Good morning!!!!

[RedNeckGeek]

And we are still cutting grass, today looks like I will be on the mowers again. It's mid July! The grass is super lush, green and growing.

Take it easy is all I can say.

Same out here too, Mike. Most everything's brown and dried out, but a fair amount has kept going on morning dew and now the stalks are a couple feet high. Made it hard to find the thistle, especially in the areas that didn't get a second cutting back in May.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Good morning. It's 80°F and a bit overcast here. Forecast is for 94°F this afternoon. No rain in our forecast for the next week. Last year we had 3/4" of rain total in July and August so we're on track to duplicate that again this year. Groan.

Right before lunch I needed to pressure wash some parts yesterday so, I pulled out the small Honda pressure washer. I pulled the rope on the recall starter and, as usual, it started on the first pull. But the pull rope didn't retract as normal. I went ahead and finished the pressure washing job. When done, shut it off and removed the three nuts that secure the recoil starter on top of the engine. Seems the spring that retracts the pull rope either broke or the plastic that secures it broke.

I looked it up, on Amazon, and I could get a complete replacement Honda recoil starter assembly for $15 and it was a Prime with one-day delivery! The new one will be in our mailbox by about 2:30 p.m. today.

Randy .... good to hear your making progress!

BEF ..... get well soon so you can go home to your own bed.

Thomas ..... we've got three sets of twin fawns and lots of singles on the ranch. The three Does, with twins, tend to move around together. They were up near our east porch last evening.

This is the oldest set and several does. Couldn't get all in the picture.



Eric ..... I use the blue dye in my tank mix too. It really helps in seeing what you've already sprayed. I use nitrile exam gloves anytime I add dye to my tank as I'm sure to get some on me.

Hope everyone has a great start to your week.

Prayers to all.

 

[PJSprog]

72°F and cloudy this morning, going up to 78° today. Had some light rain this early morning, but a dry drive to work. Chance for rain pretty much the rest of the day and into tomorrow when the remnants of Barry get here. We'll be seeing a return to the upper 90s by the end of the week.

Wife got home from the dog show about 6pm yesterday, and decided we should erect the new 10'x13' pergola on the deck. So, of course, we did. Took the two of us about three and a half hours, but we got it finished. It has a retractable shade, and is surprisingly more stout that I'd anticipated for something that came in a box and screws together. Not a great picture, but it was 9:30 at night, and the backyard flood lights near the top of the sunroom really lit it up. She's pleased, and in the end that's what matters.



Good to have you back in the conversation, Randy.

 

[PJSprog]

Smart dog and even smarter handler. :thumbsup: "K9 Sign" next after ASL ?

She looked into some dog-specific sign language, but decided to stick with ASL, as the other was too limited in scope. I'd never heard of K9Sign until I just looked it up. It does look interesting. She uses a modified version of ASL, as sometimes you only have one hand available.

Pj just amazing what dogs can be trained to do. I was a K9 handler early in my career then supervised the unit. Best partner I ever had never had to worry about him turning tail and running. Biggest baby ever at home but once it was work time all business. He could go from doing a demo in a class of small children and playing with them to a riot. Trained in tracking, evidence recovery, building search and of course keeping me out of harm's way.

Dogs are incredibly smart animals. We have three Border Collies, and they all respond to either verbal or hand signals. The oldest has an arsenal of about 30 "tricks" that she loves to show off. Police dog training is a whole different level of training. She doesn't do that, but has immense respect for those who do. Those dogs are hand picked, and the training is incredible. Fantastic animals.

 

[Thomas]

ronjhall
Thomas, I had to check. 79 day until 10/3. Just in time to start blowing leaves.
……………………………….
I didn't think of it that way but I do like your thinking. :thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

riptides
Thomas, I keep going back to your 45 years.....that is quite an accomplishment. Heck, some jobs I had, lucky if I kept my mouth shut for 45 seconds. LOL. NEXT. LOL.
………………………..
Over those years I met some interesting people you might say and I wanted to express my feelings to them.

 

[Thomas]

rlgustafson
Thomas ..... we've got three sets of twin fawns and lots of singles on the ranch. The three Does, with twins, tend to move around together. They were up near our east porch last evening.

This is the oldest set and several does. Couldn't get all in the picture.

View attachment 612984
…………………………………………….

View like that I could set for hours with smooth cigar and cold spirit enjoying. :thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

PJSprog
She's pleased, and in the end that's what matters.

View attachment 612986
………………………….

That's what counts. :thumbsup:

 

[def38]

Good Morning!!!! 73F @ 5:30AM. Plentiful sunshine. High 96F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

We had a small apple tree in the backyard of the house I was born into, Randy. I could tell that the apples were ripe when the birds started pecking on them, and I could swallow a bite instead of spitting it out because it was so sour.:laughing:

Sounds like all the work put into keeping up the pool is paying off big time, Mike!:thumbsup:

Yesterday morning was dead calm, and I thought it was a perfect time to spray a little glyphosate on the yellow star thistle that is sprouting along the driveway. Thought I'd be done in an hour at most. But once I got the tank loaded and went up there, the thistle was much more widespread than I thought, and four hours later I'd put out almost 150 gallons of 3% solution. :shocked: I could do a lot more spraying, but I've come to the realization that some of the land here is just going to have to take care of itself, it either being too steep or far enough away from the house so as not to pose a fire hazard.

Body man neighbor down the street offered to let me throw some junk into the 40 cubic yard dumpster he'd rented, so I gathered up an old BBQ that had been burned in the fire and the remnants of the PVC pipe and drip tube I'd dug up and headed down. Well he had that dumpster packed almost to the brim, and the darn thing was about ten feet high! The PVC didn't take much room, but I had to climb up into the thing to move branches and wood around to make room for the BBQ. Both of us managed to haul it up and in, and it'll be nice to have it gone. To thank him, I gave him the tourniquet I was given in the first aid class I took a couple weeks ago. Figured it might come in handy for him if he tried to cut his leg off again with his chainsaw, and he laughed when I handed it to him.

Spent the rest of the day, what little there was, mapping wires for the new instrument on the enduro bike, but I've some questions that will take some time on the telephone this week to answer. About then, Body man neighbor came down and we enjoyed a couple beers on the patio, and was surprised to learn that his 17 year old son doesn't have a job for the summer. My friend wasn't any too happy, either, but apparently the kid has made a few bucks flipping cars, with a LOT of dad's help, and figures he can just coast 'till school starts again. My friend, on the other hand, is sick and tired of working his butt off on the kid's projects, especially when the kid doesn't reciprocate around the house, and it sounds like there'll be a Come To Jesus meeting between the two this week to set a new normal. At that age, me and my friends always had jobs in the summertime, it was when we could make some real money, maybe even buy our first car. Kids these days, not so much I guess.:confused2:

Monday again. Hope the week gets off to a great start for everyone!

Speaking of jobs, I was still in elementary school...I had two paper routes (AM and PM) and I delivered the Special delivery mail in the small town I grew up in. I knew half the people in town (~700) by first and last name. Tips at Christmas time were swell. When I matriculated into high school, I had almost $3000.00 in the bank (circa 1952), a lot of money back then. Today? Our kids mostly play video games at that age. What a waste.

 

[toppop52]

I’ve been paying someone to mow my grass for about 6 weeks now, first time in my life that I can recall. That is very weird to me, but I just can’t do it yet and may not be able to this year.
My poor Kubota sitting there looking forlorn.
All kidding aside, it is a very strange feeling to watch them pull up, unload and start trimming and mowing.