The Best Laid Plans

This morning started a little differently.

I woke up around 7:00, but instead of jumping out of bed, I just laid there for a while thinking about the day ahead.

Something has changed in me over the last few months.

I used to be perfectly content staying in bed for hours.

I could relax all morning without thinking twice about everything that needed to be done.

Now...

I can't.

Even here on eighty acres, with nobody telling me what has to be done or when it has to be done, I still find myself anxious to get outside and accomplish something.

It's a strange feeling.

You'd think being this isolated would make it easier to slow down.

Instead, I find myself putting deadlines on myself.

By 8:15 I was telling myself...

"At 8:30, you're getting out of bed."

Whether I had seen hummingbirds or not.

Speaking of hummingbirds...

I never did see one this morning.

Then I reminded myself of something I'd read.

Hummingbirds don't particularly like cold, wet weather.

They're probably tucked away somewhere warm waiting for the rain to pass.

According to the forecast, today was supposed to stay cool, damp, and rainy most of the day.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, looked beautiful.

Sunny.

Eighty degrees.

Perfect mowing weather.

Originally, my plan was to spend the day inside the bunkhouse.

Removing cabinets.

Vanities.

Toilets.

Fixtures.

Starting the next phase of demolition.

Honestly, it would have been the perfect weather for indoor work.

The other jobs on my list could easily wait another day.

The black water tote needed to be emptied now that the replacement gasket had arrived.

The hummingbird feeders needed to be cleaned and refilled.

There were a few things around camp I wanted to set up once the remaining parts arrived.

There was also a project I'd really like to start, but I'm still keeping that one under wraps for now.

Then there was the mower.

Sitting exactly where I left it.

Up on the jack in the workshop with the deck removed.

Waiting patiently for a new belt.

That became today's priority.

So, around 9:00, Wyatt and I headed over to the workshop.

As usual...

He supervised.

Since I'd never replaced one of these belts before, I spent about fifteen minutes trying to figure out the routing around the spindles.

Nothing looked right.

Eventually I admitted defeat.

Back to the motorhome we went.

One quick search later, I found the belt diagram online.

One of the best purchases I've made recently was yesterday's printer.

I printed the diagram, carried it back to the workshop, and gave it another shot.

Within about ten minutes I had the belt mostly installed.

Then I ran into another problem.

Getting the belt around the PTO clutch.

After staring at it for a while, I finally realized I was doing everything in the wrong order.

The belt needed to go onto the PTO clutch first.

Then around the deck pulleys.

Only after that could I reinstall the deck.

Simple.

Or so I thought.

Putting the deck back on turned into a completely different battle.

For more than an hour...

Maybe closer to an hour and a half...

I fought with it.

I lifted.

Twisted.

Pushed.

Pulled.

Tapped it with a hammer.

Tried every angle I could think of.

Nothing.

The front hanger refused to slide fully into its slot, which meant I couldn't reinstall the retaining pin.

I reached inside with my finger over and over.

It felt perfectly clean.

Nothing seemed to be blocking it.

Finally I grabbed a can of PB Blaster.

I sprayed inside the slot and started scraping with the pin itself.

Wouldn't you know it...

The slot was packed solid with compacted dirt.

So compacted that it felt like solid metal.

Once I cleaned it out...

Everything dropped right into place.

The retaining pin slid in effortlessly.

All that frustration...

For a little bit of dirt.

I fired up the mower and gave it a quick test.

The blades engaged perfectly.

Problem solved.

Of course...

With the rain still falling, there wasn't much point in mowing.

So back into the workshop it went.

At that point I knew I probably should head over to the bunkhouse and start removing cabinets.

But sometimes...

We have projects we have to do.

And sometimes...

We have projects we want to do.

The garden was one of those projects for my partner and me.

We didn't have to build it.

We wanted to.

I have a project like that too.

I'm not quite ready to show it yet.

So I headed down to the local lumberyard to pick up the materials.

Unfortunately they didn't carry what I needed.

That left me with a decision.

Forget the project...

Or drive another forty five minutes to Oneonta.

I chose Oneonta.

Then I remembered something.

Wyatt was riding with me.

And I didn't bring his leash or harness.

Back to Memory Lane we went.

Fortunately the lumberyard is only about twenty minutes away, not the full trip into town.

Once we were properly equipped, Wyatt and I headed to Oneonta.

But before we left I inspected the cabinets in the Bunkhouse to see how they were installed. Surprisingly I see no fasteners and will need to do some research on how to remove without destroying them.

By the time we arrived in Oneonta it was already lunchtime.

Unfortunately...

The trip was disappointing.

The materials I was looking for were there.

The quality wasn't.

I decided I'd rather wait than build something I wouldn't be happy with.

Sometimes doing nothing is better than doing something twice.

So Wyatt and I headed back toward the farm.

Once I got home I made myself a cheeseburger with the leftover macaroni and cheese from last night.

It wasn't fancy.

But it hit the spot.

After lunch I looked around and thought...

I still don't feel like sitting still.

Since the replacement gasket had arrived, it seemed like the perfect time to finally empty the black water tote.

As I gathered everything together, I happened to glance down at the driveway.

There...

Lying on the ground...

Was the original missing gasket.

Apparently it hadn't disappeared after all.

I reinstalled it, hooked everything up, and emptied the tote without a single leak. I guess I can return the replacements I purchased.

Then I flushed the entire system with fresh water before pumping it into the septic.

Everything worked exactly the way it should have.

Sometimes the easiest repair is finding the part you thought you lost.

After pulling the tote back over to camp, I figured I'd give the burn pile another shot.

The rain had everything soaking wet, so I grabbed a little gasoline from the workshop to help get things started.

On the way back from the workshop I noticed several packages had been delivered, so I stopped to pick them up before heading back to camp.

Perfect timing.

Or so I thought.

Once I opened the boxes, I realized several critical pieces weren't included.

Not because they were missing.

Because I hadn't realized they weren't part of the package.

So...

Back to town again.

I know.

You're probably seeing a pattern.

After picking up the missing pieces, I headed back to Memory Lane. The fog was even thicker than yesterday.

Then once I got to the top of the mountain, I saw the deer again. I think we're going to have to name her since we see her so often.

Finally back on the lane to start setting things up.

Then I found another problem.

One of the parts was actually broken.

This time it wasn't something I could buy locally.

I contacted the retailer, and they're sending a replacement.

Now comes the waiting game.

Approval.

Shipping.

Delivery.

Who knows how long.

So that project is officially on hold for a few more days.

With no other choice, I wandered back over to the burn pile.

I gave it another little shot of burn juice, hoping it would finally take off.

Unfortunately, even with the extra help, it just wasn't happening.

The wood and cardboard were simply too wet from all the recent rain.

It smoldered for a while, gave off a little smoke, and then slowly died back out.

I decided not to fight it anymore.

Tomorrow would be another day.

Or so I thought.

After everything else was finished and just before heading inside, I figured...

One more try.

This time I gave it a much more generous helping of burn juice.

I let it soak into the pile for about a minute.

Then, standing a safe distance away, I tossed in a match.

Whoosh!

The entire pile burst into flames.

This time it wasn't messing around.

The fire burned so hot that the rising heat reached into the trees above, causing the leaves to shake and sprinkle tiny drops of moisture back down onto the ground.

For a split second it startled me because I couldn't figure out where the water was coming from.

Then I looked up.

The heat from the fire was literally drying the leaves above it.

It was actually pretty neat to watch.

By the time the fire settled back down, it had burned through the remaining wood and cardboard that had been sitting in the pile.

Finally...

One more project checked off the list.

At this point I'm really not that hungry.

I had planned on cooking the steak I bought the other day since it probably should be cooked soon, but honestly...

I just don't feel like making a big dinner tonight.

I'll probably just find something to pick on and save the steak for tomorrow.

As I sat down for the evening, I started thinking about tomorrow.

At first I thought I only had one of project I could do tomorrow... cut the grass.

Then I started making a mental list.

First, I'd like to continue loading the firewood into the new wood racks.

Second, I'd like to break apart the remaining wood furniture that's still sitting in the burn pile so it'll be ready for future fires.

Third, assuming the weather cooperates and the mower behaves itself, I'd really like to continue cutting grass.

Then I remembered the garden hose I accidentally ran over with the mower a few days ago.

I'd like to replace that so the garden is back on its normal watering system.

And while I'm at it, I'd also like to reconnect the irrigation system for the plants around camp.

Then, as I was sitting here writing this blog, I remembered something else.

Earlier today I picked up some neem oil to treat what appears to be a fungus that's starting to grow on the grape vines.

So while I'm already over there replacing the hose, I might as well spray the vines too.

Funny how that works.

You think you only have two or three things to do...

Then you start thinking about it, and suddenly there are six.

And if I'm being honest, if I sat here another five minutes, I'd probably think of another half dozen.

That's just life on the farm.

The to do list never really gets shorter.

But somehow, that's part of what makes this place so enjoyable.

There is always another project waiting.

Always another problem to solve.

Always another opportunity to make Memory Lane just a little bit better than it was yesterday.

We'll see how many of those projects actually get done tomorrow.

If the weather cooperates...

And if the mower decides to cooperate too.

Around here, I've learned not to assume either one will.

~ Making Memories