Bolt Hole Report

Another one of those "Bad News-Good News" kind of days here at the Bolt Hole.

First the darn birds sang me awake at 5 AM . If I get my hands on the early morning Robin, you can bet my size 10 boots will send his little butt just bob-bob-bobbing along!

After checking my email and having breakfast and a couple cups of joe, it was time to get to work.

Mark had warned me that one of the front tires of the ATV was low on air and he just couldn't get it to inflate properly using his "canned" air. (Actually an old propane tank adapted to hold compressed air.) I had packed my 150 psi compressor and (I thought) all the proper attachments. You know where this is going already, don't you. yeah, after unloading the compressor and attaching the hose, I reached for the attachment that would allow me to inflate the tire only to find out what I had in fact brought was just the pressure gauge. DOH! It's almost the same shape and size but it definitely was not what I needed. So, it was off to the hardware store to get an attachment. Of course the local hardware did not have what I needed and I ended up going all the way to Lowe's in Utica. An hour and a half shot. But, hey! Now I have TWO attachments with which I can inflate tires.

Back at the Bolt Hole I inflated the ATV tire to the proper pressure and fixed a flat on the wheel barrow while I was at it. Then, while I let the ATV sit to be sure the tire held pressure, I got the DR Brush Hog out to see if it was going to start. The gas tank was dry so I had some hope that the new gas I would be putting in it would be a plus. I half filled the tank, turned the choke on, put it on full throttle and pulled the starter cord. Then pulled it again and again. On the fourth or fifth pull, the engine roared to life. Hooray! For the next two hours I walked behind the brush hog as I cleared the area behind the barn and garage known as Phase 1 of the Apple Orchard Project. (I hit Phase 2 just a bit as well.) That area's about one acre of small spindly apple trees, a few crooked cherry trees and two or three Scotch pines that I haven't cut down...yet. The brush hog behaved beautifully.

Time for lunch and then it was the ATV's turn.

The tire was still inflated after several hours so I figured it was safe to head out into the woods with it. First I attached the trailer and filled it with debris Mark had raked up from the Phase 3 area. Lots of small branches and pine needles for the most part. I knew exactly where I was going to dump this stuff. One of the trails has a few wet spots on it that could use some firming up. A few years ago I had tried dumping debris from our NJ bathroom remodel there but the mud just absorbed the tile pieces. I really need to ditch the side of the trail but the rocks (actually boulders) make that very difficult. I made five trips with trailer fulls of debris down that trail and barely made a dent in filling the soft spots. And finding a place to turn the ATV and trailer around? HA! Try backing up between two fir trees that are juuuust far enough apart to fit the trailer. It was a challenge. And handle bars on the ATV made it even more so. With a steering wheel I can back up with the best of 'em. Handle bars? Feh. Not so much. Especially when you've got no rear view mirror. Luckily the trailer is light enough that when I got frustrated I could just pick the back end up and put it where I wanted it to be.

By 3:30 PM I figured I had done enough for the day. I was soaked with perspiration and Deep Woods Off. (Perhaps the former rather than the latter had more to do with why the bugs weren't attacking.) My water bottle was near empty and my get-up-and-go had run out on me.

Did I mention bugs? Sunny, warm, humid.... Perfect black fly weather for early June. Not bad for deer flies either. But today I wore long sleeves (white), gloves and a bandanna draped over my neck and held on by my hat. As long as I remembered to breath through my nose, I was okay. I could have donned the net bug suit, but that would have just snagged on the branches I was picking up and brushing against as I drove down the trail. The bug suit is great for cutting the lawn when there's little breeze to keep the flies away--even though a few still manage to get inside with you--but it's also surprisingly warm to wear.

The weather guys are saying 40% chance of showers tonight and 60% tomorrow. I can always cut firewood between the rain drops.

BTW. Today is my son's 26th birthday. Seems like only yesterday his mom was standing at he curb waiting for me to get home and take her to the hospital. I hope he and his wife have a good day out there in Eugene. Machinery