Journal - Preparing for Summer

Well summer is very nearly upon us. In fact, we’ve already had one day at or near 100 degrees and a couple of other days that were very warm as well so you might say that summer is already here. With the change of seasons it seems like there are always plenty of projects to do around the house. This week I had Tuesday and Thursday off so those were my days to get some of those projects done.

On Tuesday I did a little more work in the garden. Last week we got tomatoes and peppers and strawberries in. We had already decided not to have a large pumpkin patch like we did last year, but I still wanted at least a few. So I got out the rake and cleared the winter leavings from another section of the garden. Then I got out the shovel and dug the soil in a plot about 6 by 8 feet or so. In there I planted six mounds of pumpkins. Actually I’m not sure if pumpkins are supposed to be in mounds but it seemed like the right thing to do. I put 3 or 4 seeds in each mound, the seeds having come from some of the pumpkins we had last year. We actually still have 3 of our good sized pumpkins from last year sitting around the house. I don’t think they’ll last much longer; they’re all getting soft spots on them now. Anyway, the pumpkins are in and hopefully they’ll come up again.

Thursday I had several items on my to-do list. I took the humidifier apart and cleaned it up and set it aside to dry. Then I gave the kitchen window a thorough cleaning. Our house is moldy and during the winter, where the moisture condenses on the window frames and glass, the mold grows. During the winter we wipe it down from time to time but don’t really give it a thorough cleaning. I had already done one of the kitchen windows a couple of weeks ago so today I got the other one.

After that I went outside to see if the mower would start this year. Last year it was very hard to start every time we used it, and even after it started we would have to nurse it along for a few minutes before it finally decided it was ready to work. I had been thinking about it earlier this week and thought the carb was probably pretty dirty and that’s what was causing it to run so poorly. I wanted to pull the carb off and clean it up but after watching a couple of videos online showing how to do that I decided it was probably not something I should mess with. Instead I just pulled off the cowling and the fuel tank and cleaned as much of the gunk out from under there as I could. There was quite a lot of gunk that has probably been building for years. Also the mice like to nest up under the cowling so I cleaned all of that out. I sprayed some carb cleaner around the carb and the throttle, drained out the last few drips of last year’s gas and put everything back together. After filling up with fresh gas and topping off the oil I gave the rope a few experimental tugs. It didn’t sound like it was trying to fire at all but after 10 or 12 pulls it started up. That was much easier than last year and more importantly it stayed running without having to be nursed. All in all maybe the cleaning did it some good but I guess time will tell.

So while Joni was doing a little mowing I came back in found that the humidifier was dry so I put that back together and took it downstairs for the summer. Then I sat down at the computer to do some typing.

I still have a couple more windows that I would like to clean up today and I also thought I might try making some potato salad today, something I’ve never made before. And that’s everything I had on my to-do list. It’s only noon now so that’s not too bad. I’ll still have to relax this afternoon which is good because I have a full shift at work tomorrow.

Today is Brad and Cindy’s 27’s anniversary! Happy Anniversary guys!

Mark 10:6-9 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” ESV

Ecclesiastes 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him? ESV