Goings On!

Well I talked to the Insurance Adjustor yesterday. Her name is Jeanine and we've had one other occasion to talk about my car about 2 years ago. A Woodchuck chewed through my transmission line on that claim!

She remembered me and that claim because it was so odd.

She asked how it happened and I explained. She wanted to know how bad was it... and could I drive it? Apparently she has handled concrete vs vehicle claims where the underside of the car has been covered and the car is a total loss!

She concurred that my poor 'Ru had to see a professional for clean up and that it is covered under Comprehensive coverage.

The estimate for this? $2,500.

I think I am the lucky one. I'd had to think how the other car that splashed me turned out.

Jeanine said if another Very Strange Auto Claim came past her desk, the first thing she would do is to see if it belonged to me. She said she still refers to the Woodchuck Attack once in a while just for laughs.

Meanwhile...

The Wild Teddy Bears decided they better check out Frank's bulldozer.

I'm glad they couldn't figure out how to run it!
 

Hey Percy, let's check this out!

Chance, you do the pedals, 
I'll do the stick things...

This is so much cooler

than that bike!
Where should we go?

The work started yesterday. Frank cleaned out all the culverts and reshaped the waterways for run off. 

He graded the area by our back door and is putting in a gravel parking area.

I spoke with Frank and let him know that my neighbor probably had a small job for him to do before he was done at my place with the dozer. 

Frank thanked me for the referral. He was pleased as my new neighbor asked Frank to also grade and gravel his driveway too.

The final cost will be pretty pricey, however the lower driveway has seen one load of gravel in 26 years. The cost of maintaining the driveway all of these years has been very minimal. I want to have the whole thing done properly and hopefully it will last a long time.

Okay, the driveway rehab is pretty boring stuff. But I feel rather accomplished. This sort of job was always referred to Rich as he was the one who always negotiated these things. There were a lot of guys I could have called for this job, but I felt that the work should go to the fellow that was maintaining my driveway through the winter too.

July is done!

 

July was intense. 

Dry, smokey, moody, dusty.

We had company, we had drought, we had storms and we had intense heat.

We mowed the yard for the first time in July on the 24th. Since then we have had some rains and some parts of our state and the surrounding Midwest had intense storms.

I went on two kayaking trips and decided it was something I would love to do A lot more. I even went on line to learn more via reviews. I'd definitely love to get Charlie to go with me. He would need a lifejacket. After all, I taught him to ride the 4 wheeler with me, so perhaps we can manage a kayak together.

Most of my outdoor activity was in the early morning or late evenings. I managed to ride for a little bit almost each night [except when it was unbearably hot].

August is looming around the corner. What does it have in store for us?

Shorter days and the thought of entering fall? Hot and dry or cooler and wet? Who knows?

I can't stop time, so I will make the best of August and prepare for what follows.

Maiden Voyage

The fella above is named Steve. There is a little background regarding Steve here: Merry Green Marvel.

This was his first 'tour' or as he called it The Maiden Tour. Last week I was supposed to do this, but communications got fouled up and because of that he invited myself and my friend for a 'no' charge tour as an apology.

Steve gave us a demonstration on how to get in and out of the sit on Kayaks, how to steer, back paddle, make figure eights, and deal with the wakes from speed boots if we encountered them.

He explained Strainers and how not to be a Noodle.

[For the heck of it a few days ago I looked up the Kayak Lingo and terms...]

Strainers are low hanging branches and a kayaker can get hung up like a noodle trying to go through them on a river current.

Dragging over logs or getting Boned is another expression -- he didn't use that though. It wouldn't have been appropriate with all female Kayakers.

We took off and headed first into the what he called the Lotus Garden.

If you have never sat near these flowers and smelled their exotic and beautiful scent...you have not lived!

I paddled along with Steve's son for part of the journey and we talked about different kinds of kayaking. He lives in Alaska and has kayaked on the ocean. Wow. The difference in lakes, rivers, and oceans are pretty big and I enjoyed hearing about them.

We paddled for around 3 hours with a break on a 'beach' along the main channel. After that, we headed down river to find another entry point into the backwaters. Or as Steve called it, the Braided Sloughs of the Mississippi which was an excellent description.

The crazies were out on the main channel with their speed boats racing up and down the river. Personally, I've never seen the fun of that.

Quiet and slow have always been my motto. Silent sports and I get along the best, although I hold nothing against those who like those sports.

How was it?

Well.

Awesome.

Will I do it again?

Steve's shot of me exploring the

Lotus Garden

Oh yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Next time? Maybe an evening paddle? 

It was a well run 'tour' which felt more like a friend taking us to see some amazing sights.

The photos were taken with my little waterproof point and shoot camera. So I didn't get great shots of the eagles or the juvie eagle...or the eagle nest and turtles.

Arrrrrgh!

While driving home through Mad City [Madison], we went through construction sites at rush hour. 

I was in the left lane and the car in the right lane splashed us with what I thought was mud. The wipers barely got the mud off with repeated spraying. I just figured I'd run it through the car wash the next day.

Nope. This was liquid concrete and guess what? It doesn't come off! I read up on the different ways to try and get it off. Nothing works and it scratches the finish of the vehicle. 
Nasty Stuff!

So yesterday I stopped at the local body shop and talked to the husband/wife team that ran the place. He said I could scrap it off but ruin the finish on the hood, the door, the front, and the roof of our car. The front bumper and head light would be terribly damaged and messed up. 

His suggestion was to report it to my car insurance.

Now. The car is 5 years old. I love this car. I could take the money and run, have it scraped and deal with the rust and scratches. However.
For now? I will see what the insurance has to say.

Two years ago, I had a groundhog eat my transmission line and my insurance covered that.

At least I can say that I have some really odd claims?

Groundhogs and splashing concrete!

The bent plastic by the fog light was from a parking lot incident. I have no idea how that occurred when I was at the clinic last year... but if that part needs to be replaced, I'll have a two - fer.

Frank, the gent I hired for plowing last winter also farms and has a gravel pit as well as a business that does driveways and whatnot.

He and his worker arrived yesterday morning to see what we wanted done. This shot is of his bulldozer parked in the lower driveway. This section of driveway has no base left and becomes a mud sucking pit each spring. 

I have to park on the ridge or park on the hill and walk with groceries to the house. It would be nice not to have to deal with that next spring. He will dig out the culverts on the hill driveway and level out a place next to the back door for me to park and for vehicles to turn around.

What the driveway looks like during the thaw. View from the house:

These improvements have been needed for a long time. Hubby kept putting it off thinking he'd do it himself. The last time we had any real work done, it was in 2007 and that was on the hill. Nothing has been done to the lower drive since we bought the place.

2007 work:

This is sort of exciting. 

It pays to stay local and seek out someone who you know to do the work. Frank lives close enough to be called a neighbor. We've been neighbors since he was a young man. 

The work that was done in 2007 was from another local friend that has since retired from his work for the county. That was a huge undertaking and has really kept the hill driveway from washing out over the years.

As a bonus, Frank noted that two pines near the house were dying. He commented that he'd just push them down with the bulldozer. I said that was fine too. However I couldn't cut it up. I'd hack off my legs with a chainsaw.

He looked at his co-worker and said that they'd do that and haul it away. They could use the wood for the outdoor wood heater he'd purchased for his shop.

Well now. That seems like a good deal to me!

I got "Karened"

 

For real. I got yelled at for pulling into a pump to get gas. 

Apparently the 'Karen' decided that I was in her way. I had to pull in so I could fill the tank on my passenger side which meant I had to pull in and go nose to nose with her vehicle.

She came out of the gas station store with her bag of goodies and started to yell at me and gesture. Apparently there was no reverse on her vehicle?

I don't know. I just gave her my best sweaty stare and listened her to chew me out and tell me that I shouldn't have blocked HER car and that I was inconsiderate.

I waited until she was done yelling and asked if there was an R in her vehicle. That meant 'Reverse', and maybe she could use that? I shrugged and then said nicely that if she wanted to wait, I could use my reverse and then she could drive through.

She said I was rude and despicable.

I said, "Thank you. You have a nice day also."

Maybe she was just having a really bad day. 

Hot! Oh Hot oh and other farm stuff.

July 2023 has been one of the most unusual months in recent memory. Rarely did we have a beautiful sky in the mornings. The sunrises were orange or brown and once even a frightful red [without the rains!].

It makes me wonder how the wildfires and smoke are effecting

wonderful creatures like the Monarch Caterpillar..

 or my neighbor's crops... 
the drought, smoke, and hot days, cold nights??

What sort of strange times do we live in? 
Rhetorical Question.

Moving on.

Yesterday I spent some time with the fellow who came out to tune up our skid steer. It was having an issue. 

Caveat, I do dislike machinery. I don't like operating machinery -- farm machinery. Period. He replaced three thingies that make the lights, blower, and starter run properly. Fuses. That's what they were. He admired our nice skid steer. I did mention that I would be happy with one of the first ones we ever had. It was simple with no electronic fusies to fuss with. He offered to trade me for his older little one.

I learned a few things from him and he showed me how to check hydraulic fluid and other stuffs. He explained it nicely so that my eyes and brain didn't explode, shut down, nor did my eyes glaze over.

The gent that we have purchased large square bales called me back this morning. I said "Hey Darryl, bet you can't figure out what I called for!"

"Oh," he said, "I'm sure it was to talk about the weather or perhaps good books to read?"

He always jokes with me.

He'd been waiting for me to contact him. I gave him an estimate of the amount of hay I'd need to carry me through next year. 

I pared it down from last year. We've lost Fred and Mica won't make it through this winter. She is the grey mule we have. 

Her COPD/heart situation has been depleting her strength and condition. It would be cruel to let her hang on into the cold. 

Today she wouldn't even trot up to the next pasture rotation. She literally walked slow while struggling to take breaths. It would be cruel to keep letting her suffer like this. 

Anyway, Darryl said he'd make sure we get what we needed. I have it delivered all at once and stack it in the machine shed. I pay him on the spot.

He said he was turning down a lot of requests and was taking care of his regular customers first.

I get it. We are grateful that we've been faithful customers of his for the last 10 years.

Rain. It would be good to get some.

We mowed some of the yard yesterday. This morning I cleaned all the stock tanks and put out fresh cool water for everyone.

I even got out of making supper tonight! Ms. Olive invited us up to her place for homemade pizza.

Stay cool if you can.

Teddy Bears save the Day by Sunshine

Did you know that Teddy Bears can stop the killing instinct that bicycles have?  I didn't know this!

See how the bike seems subdued and harmless? Obviously these wild bears have tamed it!

In fact, the Bears took down the bike and laid it on the ground!

Down the bike went in a big heap! The Bears crawled all over it until it showed no Aggression.

 Siera is still not quite convinced, however with the Bears nearby, she manages not to snort at it. Her reply is:

"This Wild Mule Eating Bike may be subdued! However those mini humans with Unicorn Heads probably cannot control their Meat Eating MiniBicycles!  Bicycles are evil as are Baby Strollers.

I rest my case." 

I think I'll see if Val can bring a Teddy Bear with when we ride next. She told me last night that we are on 'Staycation' because the weather is getting very hot and humid along with icky air. I'll miss the riding and play time.
Sigh.