandpa was his great-grandpa, and I, his dad, was not yet his dad because he wasn't born yet.  Of course the picture is bittersweet because "great-grandpa" is no longer with us, and the tractor is no longer part of the family either.  And then, I happened to realize that eight years later on the same weekend that picture was taken, N blessed us with his presence.  That bittersweet pill suddenly seemed alot easier to swallow.

Cornfield Crusin'

Hopefully tomorrow the weatherman is right and we start to get a break from the heat we have had the past week.  Since late last week the daily highs have been climbing from the upper 80's to mid 90's.  The high temps put a a little damper on our weekend activities.  We let N stay up and watch the fireworks Friday night.  It seemed like they started later than normal, but he really enjoyed them.  I ran in the 5K Saturday with L, and although it was already warm at 7:30 AM, the run felt good.  When you are pushing a stroller, it's not so much about what your race time was, but how many people you passed, and I was able to pass quite a few. 

The rest of the weekend was all about trying to keep cool.  We decided it was too hot and skipped the Cherry Fest Saturday night.  That upset N, but a friend tipped us off that there is a carnival in a nearby town in a couple weeks that lets the parents ride with young kids for free, and since Cherry Fest requires tickets for the parents as well, we were thinking of holding off until that one anyway.  It will be interesting to see how brave he is this year for going on rides. 

Despite the heat, I couldn't resist the urge to do some kind of project over the weekend.  Sunday afternoon I decided to take my disc apart so I could repaint it.  I got it disassembled and got the rust off of most of the pieces with a wire wheel.  I called that good for Sunday, but got those pieces primed and painted this week.  The garage this week should make a good oven for baking the paint. 

Tonight I got the urge to get the Cat out and take it for a ride.  I wanted to get a picture of it in the corn field, and at the rate the corn is growing, it will be too tall pretty soon, especially if it rains the next two days and I have to wait for things to dry out again.  L and I took the tractor for the longest ride yet, all the way up and down the field side of the creek.  That was enough to get L and I plenty hot and dusty, so we called that good and put the tractor back away.  It ran pretty well, and started twice on the first crank, so it was a nice little ride. 

Playing Catch-up

It's hard to believe it has been two weeks since I have posted.  As you would expect based on our track record, alot has happened in 2 weeks.  With another weekend just around the corner (yay!), I figured I better get this blog up to date or I might never get caught up. 

To back up two weekends ago, they were calling for rain all weekend, so I made a mad dash Friday night to get all my outdoor activities done.  I got the Cat out and drove it around to  try out my carb fix.  It held up, and continues to hold up, well.  In addition to testing out the carb, I wanted to run it around a bit to warm up the transmission oil.  You are supposed to warm it up some before you change it, and I never ran the tractor long enough last fall to warm it up.  Of course L helped with the laps up and down the waterway to test out the tractor.  I also got Johnny and the disc out to smooth out some dirt that had washed into the waterway from the field during the heavy rains the previous week.  The disc did a nice job chopping up the bean stubble, and loosening the dirt to plant some grass seed.  While I had both tractors out, I took the opportunity to get a picture of them together. 

 After putting the boys to bed and putting the tractors away, I drained the oil out of the Cat, only to find that some of the drain plugs were missing.  Fortunately the plugs were just simple pipe plugs, and easy to replace.  Time will only tell the long term effects of running without them.  Despite calling for rain all weekend, it turned out better than they predicted.  We did get some storms come through Saturday afternoon, and again Saturday night, but still got some flowers planted and mulch put out.  We also got in some good time playing and visiting with the neighbors. 

Despite this past weekend being a 3-day holiday weekend, I did not try to cram 50% more projects in.  Saturday morning we decided to go out and check out some garage sales.  C found some clothes for the boys, and I found a lawn roller.  I figured the Cat will occasionally tear up the lawn, and I will want to smooth it back out so a roller would come in handy.  Still, I almost passed on it, but the guy selling it was a Cat retiree whose name I recognized as being involved in testing of some pretty significant Cat machines.  Buying the roller gave me the chance to talk to him a bit, and let him know how much I would appreciate old Cat pictures or memorabilia he might want to get rid of some day. 

On Sunday, a good part of the day was spent installing C's new kitchen TV.  Her old one was on it's last legs, so the need for a replacement was imminent.  The whole process took quite a bit longer than I expected, but I think the end product turned out pretty nice. After spending all day working in the kitchen, we decided to have a picnic in the garage, which of course the boys loved. 

Monday my only real plans were to mow, and take the Cat out to try some new spark plug wires I installed.  Somewhere along the way, I decided it would be a good time to clean out the garage.  It did need it, and other than the wind trying to counteract my sweeping, it was a good day for it.  The boys kept busy washing a Barbie Jeep I recently picked up, as well as the front porch and porch furniture, and anything else we could think of having them hose off.  They were drenched by the time it was all done, but the warm weather was good for that.  After several hours cleaning and putting everything back, I still had to mow.  I don't know if it was just the weather, but mowing seemed to take alot longer than usual.  After finishing that, I was happy to sit back and watch the boys and the neighbor kids play in their sprinkler, and enjoy a relaxing night. 

This coming weekend is Cherry Fest, which is always alot of fun.  Saturday I am running in the 5K, and plan on taking L with me in the jogging stroller like I did with N 2 years ago.  I've been doing more running in the mornings before everyone is up, so I have only gotten to take L out once in the jogging stroller.  I'm also not in as good of shape as I was 2 years ago, so the race could be interesting.  I'm not sure what else the weekend will bring, but I'm sure it won't be boring.