Lawnmowers Can Be A Headache

When we moved here to Kentucky I brought along an old push type lawnmower that had been left with the house we bought in late 1999.  It was several years old then and we used it regularly until moving here.  I mowed the large lawn that went with the old mobile home we rented in town all summer long in 2004.  By the time I started mowing here around the house it was finally beginning to fall apart.  I purchased the least expensive mower Wal-Mart had in the store.  After 5 summers it was also having problems.  The metal was breaking out where the wheels mounted causing the wheels to flop over and there wasn’t much one could do to repair this.  The engine was not running right either.  I replaced a diaphragm in the carburetor (I hope this spelling meets your approval as there are 4 different possibilities in the dictionary!) but it still wasn’t running as it should.

Danny had an old mower that someone had given him that had the recoil starter messed up.  He said I could have it so I worked with it and got the starter fixed but I could not get it to run.  With some starter fluid sprayed into the carburetor it would fire and burn out the fluid but wouldn’t keep running.  I discovered that the intake manifold, which was made of plastic, was broken on the end that attached to the carb.  I bought a new one and I still couldn’t get it to run until I took the carb off and cleaned it.  I did some mowing with it but the engine wouldn’t stay at the RPMs I needed.  A throttle cable should fix that, I thought.  So, I purchased a universal throttle cable.  I soon discovered that I needed a small cable clamp to hold the cable.  I checked with the largest mower dealer in our nearby “big” town.  They didn’t have such an animal.  They referred me to another business which also didn’t have such a clamp.  I decided I could make my own.

Now that everything was back together I should have been back in business.  But, again the engine didn’t want to start.  While pulling and pulling the starter rope snapped.  Now, that shouldn’t be a big problem.  I’ve rewound many recoil starter springs BUT this one was different.  I couldn’t seem to figure out how it had to be done.  Searching the internet I could find parts manuals, operator manuals but no info on how to rewind the spring in the recoil starter.  I found where I could purchase a repair manual for $20.00 or so.

Needless to say, about this time I was tired of working with old worn out mowers.  So, yesterday morning I went mower shopping.  I was hoping that maybe some of the stores would be putting mowers on clearance this late in the summer.  Lowes had a good selection but no clearance sale.  TSC has only ONE push type in stock but they weren’t discounting it.  They told me that they had purchased fewer mowers this year and had planned to sell all inventory.  Wal-Mart was putting their mowers on clearance but I didn’t find what I really liked.  So, I went back to Lowes and was able to buy one that seemed to meet my needs.  Hopefully it will last as long as I will need a lawnmower.

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My Little Girls Are Gone

If you have ever had goats you know how hard it is to let go of any of them.  My little goat kids are now over 6 months old.  I should have gotten rid of some of them before now but I kept wrestling with myself, trying to talk myself into keeping Annie’s daughter (A.G.).  Brownie’s little girl (B.G.) was a beautiful little goat as well but A.G. was just a gorgeous little doeling.  However, I finally made the decision to sell the girls and ran an ad on Craigslist. 

A lady called and wanted both of them, so they will still have each other.  They also will have other goats to make friends with.  The lady could tell that I was having a hard time parting with them and she sent me an e-mail to let me know that they are doing fine.

This is what she had to say, in part.   “Anyway, the one you liked so much....I haven't named them yet......she got a ride on the 4-wheeler sitting in my lap.  I think she enjoyed it as she was in no hurry to get up.  The other one was running along behind us calling her head off!!  Anyway, thought you'd like to know how they were doing :)”  I got quite a chuckle picturing this in my mind.  I feel sure they will get good care.

Here are a couple of pictures taken just before they left here.

This is A.G.  Isn’t she a beauty?

B.G. is spotted much like her dad.

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The Front Porch-Part Two

I mentioned in my last post, The Front Porch, that I would keep everyone updated on the completion of the project of screening in the porch. Well, I’m happy to report that the carpet is down and the new door is up. I also redid the sidewalk. It is a “board walk” and the old one was put down hurriedly nearly 5 years ago. It was sagging in some areas, boards were warped and a few were beginning to develop some rot. Here are some photos.

The carpet is blue, Connie’s favorite color.

The cedar screen door and carpeted front steps. The bottom section of the screen door is expanded metal, which should take the beating given it by a dog and grandkids.

The walk extends from the front steps to the parking area. It runs at an angle of about 24 degrees.

We have been enjoying eating on the porch without being bothered by insects. Last evening Ramiah ate with us and this evening we were joined by Malchiah. In the photo above we were preparing to eat our lunch today. This evening as we were eating there was a light rain falling. Without any wind blowing it was very pleasant. In case you can’t tell, we are enjoying having a screened porch.

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