Sunday, June 12, 2011

Bolt Hole, June 12, 2011

So. This morning at 8 AM I checked the weather.com site to see if there was any rain in the area. Forecast said 60% chance of showers but the radar looked clear. (Couldn't get to the interactive map. Slow connection? Or lots of folks trying?)

With the prospect of having a fair chance of getting some more mowing done, I downed a couple cups of coffee, laced up my boots, sprayed on some Deep Woods OFF, and headed out to the garage. The brush hog started up right away but the set screw on the choke/throttle keeps vibrating out of position. Constant attention to its position and things ran fine. (Note to Paul: Checked the air filter and it was as clean as a baby's bottom AFTER a bath. I think I just flooded things a bit when first starting the engine yesterday.)

And "ran" is the proper term. The D&R brush hog is a self propelled unit and runs best on high. Forget the boots, I need track shoes! At least at these speeds, I thought, the bugs can't even catch me!

Worked for two hours and wrestled 3/4 of the knee deep stuff into submission when it started to rain. WTF? Where was this when I checked the radar? Apparently just lurking off the screen to the southwest. I got the brush hog back to the garage and myself into the cabin just as it started to pour.

An hour later, it had stopped so I went out to finish up. An hour later, I had just managed to do that when it started to rain again. Now I've got windrows of grass forming lines across the backyard looking like newly mowed hay. A perfect place for insects and their predators to play hide and seek. Of course those piles of grass will also damage the grass trying to grow beneath them if not moved and they also harbor some matted down grass that didn't get cut at all because of the wet conditions. (Note to self: Take a flat file to the blades of the brush hog. Its easier to cut rather than beat the grass to death.)

Ah, rain. You need it for things to grow, but there are times you want to say, "Enough all ready!" Still 60% chance of rain through 5 PM today. I don't care if it stops. I'm soaked to the skin and have had it. I'll find something to do inside.

Makes me empathize with this kid:

1 comment:

Rev. Paul said...

Choke control vibrating out of position? Yep, that would do it. I don't really miss the days of manual chokes on cars, either.

Glad to hear you got the grass mostly cut.