And to think I have an apartment in an Old Folks Home

 

Impulse buy!

      At Saturday's consignment auction I attended intending to bid on the disc that followed me home. Aware that there was also a stalk chopper for sale, after buying the disc, I wandered over to the chopper curious how it would sell. I bought it on impulse when no one else cared enough to make a couple of bids. 

   It's a John Deere, Model 27, and, judging how much of the road it covered, a 16'. After pulling it to my shop I lubricated it and attached the PTO and hydraulic hoses. Much to my pleasure it worked. Both it and the disc came with the requisite hydraulic cylinder which increases their value. The chopper attaches to the 1000rpm power take off shaft.  After replacing a couple of tires I towed it to the field where it can rest until next spring when it will find use.

   So that's how I spent my work day. What did you do?

Takk for alt,

Al

Tire Follies!

        One of the tires on the disc that followed me home from Saturday's sale looked very old and weather checked. That disc's home is several miles from town. So, it seemed wise to head off possible trouble by replacing that tire. It was removed from the disc and, accompanied with a replacement tire, was transported to a tire repair shop in Volga 10+ miles away. Then the follies began. The tired tire had a 15" rim and the replacement I brought was 14". Stretching is not an option. Dilemma? Return to Sinai for a15" tire, or try the old one?  Folly two...deciding to put a new inner tube in the old tire and use it. Back in Sinai with the tire remounted on the disc it blew out in the first block while heading to the field. Off with that blown tire and back to Volga with the 15" tire I should have brought at the beginning.

     There was a time that this scenario would have frustrated me. No more, it's more entertaining than anything. The disc is now safely parked in the field and resting until it's time to use it next spring. The day's activity is another one that's better than a gym membership. The person who consigned the disc for sale was very lucky that the tire held air until it reached the Sinai sale ground.

Takk for alt,

Al

No comment...

 

June!

 

What Is So Rare As A Day In June

"And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?"    James Russell Lowell

    Yesterday's consignment auction was at a new time. In the past it's always been the second Saturday of August. The date change didn't seem to inhibit the consignments nor the bidders. The weather was so cool that a jacket felt good, unlike the hot August days of the past. Will it be June again if there is one? We'll wait and see.

Takk for alt,

Al

Malacca, Malaysia is very interesting because of the layers of cultures. First there was Malay, then Portuguese Colonial, followed by Dutch Colonial, which was followed by English Colonial and finally independence in 1957. 

Look what followed me home!

      From a casual observer the Sinai Volunteer Fire Department consignment auction today looked like another success. There was a commercial source of many brand new attachments for a skid steer. Selling brought significant money but they sold for much less than would have been paid at a dealer. Good for the Fire Department and good for the buyer. This is one picture of less than a fourth of what was for sale.

  

    But, I did not escape unscathed. This disc followed me home as I  had hoped. There was one other interested bidder so I paid a fair, but not unreasonable, price.

 Then there was this stalk chopper, which I can use, but no one else wanted, so, it was cheap and also followed me home.

Takk for alt,

Al

Pretty much , my life!