Happy Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day!

The rockets red glare and bombs bursting in air

drove my steers crazy last night.

Jake laid in his hay pile under

the palm tree and chewed his cud.

Charlie stood in the middle of the

pasture and bellowed for HOURS.

They are all happy again this morning.

(The horses went straight out back to 

the big green shed where Kyle parks

his Cat - they know where the good

shade / shelter is...)

It has been a busy week.

For everybody else.

Kyle headed up to the ranch on Tuesday.

Gina broke one of the wheels off one

of the side-by-sides a week or so ago

and he needed to go up and get it so he 

could bring it down here and fix it.

And she had some other things she wanted

him to do as well while he was up there,

so he took an overnight bag and his

air mattress.

In the evening, while he was driving his

truck out to the back pasture to check on

the state of the grass and the cows,

his power steering pump blew.

What a blessing!

If it had blown while he was on the highway,

pulling a trailer, it would have been BAD.

(The power steering fluid on this truck

is also connected to the brakes - lose one,

lose BOTH.)

So I planned to drive up Wednesday morning

and pick him up, then he and Rod would drive

up on Thursday and either fix his truck or

load it on a trailer and bring it home.

But over night, once the adrenaline calmed...

he took another look and realized it was 

just the hose, not the whole pump,

and he can easily fix it.

So he grabbed the ranch truck, drove into

Gainesville to the parts store

(where there is a mandatory mask requirement

or a $150 fine! And he didn't bring a mask...)

so he had to wait in the parking lot while

they tried to find what he needed,

bring it out, take it back in, bring something

else back out, take it back in...

rinse / repeat...

It was only 97 degrees in the parking lot...

But once he got what he needed, it was not

simple, but not as hard as it could have been.

(He had to climb up and kneel on the battery

to get to the hose to change it!)

Ouch!

Anyhow.

Scrub my trip to the ranch.

He fixed his truck and then finished cleaning

out the "show barn" Gina wants to set up

on her side of the street (there is an old 

barn / lean-to on the property the old owners

used as a junk storage and didn't clean out when they moved...)

Loaded up the side-by-side on the trailer.

Then he headed back down south.

The truck ran great.

Meanwhile, our last remaining Buffalo Graffics

customer called with an order for more 

Trailer Ranch decals, so Rod spent Tuesday

evening cutting them and I spent Wednesday

afternoon on a Zoom meeting while weeding,

masking and cutting them up.

Thursday Rod took the day off so they could

work on the stock trailer.

But first he had to run up to Rockledge to

drop off the decals for Frank.

Meanwhile, I mowed the middle yard, the

dog yard, and up and down the driveway 

out by the street (while Kyle was my official

gate opener/closer...) It's so nice not to have

to get off the mower to do that!

When Rod got home, we had some lunch

and then they headed out to work on the trailer.

More trailer work on Friday.

And Saturday.

With some grocery store trips,

Lowes trips, and trips to the welding

supply place for more and more welding supplies

thrown in for variety.

But LOOK!

It has fenders, sides, and a DOOR!

That's a LOT of measuring, cutting, grinding, and welding!

The other door frame is done, but Kyle still needs

to weld all the bars on it.

Getting closer!!!!

They are doing an amazing job.

It's costing a lot of money,

but still less than half of the price of a new one.

And since THEY built it, they know its good.

Today?

REST!

Kyle has been going full speed ahead ever since

we got back from Utah.

(And the last 3.5 days of that trip were long,

hard driving days for him...)

He is ready for a break!

Hope you had a lovely week!

I'm teaching every day except Friday this week...

Monday evening 6-10, 

Tuesday I'm co-hosting 7-9, 

Wed I'm teaching in the morning 9-1, 

Thurs is another co-hosting gig from 7-9.

Off Friday and then I teach Sat evening 6-10.

Gonna be a busy week.

Looks like it will be mid-late August or even

September before I get back in an actual classroom.

But boy I can't wait!