Three months!
Unfortunately I slept in again this morning and missed sunrise. Three days left up here on the Mountain, and hopefully I will make sunrise all three days. Little Man slept in too, but that’s okay, since he turns three months old today. After breakfast we went on a nice walk along the Mountain Goat Trail. It felt great outside with the fresh air. I really hope that he enjoys these times. Afterwards we drove over to campus and saw the goats, who were in a new field.
Like most days up here the afternoon was pretty relaxed and everybody napped. Luke has been eating well and getting rid of that food efficiently too. We went on another walk this afternoon on the same stretch of the greenway. It was overcast and felt very nice out, despite being rather humid. Of course we had to go see the goats again after. Back at the cottage Liz nursed Luke while I went to Piggly Wiggly. They had amazing sweet cherries for $2.49 a pound, so I bought a bag. I also got a box of Kix.
Liz and I talked for a while before I went out to take some pictures. It was too cloudy for sunset so I just went to the back side of campus to photograph the fireflies. I wish I would have arrived just a few minutes earlier, because it would have been easier to focus with a little more light. But I was able to get three cameras set up and running. It was so calm and relaxing out in the forest all alone. The lightning bugs were really active, although I struggled to get compelling compositions. Phone picture below shows the dark scene.
Back at the cottage we bathed Luke. We didn’t have his flower pad but he was a good sport about it. I made Liz a sandwich and had a little dinner myself. Luke had more of his usual.
Walk, goats, cruise, lake.
I slept past sunrise and Luke slept through an early walk opportunity. So we hit the goat trail after breakfast. It was still pretty mild out, but rather humid. We walked three miles in right at an hour. The trail was quite pretty. After that we drove to see the goats. They were conveniently hanging out right by the gate. Liz was very happy to see them.
We spent the early afternoon relaxing at the cottage. It rained a little and that kept us from going on a walk, bit not a drive. We went by the overlooks on campus and drove by the goat barn, but they weren’t out.
I went to Jackson Lake for sunset. It was pretty and I took a lot of pictures. The firefly shots didn’t turn out great but some of the landscapes did. Below are some phone photos.
Luke seems to be enjoying the mountain. He sleeps well on our walks and has been nursing great. Tomorrow should be another nice day. We don’t really have anything planned but I know we will try to walk, do tummy time, and maybe go down to Winchester.
Mower mayhem.
I was super excited to get to the farm and use my new finish mower today, but that didn’t stop me from sleeping in until seven. I helped Liz around the house until eight, then hit the road. The mower lacked a couple of pins and a big bolt, so I went to TSC for them. I came back and had some difficulty getting the three point hitch arms lowered, but thanks to the magic of the internet was able to get that resolved. I got the mower all connected and then ran into the next issue – the PTO shaft was too short. Another trip to TSC and three other places were fruitless. Back at the farm I messed around a little but couldn’t get too motivated on account of the heat. I had one more idea and so made a third trip to TSC but once again came up empty handed. I chatted with my neighbor James for a few minutes before deciding to head up towards the cooler temperatures of the mountain.
I just drove the interstate the whole way so it only took about an hour and a half. It was a bit warmer than expected – the internet said 88 degrees, but it is supposed to top out at only 82 for the rest of our days here. I stopped at Piggly Wiggly for a few things Liz requested then took a little nap once I arrived at the cottage. Afterwards I spent some time organizing my car which was a real message. I sorted all of my camera equipment because there will hopefully be lots of photo opportunities this trip. I did a Google search for the PTO shaft and saw one at a good price at Northern Tool, but it was online only and would take over a week to arrive. Then I remembered Amazon. There was a nice looking one at a decent price, but with free two day shipping, so I ordered it. I am really itching to cut some grass!
Liz and Luke arrived around six and I prepared sandwiches while Luke nursed. He was pretty relaxed. I set up a couple of cameras in the front yard to photograph the lightning bugs. There were a ton this evening and I am loading the pictures on to my computer now. Tomorrow evening I will try to go somewhere else to capture them. The big problem here is that my neighbor’s floodlights cast a sickly green glow onto the scene. Other than that it’s a great spot.
Luke seems to be enjoying life these days. This evening he was mesmerized by some little toy that I was waving in front of him. He continues to eat and sleep well. Tomorrow we’ll try to take him on several walks. That will be good for everybody.
Distracted.
I didn’t get in until almost ten this evening, but fortunately the little man was still awake. He was nice and relaxed too. I took several pictures of him. He is looking at Liz in this one.
The most productive day of siding so far.
We got a pretty early start this morning, and thankfully it wasn’t as muddy as I was expecting. The day started off fairly overcast and cool, although that quickly changed. We put siding up on two walls of the garage. It went pretty well for the most part. The second batch of siding isn’t in as good of shape as the first, but so far that hasn’t been a big problem. We overcame the loss of the tape measure and a couple of wasp nests. Trips to Dollar General overcame those challenges. We really started fading around noon. We worked several more hours, but that included an extended conversation with the electrician and a visit from an insulation guy.
At about 5:30 my dad hit the road, and I drove over to the Centerville area to buy a finish mower. The drive was beautiful and it was really cool to meet the seller. He has 13 acres and a 150 year old farm house that he restored. I operated the mower on his small New Holland, and felt really good about it, so I bought it. It was a bit of a challenge to load it onto my trailer with his small tractor, but it worked out in the end. The drive back was uneventful and scenic with the light fading. Back at the farm I easily unloaded it with the forks. Tomorrow I’ll get a couple of pins I need from TSC and rig up a way to attach it, since my parts haven’t arrived at the Kioti dealer yet. And then I’ll try to mow! The weather should be hot, but I think not wet.
Time to build an Ark.
I arrived at the farm around 6:20 this morning and decided to start things off with a nap. It was pretty wonderful. After that I drove back up to Franklin to get some cash from the bank. I need it because I want to go buy a finish mower from a guy west of Columbia. He is out of town until this evening, so hopefully I can go tomorrow or Saturday. On the way back it started raining in a Biblical sort of way. Traffic on the interstate slowed to about 25 mph and tons of people pulled off the side of the road. I stopped for about ten minutes before getting bored and continuing on. My dad was waiting for me at the farm, where it wasn’t raining yet. It looked like the storm was going to avoid us, but then it shifted directions. We went into town to the door store and Big Box Liquidation before going to the nearby steakhouse for lunch. The food was decent, but not great. It was still pouring rain as we drove back to the farm. I dropped my dad off then took the slow route back to the condo. There is a chance of rain tomorrow morning. I could see lots of flooding on my drive back. This will take quite a while to dry out.
Weak start, strong finish.
I arrived at the farm around 6:30 this morning. It was cloudy and humid and looked like it might rain. But the big problem was that we didn’t have power. We messed with the breakers and did everything we could think of before calling the power company. I figured the area lost power because of storms last night. Well they sent a guy out and he tested and saw that we had power coming in. We had been trying to get the compressor to run, but he suggested we try another tool, and it worked. So I thought the compressor was bad and was bracing myself to buy another one. But then my dad let some air out of the tank and it kicked on. It was just full. Oh well, live and learn and look stupid. Once that issue was resolved we made some pretty good progress on the siding. It was miserably hot and I drank 1.75 gallons of Gatorade. That probably wasn’t enough. The electrician came and worked a bit but he said the plumber was in Florida. After my dad left I spent some time cleaning and organizing the job site. I think that tomorrow should be a productive day. Everything is set to get quite a bit more siding up. Fortunately they have decreased the chance of rain.
A successful trip to see the doctor.
Liz took Luke to the pediatrician today. He was very pleased with how the little man is eating and sleeping. He weighs eleven and a half pounds now. The visit was very encouraging for Liz. She is getting more relaxed and confident. Luke is chilling out in the pack and play right now. We’ll see how long the tranquility lasts.
