Nice peaceful weekend.

I did get some other stuff done during the week last week.  I got up to Hillsboro Ford and got my truck on the schedule to be looked at.  I also heard back from the town, and my meeting for the variance is set for tomorrow.  I thought they had to give more notice than that, but it isn't a big deal, I have been ready for the meeting for well over a month now.  

I also caught a last gasp of fall color on one of my walks later in the week.  

We are at the time of year where I am driving in during the dark.  I caught a nice sunrise as I was headed back from the gym though.  

Saturday I spent most of the day finishing up the little things that were lingering on the list.  The pile of dirt is finished.  The area is smoothed (ish/enough).  

I also put my previous flattened marker back up.  Thankfully it didn't appear to be damaged from being run over with the tractor.  

One other thing to note about the tractor: while they had it for the servicing they also replaced the hydraulic valves again.  The first replacement set still leaked, but it wasn't bad enough for me to care.  This set so far seems to be good though, I see no signs of leaking hydraulic fluid.

I intended to go and make another round with the lawn tractor blowing leaves, but there was a problem.  I must have run over something when I was clearing the knotweed areas with it.  At this point, I decided it wasn't worth the aggravation, and I will get a tube put in it during the winter sometime.  

So instead I just ran it out of gas and pushed it in.  I will deal with it later.  The carport is now in its winter arrangement.  

I got the old snowblower pulled out and listed for sale.  Hopefully someone bites.  I am not asking much for it, and it runs fine, so I think someone will bite despite a few broken pieces.

Sunday was a really nice day, so I decided to go for a hike to some castle ruins in Chesterfield.  The full album can be found here, but here are the highlights: https://photos.app.goo.gl/AZkAHCgGEesvnBDS7

Since I was parked on a slope with a bunch of leaves, I decided to make sure that the 4WD in the truck worked and that I knew how to use it.  Everything worked as it should.  

After the hike, I was a little tired and didn't do much the rest of the day, so I just did a couple of remaining small things.  I got the weights put in the back of the truck.  Hopefully these are sufficient.

I also went around and got everything charged up.  I charged up the lawn tractor battery since it seemed to be getting weaker when I was moving it on Saturday.  

I also got all the power center batteries topped off.  

At this point there aren't too many things left on the checklist.  I still want to fire up the generator before winter, but that is about it.  The variance meeting is tomorrow, so that is pretty much done.  The generator and knotweed is pretty much all that is left before winter.

Before winter:

• Deal with town and get the variance.
• Finish distributing pile of dirt.
• Determine method of clearing snow. 
• Driveway winter prep.
• Clean off the slab.  
• Clean out the carport.  Decide what to do with the power center.
  
• Mulch the leaves.
• Ensure the shed will make it through the winter.  Shed pilings
• Knock down the dead knotweed. 
• Winterize equipment.  
• Run mowers out of gas, put diesel treatment in the tractor, change oil in snowblower, rearrange the carport, put weight in the back of the truck, prep heat pump (clean filter), disconnect hose.  Fire up generator.  Take down bug zapper. Charge the power center batteries
  
• Also note that my tractor is due for its first servicing.
  
• Install the driveway markers.

Winter projects: 

• Get the building permit.
• Complete detailed house plans.
• Work with La Valley to get a concrete contractor.  Get the plan/schedule in place. 
  
• Design future method of travel.  Consider building the prototype.
  
• Shed floor.
• Shed windows.
• Fix generator box.  Decide/do something about power center.
  
• Clear/mark walking trails.

Hawk

I haven't done much this week, but I got an interesting show yesterday at work.  Apparently work has one less rabbit now.  This hawk was sitting in the front just chowing down.  He didn't seem to mind me walking around either.  

Other than that, the only thing I have done this week is I repaired a drawer for my chess table.  The drawer had come apart, so I glued it back together.

No movement on the checklist though.  It has been rainy the last couple of days.  

Before winter:

• Deal with town and get the variance.
• Finish distributing pile of dirt.
• Determine method of clearing snow. 
• Driveway winter prep.
• Clean off the slab.  
• Clean out the carport.  Decide what to do with the power center.
  
• Mulch the leaves.
• Ensure the shed will make it through the winter.  Shed pilings
• Knock down the dead knotweed. 
• Winterize equipment.  
• Run mowers out of gas, put diesel treatment in the tractor, change oil in snowblower, rearrange the carport, put weight in the back of the truck, prep heat pump (clean filter), disconnect hose.  Fire up generator.  Take down bug zapper. Charge the power center batteries
  
• Also note that my tractor is due for its first servicing.
  
• Install the driveway markers.

Winter projects: 

• Get the building permit.
• Complete detailed house plans.
• Work with La Valley to get a concrete contractor.  Get the plan/schedule in place. 
  
• Design future method of travel.  Consider building the prototype.
  
• Shed floor.
• Shed windows.
• Fix generator box.  Decide/do something about power center.
  
• Clear/mark walking trails.

Yard work weekend.

I had an odd occurrence with my truck over the weekend.  This is the second time now that it has done this, so I think it might be time to ask Ford what gives.  The trip meters and everything just lost all their values.  

Saturday was really nice, so I went out for a walk in the morning and then ran up to Pinnacle to pay for the tractor servicing.  It was a bit more expensive than I expected, but for as long as the tractor is under warranty I would prefer to have it done.  The foliage is pretty much gone though.  This is what my yard looks like now.  The trees are either bare or turning straight to brown.  Winter is coming, but the weekend was nice.  

After I got back, I decided to pull out my lawn tractor and play around some.  I started chewing up the leaves (and blowing them into the creek).  Obviously I can't finish the leaves task since they haven't all fallen yet, but they were getting pretty thick down in the front where most have already fallen.  I had intended to mulch them, but the mulching attachment for the rider didn't stay attached pretty much at all.  First time I hit a bump it too got discharged.  

I started up where I have previously mowed the knotweed.  This was actually mowable with the riding mower, which is good.  I did have to dodge a bunch of rocks though.  More on that below.

I also did down in the front.  I blew all the mulched leaves into the creek.  You can see the back side of the dirt pile where the ones on the other side got discharged over the pile but I can't ride the mower up the other of the pile.  Oh well.  I didn't have any problems in the newly cleared area, though there were a few spots that needed work.  

I went and looked at my creek afterwards, and it is also full of leaves.  And these aren't ones that I blew in there.  

Sunday I decided to up the ante and pulled out the big tractor.  

The first thing I ended up doing was putting the grading blade back on it.  I tried to scoop a load dirt without it, and almost immediately ran out of traction, there just wasn't enough weight on the back.  So I put the blade back on.  

I started working on the pile of dirt again.  I noticed when I went to bury something though that there was a random iron bar/chisel that had been buried.  It is pretty beefy, but I already have one that Matt got me if anyone needs one.  If I get another couple nice days maybe I will clean it up, sharpen it and paint it.  

While I was out on the tractor, I also fired up the pushmower and let it run out of gas.  

It is now stowed away for the winter. 

After mowing the upper of the yard on Saturday, I decided to use the rest of the dirt up there to get that ready to go.  There were a lot of big rocks up there.  

And I do mean a lot.  

I quickly found out that I shouldn't use the tractor to smooth the dirt up there though.  Most of that ground is not firm.  I made things worse.

I ended up foot tamping the rest of the holes I filled in.

This area is good to go though.  I can mow almost all the way to the trees next year, should anything actually grow there.  That area is still under heavy shade.  I also expect it will settle a lot next year, but I will deal with that then.  

I need to do some final touches to the yard, but the pile is fully distributed now.  That final smoothing is all that is left on that task.  

Still no date set from the town.  At this point even if they reject it, I was going to be starting the building permit in another month or two anyways.  The pile of dirt just needs that last little bit of smoothing where the pile was before it is done.  I also need to reinstall one of the driveway markers I accidently leveled with the tractor.  Oops.  The leaf mulching is started, but can't be finished until the leaves have all fallen.  Things are actually looking good for winter all things considered.  I am waiting on mother nature, not fighting against time this year, which is a breath of crisp fall air.  

Before winter:

• Deal with town and get the variance.
• Finish distributing pile of dirt.
• Determine method of clearing snow. 
• Driveway winter prep.
• Clean off the slab.  
• Clean out the carport.  Decide what to do with the power center.
  
• Mulch the leaves.
• Ensure the shed will make it through the winter.  Shed pilings
• Knock down the dead knotweed. 
• Winterize equipment.  
• Run mowers out of gas, put diesel treatment in the tractor, change oil in snowblower, rearrange the carport, put weight in the back of the truck, prep heat pump (clean filter), disconnect hose.  Fire up generator.  Take down bug zapper. Charge the power center batteries
  
• Also note that my tractor is due for its first servicing.
  
• Install the driveway markers.

Winter projects: 

• Get the building permit.
• Complete detailed house plans.
• Work with La Valley to get a concrete contractor.  Get the plan/schedule in place. 
  
• Design future method of travel.  Consider building the prototype.
  
• Shed floor.
• Shed windows.
• Fix generator box.  Decide/do something about power center.
  
• Clear/mark walking trails.

The new snowblower has arrived.

I went and picked up the new snowblower last week.  It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but is in excellent shape.  I will probably try to sell my old one, though I won't get much of anything for it.  This is probably the first significant load the truck has carried.  

The snowblower.  It is a bit larger than my old one, it is a 8.5HP instead of 8, and is a 26" wide instead of 24".

As an added bonus, they gave me a couple of gas cans full of gas with it.  

This is the snow solution for the winter, so that item is checked off.  I am still waiting for the town after resending the packet.  

Before winter:

• Deal with town and get the variance.
• Finish distributing pile of dirt.
• Determine method of clearing snow. 
• Driveway winter prep.
• Clean off the slab.  
• Clean out the carport.  Decide what to do with the power center.
  
• Mulch the leaves.
• Ensure the shed will make it through the winter.  Shed pilings
• Knock down the dead knotweed. 
• Winterize equipment.  
• Run mowers out of gas, put diesel treatment in the tractor, change oil in snowblower, rearrange the carport, put weight in the back of the truck, prep heat pump (clean filter), disconnect hose.  Fire up generator.  Take down bug zapper. Charge the power center batteries
  
• Also note that my tractor is due for its first servicing.
  
• Install the driveway markers.

Winter projects: 

• Get the building permit.
• Complete detailed house plans.
• Work with La Valley to get a concrete contractor.  Get the plan/schedule in place. 
  
• Design future method of travel.  Consider building the prototype.
  
• Shed floor.
• Shed windows.
• Fix generator box.  Decide/do something about power center.
  
• Clear/mark walking trails.

Surprisingly Nice Weekend

I went to a wedding this past weekend.  It was on Friday.  I had a good time.  I especially liked the prime rib that was roasting over the fire.  The thing on the left rotates it like a rotisserie.  

The place was very rustic.  

Saturday was pretty quiet.  I spent most of the day on Saturday puttering around, doing chores since I was out Friday.  I was pretty lazy, and the weather was nice.  

The foliage wasn't as good as I had hoped, but I still got a few shots (these are from the week).  Even walking on the roads this time of year is pretty nice. 

I originally wanted to go to Otter Brook, but there was something going on there.  So I drove around and went back to the rail trail. 

Pictures from the rail trail.  These will probably be the last ones for the year; the leaves are falling at a rapid rate.

I noticed when I got home that the lady bugs are out in force.  All the little specs on the house wrap are lady bugs.

I also took out the pushmower and knocked down a bunch of the knotweed.  I got down to the first level of rocks on the upper part of the front yard. 

On the lower I had to dodge a bunch more stuff, but I got a chunk of that knocked down as well.  

I also did the chunk in the back by the pile of trash.  Turns out there were more than just knotweed stalks in there though, so I didn't do it very well.  I stalled it hitting real wood a couple of times.  At that point the pushmower was out of gas, and I felt lazy and didn't refill it.

I finally heard back from the town about the variance.  They lost half the packet I sent, so I resent the packet today.  I inquired about a snowblower on Craigslist, but haven't heard back.

Before winter:

• Deal with town and get the variance.
• Finish distributing pile of dirt.
• Determine method of clearing snow. 
• Driveway winter prep.
• Clean off the slab.  
• Clean out the carport.  Decide what to do with the power center.
  
• Mulch the leaves.
• Ensure the shed will make it through the winter.  Shed pilings
• Knock down the dead knotweed. 
• Winterize equipment.  
• Run mowers out of gas, put diesel treatment in the tractor, change oil in snowblower, rearrange the carport, put weight in the back of the truck, prep heat pump (clean filter), disconnect hose.  Fire up generator.  Take down bug zapper. Charge the power center batteries
  
• Also note that my tractor is due for its first servicing.
  
• Install the driveway markers.

Winter projects: 

• Get the building permit.
• Complete detailed house plans.
• Work with La Valley to get a concrete contractor.  Get the plan/schedule in place. 
  
• Design future method of travel.  Consider building the prototype.
  
• Shed floor.
• Shed windows.
• Fix generator box.  Decide/do something about power center.
  
• Clear/mark walking trails.