I must admit…there isn’t much of anything interesting going on right now! I started to work on cleaning out The Box and began a few repairs including putting new screening in the main door (where Auburn Jo ran through it- door was closed at the time – that dog has mental issues). I’m waiting on the new roof vent covers so have not started to start that replacement project. New front stabilizer jacks have to be purchased and installed; I bent the two of them when I tried the new driveway before it was ready. There are other assorted tasks to do as well such as checking all the lights and switches; one of the outside lights (there are two) had quit working.
As Tabitha mentioned in her last comment, it’s sad to be removing all our stuff; it means the summer has come to an end and so have, for the most part, our trips to The Lot for this year. The forecast for Sanderling Court includes snow over the weekend – so I did get The Box home at an opportune time. A few day trips will have to suffice [to check on the mountain property] but these will be more casual trips, taken mostly to get out of De Beque for a day.
Right now The Box is parked on the edge of our driveway but our snow-bird neighbors, who left for Arizona this past week, offered to let us park it on their property (across the street from us) for the winter. This would have a few advantages: The Box would be behind a fence, limiting access from passers by, and it would free-up our driveway for parking and snow removal. It would also keep the grass underneath The Box from dying and leaving a bare spot when we once again take The Box up to the mountains. When the repairs are complete I plan to follow up on this offer.
The Box at home, fall 2014
Otherwise it has just been regular chores including lawn moving and weed whacking. I drained and prepared the swamp cooler for winter and cut up and delivered the last bit of firewood I brought home a couple weeks ago. Next up is changing the furnace filter and vacuuming out the floor vents before we have to fire up the furnace for the first time this season.
Pam laughs at me, but I did some rehabbing on my old Craftsman saw. A few posts back I mentioned it had died. Well, I found a “parts” saw on eBay and bought it. The Craftsman is now back in operating condition after swapping out the clutch, replacing one of the two bolts that hold the bar and chain in place, replacing some missing screws in the recoil and body of the saw, and using the air filter and it’s cover from the “parts” saw. (The filter is better than the one I had and the cover had been MIA for many years.) I probably overspent – $43.00 for the parts saw with shipping – but I hate to throw things out that can be repaired and put back in service. I finished cutting the last of the firewood using the old Craftsman just to make sure it was working OK. It’s actually running better than it has in several years.
Rehabbed Craftsman chain saw
It is good to have some down time. Imagine…sleeping in till 7:00 or 7:30 on a Saturday morning! We lit fires in our fire pit a few days this week and sat around watching the sun set. For the first time in months I did not have to drive anywhere this past weekend, a very rare occurrence. (I did fire up the 8N Ford tractor to take a bin of grass clippings to the compost area, and took off on a 2-hour ATV trip out to Wild Horse Mesa as I can ride the ATV directly from my door to get there. I don’t count these as “driving” events as the Honda, the motorcycle, and the F-150 were not involved.)
In family news: My brother Jon has finished his chemo and radiation treatments for his neck cancer and recently had his feeding tube removed. Jon reports he is back on solid food but everything is tasteless. A PET scan is scheduled in the near future and if that goes OK he will have the medical port removed. It will take some time before Jon has his energy back and can return to a ‘normal’ life style but I am rooting for him.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents Worth:
That Craftsman saw is older than our children.
Happy Trails.
Good to hear that Jon seems to be improving — hopeful for continued improvement.
As often as not, the “older stuff” was built better, especially “stuff” like chainsaws, which have been around for awhile.
Besides, (you) like repairing the “old stuff”, especially small engines — a certain amount of satisfaction when you’re done (and it works!)…