July Begins

Normally I write my blog on Saturday mornings, but this one is different; I am writing Saturday night after we returned from an outing. We had a busy week preparing for the 4th of July weekend. Some preparations improved the looks of the outside of the house, other upgrades took place inside. I have a lot of photos to get through, so take a look at the captions for more of the details.

Pam had ordered another bookshelf — “some assembly required.”

Positioning the new shelves required the removal of some of the old carpeting. We had planned to take on this task this summer and it seemed like a good time to get started. We knew there was a strip of carpeting below the bay and side windows that could come out. The strip was held down with a very tough double-sided carpet tape, but I was a able to remove it with a putty knife and lots of pulling.

The smaller shelves we had purchased not long ago were repositioned in the library and filled with paperback books. The library is starting to live up to that title and looks good. Plus, we were able to got several boxes out of the storage room and free up some space. Best off all, we can now get reacquainted with some of our favorite titles.

This afternoon we drove over to New Hampton to look over an outside antique and craft fair. It was a delightful experience, and we even bought a few things.

A table full of bird houses caught Pam’s eye as she has a collection of houses and is always on the lookout for another.

One of the larger units was purchased and now resides in the snug.

A pair of wooden boxes now keeps the glider in the library company.

The largest purchase of the day was a storage unit built from old barn wood. We agreed this would fit in the kitchen and provide a place for critter supplies, replacing a metal stand we had been using. Problem was we were driving the RAV-4 and the unit is 6 feet tall.

We squeezed the unit to one side and held the rear door closed with a bungee cord. Needless to say the trip home was pretty slow but we made it! The new unit is now in the kitchen, christened the pet pantry.

We enjoyed getting out to this show and had a good time picking up the crates, birdhouse, and storage unit. The show will be repeated late this fall and we plan to visit it again.

And, it seems to never fail. We were talking to a vendor and mentioned we were from Elma and fixing up an old Victorian. The lady said, “I know that house. It’s green. I was looking for a house and saw it on Zillow.” She will be visiting a relative in Elma next week and we invited her to swing by the house. Will be interesting to see if she takes us up on the offer.

The house is looking its best for the weekend. The lawn has been trimmed and mowed, weeding has been done, and we put up Pam’s bunting. Part of the front porch has been painted. One can notice cars slowing down to look at the house as they drive past.

While other towns may have their holiday events, Elma had a tractor pull, which I visited for a time this morning. Things sure have changed since I last attended a pull. Here is how I spent a couple hours today and some background on how tractor pulls operate.

Tractors are grouped by weight with, generally, 1,000 pounds between classes. The facility had a portable scale on hand to confirm the weight of each tractor. Each class has a speed limit as well. There are prizes for the top three finishers in each class.

Tractors are hooked to a “boat” that consists of a truck with steel plates underneath it. Some of the plates are fitted with teeth. The plates are lowered by hydraulics as the “boat” moves forward simulating more and more weight. Eventually the tractor will stall out, the distance measured, and the truck lifts the plates and backs down to the starting line for the next pull.

It turns out that “Builder Bob”, the contractor that built the garage addition last year and installed the new siding this year, is a big tractor pull enthusiast and helps organize and run these events. Here’s Bob getting ready for a pull.

Quite a few tractors in various classes were present and several hundred people turned out for the event. Considering the population of Elma numbers less than 300 souls the attendance was remarkable.

I did enjoy my time at the pull. Many of the tractors I recognize from time spend on my uncle’s farms when I was much younger. Oliver, Allis-Chalmers, Farmall M and Super M, and Fords were all familiar to me. It was a blast from the past to see them all again.

If you would like to see a 1:21 video clip of an old John Deere pulling the boat please click on this link.

Given the number of photos I have already included there is no Photo Archive this time around.

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

Pam’s Penny

Mr. Haney’s Antiques and Craft Show – New Hampton. Just the sort of outdoor bargain hunt I was anticipating when we moved to the Midwest (and held on the lawns of two historic houses). COVID delayed participation in this type of event last year. It was an adventure. One for the positive list, Iowa.

I’ll be spending the 4th of July consoling quaking dogs while fireworks are booming away. Hopefully your holiday will be somewhat more pleasant.

Happy Trails.