Fjord running - finally!

October 31, 2007 (5:06am)

55º F, Clear, SSE Wind, 8 mph.

Good morning,

This is crazy weather! At the moment 55º F, warmer than I went to bed, but the temperature is to drop all day and possible snow tonight! Go figure. This morning there are stars filling the sky and the moon is bright. Doesn’t look like snow, but the radar shows some rain coming from the southwest. Yesterday when I looked at the moon it had a halo around it. One of my adopted Grandfathers, Will Moak, would say the “moon is drawing water” and it will rain in a day or so. Guess the old wife’s tale might be right.

FJORD IS RUNNING! ! ! It was a tough battle though. I got the new sparkplug wires on by 10:00 A.M. Fjord started after some urging and I was able to back it out of the shop and hook up the loader just enough to drag it into the shop to install and connect the hydraulics. Again it took a lot of urging to start, but it did and I drove it out of the shop again, turn it around and fill the tires with beet juice. Then it would not start at all, no matter how much we urged it too.

The problem seemed to be electrical, but we really couldn’t get a handle on it. Seemed no matter what we tried, it just would not run. It would fire a couple of cylinders occasionally, but refused to run. Eli was sure the new plugs I put in were the wrong brand, so replace them with the right brand - no start! Went through the wiring to make sure we had solid connections, but they were OK - no start. Checked all of the individual components again - no start. Then we started to think it was the fuel system. Checking the entire system - no start. Thought there might not be enough gas in the tank, put more in - no start. We spent the entire afternoon from lunch to about 4:00 P.M. trying to figure out what the problem was. Finally Mick decided to check the system and change some of the wiring connections while Eli checked if there was spark and I turned it over. After about the 10th or 12th wire switch, it fired - Eli got a jolt and I turned off the system. We at last had found the right combination at about 4:45 P.M.

It turned out that the ballast resistor must have a diode in it and once we had it right (instructions never indicated that at all), electricity flowed and the system worked. Put things back together and Fjord started on about the first turn of the engine several times. It was a sweet sound, akin to music to our ears. All three of us were elated to say the least. It was late and we didn’t even clean up, nor did I take my toolbox home. Tools are still more or less out of the toolbox in the shop.

We did manage to put a new cross-brace above the hood for the loader. The original came very close to the steering wheel and would have done some serious damage to the fingers. Rather than the arched piece of bar stock, we replaced it with a straight one. I also took the snow bucket loose from the materials bucket and replaced the bolts. That should make it easier to remove here. Don’t have impact wrenches here and Eli does. Once Fjord comes home, there will be more things needing my attention, but can do here. Not the least of which will be some lighting and rewiring.

There will be a learning curve for me to drive Fjord though. It drives like nothing I have driven before and the controls are certainly different. The loader will take some getting used to also. I will have plenty of driving time to figure it out before the snow is eyeball deep I hope.
Monday I asked Eli and Mick if they could do some damage to a homemade bread if I brought a loaf for them. They said they would try, so brought one yesterday. Eli had his wife bring in some T-bone steaks for us, but in all of the excitement of getting Fjord running, I left them there. Guess we will have steak for supper tonight! Not a bad deal as the steaks are home grown on his farm. We will totally enjoy!

Eli and Mick have really been a great help and great teachers for me. I have relearned a bunch of skills I really didn’t think I could do anymore. They proved me wrong. I never would have tackled this project, or what will follow, without them. As a way of saying thank you, we intend to take them out for supper some evening. It will depend on their schedules some as Eli’s wife, Pat is scheduled for surgery on the 5th. Either is will happen before then or way done the road after she recovers a bit. Anywho, thanx is in order - big time!

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Fjord running - well almost

October 30, 2007 (5:10am)

27º F, Clear, No Wind.

Good morning,

We are in a warming trend - 18º F Sunday morning and almost 10º F warmer this morning. More to come, so says the weatherman. This is crazy! Feels more like May than the end of October. Probably a good thing, as I have many projects to get done before the really cold weather sets in for the winter.

Saturday and Sunday nights I had a terrible time sleeping through the night. I woke up something before 1:00 A.M. and could not get to sleep again. After trying for a couple of hours, finally got up for a couple of hours. Yesterday I went back to bed to “snooze” for an hour, but woke up 2½ hours later, so getting a very late start working at Eli’s. I would like to finish Fjord this week and get it home.

Sunday was a really neat day. Bethlehem celebrated 115 years of being a congregation. It started as a Swedish Lutheran church with services in Swedish for some time. Bethlehem has had it’s up’s and down’s during it’s history, nearly ceasing to exist several times, due to lack of pastor or folks to worship. From what I can gather, the high point was during the middle 1920's and into the early 1930's. At present it is on the grow, taking in more folks than those who are dying or moving away. At present it is a nice mix of young families along with us old folks. Some are third generation member families.

The pastor’s wife gave us a history of Bethlehem created for their centennial celebration and is interesting to read. After the church was built for a number of years, the basement was built under it. A few years later, central heating was installed consisting of a monster wood fired furnace, nearly filling the basement. The furnace eventually was converted to coal burning and finally oil burning. Not too many years ago, it was removed and a modern gas furnace was installed. That allowed a fellowship hall, kitchen, and bathrooms to fill the basement as it is today. The first indoor bathroom and water/sewer connections were made in 1957. That really surprised me, being that late, as the church is in town. Guess the Swedes were more hardy than I thought. There are a lot of other goodies in the document and I will read it through rather than the skimming I have done so far.

The potluck was held at the Florence Community Center, part of the fire station, ane we really had a good time. As with all Lutheran churches, the gals of the church sure know how to cook and the guys know how to eat. There was (I emphasize was) a good selection of hotdishes, salads, and desserts to choose from. Several folks incouraged me and a couple others to at least have one serving of each dessert so as not to offend anyone. I gave it a good shot, but I am afraid I offended a couple of gals. I ate too much, but enjoyed every bite! Margriet had baked bread on Saturday so on came along. It sure didn’t last very long! About two-thirds of the congregation was in attendance. A really nice turnout and a good bunch of folks to get to know.

Yesterday I got Fjord pretty much together and ready to try to start a bit after noon. Everything was checked and rechecked. The engine turned over as it was supposed to, but it would not start. After a couple of hours of troubleshooting, we discovered that all four plug wire were bad and no spark was getting to the sparkplugs. After my attempts, Eli and Mick took over and found the problem. I would have eventually arrived at the same conclusion, but they did it much faster. I would had to dust off skills I hadn’t used in 25 years or so. The plug wires were new, but carbon tracers. Apparently I broke them all somehow putting the harness together. They did some calling around and found a set at the parts store in Crystal Falls (a friend of Mick’s), so since it was about time for me to leave for the day, cleaned up and stopped on the way home to pick them up. Today Fjord will run!!

After Fjord is running, the loader goes on, the rear tires filled with “beet juice,” and it should be pretty much ready to come home. Once here, there are several things I still need to do, but not needing the expertise of Eli and Mick to complete. Suspect there will always be something I want/need to do on it though. Isn’t that the fun part of the deal? The entire lighting system, what is left of it, needs to be replaced and up graded to 12 volts is probably the first place for me to start. I also need to learn how to operate it too before the snows come.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

On rubber!

October 27, 2007 (5:50am)

38º F, Rain, WNW Wind, 5 mph.

Good morning,

Fjord is on rubber. All four corners too! The rim came yesterday, unexpectedly soon, and Eli and I wrestled it on, after getting a new tube for it. The valve opening was slightly out of round for some reason and the new stem would not go in. The rim fit on the old disk very tightly and it had to fight it all of the way on. Using a cold-chisel as a wedge to make it clear the mounting bosses. Two of the mounting carriage bolts had damaged thread so had to substitute others, and one rubbed off the shoulders and had to cut it off with a torch. FINALLY, the task was accomplished just as it was time to head home and I let the jack down after taking out the blocking.

Since we were able to get the steering shaft bearing in the day before. I started to put the “dashboard” together, along with snaking the wiring into position. Didn’t get far as the UPS truck came and the task changed. At least now Eli can move Fjord if he needs the shop space. It has bothered me some that it was occupying the space for so long. For a time it seemed that everything I touched either broke or needed to be repaired in some way. Hopefully we are on the downhill run now. At least I hope.

Eli, every once in a while, asks me if I will be coming back to visit often. Told him we would stop when we get to town or had too much pie or muffins around and had to get rid of them. Apparently he enjoys our banter as much as I do. It really is a good thing that his shop is in Iron River rather than Crystal Falls - I surly would be there too much. But I do have an excellent source for advice or to get something done I can’t handle. I really enjoy is son Mick too. A chip off the block. Mick appears he will be leaving his Dad to work for the VA, mostly to get some health benefits he is not able to now. Would not be surprised to see Mick take over the business eventually though. Seems to be in his blood.

Our meeting with our Pastor was interesting and informative. Apparently the Presbyterian service is very short, 45 minutes, and it is a spoken service, no music. Appears I do all of the speaking and the folks do the listening. Different. Also chatted about several other things, but mostly about the upcoming services on the 11th. I have changed from some uneasiness to looking forward to the time. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. What does that mean? Doug was pleased to have me as a fill in for him from the sound of it.

Yesterday morning as I poured my 2nd or 3rd cup of coffee, the indicator light on the coffee maker went out - not a good thing for a Norwegian to be without hot coffee! We stopped at the hardware store in Florence and bought a new coffee maker. When Margriet set it up and turned it on after I went to Eli’s, it didn’t work either. The fuses appear to be OK. Guess I need to find out why the outlet is not working. Another 2-DO on my list for today. So we have a new coffee maker that we really don’t need. Probably will someday.

We went to Fob’s for a fish-fry last night. Our usual walleyed pike which as usual was very good. They really do serve a large portion. I think we have discovered the time to eat, a bit later than we normally would go. Seems everyone else likes the same time we do, so we will be a bit latter every Friday evening. After coming home, it wasn’t long before I went to bed. For some reason I was super tired and slept through to a bit later than normal this morning.

It rained very heavily this morning, even though the weather website indicated we were getting light rain. The radar shows the rain is on the way out of the area. Changed my ideas of what I will do today some. Supposed to be cooler tomorrow and possible snow. Either way, the fire sure feels good this morning. Hope to get out and work on the wood supply among other things.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Real Progress

October 26, 2007 (5:07am)

23º F, Freezing Fog, No Wind.

Good morning,

We made real progress on Fjord yesterday. Finally we can actually see some results. The front mount for the loader is complete, welded and bolted on. Don’t think that will go anywhere. It was a bit of a struggle to put it in place as the bolts are at the bottom of the tractor, more or less, and behind other parts of the tractor and now the loader mount. Also mounted the sub-frame in place and got it lined up. Actually looks right! Only problem for the moment we can see, is the crossover brace is too close to the steering wheel and will need some adjusting of it’s shape, probably with the heat wrench.

The bearing for the steering shaft also came. After three attempts (rang-itty-tangs), on the fourth attempt the bearing is in it’s correct place and the remainder of the steering assembly is in place. After putting the bearing in and out twice, Eli remembers there is supposed to be a clip to hold that bearing in place. There was none on this one. Looking at the manual, one drawing shows one and another doesn’t show any. Guess it was on the later series that came after this one. Would have been nice to have though.

Today I hope to get the “dash board” in place and the wiring connected again, then the hood and gas tank can be put back in place again. Once that happens, Fjord will look like a tractor again. Hopefully I also will get it running again too. There are a bunch of other things that need to be done to get it into shape to be a working tractor again. The major item is mounting the remainder of the front-end loader and get it operating. The bucket is two piece, material bucket with an attached snow bucket enlargement, and I want to take it apart at Eli’s shop. He has the impact wrenches and equipment I don’t to do the task. It has not been apart for a long time, so imagine it is pretty rusted together. Probably will leave the snow bucket off most of the time.

We also decided that since I am so far behind from where I planned to be on this place, the furnace could wait until closer to spring before putting it in here. Eli has someone who wants one urgently, so “ours” will go to them and he has two others waiting and we will get one of them when the time comes. Besides, they will have their technique better at repairing them. :-)

Mick and Eli finally figured out why they had four leaks in the corners of the firebox the other day. The original welding was only done on the exterior of the firebox before it was assembled into the water jacket. Mick was welding on the inside and the water was migrating in the very small crack in the joint on the inside, then appearing where the welding ended. After grinding down to the outer weld, then re-welding, the leaks stopped. I had come to a similar conclusion, but for a different reason. My suggestion was to drill down to the weld, rather than grind, as it would be considerably easier and faster.

I continue to be amazed at the variety of jobs that come into Eli’s shop. Everything from simple welding or machining to very complicated and precise work. One just out job was to rebuild a differential from a logging machine with broken bearing and gear supports, machining out the old portions, constructing new partial parts, welding them in place, then machining it to carry the bearings and gears again before assembling it to working, better than new. The next on-going job is to construct a couple dozen heat exchangers for the wood furnaces to heat domestic water heating. Basically a steel box a couple feet long with a copper tubing coil inside. Sounds easy, but there are some really difficult procedures involved.

I have a meeting this morning with our pastor to go over the service for the 11th. He says it is easy, but I am not that convinced yet. I am sure I am looking for pit-falls that probably are not there. Should be interesting. Actually I am looking forward to it, but really not all that sure about the 7:30 A.M. part of the deal.

There is a more or less full moon out. It is visible through the fog, making it really look like Halloween. Kind of cool, but spooky at the same time.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Progress?

October 25, 2007 (6:27am)

20º F, Clear, Calm Wind.

Good morning,

Boy did I get up late this morning. Watched the PBS special on WWII. Saw it once, but it is so good and interesting. Brings back a bunch of memories too. Felt good though.

Got to Eli’s late yesterday and left early. By hands and knees were really causing problems, but blamed that on being all folded up working on the tractor lower end. Turned out, I forgot to take my medications yesterday morning, including the pain killers. Discovered it about supper time.

One reason for the late start was an email I got from our Pastor. He want me to be supply pastor for him on November 11th at both churches. The other one is Presbyterian. I don’t think I have ever been at a Presbyterian church service. That should be interesting. The real hard part of the deal is the Presbyterian service starts at 7:30 A.M.! I will meet with Doug, hopefully within the next couple of days, and lay out what is to happen and when. Probably would not be a bad idea to show up at a Presbyterian service before then too.

Eli filled the wood furnace with water to make sure the weight of the water didn’t cause any further leaks. When the water came out of the fill point at the top, we looked inside and found a flood of water coming down the back wall and out the clean out door at the front of the furnace! Mick who had done the welding saw it and turned white! As it turned out, it was not a bad thing. When the water jacket was full, the water came out of the fill-point and made what looked like a fountain. The fountain was directed right at the chimney and into the firebox. The draft was also closed, so the water backed up in the chimney and came out in a flood when the draft was opened! We all had a laugh over it, but at the moment of discovery didn’t think it was very funny. Everything is OK.

When I got there in the morning, Eli had the old tractor tire off of the rim, so I started to clean it up and ready for the newer tire. Put a wire brush on an angle grinder and started at it. Got a small section cleaned and a hole in the rim appeared. Checking the rest of the rim, discovered there were a lot of rusted through parts of the rim, too many to repair. The problem is the rim at that point is two layers with a space between, perfect for trapping water, causing the rusting through. So .... we have an aftermarket rim on the way, but probably will not get here before next week. In the mean time, Fjord sits on blocks on one corner. Not in the plan.

I did manage to get the angle piece cut, fitted and holes drilled into it and mounted on the front of the engine. Also cut the two ears to be welded to it and fasten up each side of the engine. Should get them drilled and welded on today - I hope. Working on it caused me to stop working for the day and end it. Even managed to teach Eli something. I had one leg of the angle toward the rear of the tractor and Eli thought it should be going forward. My thought was that I can rest the end of the sub-frame on it while trying to bolt things together. Also would collect less snow. After thinking about it, he agreed and thought it was a better idea.

Hopefully the steering shaft bearing will come today so I can get it and the “dashboard” back together again, along with the wiring and all of the other accouterments. Then the hood and gas tank can be put on. Maybe even start it again. Seems like one piece after another part being damaged or worn out holds up everything.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Un-bearing-able

October 24, 2007 (5:23am)

35º F, Clear, WNW Wind, 5 mph.

Good morning,

Not as cool as yesterday, but the wind is a bit biting. It really is cool to hear it whistle through the metal roofing. Sounds like a howling blizzard raging outside. Produces all kinds of pictures of the mind. Had rain later yesterday afternoon, but that ended sometime during the night. It was enough to chase me inside.

I got the old furnace out of the main house and the new one hung on the wall, after coming home from Eli’s and before the rains came. The new furnace weighs about half of the old one and is a bit smaller physically. The old came off and the new on, much easier than I expected. When I pulled out the old exhaust pipe, I disrupted the lives of about a gad-zillion lady bugs, one mouse family, and a paper wasp colony. Not real sad about that either. Some grumpy about how they were allowed to get there in the first place however. The outer pipe support was just fastened to the outside of the log wall, with out any regard to the contour of the surface, leaving huge gaps every 6-8" an inch or so deep! I will need to cut that to a flat surface, trimming back the logs some, then inserting a piece of plywood or some such to provide a good base for the exhaust. Probably will caulk the heck out of it too, hopefully to keep at least some of the lady bugs out.

The bearing for the steering column came yesterday mid-morning. It was the wrong one! The one sent was straight roller bearing and the one needed were barrel roller bearings. Everyone was a bit grumpy with the wrong bearings coming. So much came to a standstill as far as much progress being made yesterday. I did get the new oil pressure gauge mounted on the dashboard though. Planned on doing that later, but as long as there was time, in it went and one less thing to do later.

I also started to construct the front mount for the loader. Starting with a 3"x3"x¼” angle 28" long. Laid out the two hole that will tie it to the tractor, along with two “ears” that will go vertically along side of the pan. I need to dig two 7/16" hole into the angle and cut some clearance for the front axle mount above them, before I can test mount it and layout the two ears. Each ear will also need a couple of 7/16" holes in each too.

Eli and I put our heads together and decided that a couple of pieces of angle will be welded to the rear of the sub-frame to provide a purchase to push against the bracket on the rear axle. That will not happen until the front is tied on and we can get a measurement of the distance needed. The end result should be that I will need to remove only four bolts to take the loader off of the tractor, plus the hoses and a couple of brackets on pins.

The stock they have on hand is impressive. Lots of dollars tied up in the storerooms. Sure could have some fun finding uses for it! Kind of a king-sized erector set in the rough. Monday he also got a 4"x6" piece of tubing and some other iron. Not too sure what he needs it for, but am sure he didn’t buy it just to have on hand.

Mick finally got the leaks fixed on our furnace. It was moved outside, much to his pleasure, and now will be filled with water to make sure all of the leaks are repaired and everything stays where it is supposed to be. Filling it with water should add another half-ton to the weight of the furnace. Suspect the antifreeze solution that will also be added to the system will cost more than 50 cents too!

Eli’s wife, Pat, got a call from the hospital yesterday indicating her surgery was postponed until November 5th as there was and emergency case that had to fill her surgery slot. She is some grumpy about waiting as she had more or less prepared herself for today. Can’t really blame her. I asked Eli how he was doing. He answer was rather expected - gotta’ do what you gotta’ do. I can tell he is very worried though.

Margriet baked bread and a sour-cream apple pie yesterday while I was gone. Boy the house sure smelled good when I walked in! The pie and the bread are excellent! The bread turned out to her satisfaction too. I think she has gotten to know the quirks of this oven. Had some of the bread for supper last night with gravy over it, along with chicken and kohlrabi for supper. Of course apple pie for dessert. Will take some of the apple pie for the guys today too. Really think we should open a restaurant here as the food is sooo good!

I installed a new virus scanner on this machine. Seems the folks have finally gotten the installing part down. This was the easiest installation I have done of all the scanners in the past. Not sure if it is the operating system or the virus scanner, or both that have improved. What ever, it was easy. The old one ran out yesterday, so got my money’s worth from it.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Quiet mood

October 23, 2007 (5:25am)

23º F, Clear, SSW Wind, 2 mph.

Good morning,

The grass is white outside this morning. No not from snow (Dang!), just hoar frost from the cool night. It does look nice though. The moon was out last night, with the clear sky, it really looked nice outside. You could almost read the paper in the moonlight, but not quite. Not a full moon.

It was a short day at Eli’s as I thought it would be. The bearing has not come in yet for the steering shaft, expect that today. Eli has several projects going, that need to be done yesterday or the day before, so didn’t get to breaking the rear tire from the rim. He did start to make a tool to break it with, using a splitting wedge. He is bending it over at nearly a 90º angle. Not too sure what he has in mind, but will find out. I told him it looked like he was making a wedge to split crotch wood!

I did get the battery in place, but the carrier I bought will not work. There just isn’t enough room for it. I will need to manufacture something. The hold-down will work though. About a third of the original battery tray has rusted away, thanx to battery acid, so expect the remaining part is not much better either. Made one years ago, that worked out fairly well, so probably can do the same now. Would have liked to have the plastic on though, as the acid doesn’t affect it.

I also got the exhaust pipe clamp on. The old one, not original, was more or less wired in place and really holding nothing. Least of all, exhaust gasses. Also discovered the exhaust pipe/muffler isn’t stock, so really doesn’t fit that well in place. I almost bought a new one while at Fleet, less than $30.00 for the whole assembly, but didn’t. Probably will next time there.

Eli and I are still trying to figure out how the front end loader goes on and works. We have it figured out how to install, but the working part is something else. It doesn’t seem there is anything to apply forward pushing pressure, other than from the front mount at the front of the engine. That doesn’t seem to be a good deal at all. I spent a considerable amount of time on the web, trying to find some information on it. I found three different manufacturer’s parts and assembly manuals and all of them are firmly attached to the rear axle for pushing. This one, Freeman, I could not find any manuals and the pictures of existing loaders don’t show any detail to help any. The three I did find, do show the front attaching bracket and all are different in construction, so we probably will use some of each to come up with a better one. Have to do some puzzling on that I think.

Eli confided in me that his wife is having surgery on Wednesday to remove a growth in her lung that is getting bigger and now also has a lump on one breast. For a Finlander that keeps things to himself, I really was surprised he told me about it. He is very frustrated with the doctors who did take a biopsy a bit ago, but don’t know what is there from it. He also is some scared, though not trying to show it of course. To say the least, he and his wife, Pat, are in our daily prayer time and am forwarding it to our prayer chains. The mood in the shop was rather muted yesterday and I am sure that is the reason, besides my being very tired after the weekend.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Long, Good Weekend

October 20, 2007 (7:00pm)

56º F, Clear, Almost No Wind.

Good evening,

So we have staggered into FISKLAND once again. We had high hope of getting here early to load the truck this afternoon, but that didn’t happen. Too much running around Green Bay for this and that and having a hard time finding this or that. We left Guds Nordtre at about 8:45 A.M. and arrived in Green Bay in good time. One short stop at the vegetable stand to pick up more goodies. It was self-service this time, so didn’t spend any time chewing the fat as we would normally. I discovered that I had left the contents of my pants pockets at home, so had no money among other things and Margriet only had a $10.00 bill as the smallest. So .... we added to the supply until we had $10.00 worth of vegetables. They will keep, but more than we had planned on. Mostly squash, kohlrabi, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and like that. Can feel some good meals a-coming before too long.

I did get an email back from Robertshaw on the gas valve for the furnace in the Main House. The tech said to replace the gas valve - $200.00+! Decided that was a bit much to spend on an old furnace, so most of our time today was spent looking for a replacement. We did find a couple of the right size, but were not vented to the outside. They were cheaper than the valve too. Looking for a vented one the right size was the problem. Checked all of the folks we thought would be a decent price, but none had any. We settled for one that was smaller, and a bit more than the new gas valve would have cost. By that time, there was about an hour of daylight left, so headed for FISKLAND, stopping at the Pig for some bacon ends and pieces - none. We did find some pork hocks and got them however.

We did stop and do some grocery shopping too. Always need to resupply what we are using. Food is certainly cheaper than home. Will fill the ice chest every time and also bring other non-perishables along too. Seems every time we stop, we walk out with more than we intended too. We are rather careful, so but things we can use and not be something that we buy for the heck of it. At least not very often. We also found our normal gassing up station had gas for $2.809/gallon. That is 5-10 cents cheaper than anywhere else and about 20 cents cheaper than at home. Put in 32 gallons, so there were a couple left in the tank yet, but pretty well planned to save a few bucks.

Rather than eat breakfast at home this morning, we stopped at Barb’s Café, thinking it would save us some time. Don’t think it did, but the steak and eggs sure were good. I think that is about a cheap as steak and eggs can be bought anywhere, so treat ourselves to it once in a great while. I get it with dark rye toast, which is sliced about an inch think and very good, especially with blackberry jam on it! We made our normal stop at the Old Country Buffet for a late lunch in Green Bay too. That way we had two rather large meals and don’t need a third for supper. Normally we also fast Sunday morning, so we should be very ready for a pizza at Penguin City tomorrow after church. That was our normal Sunday activity after church while here in the past so will continue tomorrow. Might be the last time.

Yesterday morning I stayed home and worked on the sermon for tomorrow. Actually I worked on a summary sheet of the actions at Assembly to hand out with the bulletins. I will use it as part of the sermon. While setting up my Bible for tomorrow, highlighting the passages I intend to read, I discovered the Gospel lesson is the same one used during the Synod Assembly in June that we attended. I still am utterly amazed how all of this is fitting together - the lessons, the message, and the Assembly report. All is like I had planned it that way. I didn’t!!

I did manage to get to Eli’s about noon yesterday. The afternoon was spent in taking apart one of the rear wheels, changing the tire and draining the fluid out of it. Found out there is 27 gallons of “beet juice,” as Eli and Mick call it, in each tire. That adds about 300# to each for traction. I broke the wheel free of Fjord and Eli tried to remove the tire from the rim, not having any success. Even lowering the forklift on the tire would not break it free of the rim. He will need to borrow some special equipment to do the task. All I know is that the tire and wheel is very heavy. I did get the center wheel disk cleaned up. The process caused my right hand to go numb and I had to stop every once in a while to let it rest.

We, Eli and I, brought the front end loader in and I started to mount the brackets and figure out how it goes on. In the process, we found that one of the mounting brackets, front, was missing. It appears we will need to construct one from plate and attach it to the front of the oil pan and axle mount. Should be interesting as it will need to be something on the order of a horseshoe to clear the engine pieces and still provide a bolting surface for the front of the loader sub-frame. One bracket is on one rear axle, but the other side I have one bolt yet to break loose. Think I will need to get the heat wrench out again to get it free.

While at Fleet Farm, I did pick up a 12 volt battery (cheaper than I thought) and battery carrier. Will need to modify the carrier to fit the tractor I think, but it is a start. Also picked up some headlights and a tail light. At present, Fjord had two work lights in the rear (old 6 volt headlights) and none in the front. Might be able to make them work with new bulbs in them, but not a rush order at the moment. I will do that wiring when Fjord comes home. Also picked up some wire in three colors and some wire ends while I was there too. I should have some fun for a while at least.

Think I will continue this tomorrow and it is about time to hit the sack. Ran out of coffee in my cup! Margriet has the washing machine going so will be attending to that for a bit yet.

_________________________________________________

October 22, 2007 (5:30am)

43º F, Cloudy, NNW Wind 11 mph.

Good morning,

We are back home again after a very emotional time at Grace. It really was hard ending a decade long chapter of our lives. Pastor had a “Farewell and God’s Speed” portion in the service. Then asked us to say something - the emotions really hit at that moment. Norwegians don’t cry, but this one sure did and it was almost impossible for me to speak. Grace has been so very good to me and to us. The folks have helped me through some very crooked parts of my road of life while there. Thank you seems to be such small words, but don’t know of any to replace or amplify them.

Margriet thanked the folks for welcoming her to this country and changing her “ideas” of what Americans are like. The folks at Grace really have embraced her as a sister and one of their own. I knew they would, but I really don’t think Margriet believed it. Now with some time and space, I think she has come to realize how much.

We also were asked to stand at the door and greet the folks as they left. I don’t think I have gotten some many hugs at one time before. Lots of teary eyed folks too. Not only me. Some of the folks also had some rough times during the past 10 years, so we had shared them with them too. It was hard to part with many of the folks.

After church, Howard and Marsha took us out to eat and we finally had a really nice chance to just talk. That hasn’t happened in the past few years very much. They are a neat couple. For once, I behaved myself and didn’t eat too much. Of course I knew we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us and really didn’t want to fall asleep on the way. They had just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary and taken a trip to Maine to celebrate and enjoy. Probably the first time they have really been able to do that with the girls finally out of the house and on their own.

The sermon went OK. I have not been in front of folks doing that in a long time, so was some out of practice. I think I covered everything intended and didn’t put too many folks to sleep. I got a chuckle from the folks when I pulled out my “sermon notes” - the oversized 3-ring binder each voting member used at the Assembly. Not sure how many pages are in it, but several hundred for sure. I also recounted some of our experiences there and what the Assembly accomplished. Very happy it is over though. Might just be at the next Assembly in two years.

On the ride, both ways, we noticed the color of the trees changed dramatically, not only in the past couple of weeks, but how little color there was in the Green Bay/Kewaunee area. They didn’t have many colors, other than brown. The folks also said there was not the colorful fall of past years. Here all of the maples have now dropped there leaves, and the birch and poplar have taken over. As one looks at the hills here, the dark green, almost black, of the pines forms a backdrop for the bright yellow of the birch and gold of the poplar trees. In the mix are the bright white trunks of the birch trees also standing out. A very nice thing to look at.

Today will be a short day at Eli’s. I already am tired and feel it is the end of the day. Lots of emotional and physical wear on me/us the past couple of days. It was a good day at Grace and we really will miss their day to day contact. I also want to get the new furnace out of the box and see what is necessary to install it. Expect I will find some challenges with it.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Back to square one!

October 19, 2007 (5:11am)

51º F, Rain, SSE Wind, 6 mph.

Good morning,

Tornado warnings were up all day until 10:30 P.M. last night, with an added thunderstorm watch up last night. We had really heavy rain in the morning, with a pretty brisk wind, then off and on sunshine during the day, and a real dumper last night after dark. At the moment, the radar shows a fairly clear screen, but that will change. The low appears to be over Wausau and heading east. We still have the rain on the backside of the low to come our way. We are now in the “eye” of the storm, for at least part of the day.

Work on the Fjord had progress and a huge setback. The progress was getting the entire 12 volt system replaced, except for the ammeter. That needs a new one of a different style. The old one has an external pick-up and the system needs one that is solid wired in. So the new one should come in this morning to the parts store. I did manage to salvage the start solenoid and un-bung the one terminal. Did have a rang-itty-tang with the old resistor/junction block, with a great deal of problems getting one terminal free. Eventually did. Glad to see the 12 volt system in place and played with the wiring, changing it several times to fit the tractor without rubbing off the wiring on any moving or hot parts.

With that, everything was pretty much done that I could do on what I had started and it was time to move to the rear wheels being reversed and one tire changed. To accomplish that, we decided to move the tractor some, to allow for more work space at the back and more open area in the shop. When it came time to turn the steering wheel, there was a huge amount of play in the steering wheel and after a couple of rotations, to try and figure out where that came from, a grinding noise also appeared. Not what was supposed to happen. We had not noticed it before, since the tractor front was off of the ground, so no resistance to the steering. After some puzzling about the situation for a time, we came to the conclusion that one of the bearings, probably the bottom one, was not seated correctly. Meaning the steering box had to come apart again. Meaning that the fluid in the steering box would be lost and make something of a mess. Meaning the “dashboard” and the supporting structure would have to come off again. Meaning I was pretty much back to where I had started!

After everything was apart, and a puddle of gear oil on the floor, the bottom bearing was shot. It apparently slipped out of position and the end of the steering shaft rested on the side of the bearing instead of the center. There is nothing holding the bearing in place, except a shallow, wide, recess on the steering box with the steering shaft pushing the bearing into it. Of course it is a place where it cannot be seen and you have to hope it is right. Guess I didn’t hope enough. Eli didn’t have another bearing, so it had to be ordered, probably arriving on Tuesday next week! Snorts!

On a better note, Eli did manage to get all of the pieces inside of the furnace and tacked in place. He had a tussle getting them to sit right, thanx to the twist in the rolling. It was then Mick’s turn to weld them in place, since he is the certified welder of the pair. After they were welded, the water chamber was sealed and air pressure applied to check for any leaks. A soap solution was sprayed on the joints to find any leaks. ALL of the welding looked like a bubble bath! There was very little that didn’t leak. After some puzzling, Mick figured it was the flux on the weld wire that caused the problem. So .... another pass with a different wire will be put in place. He had it about one-forth finished at the end of the day. He was grumpy, and hurting, after sitting in a steel tube 4' in diameter and 3' long for so many hours. I can’t even see myself doing that. I hurt just watching him!

While we were sitting around and chewing the fat at the end of the day, we got to talking about pickling fish. Eli said he had a bunch in his freezer and thought it was about time to do something with them. He said they were mostly panfish and northern pike. He especially like the northern pickled. I had never tasted any and so pretty soon, he was washing up and went to their refrigerator, producing a jar of pickled northern someone had given to them, wanting me to try them. Who am I to pass up something like that or to hurt his feelings. Turns out, the tasted very good. It seems like a waste of northern pike though, as they are so good fried. Would not be surprised if we get a sample when his pickling is done.

Margriet got a haircut yesterday morning, so went into Eli’s a bit later than usual. She found a place she likes, so another problem solved for the duration. She looks better with shorter hair too. Cost is about the same as Algoma where she has been going and the folks here are just as friendly.

Margriet decided to do the “book work” yesterday and thought it would be a good idea for me to start a small fire in the woodstove. As it turned out, it got very muggy and some warm yesterday, so the fire was totally unnecessary. It was still putting out heat when I got home! In fact it was too hot in here for her, but she survived.

I will not go to Eli’s this morning as I need to work on the sermon for Sunday. I am way behind on that and need to get cracking. For some reason I have been getting up later than my normal, so have not had the time to devote to it in the morning. The sermon is in my head, now all I need to do is to organize it.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Raining again?

October 18, 2007 (6:11am)

50º F, Rain, E Wind, 14 mph.

Good morning,

Another few days of rain it seems. The wind is cool and brisk, so should be a raw day a-coming I think. Not a day to work outside I think. Good thing I got the wood in yesterday after coming home from Eli’s. I had covered the splitter and the split wood before the rain and darkness came on Sunday and I sure am glad I did. The smaller, triangular pieces the wood became, take up less space than the larger pieces I started out with. I have about two-thirds of the wood in the lean-to, and it takes up less than half of the space all of the wood took up! I stopped when I had only one course in. I need to make some more sleepers to keep the wood up off of the concrete before putting in the rest.

I was surprised yesterday when the 12 volt conversion kit arrived at Eli’s. That is pretty fast service! Didn’t expect it to arrive until Friday at the earliest. Sure seemed to be a small package for such an amount of money though. As soon as I could, I got to replacing the old system with the new. Several parts needed to come off the tractor, before I could start to assemble the new system. I think I have all of the old off and a third of the new on. In the process I needed to remove the old wiring tube over the head of the engine. I got a surprise. The tube was fastened with a couple of the head bolts and when I removed them the antifreeze came up and out like a fountain. Wasn’t expecting that at all. Didn’t loose too much, as I tried to get the bolts back into the holes as quick as I could, taking only one out at a time. Part of the new mount for the alternator is also held on with a couple of head bolts so had a couple more fountains installing it. I did get the alternator mounted, more or less, then started to make a lot of mistakes, so called it a day.

I discovered that I will need a new terminal block the ballast resistor is mounted on. One of the connections has broken loose from the terminal board and I don’t think there is any fix for it. The new system adds another resistor to the original one, so can’t get by without it. That is unless Eli has a “fix” for it that I don’t know of. Also think I will need to get a new starter solenoid, as one of the terminal is bunged up on it also. Always something.

I did get the transmission/rear-end drained and refilled. What I put in sure was different than what I took out! I didn’t even spill any of the old oil either, which surprised me greatly. One of the drain plugs is missing a gasket, so will need to put on in down the road sometime. Hope the metal to metal seal works for the time being. While I was down under, I also replaced the lift arm with another. Used a torch for the first time since closing the store. Forgot how all of the controls on it worked, so had a quick lesson from Mick - after lighting it. Eventually it did work correctly and I was able to use it to remove one of the nuts on it that wanted to stay where it was.

Eli did a similar thing with the new lining for the wood furnace as I did for the eating kitchen cabinet here - measured wrong.! He was just a grumpy as I was when he found the error. He had two pieces of ¼” steel rolled into half circles to install. He could not get it through the door of the furnace. Mick and I came up with no ideas either. It would only go in about half way. The solution was to cut it in half, into quarter rounds rather than halves. Meaning one more weld in each of the two pieces. When he got the first in - he discovered his error. The pieces were 24" wide and the firebox was 36" internally.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

P.S. So this didn’t go out this morning. The internet died as I was putting it on the blog. - Sorry about that.

No rain!

October 17, 2007 (5:46am)

50º F, Cloudy, S Wind, 3mph.

Good morning,

Another cloudy day. At least there are no rain drops coming from the clouds though, and the weatherman is predicting some sun today. Hope so. The temperature is on a bit of a rise too, which is also welcome. Rained all day yesterday. The official report is we received something over an inch of rain yesterday - slow and all day.

Worked most of the day at Eli’s on Fjord. Got the antifreeze (at least initial fill) and oil back in. Then I turned my attention to the electrical system. Replaced the spark plugs and their wires. The hardest part was to put on the wiring. It has been a long time since doing that. The parts store only had a “universal” 4-cylinder wire set, so all had to be cut to length and end caps fitted. The new wiring is strung outside of the tube originally designed for the purpose. That should cut down on moisture problems of past experience with the tube. Sure looks neater than what was on the tractor. Someone apparently changed one wire at a time as it went bad, with whatever they had on hand. Most were way too long and just wound around things to take up the extra length. A real mess.

I also had Eli order a 12 volt conversion set for the tractor. It is a bit more expensive than I can order it for, but figured he may as well get a couple of bucks on the deal rather than someone else. It will be much easier to put on before the hood goes back on than after. Besides, I will have Eli’s guidance on the project too. Hope it comes soon so I can get it on and going.

Hope I can drain the transmission/rear axle today, if I can find enough containers to catch it. Five gallons is a lot of liquid to catch then dispose of somewhere besides the floor. The new oil is on hand to replace it with. Never changed that much at one time before. Probably will get after the tire or lift arm today too while waiting for the electrical wiring to come.

It was laundry day for Margriet yesterday. The laundry is washed, but not dry with all of the rain. It is hanging up in the main house, but probably will not be dry until tomorrow I would expect. I sure am adding to the laundry needing to be done these days. I think it will be that way for a while too from the looks of it.

Margriet made some country-style ribs for dinner last night. She started the process by starting the marinating process the night before. I really got a start when I opened the refrigerator yesterday morning and saw what looked like a rather large piece of flesh with blood running from it. She used a tomato based marinade and I didn’t know it was there. Sure made me look twice! The end result was very good (and gone!) for supper last night.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Muffins a-coming

October 16, 2007 (5:19am)

46º F, Rain, SE Wind, 8 mph.

Good morning,

The rain continues this morning and looks to be here all day. Looking at the radar, there appears to be some serious rain to the north of us. Lots more to the south and west heading our way, probably for all day. The temperature is a bit warmer. Yesterday was rain off and on all day in Iron River, but some sunny here. Go figure. Guess it has to start and end somewhere.

My getting up late sure messed up the days accomplishments. Since I am preaching on Sunday, I thought the early hour would be a good time to work on the sermon. Didn’t happen. I did get to it later in the morning, only to discover most of the programs I use for research and composition, were not loaded onto this “new” computer yet. When I left, I left a program installing and Margriet finished the installation. Now at least I have one program in. I did email Grace and confirmed the lessons. I used the right list, but will only use two of the three lessons for the day. The cool thing is - they are exactly the message I will bring. Not a coincidence I think. Now I need to get it into my head.

Yesterday morning, I also had a long chat with Brenda and Onno. They were both on ICQ at the same time, so had a Dutch conversation in stereo. Really cool. I really do enjoy the conversations and drop almost everything to chat. Again we solved some of the world’s greatest problems (at least in our corners of our world) and I hope they enjoy as much as I do. Still seems incredible that we are able to do that so easily. Snail mail would take probably a couple of weeks to a month to complete each small bit of conversation.

Most of the afternoon, I spent at Eli’s and worked on Fjord. Got a lot done too. All of the liquids are now out of it, except for the transmission/rear axle. That holds the largest quantity of fluid - 5 gallons. The oil was very unclean to say the least, along with the oil filter. The filter is the old style can type, not the clean and neat screw-ons of today. It has been a long time since changing one like that. I took the entire filter assembly off and cleaned it inside and out. Did the same with the oil breather. Also was rather dirty.

Drained the cooling system and replaced the hoses. There is a thermostat in the upper hose, but different than any I can remember. It is slipped inside of the hose and held in place with a hose clamp externally! Need a hose clamp for it as the old one was a one-time-use clamp. Don’t ever remember one like that before. I have been thinking of adding a block heater eventually too, but have not decided on that yet. Probably will knock out one of the freeze plugs and install it there if I do.

Battery box, battery, air cleaner, and some of the mechanical and electrical wiring also have been reinstalled. I need a new battery box/hold-down eventually too. The old battery box has some cancer and the hold-down is missing entirely. Will wait on that until the 12 volt system is installed, to make sure everything fits. New battery box costs about $75.00, so doubt if I will buy one. Might find a “fits all” style somewhere, or build one from the used sheet-metal I have around.

After the fluids are back in. It will be time to put the hood/gas tank back on. Hopefully, it will then be able to be started and see if it runs. I still need to replace a lift arm on the 3-point hitch and one rear tire too. Oh yes, want to put a new Bendix drive on the starter too. Finally it will be time to put the front-end loader on and get it operating. Am anxious to get it finished and useable - HERE. Have lots of work for the Fjord to do.
When I walked in the door, Margriet was just putting the dumplings onto the homemade chicken soup. It sure smelled good too. Tasted good when we ate it too. It was very hot, but a drink of hot coffee cooled off the inside of my mouth a bit. Not often you use hot coffee to cool things down a bit. Ate too much of it too.

Margriet discovered, or rediscovered, that she doesn’t like to have a house so quiet with no one to talk to her when I was gone. She was very happy to see me come home. I was happy too. She did a lot yesterday, but the silence apparently got to her a bit. I understand. She is making an additional pan of muffins for me to take along this morning for the guys to eat during a coffee break. They normally don’t take one, but bet they do today with some of Margriet’s world famous muffins around!

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Splitting time

October 15, 2007 (5:58am)

42º F, Light Rain, E Wind, 2 mph.

Good morning,

Saturday was a beautiful day. Sunshine and reasonably warm weather. The first day in a couple of week, the radar showed absolutely no rain on it anywhere in the U.P. Yesterday started out the same, but the rain came back late afternoon and is still here. It appears the rain will be with us for the rest of the week too.

It seemed that Saturday was mostly a wasted day as far as much progress around here for me. I spent most of it trying to get one of the furnaces in the main house operating. For what ever reason, the pilot light on it would not light. After fooling around, checking lines to make sure there were no other valves in the system I missed and that there indeed was LP in the line, it still would not light. Finally did get it to light, but it wouldn’t stay lit - too small. Never did get it to stay lit long either. I don’t know what is wrong with the system, have adjusted the pilot as much as I can, but fear it is too small the keep the thermocouple hot enough. Wrote an email to Robershaw, the manufacturer of the valve, and will see what they suggest. New valve costs nearly $200.00, on the way to the cost of a new furnace! When we get the wood furnace up and running, there will not be a need for this furnace at all, other than back-up and that may also change.

The real saving part of Saturday was the evening. Our church, and two others, had an ecumenical “Harvest Dinner.” It was a really good time and a time for us to meet other folks and to get to know some of our congregation better. The food was also great. Our church was responsible for the desserts. The ladies out did themselves. Margriet’s pies turned out good and I am certainly glad one was left home. I had a piece of blackberry pie which was excellent. I think I still have a couple of seeds between my teeth to be removed!

Yesterday I did manage to get the wood splitter cleaned up and the oil changed. Runs rather well again. I emptied out the wood from the lean-to at the door and split it. I haven’t seen so much crotch wood in a long time. Don’t think there is anymore in Iron County! There was about a face-cord there and most of it was too large to put into our little stove. Hard to put a 10" piece of wood into an 8" door opening. In a couple of hours it was all split into useable sized firewood. Now I need to clean out the lean-to and re-stack it again. I do want to put some sleepers under the wood rather than having it directly on the concrete floor. Probably will add more wood to the supply too. Most of what I split was maple and nicely dry. Like that part a bunch. There were several mouse nests in the pile too, so probably displaces some, hopefully to a different place not in a building here.

I have to preach at Grace in Kewaunee on Sunday, so probably will head to FISKLAND on Saturday morning. Not my choice of days to drive, but will make it. Probably load the truck on Saturday, then return here right after church on Sunday. Still some big things to get here.

Planned to go and work on Fjord this morning, but for some reason got up an hour and a half later than normal. Wanted also to get to my sermon before going, but that hasn’t happened yet either. Guess I will go about noon. There is enough to keep me out of mischief at either place.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

More together than before

October 13, 2007 (5:52am)

23º F, Clear, No Wind.

Good morning,

There is a new, very nice smell in the Hobbit Hus. One that has not been there before - fresh, homemade, sour cream apple pie! One of the best smells that can be inhaled by this Old Norwegian. It my favorite pie of all time and has been since I was a kid. Margriet built two of them yesterday. One for us and the other for an ecumenical harvest dinner today. She finished them last night about the time for bed, so didn’t get a chance to sample them - yet. Might be good for breakfast.

When I woke up this morning and looked out the window, the grass was white. No not from snow, but it was down in the very low 20's, causing a very hard frost. There was some snow in the Iron River area yesterday morning though. Folks were saying that it was sticking on elevated surfaces, like pine trees, car roofs, &c. Some of the flakes were very large. Would expect that with the “warm” temperature of the snowfall. We are very anxious to see Guds Nordtre in white. Suspect we might see that often and for some time too.

Finally got the steering of the Fjord complete yesterday (except filling the steering box with oil) and started to put back some of what I had to take off to get near the bearing needing replacement. Hardest part was remembering where everything went, even with the pictures in the manual. The dirtiest part of the deal was cleaning the air cleaner. It is an oil bath air cleaner with about 2" of oil in the bottom. When I took it apart, there was not any oil, but the oil had been replaced by at least a 2" layer of grease and sludge - a solid mass. There also is a filter made from more or less a very coarse and large steel wool pad. It also was totally plugged. The rest of the filter case was just as dirty. I left the outer case and the steel wool pad soaking in parts cleaner until Monday. Won’t be long and the hood can go back on and we will see if we can get it running again after changing the oil, filter, starter Bendix, and antifreeze (with new hoses).

Once that is complete, I need to change one rear tire, lift arm, and grease it. Then I can start putting on the front end loader. Am looking forward to that last part for sure. I bought Margriet a new snow shovel, but am sure she will be happy to have the Fjord do some of the snow moving for her. Besides, I need it to do some other things, like skidding logs and doing some other things.

Eli started to work on the wood furnace too. He discovered a hole in the firebox so is repairing that by relining the interior with ¼” plate. The fire box needed to be cleaned of the accumulated soot and ash before being sandblasted. He had to crawl inside (no small feet for as big of a dude as he is) and chip it off with an air chisel. That is not a pleasant job with all of the noise and the incredible dirt involved. The furnace was inside of the shop. I had to get out of the building a couple of times thanx to the noise.

The firebox is a 36" diameter pipe, more or less, about 30" long. Eli had two pieces of ¼” plate rolled to the proper diameter, each to cover half of the inside. I will be interesting to see how he gets them inside through the door. Not too sure how he will do the back wall, but suspect it also will be in two pieces also. Sure will be a lot of welding - in a 3' cave. Even with a wire-feed welder, should not be fun!

Eli’s son, Mick, came back from his National Guard sojourn to Arizona on Wednesday and is a character just as his Dad is. There is a lot of Eli in Mick. Both are very sharp guys and pretty good craftsmen, in spite of how their shop looks. Mick said he started to work in the shop when he was 8 years old, now about 35 +/- years old I would say. He has served two tours in Iraq, being wounded both times by IED’s. He said that being shot at isn’t fun, but being blown up is really not good. He and his Guard unit will be spending 5 weeks on the Mexico border at the end of November and December, between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

They really have some big equipment. Two lathes have 8' beds and on with I think a 12' bed. All have overhead cranes to place bigger jobs on them! They also have a couple very large horizontal milling machines and a vertical milling machine. They also have a couple “little” lathes - the size I taught with. Their vertical milling machines are the same as I taught with, as is one of the horizontal milling machines. I really do enjoy being there and with them. It is probably a good thing the shop is in Iron River rather than Crystal Falls. I think I would spend a lot of time there instead of what I should be doing.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Wild game day

October 12, 2007 (4:23am)

30º F, Partly Cloudy, N Wind, 3 mph.

Good morning,

Snow flurries are predicted until 10:00 A.M. this morning. Guess there is still some moisture in the area today. It rained, misted, or sunshined all day yesterday. Again a rather strong wind for most of the day too. Supposedly, today is supposed to clear a bit, but stay cool - more like normal. Yesterday morning, walking out of the main house, I looked to the northwest and there was a huge, beautiful rainbow in the sky. A full one, from horizon to horizon. I could see both ends of it. It was beautiful and of course, no camera.

I continue to be impressed by this little woodstove being able to keep this house warm with so little wood being burned or attention. Put a piece of firewood in and more or less forget it for a few hours. Still a good sizes lump of hot coals in it this morning. House is still as warm as we try to keep it normally during the day. We are still working on the wood that was piled in the lean-to at the doorway. Don’t think we have used more than ⅓ of what was there when we bought the place. Of course it hasn’t been cold yet.

I did make it to Eli’s yesterday and spent a few hours working on Fjord. It seems we needed more practice at disassembling and reassembling the steering box. Had it apart and together a couple more times yesterday. Don’t think we need parts cleaner, just handling the parts so often, and dirt is transferred to our hands!

Putting in the thrust bearing was accomplished without too any problems. After everything was tightened down, I slipped the steering wheel on to make sure everything worked correctly - well almost. The steering wheel would not slip past the threads for the steering wheel nut! The nut Eli got for it was ¾”-16 tpi and the steering wheel was 11/16"-20 tpi! Could not find a hammer big enough to make it fit - so .... apart came the steering system one more time. After taking everything apart, including all of those little ball bearings from the recirculating sector gear. Didn’t want to do that. There was enough metal to turn it down more and to cut new threads - then back together again.

The “sleeve” bearing at the top of the steering shaft, changed to a ball bearing in the new replacement. When I took it out, it came apart, spilling the race into a bucket with some drain fluids in it and some of the little ball bearings onto the floor. I recovered all but one, the Eli and his son got in the act. Took us about half an hour before we found the last one. We could not figure out how the bearing was to go together again and stay in one piece. After a couple attempts as different ways to assemble it, Eli finally spotted a snap ring which also had come out, but none of us knew it was there or missing. Even had to reassemble that bearing twice before getting it to stay together. Not one of Ford’s better ideas. Eventually it did go together and finally bolted onto the tractor. It even worked!

Trying to get the front wheels to align is a different story. Not a precise science. The two steering arms are adjusted by turning their shafts in an eccentric mounting. I think we are close, but it appears the two front wheels are pointing out. Think they should be in a bit, but will measure it up today. Not a real exact set-up, but Fjord isn’t a watch either, so it works. With each time of reassembly, it got easier and easier to do. We did spend nearly 5 hours doing what should probably have taken an hour or so. Fjord and I are getting to know each other pretty well.

On the way home, I passed one of the local sport shops with a ¾ ton 4x4 pickup out front with a black bear on it. It was a pretty good sized bear. It’s rump was even with the outside of the box on one side and it’s front shoulders even with the box on the other side. Sure glad I didn’t need to drag it out of the woods! This was the first bear shot that I actually have seen in the flesh. There have been a number of them shot in the area.

After pulling into the driveway, there was a flock of about 8-9 turkeys in the middle. They ran in front of the truck just as fast as they could. After about 50 yards, half of them turned into the woods and the remaining half went another 50 yards before they turned into the woods. If I had sped up the truck, we could have had turkey road kill for dinner!Let them go their way, but it was funny to watch them run as fast as their legs could carry them from behind.

Yesterday, about day break, I was sitting here and heard a raspy kind of noise. Couldn’t figure out what it was at first, but it finally dawned on me that it was the sound of a wild turkey calling. Looked out the window and sure enough, one lone turkey just outside. I didn’t see any others and it looked to be a hen. Kind of cool!

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Together again?

October 11, 2007 (5:08am)

38º F, Cloudy, N Wind, 11 mph.

Good morning,

The wind she’s howling outside this morning. It was windy all day yesterday too, along with an on and off again rain all day. Still is raining. Guess we would have a fair bit of snow if it were cold enough. The weather report is predicting some possible snow mixed with the rain in areas a bit north of us. High today in the mid-40's from the looks of it.

I went over to Eli’s yesterday afternoon and worked on Fjord a bit. Eli had built up the stripped threads and re-threaded the steering shaft while I was gone. Looks very good too. The parts ordered had come in, so I started to reassemble the steering box. The old bushing at the top of the shaft housing and really caused me some problems getting it out, but finally did. Had to reshape the housing after I got it out though.

The most challenging part of the whole deal was to reassemble the recirculating ball bearings into their proper place. After fooling around with it for a while and Eli doing the same, he suggested we get out the manual. That’s no fun! The manual said that part of the steering system should not be taken apart! Oops! It had to be removed though, so Eli could mount the steering shaft in his lathe. I think we now have it back together again. There must be 4,593 little ball bearings in it though, or at least seemed like it.

Once that was accomplished, the steering box came off of the tractor, emptied of the fluid I could not get out, and cleaned up in the parts wash. The steering box is also the top of a big open space between the clutch and the transmission, with only a drive shaft going through it. I was surprised, as automotive transmissions are up tight on the clutch. I told Eli I think it would make a good place to store one’s valuables. No one would find them there!

After putting the steering shaft/housing assembly back in and tightened down. There still was some play in steering shaft. After a bit of figuring out why, Eli happened to mention the thrust bearing must not be seated correctly. He was right! It was still in the cardboard box sitting on the running board! Since it was a “practice fit” yesterday, I thought it would be nice to take it back apart and do it right today!

From what Eli was saying, the hardest part of the whole deal is to realign the whole system, so things tend to make the tractor steer to where one wants it to go. Not each wheel taking it’s own track. That probably will be major task for today. While it looks fairly simple and open, things do need to be right. Stay tuned for the next edition of this blog to find out the result!

Margriet prepared the kohlrabi for supper last night. It was a huge one, about as big in diameter as my outstretched fingers on my hand. Surprisingly, it was not woody, but a hybrid to be huge. There is more than enough for at least two meals. It was so good, we both ate too much and there is only enough for one more meal. Normally they are hard to find in a store and very expensive when we do find them. Normally we don’t buy them, but this one was very reasonable at the stand we stopped at on Wednesday. Wish we had gotten a couple more. With the kohlrabi we had a small pork roast, done to perfection. Sounds like a good old-fashioned German meal, doesn’t it? My Woman sure does build good food for this old Norwegian.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

More drip-a-tation

October 10, 2007 (4:42am)

40º F, Light rain, WNW Wind, 13 mph.

Good morning,

The little woodstove is in operation this morning. Just starting to take the chill off in here at the moment. Burning up some scraps from the destruction projects here and it seems to be mostly pine. Kind of nice to hear it crackle as it burns. Don’t want to make a steady habit of burning pine though. I probably need to find a new routine again in the morning and for the woodstove. Hope to have it burning most of the time from now on when heat is needed. I have been putting on the gas furnace for a shot while in the mornings when needed so far. Seems it will be a bit cooler from now on. At least the weatherman thinks so. He also is predicting a warmer than average winter this year too.

I put in a new thermostat on the gas furnace yesterday. The old one I had a hard time reading in low light levels. A wide marker needing to be seen through a slot. Not easy for these old eyes. After installing the new one, discovered it doesn’t work on this system. Since mercury isn’t allowed to be used as a switch any longer, they are using electronics instead. The furnace is a two wire thermostat circuit on it, but something isn’t correct on the hook up, or it will not operate on this system. Will wait until daylight and the wood fire has warmed it up in here to check it out further. Might have to put the old one back on again.

\
The rain continues today. Looking at the radar, most of the rain was coming off of Lake Superior and heading mostly southeast most of the day yesterday. This morning it is still coming off of the lake, but from the north. Guess the low has passed us and we are on the back side of it. All day we would have a shower, the temperature would drop a couple of degrees, then the next shower seemed to come through. Wind most of the day, really made it feel raw. A better feeling than the 80º+ F of the previous days however.

It would be very easy to have wild turkey on the menu around here. The flock that has taken up residence in the woods here, shows little fear of us. They will look at us, but usually not change what they are doing at the moment. They keep their distance from us, but that is not too far away. Would be very easy to use the .22 and take one in very short order. It won’t happen, but I sure can see where it would be an easy dinner. No one would be the wiser either. The Canadian geese are really flocking up and heading south these days. When the wind is down, the sound of them is heard all day long. Some of the flocks are pretty good sized too.

The winch on the truck lift arm is history. Took it off yesterday and after a bit of looking at it, discovered one of the problems causing it demise. The shaft supporting the spool is much smaller than the “bearing” that rides on it, causing the spool and drive gear to be out of alignment - a lot! The teeth on the spool are also made from two pieces of about 10 gauge, riveted together. One of the two pieces has the teeth chewed off from the misalignment, but also not a very tough piece of steel. Not a good design at all. Looks pretty though. I am questioning whether I will put another winch on it at all. Just might weld a couple of grab hooks so I can use chains or the come-a-long instead. I do have another winch, but not too sure what I will do yet.

I got most of the sub-floor and insulation in where the woodstove will sit. One strip about 8"x4'-0" yet to put in. I don’t think the floor will give any time soon. It is made from 1" OSB with very little give to it. New staple gun works well too! Now I can start digging a hole through the outside wall into the woodshed/lean-to for the pass through wood box. Need to get that pretty much finished before I can start on the ceramic tile. One side of the wood box will also be tiled. Probably better keep the dimensions of the wood box so I don’t have to cut too many tiles too. Intend to make the interior dimensions 36" deep, as the wood I use will be 16" long, two stacks, and that should give me some wiggle room for non-perfect cutting of the wood. Lift top on the wood box inside and a swing door on the out side. That should keep some of the cold air and wood chips out and allow easy loading from the outside. I will also insulate it.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Big bunch of drips

October 9, 2007 (4:48am)

45º F, Clear, S Wind, 7 mph.

Good morning,

Yesterday was another sweat drippy and rain drippy day. The temperature was a few degrees cooler than the day before, but it felt just as hot. We had off and on showers most of the day, with bright sun and no wind between. The no wind, with the hot sun beating down on the wet ground, really made it miserable to be outside working. Another high temperature, 84º F, was set too. I think that is 3 days in a row now. On storm came through something after 3:00 P.M., was really a down pour. Think we may have gotten at least an inch of rain and some high winds, gusting to nearly 40 mph, from it. This morning is a different story - it is cooler by about 20º F and there is a breeze. Talking of highs in the 50's today.

I didn’t get as much completed as I would have liked yesterday. Seemed I was forever closing up, then opening up as the showers went through. Did have things timed about right as nothing got wet that should not have. The wood splitter is in the position I want it for the duration, or until I get a different idea, and up on blocks. Putting it on blocks put the working table up a bit and that should make it easier to use. No bending over, just a little bit all of the time. The cylinder and business end of the splitter also tips up to split blocks too large to lift. Surprisingly, to me, the anvil sets right on the ground perfectly. I thought I would need to build up the soil or put some kind of a platform there, but everything worked out just right. Glad to have that task finished! Now I will have a chance to get the tires inflated again and the thing running. Will give the exterior of the engine a tear down to be sure it is clean and not hot spots from mud wasp nests will occur.

I did tear into the lift arm, taking off the cable and getting the winch ready to come off before the rains really came. The cable isn’t the best either and probably will discard it. In a few places where the layers on the spool overlapped, the cable actually crushed and unwound a bit. That destroys the strength of it and I don’t want to trust it, even though it is probably strong enough. Plan to put a grab hook and/or ring on the end of the arm to make it easier to attach a chain or the come-a-long in the future. Sure didn’t like how I had to use it this time. About the time I get it all figured out, it will be time to take it out of the truck so I can sell the truck again.

On the last trip down, I picked up a hunter’s orange vest and cap to hunt small game with. In Michigan it is required for hunters in the woods to have hunter’s orange as part of their clothing scheme. Never had to do that before, so had to buy some. Seems a bit strange, but understand the reasoning. In the past, we wore brown canvas coats and pants. I don’t think they are even made anymore, but sure were durable and kept the prickly ash and thorn apples at bay. I got the vest large enough to wear over a jacket when the weather gets a bit cooler. Looking forward for more of the leaves to drop from the trees and maybe I can go out and poke some holes in the air.

My old staple gun finally has been retired. I bought it when first married to put plastic over the windows in the old farm house outside of Loyal. The plastic really wasn’t that much value, as there were so many other places the winter air came in. But the staple gun has served me very well all of these years. It got to the point where I could only put in one staple then have to clear the next 2-3 out that would become jammed in it. Everything had worn too much and the close tolerances were lost. The new one probably cost 5 times what the old one did, but it also is about ¼ the weight and much easier to operate. I have a couple others, but they are very much lighter duty than this. I use the heavy duty one the most. Hope this will last as long as previous one did. I probably won’t though, come to think about it.

Saturday, Margriet roasted a whole chicken. We haven’t had that in a very long time and the new range did a good job. Margriet did too! Boy it is nice to have a real oven again. She even stuffed it and we dined like royalty! Had more of it last night and there still is more. Wonder how she will use it, but am sure it will be good.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Sweating time

October 8, 2007 (5:33am)

66º F, Dripping, No Wind.

Good morning,

Everything is dripping outside this morning. Rain most of the night, but yesterday was a fairly dry day - just the high humidity and temperature. We set another record high for this time of year - - 88º F, about 30º F above normal. It really was hot. Didn’t do much and the sweat seemed to just pour out of this old body. Humidity is still high today and there is 60% chance of rain for the entire day.

On the way back from church yesterday, I noticed the leaves are pretty much past their peak for color. All of the maples are turning to various shades of brown and the birch/poplar trees are turning to their various shades of yellow/gold, but not with their normal brilliance. Will not be long until the tamarack will be turning their bright gold color in a barren woods. Seems the woods are close to being ready for the cold weather to come.

I finally got the wood splitter out of the truck and on terra-firma Saturday afternoon. I was able to attach the come-a-long to the lift arm and get enough slack to release the chain I had holding the splitter to the lift. Then I was able to lower the splitter 1" at a time until it settled on the ground. The real difficult part was to find a balance point on the splitter to be effective. I re-hooked several times before I found the right combination. Even then it took a couple of grunts and a tug or two on a chain by Margriet to get the job done. Glad to have that task accomplished!

I will set the splitter up in a semi-permanent position here. I really don’t see the need, at this time, to move it much or any for that matter. It will be placed next to the place I cut the logs, and the woodpiles. Still I will position it so it can be towed and moved if necessary. I probably will take off the wheels (one is flat and the other very soft at the moment) to be stored inside somewhere. No need to let them be exposed to the elements. For now, I will cover it with a tarp again, but probably make a frame of some kind to support it above the splitter, rather than on it.

With the splitter off, I could get the snowblower and the eating kitchen cabinet (picked up along the way) off of the truck too. Snowblower in the “carport” next to the back door of the main house and the cabinet inside the main house. The inside of the truck needs to be cleaned out. There is some hydraulic oil on the wood deck inside of the truck, that I really don’t know how to clean up. Not really happy, sliding around on a slippery floor. The wood splitter is also covered with the oil, after being turned in so many different positions. Yuk!

I really messed up when I bought the cabinet for the eating kitchen a couple of weeks ago. I measured the space several times, and for some reason, my head recorded 36" wide each time, even thought he tape measure said 33"! After we had started to put a finish on it, I discovered my head was messed up and we don’t have a cabinet shrinker! Don’t know what I was thinking at all. So .... on the last trip down to FISKLAND we stopped and picked up a matching cabinet - the correct size. Now Margriet has two cabinets to finish. We will use the “old” one, putting it on the wall opposite the refrigerator where the table is now. The counter top will be extended along the width of the wall there and use the extra length as a table to eat at, as well as other things. Might put a narrow cabinet at the end to support it. Also a rail under the front edge to support that.

There was a very tragic event in a small town, Crandon, to the south of us in Wisconsin yesterday morning. An off duty deputy sheriff went on a shooting rampage and killed 6 young people at a party. One of those killed was his ex-girlfriend. Apparently jealousy was the motive, but may never know, as the deputy was shot and killed later. All of the young people were either students or recent graduates from the Crandon high school, including the deputy. Apparently the deputy had just graduated from a two year program to become a deputy. Besides the 6 he killed (ages 14 to 20), there is one other student in critical condition in the Mayo Clinic satellite in Marshfield. One other law officer was also injured. Some of the kids are children of the teachers at the high school. What a tragic thing with apparently no warning signs. All of them were the “good” kids of the school.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Hanging out there

October 6, 2007 (6:54am)

62º F, Waiting for rain, SSE Wind, 3 mph.

Good morning,

Boy did I wake up late this morning. Overslept 1½ hours! My sleep was interrupted sometime aroung 2:00-2:30 A.M. with a thunder and lightening frog choker. The light show and rain really were big time. Looking at the radar, more appears to be coming later today. Can’t believe the temperatures either. This is almost the middle of October and we are supposed to reach 80+º F today. Almost as warm tomorrow and the following few days too. This much be “Indian Summer” but seems to be lasting longer than normal. We already have had a couple of really warm days. Does give me a chance to get some things done, needing to get done.

The wood splitter is hanging out the back door of the truck and not on the ground yet. Don’t like that, especially with the rain last night. The truck is outside! I had a choice of putting the back of the truck into the shop, leaving the doors of the shop open, or the truck outside with the doors of it open. Chose the latter. If I didn’t have so many projects going on in the shop, I could have put the whole works inside. Oh well. Too much to do and such a short time to do it!

I wrestled with the splitter most of the day, after unloading what I could. It is a conundrum for sure. At present, I can’t lower it enough, and have it stable, to reposition the chain hook-up. Used everything from concrete blocks and timber pieces to very large blocks of firewood, but nothing worked, at least a solid resting place I would trust. One problem is as I transfer the weight from the truck to the splitter, the truck raises with the lighter load and not allowing me to get any slack in the chain. I did manage to move it this far out of the truck using my come-along. My come-along has a strap rather than a cable as most do. That allows me to have a 25' reach if I need it and move something 6-8' at a time, shorten it without re-hooking, and pull again. It really is a handy gadget and wished we had it dragging the trucks out of tight spots at deer camp, rather than finding a convenient tree every 6 feet. Hope I will be able to hook one end of the come-along to the end of the lift arm and the other to the splitter. Have to check and see if it is short enough to lift it a bit to release the chain hook-up so I can put it on the ground. One thing sure, it will come down - eventually.

The wood splitter and the snow blower were stored under a tarp between uses. I noticed yesterday that the mud wasps have been busy turning, at least, the wood splitter into a mess of mud nests. I will need to pull the covers off of the engine, &c. to make sure the cooling fins are clear as well as other important areas. Sure don’t want to burn up an engine or two. I spread the tarp out on the lawn to let the rain wash it off. I thing the rain we had last night should have done a pretty good job on one side. Will turn it over to do the other side today.

I received in the mail yesterday the tractor repair and operator’s manuals I ordered a bit ago. Now at least I will be able to see what I should be doing. Not saying that I will get it, but one less excuse for not. One thing for sure, I will be adding an attachment to the bucket, so I could reach into the truck and pick things out or put them in if I need too. Can see the value of it for many other tasks too. First I need to get the tractor and learn how to use it!

Margriet spent a good chunk of time yesterday “puttin’ by” our produce we bought on Thursday. Some went into the dehydrator, some into a cool place, some into the freezer, and some into our bellies. We will have some variety for a time. The peppers were rather cheap, by normal store standards, so many of them were cut up and dried. Good stuff a-coming. There is a space under the stairway to the basement in the main house that will be come our root cellar. We should be able to put a lot in there, but I need to do some work on it to get it ready. Not on the immediate 2-DO list. The terrain here is conducive to building a root cellar outside and that may happen someday as I re-do the entrance to the basement some. There needs to be a new entry and some stabilizing of the dug out portion for the walk-in entrance.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><

Flying trip - again!

October 5, 2007 (5:27am)

46º F, Clear and starry, No Wind.

Good morning,

Boy is it tired out this morning! We drove to and from FISKLAND yesterday. For some reason I got up earlier than normal and it was a very long day. Trip was easy, but got really tired on the return, so stopped at Crivitz for a cup of coffee. As we walked in, the waitress told us they closed at 9:00 P.M., but we ordered a cup of coffee and a piece of pie anyway. Were out before they closed. Pie wasn’t too bad, raspberry for me and key lime for Margriet. Got home close to 11:00 P.M. - way past my bed time for sure.

Brought back mostly outdoor equipment, but not as much as I planned. Using the loading arm for the snowblower was slick as a whistle. Really worked great and rather easy - picked it up, swung it in, and set it down. The next item on the agenda, the wood splitter, was a different story though. The wood splitter is heavier and bigger. Got all of the tarps off of it and discovered it had a flat tire and the other one very soft. That made moving it to the truck a real task. Used the winch and a couple of boards under the tires as a roadway, to drag it to the truck. Also discovered the folding leg to support the hitch end when using it, is a pretty good anchor. It dug itself into the soil, making the drag tougher, until I put a board under it to also act as a roadway.

The real problems began as I tried to put it into the truck. It was too wide to fit, I knew that from the git-go, so decided to turn it on it’s side, lift it in, then right it again. Got the tongue into the truck, to act as a pivot point, with no problem, then started to turn it on it’s side. No problem, but did need to do some blocking to keep it on it’s side and not falling over. Re-hooked the chains and began to lift it, no problem until it was about 6" from the ground - then the winch started to “slip!” Up to this point I had only been using the winch and not the hydraulic cylinder to lift the arm. Wanted the splitter up as far as possible before using it. The slipping turned out to be the drive gear cutting off the teeth of the gear on the cable spool! Not a good thing! After blocking the splitter to stay at 6" above the ground, I re-hooked using only the chain looped over the end for the lift arm. After much struggling I did manage to get the splitter into the truck, but not put it back upright again. Really needed the cable to do that, as the chain doesn’t allow me enough vertical or horizontal movement. What to do? I ended up blocking the splitter on it’s side for the trip home, using some concrete blocks and 4"x4" ‘s, along with some tension on the lift chain (wanted to slow the splitter down some before it hit me in the back of the head if we were in an accident and it broke loose). The splitter rode on it’s side on the trip up, without any problems.

I was really worried about the splitter shifting and expected to hear a big thud somewhere along the way, when it tipped over, but it didn’t. It rode very well the whole trip, but it did take it kind of easy, especially on sharp right turns. Fortunately the carburetor a the breather on the hydraulic oil tank are on the same side of the splitter. While the tank did leak a bit of oil from the breather (probably a pint of the 5-6 gallons in the tank), I don’t think anything will be damaged, at least if I let the fluids return to their normal places before using it.

Getting the splitter out of the truck will be something different. Not too sure how that will happen yet. I really need the cable to lower it to the ground enough. The winch is rated at 5,000#, but made in China, so guess they have different size of pounds there. The splitter is heavy, but not that heavy. I have another winch here I could probably put on it, but probably will use a come-along instead. Almost threw it in the truck when we left and probably could have used it. For sure I will get a hold of the place I bought the lift arm from and complain. It sure did make me grumpy! All in all, the idea works great. Do wish the end of the arm had a fairlead for the cable to run through rather than the poor rollers with a slot on it now. A chain hook would also be handy. Might need to do something about that.

With the wood splitter riding goofy, I didn’t load the truck with as much as I had planned. Didn’t want the splitter to tip and squash things. Of course the splitter needs to come out first, to get most of the rest out. I think I know what my project is for today. Need to pay some attention to the splitter too. I really need to use it before too much more time goes by.

On the way down, we stopped at a vegetable stand in the huge town of Beaver, Wisconsin. We have passed is all summer and fall, saying we need to stop. Each time we either forgot or they were not open. This time was different. We picked up a snag of squash, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, onions, new potatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts. Intended to pick up a 50# bag of potatoes for $9.00, but they didn’t have any. Margriet had a good time. It is a good thing it just isn’t down the road from here. We would be stopping every other day or so!

Good to be home! Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><