There is no “theme” to this post; it is the time of they year when summer its not quite here (aka working at The Lot) and our time is filled with tasks large and small and just doing “stuff.”

Packing

Last weekend Pam and I removed several boxes of items that had been in storage in the garage attic. Pam has spent several hours going through these boxes, repacking what we would like to keep, and throwing out things we no longer want.

There is quite a bit of “Kid Stuff” in these boxes including Legos, computer games, posters, and books. Some will be sent to the kids, some will go to a local donation charity and some may get sold on eBay. This is all in preparation for an eventual move to a Midwest retirement location.

Lawn

Last year we had our big cottonwood trees trimmed back in an effort to save it from a fungus that attacked that species. The tree is not looking good this year. I had to use my chain saw to remove several dead limbs. We decided any shade was worth keeping so the cottonwood will remain in place for the rest of the summer before we decide to remove or keep it.

To help offset that loss we planted a new tree, a globe willow. There are several of these growing in the neighborhood so I hope this one will take root and grow well.

Cottonwood tree (back) and globe willow (front)

Flowers

Some of our flowers are going great guns. Blue and yellow iris are in bloom and one of our columbine plants has popped out some red and yellow blossoms.

Red and yellow columbine

The yellow columbine, blue iris, yellow iris, and blue flax are adding color to the yard.

Last weekend we stopped at a home improvement store and bought some annuals and mulch. Pam has been busy arranging the flowers in the corner planting box.

Flowers on the corner of our property.

Some red geraniums are in the planter and will add a spot of red when they bloom. The greenery in the background is hollyhock plants, budding out now and getting ready to sport a variety of pastels. When they do we will have the nicest corner in town!

Ford 8n tractor

In addition to helping Pam, mowing and weed-wacking the yard, and handing down boxes from the garage attic, I have been doing a bit more work on the Ford 8N tractor. I am hoping to use it at The Lot this year to move the chipper around to places I could not get to using the ATV.

I put in a few minor repairs to the air intake system but the bulk of the effort went into the “load leveler” box, part of the rear hitch.

The load leveler had one major function: plowing. With the tractor’s right wheels in a plow furrow farmers needed to be a way to keep the plow level. The right-hand hitch linkage is adjustable to make this happen. When not plowing, the adjustable link was used to make the drawbar level.

On my 8n the adjustable link was frozen (rusted) in the plowing position. If I am going to use the tractor for towing I needed to have the drawbar level.

After much work, including removing the link from the tractor, I was able to get the link to move only to find it is rusted beyond usefulness. Decades of sitting outside had allowed water to enter the threaded area of the link, damaging the threads beyond use. I now have a new link (around $50.00) on order and hope to get it next week.

Top of adjustable link
Threads are rusted beyond use

The last, and major, project to do is replacing a leaking gasket. This requires removing the PTO shaft and dropping the hydraulic pump out of the tractor. The work is not terribly precise but is very messy and involves moving and lifting quite a bit of weight. It will take several hours to complete as once the pump is removed one must clean everything, and based on my experience so far, cleaning the pump and the cavity it fits in will be no small job. It needs to be done but I am not looking forward to doing it.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth

I’ve been watching news reports of the flooding in Iowa, first in Davenport and now in Burlington. The Mississippi River has been predictably high since the snowmelt started. So have other rivers in the state, which we saw first-hand during our visit in April. Something to consider re: the relocation.

It’s already heating up on the high desert. Bummer that. Fields is putting up blocking panels on all our skylights. It’s amazing how much heat comes in from the roof through those skylights. One of our cats, Velvet, will not be happy with this development, as she follows incoming spots of sun around different rooms for her naps.

Happy Trails.