Awake: 5:55am Temp 66 sleep 6+33 sunny overnight @ Watertown, WI.
Around 9:30am, Larry & I gather (6) fuel containers (diesel & gas) & drive (2) miles toward Watertown & fill them up @ the Kwik….Service Station. Then a short drive to the factory to attach the double axle, flat bed trailer to the Ford pickup & haul that back to the house. After filling the John Deere Tractor’s tank with diesel fuel & the Bob Cat mower tanks with gasoline, those machines are loaded onto the flat bed trailer. Then we outfit our bodies with gloves, earplugs, respirator masks, & water bottles & head for that factory area again. Today’s project: mow the tall grass around the semi-retired production factory & frontal road area.
With Larry on the Bob Cat & me on the John Deere tractor, we figure a few hrs & we’ll be finished. What I didn’t realize, but have some recent experience with, was “dull blades” on both machines.We had to make (2 & 3) runs thru the tall grass for a clean cut & that took a lot of extra time.
After (3) hrs, the Bob Cat chewed up & tossed out the blade driving belt & that finished Larry’s productivity. Fortunately, the John Deere had plenty of fuel, & I have a lot of experience sitting in one place for a long time & continue smiling. My (5) hrs were dusty, dirty, soaking wet, etc, but we were finished. Larry didn’t just sit around while I continued to mow; he drove that Caddy out to the frontal road area, stuck a large “for sale” sign on it & also put a weight lifting machine alongside the car. I think he was busy the whole time but have no idea what else he accomplished. We close up the factory, load the equipment onto the flat bed trailer & head back to the house.
We have a mid afternoon lunch with the girls & share the fun things we’ve been doing. Speaking of the girls, they have been working in the basement, gathering some old photo equipment, suitcases, and other paraphernalia to be discarded + old paperback books, (256) to be exact, that Sally wants to donate to the Watertown library. After that basement experience, they continue painting the Jockey & Lackey statues out in front. Later, Kathy helps Sally with dinner by shucking ears of sweet corn.
After the mid day lunch, Larry would like to visit the Bob Cat dealer to buy a replacement belt today & Sally would like those 256 paperback books taken to the library before it closes. Looks like another mission for the guys. So now we carry those (5) large boxes of books upstairs & out the back door to the waiting Honda Odyssey & we are off.
An hr later, both missions are accomplished. Back @ the house, Larry prefers to replace the Bob Cat’s broken belt now, before Shabbat begins. He has replaced that same belt before so he’s familiar with the task. After driving the Bob Cat up on a set of ramps, he gets right with the program. With a little help from the manual, we are finished in about 45 min. A test drive by Larry & a follow up with my testing proves the fix is “A” ok.
The hot shower was the best part of our day. Just as K & I finished getting dressed, our door bell rang & in comes Larry & Sally with her brother, Bruce, his wife, Marsha, & their sons, Mika & Jeremy. They are interested in a tour & Larry is ready to see a slide extended. I purposely kept the # 4 side in to show Larry, so now we’ll have even more of an audience. They were happy to see more of our inside home.
We are invited to share Shabbat with them @ dinner time starting about 8:00pm. Without going thru all the details like we did last yr, I’ll simply say we had another great meal with the traditional blessings, prayers & wine, Challa bread, mushroom & wild rice soup, coleslaw with cashew-spinach, beef brisket, potatoes, sautéed green beans with Shitake mushrooms, fresh corn on the cob, and for dessert, pistachio chocolate chip pie and watermelon. Another delicious meal & good people to enjoy it with.
We talk & eat until around 10:00pm & then it’s time for us to return to our small home.
Today’s high=80’s Lights out: 10:46pm
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