Barney and Betty at Home Place

Posted June 2, 2013

We didn’t have any major projects planned to do while we were in Missouri. Connie had an electrical problem that needed to be taken care of. Jacob and Terri were out of school from the 16^th to the 24^th. Jacob wanted some guidance in replacing the radiator in his car and Terri wanted to take a canoe trip down the river. Last fall we had placed some railroad ties for a raised garden bed. It was 16 feet on a side and the ends were about 4 feet. This year we got enough ties to make them three high and drilled and pinned them together and to the ground with 4’ pieces of rebar. Terri went to see her friend Brittany, she has to use the pickup to get to her house, and they gave her a truckload of topsoil. Once the topsoil was in it pretty well filled the raised bed and Terri planted sunflowers. She had to lay old window screens over the seeds to keep the squirrels out but in a couple of days the sunflowers were coming up.

Sharon got the Gravely, zero-turn mower out and mowed the main part of the yard. Terry wanted to mow the field so he got the Murray mower cleaned up and filled with oil. The Murray leaks oil out the lower crankshaft seal onto the mower deck and after sitting in the shed all winter, oil did not register on the dip stick. Terry cleaned the oily grass from the mower deck and under the engine as best he could and started cutting the ditch and the field. He had been mowing for an hour or so and noticed smoke coming from the engine so he stopped to clean the oily grass from under the engine. When he shut the mower off and opened the hood it was already on fire. He blew the fire out a couple of times but it was hot enough to reignite. He went to the house for rags and water but by the time he got back the fuel line was burned through and it was really burning. The first bucket of water was not enough to put out the fire with the gas burning on the ground and oil on the engine and mower deck was really cooking. He called Sharon and she reeled out the hose and started filling buckets. Remember for a moment where we are. Terri had taken the pickup to see Brittany. When she left she told us that Liz, her college roommate, might come to spend a few days with her and if she came just “tell her to hang out till I get home”. We had never met Liz and Connie, Jacob and Terri are all gone. The mower is sitting in the road-side ditch burning like mad, belching a cloud of black smoke from a burning front tire as Liz pulls into the driveway. Liz dashes out and grabs two buckets of water from Sharon and hustles them out to Terry at the burning mower. Those two buckets and a couple more put the fire out while Liz was taking pictures of the mess with her telephone. After things calmed down somewhat we introduced ourselves to Liz, who, by the way, is a very nice young lady and may well consider Terri’s grandparents certifiable.

When the rest of the kids and grandkids got home we drug the Murray out of the ditch and put it out back with the tractor. The next day we loaded up the Murray, the old Craftsman and other miscellaneous items and took them to the local scrap metal dealer. The only reminder of the fire is a black spot in the ditch where the mower burned. Hopefully after a few rain showers and the grass growing back all of the evidence will be gone.

On Wednesday, May 22 Jacob replaced the radiator in his Geo Tracker. Jacob did all of the work and Terry looked over his shoulder offering suggestions. To Jacob’s credit he suffered through all of his grandpa’s suggestions and never threatened to hit him with a wrench. The new radiator, new hoses and clamps were installed with nary a leak or problem. Jacob drove his Geo to school on Friday, worked Saturday and drove home Saturday night with no problems.

Jacob also installed a new stereo system which turned out very nice.

Terri had been having problems with one of the rear windows on the Aveo so Terry took the driver’s door panel off to check it, but was unable to fix the problem. She agreed she could live with it without any problems.

Sharon and Terry purchased a new riding mower to use to cut the ditch and the field. It did a really good job and everyone has agreed we will not tell it that it is not a brush-hog.

Don and Judi arrived at Connie’s Saturday evening May 25, after several weeks of hard labor at Debbie’s new house, and started a much deserved rest.

On Monday, May 27, on Memorial Day, Terry, Jacob and Terri took the canoe down the Piney River from Dog’s Bluff to Mineral Springs. Terri caught 43 fish, Jacob caught the largest and the smallest and grandpa came in dead last. It was a very enjoyable day on the river and probably the best weather we had while we were in Missouri.