A tale of inventiveness

This weekend I discovered that there is an alternative to duct tape and WD-40™—zip ties!

It's November, the time to rake the lawn. Well, in our case, we use an Agri-fab™ that the previous owners left behind. It sure is nice with 2 acres and lots of trees. But, it is getting old. I know I said the previous owners left it, but actually, the owners before them left it, and so on, going back about 18 years. So, it has a few idiosyncrasies about it. For example, the connection to the lawnmower is hand-made, and the place where the chute connects to the trailer is held together with bungy cords.

Well, Saturday, the hose from the lawnmower to the lawn vac decided to come apart. I looked back and the leaves were shooting straight back into the air; the hose was at a 90º angle. I figured I could buy a new hose. I went to 2 different stores, one of which sells the same lawn vac. Nope. I could order it and wait a few weeks—right. Or, I could get creative.

It was obvious that duct tape wouldn't work. The angle was too sharp and there was too much force on the hose. So, I sealed the hole with duct tape and grabbed my handy zip ties. I circled the hose twice, once on each side of the break, and then put a few zip ties between them and pulled them tight. It worked!

So, my toolbox is now a triad: duct tape, WD-40™, and zip ties...

Don't try this at home

I ran an unintentional experiment this weekend. When human flesh meets steel, steel wins. I have two broken fingers and a missing fingernail to prove it. I actually came out on the good side; it could have been much worse.

Now, roll your eyes at my stupidity. OK? As I've mentioned, we have a new lawn tractor. Well, the leaf vacuum attaches differently on it, right on top of the blades, not on the outside. Yep, you see it coming, don't you? Some pine needles had plugged the vacuum; on the Cub Cadet, that was easy to fix, since the input was well away from the blades...not so here. I lost a fingernail and broke two fingers; for my stupidity I should have lost more, but for whatever reason, God saw fit to spare me of more.

I have a huge bandage on my right hand, middle finger; it makes typing a bit difficult :(

I should create a new category: Stupid mistakes

Watermelons!

Last Thursday, I opened up a watermelon from the garden. It was a 9-inch round Sweet Crimson; the same kind we grew last year. Delicious! Then, yesterday, Jim and Shannon came over and we took a 19-inch monster from the patch. I don't know how much it weighed, but it was heavy. I can't recall the name of the variety, but we cracked it open and ate half of it on the spot. Delicious! Jim and Shannon took the other half home with them.

Not content with that, we finished off the other half of the round one. It wasn't as good as Thursday night, but it was still good. We have several other melons, but they are "only' 15-17 inches long.

In other gardening news, the tomatoes have officially begun. I picked a dozen on Tuesday, another dozen on Thursday. Yesterday we picked more; I lost count. So, I canned 23-12 oz. jelly jars of tomato sauce; 12 oz. is the perfect size for one pizza. I have enough tomatoes for another dozen tonight. Also, I canned 6.5 quarts of bread and butter pickles and froze some more beans. The first planting of cucumbers is about done and the second is about ready to bear. The acorn squash are looking good, but aren't ripe yet. The potatoes are still quite small, but there is noticeable growth now. The peppers are finally starting to form and grow. They seem late this year.

The lawn tractor got fixed on Friday; it was only a bad solenoid. So, Friday I mowed our yard, alias hay field. It was so long that I had to use a high setting. I mowed again yesterday at the regular height, so now you can walk in the yard without wading through grass :)

More lawn tractor woes

About two months ago, I wrote that we were looking at lawn tractors. Well, that night we bought one, a Troy-Bilt Bronco—20 HP, 42-inch cut. Forty-two inches is perfect for us; we have too many obstacles for a 48-inch cut, and 32-inch takes forever to mow the almost 2 acres we have.

It runs wonderfully well and cuts evenly. But, last week it developed a problem: it won't start. You can hear the solenoid clicking, but the starter won't engage. I tried all the usual tricks. I disengaged and re-engaged all the safety switches, checked the fuse, the connections, turned the engine over by hand. I had my neighbor, who does this for a living, do the same thing. Same verdict: it won't start.

So, this morning I took it in for warranty repair. I got there, and they did the same routine that I had done, and that my neighbor had done. Same result. They tell me it should be repaired by the end of the week. We all agree it has to be something simple...

Meanwhile, anybody got a goat they want to loan me? I'm getting lost in the grass! If I don't post for a day or two, send out a rescue squad! I'm probably lost somewhere between the house and the barn or garden and forgot my compass :)