Boys and dogs...

James and Jason were over this weekend for a sleepover.  The boys and the dogs had a great time this weekend, flying kites around the yard getting tangled and untangled, running around the yard with the dogs. We hiked down to the pond and picked out some nice hiking sticks to carve for our hikes, it was Ironwood for James, and Maple for Jason.  I'll get them carved over the next week or two.

Through the cracks...

Through the cracks... A runaway bramble pokes through a board fence.

Apple Blossoms

Apple trees are blossoming, the bees are everywhere despite the cold wind that's been blowing this weekend. 

Adventures with Flats and Fires...

Yesterday afternoon around 3pm I decided to go get the DR Field and brush mower and mow some of the brambles in the field.  I thought the DR was s bit hard to maneuver this afternoon, I was about 40 feet into the field mowing and discovered the reason for the turning difficulties, I had a flat, less than 2 hours on the machine and I had a FLAT, disheartening as my older DR machine still had the same tires and never had a flat in ten years. As I examined the tire of course it wasn't a flat but the tire actually rolled off the bead.  

So I went to the Civic and got the 4 way tire iron luckily one of the ends was a std. 3/4" and started to take off the three lugs, unfortunately the tire was to low to the ground to use the 4-way so I got a Cinder block and put the DR up on a block to help with the clearance.  That worked well, and was able to get the tire off.  Down to the workshop started up the compressor and tried to get the bead to seat, it wouldn't with me pushing on it trying to compress the outer diameter to get the bead to re-seat the bead onto the rim,  I went and got a ratchet strap from the van and put it around the outside of the tire to compress the middle of the tire, this worked and finally the bead seated and the tire expanded properly.

We were out of Green Slime, we use this extensively on all of our equipment with tires from, wheelbarrows to lawn tractors, it seals all small punctures.  Off to Ace Hardware I go and $11 later I'm back to the barn removed the tire valve to let the air back out of the tire, squeezed the entire bottle of Green Slime into the tire through the valve.  Re filled the tire with air and off I went to replace the tire on the DR.  James and Jason learned how to put lug nuts on and how to tighten them with a 4-way tire iron, and how to blow up a tire using a compressor. They each earned a dollar for helping Papa with the tire.

I dropped the DR off the cinder block and off I went mowing field, wild roses, pucker-brush, brambles, and all sort of unwanted field brush was instantly mowed down I managed a 1/2 acre and as I went was surprised to locate eight or so 4' plus blueberry bushes.  I marked these with Orange tape as I went along.  Orange tape helps but by no means guarantees that I won't mow them down when I get in the zone mowing..., Rose said that we should get some more permanent markers like conduit poles we use to mark some or the bigger rocks that we avoid in the field.

I looked around admiring my work, liked what I saw and decided to tackle some of the 20 foot, "yes twenty foot" diameter wild rose bushes, slowly but surely I finished the first of four of them, I decided I'd finished enough for the day and started for the house.  I throttled the DR back and saw a puff of smoke from the DR and thought "that's odd", still looking down I noticed liquid spraying out of the side of the engine all over the tire and side of the machine, not yet comprehending what exactly had occurred. Then reality hit hard as the muffler received another big spray of oil and the exhaust flashed fire from the muffler, "oh crap". Then PANIC, called to rose "FIRE",  grab and extinguisher, still not quite sure why the DR would be spraying oil all over the place, I looked for the source of the spray and noticed that the quick release valve used to drain oil from the machine (apparently a recent introduction as my older DR machine doesn't have this) was gone, missing, probably a wild rose cane caught the quick release and popped it off allowing all the oil to quickly pump out of the machine.  This quick release cover was a very dangerous addition to a DR machine that is used to mow brush and brambles in my opinion, and one I will write the company about.  I for one will definitely replace this quick release valve with a solid pipe fitting in the very near future. I looked for a while but never located the quick release cover.  

I then realized I was very close to the well leaking oil all over the ground so I put it back in gear and maneuvered a ways away and shut the DR down, luckily the fire went out just as Rose arrived with a bucket of water.  I maneuvered the DR onto a berm so it would stop leaking oil and walked away.  That was bad, could have been much worse than it was, I guess we got lucky if that's what you want to call it, or someone was watching out for me....  I do think I'll pick up another fire extinguisher for the outside equipment, just in case...

That was my weekend adventure, how was your weekend?

Update:  DR remedied the situation above with the quick drain oil plug quite nicely, glad to see them standing solidly behind their equipment, they replaced the part that was lost and gave me a couple quarts of oil as well, one week and a 1/2 hour installation later I was a happy camper and back in operation.  

Realistic Dinosaur Outfit Scares Kids | ispnews.com

Wow What a Halloween Costume
Realistic Dinosaur Outfit Scares Kids | ispnews.com

Cleaning the paddock

James and Jason were keen to earn some money recently to purchase some BeyBlade "fighting tops",  these are Beyblades.  

James & Jason making money the old fashioned way!

James and Jason were interested in making lots of money, lots and lots of money.  I told them they could make pretty good money working on the farm with me, they agreed to help clean Willow's paddock.

We all had fun, nobody got hurt, Willow's paddock got cleaned, and the boys learned to use a shovel and rake.  I call that a good day.

 Jason was in charge of holding the scoop rake. While James raked up the piles. Teamwork

I helped a little.

 Once they got going they did a great job!  Two hard workin' boys there!

 A little bit of OJT...  The tools are a little big for them.

Balancing the load... Jason brings the full scoop to the wheel barrel.

We're off to Walmart (We've been told they have Beyblade tops there...)  James and Jason each made $2.00 shoveling today, we'll see just how far that goes. 

 I can't wait'll they're big enough to do stalls...

Yard Sailing...

Spring is here the Yard Sales have started...  

Finding a good one is unusual, we usually drive by and shaking our heads at what passes for something you'd want to sell or buy for that matter.  One mans trash, is another mans treasure I guess... 

We hit a barn sale in town with probably 30 total items for sale, nothing good.

We hit a couple of yard sales on the way to/from the dump, I picked up yet another Coleman two mantle lantern, this one needs a little clean-up, (they all do).  I enjoy fixing these relics, bringing them back to full working order.

BTW if you ever see a  Coleman white gas powered 2-3 burner stove at a yard sale for less than $25 call me...

You're kidding right?

I was taken aback at Lowes last week,  I was walking down the main isle to headed to the paint department and heard it clearly over the loudspeaker system.  Lowes is now accepting PAYPAL!  

Are you kidding me? Paypal?  "Really?"  I almost laughed out loud right there in the store.

Sign of the times I guess, makes one wonder though who makes these decisions...

Poisoning Bees - Backyard Garden Survivalists - tribe.net

Good article on Bee Colony Collapse and what is actually killing the bees.

Poisoning Bees - Backyard Garden Survivalists - tribe.net

Spring is upon us albeit 45 days early...

Spring is upon us, it's hard to believe we're still 45 days away from normal planting season... hopefully we actually get the 1-3" they're projecting for rain, it's pretty dry around here the rivers, ponds around a very low, oddly enough the dams are down too, not sure exactly why.

 Apples Are in full bloom, plums are just starting to open up too.

Last weekend Rose and I cleared the honeysuckle and grape vines from the back field, between the new chainsaw Rose got me for Christmas and the DR we had it gone in short order.

The DR Field & Brush mower, and my Husqvarna chainsaw.

Mowed about an acre of field with the new DR field & Brush Mower, this one's a 14.5HP. Nice tool, loving the electric start! Only 4 more acres to go...

Saw a wood chuck last week waddle from the greenhouse over to the brambles, I'll need to get my bow out and take care of that, he's already got a large den dug out there.

Working in the yard today (Friday the 20th) and this weekend

Rototilled the main garden today, I'm beat...  I really need to get a good rear tined tiller the one we keep renting is a beast, but it's better than the small rear tined tiller they have for rental.   

Rosie moved the dog kennel, she wants it someplace else.  Mowed the yard so we can put Ortho Max and lawn seed down, spread the Ortho.  I picked up a "Garden Weasel" today, this thing works great, scarifies the ground great even hard pan.  

We had to hit Home Depot mid day to pick up 16 bags of garden soil for Rose's herb planter project and the yard ruts and some 2x4s for the kids picnic table, picked up a couple more full flow valves for the watering system full flow is the only way to go (picture 3/4" solid stream of water coming out the end of your hose), for filling buckets and watering they can't be beat.

Oh yeah, picked up some more blueberry plants today too.  "Chippewa"  I think...

Gordo Relaxing...

Tomorrow is Saturday that means dump day, removing a couple more apple trees from the October 2011 storm, and grass seed planting.

Maybe a trip to the new gun store in Goffstown, if I'm lucky they are getting in new stock, I'm in the market for a Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R, some more .32 Win. Special, and some CCI Segmented hollow-point .22 cal rounds.

If time and money permit, I may take a run to Sanborn Lumber to pick up more 2x10 rough cut boards to replace all of the boards in the back yard raised beds.

Jarrod got Rosie a mini greenhouse that's coming in handy for the plants we already have.

 

May get to put in some peas, lettuce, kale, radishes on Sunday if it isn't raining to hard, wish me luck.

Busy Busy...

Later.

Back from the great white north!

Back from Canada Friday evening,  saw some huge Turkeys in Upstate, NY.  Canadian Geese everywhere in Canada, go figure.  Canadian grass is greener than our, our trees seem to be 3-4 weeks ahead of theirs.

Returned to this nasty cool weather,  James and Jason stayed over Friday night into Saturday, we went on a nice hike.

Hit Home Depot and Demoulas today, HD was having a Black Friday sale picked up a bunch of vegetable an herb plants 50% off as well as a couple Apple trees and a pear tree, oh, and grass seed to fill in the embarrassment that I used to call a lawn.

Bike Wizard Danny MacAskill in Scotland

Amazing skills...  Phenomenal spacial awareness!

http://youtu.be/Cj6ho1-G6tw