A Lawnmower!!!

The name of the game is flexibility.

Today was NOT at all what I had planned.  And that caps a week of NOT at all what I had planned!  I was so eager to get my kitchen demo complete...then missed a day...then another...then another...here we are five days later and still not complete!

But still a good day.

I slept HARD last night.  It felt great.  But I woke up with a goal of spending the entire day out at the farm.  So much so that I had to say no to a request from my nephew for fishing! :(  But I was eager to get out to the property since I missed out on it all day yesterday.

Well, life happened.

Last night my aunt asked if I would be around this weekend to check out a mower or two.  I said sure.  Well, this morning she asked me to swing by around 11:00.  I figured I would just shop until then.  I needed grass seed for the pasture.  And what a chore that proved to be!  I wanted perennial ryegrass.  Well, that was no easy task.  Farm and Home Supply didn't have it.  Tractor Supply Company didn't have it.  Menard's didn't have it.  True Value had it but very expensive (over $100 for 50 pounds...and they only had 20 pounds anyway).  Ace had it for $120.  Yikes.  I finally just settled on Kentucky fescue...50 pounds for $75.  I REALLY want to get the south pasture seeded before the 1-2 inches of rain tonight.

Well, my aunt asked me to bump back the time to noon.  So I stopped by the Habitat for Humanity Restore to check out windows.  I ended up picking up three windows that I think I can make work...for $1 apiece.  Hard to beat.  They are old wooden window halves but only off by two inches in width.

I finally just headed to my aunt's house to wait.  I arrived around 11:35 hoping they would be early.  Well, they were late!  They finally showed up a little after 12:15.  Long story short, I was hoping to check out a mower or two, say yes or no, then be on my merry way.

Well, the situation is complex, but my aunt had a bad break-up.  And her boyfriend left behind LOTS of stuff...mowers, go-carts, etc.  So I had to work through a lot of the junk to even get to the mowers.  Well, that turned into a "How can I help"? type of afternoon.  My aunt was obviously overwhelmed by all of the stuff left behind and couldn't move forward with it all there.  So I offered to clear it all out for her (with her request to keep bringing it out).  So for the next THREE HOURS we just cleared the garage and shed of stuff.  It was...crazy.

Out of all of the mowers, only two were even remotely a possibility.  One was a 38-inch Toro ZTR.  The other was a John Deere 42-inch.  I could describe the afternoon in excruciating detail, but let's just say I had to call in Dad with a battery charger, a gas can, and an air compressor.

I was going to try to focus on the Toro ZTR, but I found out that gas was in the oil.  I don't know if someone mistook the oil filler for the gas cap or what, but what a red flag.  It also had no battery.   After trying a battery laying around with no luck, Dad and I decided to focus efforts on the Deere.  We had to charge the battery, add fuel, and swap out a tire with another Deere in the garage (seriously).  It was work!  But I was hoping to score a sweet deal on a mower.

Well, after about four hours of work (clearing the shed and then prepping the mower), I tried to start it.  It fired right up.  It ran good.  I tried out the mower.  It ran fine.  It's a weird steering system (it's like a normal rider but a half zero-turn), but it ran good as I cut my aunt's lawn.  Hmm.  How about that.  I'll take it.

The Deere after mowing my aunt's lawn.

I asked her what she wanted for it, and she said for me to throw her an offer.  I was thinking $500.  I would later find out it's made in 2000-2003, so it's pretty old.  But it might get me through the season.  I was not planning on this AT ALL, but this checks a big item off of my list. I have been looking at mowers daily now for quite some time, and it is thin pickin's out there.

I had a full truck, so I drove out to the farm, dropped off the truck bed of stuff, then headed back to pick up the mower.  It started right up again, this time with no battery charger.  Good!  Mom was at the farm clearing out the hay from the barn and putting it into a stall.  I also left her with the chore of seeding the pasture while we picked up the mower!  She told me that my parts for my hog waterer came in, so Dad and I stopped by the hardware store to pick up bolts and hardware for the rusty parts I am replacing.  But the day was quickly getting away from us.

The Deere at the new property!  I hope it lasts a long time!

Back at the farm, we dropped off the mower.  I finally have a mower!  Woo hoo!!!  I REALLY wanted to get a few things done before the rain...

1.  Put windows in the barn.

2.  Patch the barn roof where it leaks over the light.

3.  Get the big barn door up.

Look at that ugly window!

The make-shift boards added a couple of weeks ago to stop the fierce southern wind (cold wind at the time!).

It was not meant to be!  But I tackled one.  I was able to install two of my $1 lights, and they look and work perfect.  The wind will now be blocked, and the pigs can no longer sleep until 10:00 A.M.  Just removing the plywood really brightened up the barn tonight...at 6:30 P.M.!  I am thrilled about that.

These windows are now clear!

The new $1 windows installed in the barn!  A HUGE success!!!  They prevent air infiltration AND add substantial light!

Unfortunately, I learned that the window I installed in the hayloft a few days ago had broken out its frame and shattered.  That is a huge bummer.  It was such a perfect fit.  Seriously, it's like you move forward...and then backwards again!

This glass was such a huge help in stopping the air flowing through the barn.  So frustrating.

Frustrating.

To end the day, Dad and I shoveled the old hay that I had removed from the hayloft a few days ago.  I figured I might as well use it as moisture retainer for the grass seed that Mom planted.  The pasture looks great!  I see seeds everywhere!

This was a large pile a few days ago.  The chickens spread it out!  Well, Dad and I loaded it up by the wheelbarrow, and I spread it down the pasture.  I hope it helps the grass seed to take!

So we loaded up probably 20-25 wheelbarrows full of old hay and straw and spread it around the pasture.  The rains come tonight.  I am hoping the grass will take!

So even though I didn't even make it to the farm until six hours after planned, the day ended up being a successful one.  I now have a lawnmower for the property, and the barn is shielded from the fierce southern winds.  And we are supposed to get down to a low of 33 tomorrow night...with snow tomorrow.  The pigs deserve a tightly-sealed window!

Dad picked a few dozen eggs tonight.

I never did make it around to clearing out that kitchen, but at least some other progress was made!  Little by little.  We finally left at 8:00 P.M.  But we didn't even get out there until probably 4:30 P.M.

In other news, those pigs are getting big!  They have probably gained 10-15 pounds since I picked them up.  It's so fun!!!  I really do enjoy them.  They bring such joy.

Two little porkers happily asleep.

And they are smart.  Tonight I watched one get up to go do his duty (poop), then head back to join the sleeping crowd.  They literally poop in a designated section of the barn and eat and sleep elsewhere.  Very smart creatures.  It's amazing (unfair) that they get such a bad rep!  It's simply because they are confined to steel structures.  But you ought to see them out running and playing in the pasture!!!

I have laughed on numerous occasions.  Seriously, a pure joy.