White Halloween

Friday I brought the car in for inspection.  While I was waiting for it, I went out for a walk and took some scenic shots.  Snow is still in the pretty stage of the year.

Sadly the snow in Swanzey was already largely melted when I went out.  They didn't get as much, and it was warmer there.

Some trees are probably slightly confused about what season it is.

A couple pictures of the Ashuelot river.

The repairs for the inspection were cheaper than I expected; they were actually able to replace the gasket in the exhaust that was leaking as opposed to cutting chunks out and welding new chunks in.  My dodecagon tire was replaced too.  The car is nice and quiet and drives much nicer/smoother.

Halloween was cold.  Apparently there is a lot of moisture in the carport.  There was frost on both sides.

We had a white Halloween.  It was cold enough (at least in Sullivan) that the snow hadn't melted off yet.  

I went and got the chains and some anti-gel for the tractor.  I also picked up a new set of nice gloves.  I like deerskin gloves, though they are really expensive.  Hopefully I won't wreck this pair too quickly.

After that I made like a ghost and disappeared.  I was apparently a drunk for Halloween since I spent most of the afternoon napping on my couch.  That evening I did some cleanup inside.  I can sit in my chair again, which hasn't been possible since spring.  It is also nice since my winter hats and gloves are in the seat.

Sunday was a little bit warmer and sunny.  It didn't take long for snow to melt off that was in the sun.  I also did a little final smoothing on the driveway.  It rides much smoother going up and down now, and I don't have to crawl with the car to not scrape now.  It will also hopefully allow the blade to work better clearing snow.

I also went and put the anti-gel into the tractor.  The bottle instructions were pretty obnoxious (one bottle per 50 gallons, which is very useful for people who put diesel in 5 gallons at a time...), so I went and put marks on the bottle for each ounce, which at least helps a bit.  It is approximately 3-4 ticks per 5 gallons.

After that, it was time to install the chains.  My first attempt I tried to put them the traditional way (lay them out, drive on them, wrap and clip).  When I took them out for a spin though, it didn't go well.  

So instead I went and did it the way I used to install them on my lawn tractor.  They went on much tighter, much faster, and passed the trip up and down the driveway.  Interestingly my jack doesn't fit under the tractor, I had to drive the tractor up on a board to get it underneath.  

The chains are all on.  The tractor is now ready for winter.  I debated putting a spot light on it, but I might wait until I know the headlights are inadequate.

I also forgot that I have a leftover bag of concrete.  I might get a chance to use it later this week or early next week, we should see some 60s by the end of the week.  If not I might bring it to KY since I know if I try to store it it will be a brick by next year.

Since it started raining and got very dark pretty early on Sunday, I decided to go do some more organizing in the shed.  I decided to attack the broken tote of hand tools sitting in the shed.  I quickly discovered that while the Craftsman box was indeed mouse free, my other box was not.  I still had some leftover lavender mothball things that I used when I packed the totes to keep rodents out, so I have now made my toolboxes smell like a public restroom.

While sorting through the crap I found a spare set of trailer wiring.  This would have been good to know about last spring.

I got the white bin cleaned out, and it is now a trash can again.  I put some of the broken tote away, but it is pretty clear that I need a new strategy for my tools; my drawer for screwdrivers is overflowing for example.  

I also found this strap.  It was brand new (still had twist ties holding it together) but I don't remember buying it.  It is odd in that the strap is a loop, there are no hooks on it.  I am not entirely sure what I would use it for, but it is now in the truck with the other straps.  

When I got a break in the rain I went and measured the outside cover for the AC.  Saturday night it started its annoying fan scraping on ice since we got a lot of snow and rain and then everything froze routine.  I started to design a little cover for it so it doesn't get the rain and snow inside the cover.  In the end I decided to just make a box with legs.  I still have some leftover pieces of roofing from the house that I can use for it.  And plenty of excess lumber.  Hopefully this will prevent any wake-ups at 2AM because the water in the unit froze and the fan makes a loud scraping and thwacking noise when it hits the ice.  

The tractor is now ready for winter, which checks another item off the checklist.  I am quickly running out of weekends, and now that the clocks have changed, I don't have evenings outside of artificially lit ones.  Still, work on the checklist is drawing to a close.  Despite the snow scares, everything is proceeding well.  I do still need to make a decision on the south wall siding though.  

• Support the shed (either pilings or add additional bracing)
• Get windows installed in the shed
• Paint the carport
• Re-route the electrical cords
  
• Install driveway markers
• Get chains and a blade
• Finish moving piles around (gravel and dirt)
• Grade the driveway
• Install acrylic and braces in carport.
• Realign the front door
• Winterize mowers
• Shut off hose.
• Install siding on south wall.