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My friend ended up needing a lift. He didn't ask his gf because she was griping at him & he knew she was going to gripe the whole ride home. She hadn't even wanted him to go to work. He got a lift from a female co-worker & his gf is jealous. Hung out until a little after 1am. Got back and woke up around 8:30am to the friendly neighborhood guy cleaning up the yard with a helper. He refused to accept $ for it. They are burning the trash, cutting the weeds, bush-hogging, picking up fallen branches. The young guy he brought with him even cut down a small pine tree that was blocking the door to my workshop (still a sapling so it took a machete). I started picking stuff up and pulled some cardboard boxes off the porch and from inside the house, emptied the litterboxes, and managed to get the kitchen trash bag out. But that last one put my back out so I had to tap out. The younger dog was super excited. She was running around in circles and so excited to see people outside. She just came back in to lay on the bed.

I'm waiting for my order to be ready for pickup at Lowes. I will probably nap until afternoon and then check on the status again. It's parts we need to do the plumbing tomorrow. Despite taking my allergy medicine, being outside picking up stuff got my nose drippy & I'm sneezing.

Naptime until later and I will update.
 
I don't know about ya'll, but I really need to figure out how to get rid of the pounds that showed up in the last few days......well, ok they've been sneaking up on me since the weather turned somewhere around September and I can't get outside as much to work it off.

I think I'd rather just hibernate. ;)
 
Headed back to my hometown for the family Thanksgiving shindig. The nursing home doesn't really want to let my mom out for the day, because of her mobility problems. (We don't have an ADA house to meet in). So, we rented the big activity room at the home and we'll have our meal there. If everyone shows up that's planning on coming, there should be around 18 of us. But influenza and some kind of gastrointestinal bug are both going around in Central Iowa so a few of the fam are kind of waiting til the last minute to commit.

Being the bachelor of the group, I got stuck bringing the snacks. Crackers, cheese, summer sausage, all that stuff. I guess they didn't want me to cook anything... :LOL:
 
Heading down the road 3/4 mile to middle daughters to have lunch. Of course we're taking some ham.

Finished installing the draw pulls on kitchen cabinets. Installed toe kick .

Put all new LED lights in little bathroom.
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Cabinet supply called....my countertops are ready for pickup.
That will happen Monday.

Things are really coming together .

Too bad I have to stop to eat and sleep.🤭😁

Hope y'all have a great day.

Jim
 
Been busy working my butt off doing "nothing". GF's daughter had her boyfriend visiting for Thanksgiving so Tuesday GF and I went to town to buy food and materials for work on the house. Wednesday I spent about 14 hours reorganizing the clutter in the garage to make room for oil changes on several vehicles. Thursday I peeled the potatoes for dinner while watching the Detroit Lions lose their traditional Thanksgiving Day game. (I wish the Ford family would sell the team to anyone who would have any desire to field a decent team) I then peeled 10 pounds of apples and made a large pan of apple crisp.
Soooo, with all this "nothing" to do instead of working on the house my brain finally convinced my body that it needed to rest and Thursday I was just feeling nonstop exhausted. After I finished the apple crisp I had a couple, or few, shots of bourbon and sat in the recliner and watched TV for almost a few minutes before falling sound asleep. My GF woke me up for dinner, she said that took quite a bit of effort. I sat at the table and ate a couple plates of mashed potatoes and stuffing and both turkey legs. (small heritage bird) After dinner I went to bed and slept most the night. I woke up yesterday and felt better, but my body was still a bit tired. Took it easy all day until after dinner when I help teach the daughters boyfriend how to do an oil change on his 2020 Mustang and change the transmission gear lube. Two simple tasks that took over 4 hours. I don't mind teaching and walking someone through the process but a little language barrier (trying to find the proper words to explain in English that his mind then needs to translate to Chinese so he understands what I am trying to explain. Also, being Chinese he had studied the factory manual on how to do the oil change and gear lube change and the manual told him the transmission drain plug had to be reinstalled with a torque wrench at 25 foot pounds, but my torque wrench was a 1/2" and I didn't have a reducer to use the 3/8" socket with the Hex key needed to tighten the bolt. He was worried about this and kept saying he wanted to leave the car overnight and buy a torque wrench today to finish the job but eventually I convinced him that in over 40 years of working on cars I never used a torque wrench to reinstall drain plugs and he finally believed me. Then, he was concerned about needing to get exactly 2.7 quarts of gear lube into the transmission. It took some effort, and the use of one of the good measuring cups out of the kitchen to prove to him that the remaining gear lube in the 3rd bottle was indeed 10 ounces and that I did get the right amount of lube into the transmission. All in all it wasn't a bad night but I was both physically and mentally tired when we finished at 11:30pm.
Today am watching various YouTube videos because the Michigan/ohio game is not broadcast on our Sling TV programming in Utah. However in my experience when I start watching a game my team starts losing so not watching is probably the best thing I can do. Maybe I will watch the highlights later on YouTube.
I do need to change the oil in my GF's car and her daughters car, later this week I will change the oil in my truck.
 
phideaux said:
Heading down the road 3/4 mile to middle daughters to have lunch. Of course we're taking some ham.

Finished installing the draw pulls on kitchen cabinets. Installed toe kick .

Put all new LED lights in little bathroom.
View attachment 76196

Cabinet supply called....my countertops are ready for pickup.
That will happen Monday.

Things are really coming together .

Too bad I have to stop to eat and sleep.🤭😁

Hope y'all have a great day.

Jim
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I love the color in that bathroom!! You won't know what to do with yourself when it's all done!😉
 
@Amish Heart I have 2 wringers at the moment - I would give you my "old" one. If you come and get it, I will make tea and spice cookies. 😊
Spikedriver said:
Headed back to my hometown for the family Thanksgiving shindig. The nursing home doesn't really want to let my mom out for the day, because of her mobility problems. (We don't have an ADA house to meet in). So, we rented the big activity room at the home and we'll have our meal there. If everyone shows up that's planning on coming, there should be around 18 of us. But influenza and some kind of gastrointestinal bug are both going around in Central Iowa so a few of the fam are kind of waiting til the last minute to commit.

Being the bachelor of the group, I got stuck bringing the snacks. Crackers, cheese, summer sausage, all that stuff. I guess they didn't want me to cook anything... :LOL:
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Have fun & enjoy!
We are on our last bowl of tomatoes from the garden. Not too bad, end of Nov. eating tomatoes from the garden (Wash. state.)
I'm writing recipes for the 3 nieces as part of their Christmas presents. I've picked 7 recipes: from various members of the family (their great great Gma's etc.) I have 19 of the 21 cards written - have writers cramp!
Hubby went fishing this morning: caught a couple rainbows and white fish. Got our new stove a little bit ago. Glad to have a working stove back in the house.
@Patchouli I hope the leak is an easy fix. Things aren't supposed to break!
 
phideaux said:
Thank you, the wife is getting excited.
I haven't worked this hard in 20 years.

But I feel great .
Thank God everyday for allowing me to do this.

Jim
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As a young boy I remember my foster dad working on iron pipe, stuffing the joints with Oakum and pouring molten lead in their joints. In the times I was doing odds and ends around the time I was retiring from the local school district I ran across iron drainage pipe, adapted ABS using rubber hubs, had a few cast iron fittings crumble, trying to take them apart, glad I didn't have to work with cast iron all that much.
 
I would love to have tea and cookies with you Lady L! There's an amish guy here who sells wringers, since everyone uses one. I'll go to my cousin's Monday and look at her set up. They had a plumber come out and hook up a hot water faucet on the outside of the house, and she uses a hose from that to the wash house to fill up the washer so she doesn't have to haul buckets. I think that's a good idea. Except when the hose freezes, then she hauls water. Also has a spinner. Their solar battery bank is in the wash house, and the spinner uses a battery. We'll see. Husband is warming up to the idea as a backup. 4 more days till the repairman comes out, and my laundry pile is not pretty with the grandkids.
 
Amish Heart said:
I would love to have tea and cookies with you Lady L! There's an amish guy here who sells wringers, since everyone uses one. I'll go to my cousin's Monday and look at her set up. They had a plumber come out and hook up a hot water faucet on the outside of the house, and she uses a hose from that to the wash house to fill up the washer so she doesn't have to haul buckets. I think that's a good idea. Except when the hose freezes, then she hauls water. Also has a spinner. Their solar battery bank is in the wash house, and the spinner uses a battery. We'll see. Husband is warming up to the idea as a backup. 4 more days till the repairman comes out, and my laundry pile is not pretty with the grandkids.
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Do you still have a washhouse or did you say there used to be one? If you have one, boy how handy! Just a hunch, but I'm guessing the Amish guy who sells them isn't going to give you tea and cookies 😂 You could tell everyone to wash their own undies in the sink and hang them in the shower each night - something might happen that way ;)
 
The old washhouse that was next to the windmill was taken down by the last owners, they were not amish. The's a bummer. But we have a small garage there, and it can be at the end of the garage by the door. The windmill is still there, but needs repair, and the last owner cut off the pump at ground level for some weird reason. It was take some time to get it working again, but it was convenient at one time next to the wash house. I doubt the guy has tea or cookies, but he's a cousin of some sort to my cousin. I do have the hand washer from Emergency Essentials, but it's not quite an emergency enough yet.
Just got off the phone with our frustrated oldest daughter. She's in WA and husband is pretty covid sick. Twice in ER. Having coughing fits and 02 is 91. Didn't prescribe an antibiotic, even tho his chest xray showed pneumonia. She's having her oldest, our oldest grandson find a bootleg Zpack. He's been sick almost 2 weeks, and not getting better. Bummer. Gave him an inhaler and that's it. But fever broke a bit early evening, so I hope he gets better. He's 45 and in normal good health. Told her that Excedrin and Elderberry syrup made me feel better when I rode it out.
 
Prayers for your family, @Amish Heart .
I hope your son-in-law can start breathing and feeling better soon. Sorry to hear he is not being treated right.

Gee, all the ladies could gather at the creek with their washboards and dirty laundry and discuss the events of the day, solve the world's problems. I've gone without doing laundry for almost a week. Not good.
 
Thanksgiving was great. We had the neighbors over and then just goofed off the rest of the day. Tuesday afternoon hubby rolled the tractor down a steep hill. The edge of the road he was driving on gave way. He rolled once, the tractor rolled 4 times before sliding to a stop upside down.
 
Terri9630 said:
Thanksgiving was great. We had the neighbors over and then just goofed off the rest of the day. Tuesday afternoon hubby rolled the tractor down a steep hill. The edge of the road he was driving on gave way. He rolled once, the tractor rolled 4 times before sliding to a stop upside down.
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Uh oh. He's not hurt bad, is he?
 
Peanut said:
Glad you're holiday was good! The hubby is okay? Bet that was some scary crap, done it myself.
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Spikedriver said:
Uh oh. He's not hurt bad, is he?
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Thanks to the roll bar he's fine, gave himself a concussion with a few scrapes and bruises but nothing serious. Scared me half to death though!! Tractor has a few small dents but that little Kubota is tough. Got it upright, checked the fluids to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be and drove it back home.
 
After 3 days of turkey it's all gone. I think I am going to make pizza today.

It's been cold here, have the wood stove going all day every day. This is the coldest it has been this early in the year since we moved here. In the past 5 winters, we usually had at least a few days of not freezing and in the 60s in November, but not this year. We are going through a lot of wood and hay already

Animals are still in the barn but I am about to go get started to put them in the pasture. Not much left there for them, so we put out hay.

There is not as much to do now, so I have more time to be online. I wished winter was over already ....the long dark hours bother me the most. 3 more weeks of getting darker
 
Glad your DH is ok, @Terri9630, and the tractor for the most part, too!

First this morning is Church and Sunday School.
Walk dogs.
Finish decorating front porch for Christmas.
Honestly, that is about it. Hope to watch a Christmas movie and I'm sure other tasks will present themselves.
 
The bank caving in is just scary. I almost rolled a tractor in Oct. but I knew the spot was very dangerous. Even got off the tractor and walked over the area first, chose my route carefully. I knew exactly how dangerous it was, 2 wheels came off the ground but I didn't roll it. If the ground had suddenly collapsed it'd have rolled before I could react.

The ground suddenly caving from under your hubby is freaky, no warning or indication in might happen. That's the kind of thing where people get hurt. Glad he wasn't.

@sonya123 Without proper tools plugging a passenger car tire is difficult. A large rear tractor tire? I wouldn't even try to repair it and I've farmed for decades. I'd take it to a tire shop that can handle farm equipment. They can be hard to find but there is always one around. Are your rear tires water filled (ballasted)? Yet another reason to take it to a shop.
 
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sonya123 said:
Our tractor has one of the back tires flat and thats never happened before. Any suggestion how to best deal with this?
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We haven't had a rear tire go flat. We pull the front tires off and take them to a shop for repair. I'd call the closest repair shop or dealer and ask if they do farm visits.
 
Peanut said:
@sonya123 Without proper tools plugging a passenger car tire is difficult. A large rear tractor tire? I wouldn't even try to repair it and I've farmed for decades. I'd take it to a tire shop that can handle farm equipment. They can be hard to find but there is always one around. Are your rear tires water filled (ballasted)? Yet another reason to take it to a shop.
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Um...we don't even know how to get it off. Is a regular floor jack good enough for this? Not sure it goes high enough. NO plans on trying to fix it ourselves. It needs to go to the shop. There is a tire place that has fixed ATV tires and large truck tires for us, husband plans on calling them. But we need to get it off first. I am sure those things are super heavy. And yes, it is filled.
 
sonya123 said:
Um...we don't even know how to get it off. Is a regular floor jack good enough for this? Not sure it goes high enough. NO plans on trying to fix it ourselves. It needs to go to the shop. There is a tire place that has fixed ATV tires and large truck tires for us, husband plans on calling them. But we need to get it off first. I am sure those things are super heavy. And yes, it is filled.
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If it's still on the rim I'd drive it up onto a trailer and take the whole thing in. Any shop that can fix it should be able to remove it once you got it there.
 
If it is a nail hole you can patch it yourself with a plug kit. It could also be the valve stem rotted out. The calcium ballast in the loaded tires does that. If you end up bringing the tractor in, and this is the reason it went flat, have them change the valve stems on all the loaded tires even if they still seem good. It is not cheap having to reload the tires after the ballast leaks out.

If your tires are old and sun rotted, they reach a point where not even a tube can save them.
 
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