A COMMENTER ASKS, “HAVE YOU BEGUN DESERT DREAMING YET?

The age of our old rotary push lawn mower is unknown.  In fact we can't even remember where or when we got it.  Seems like it's been sitting in our shed forever.  What is known is that it's cutting blades need to be sharpened.  Problem is where to get that done.  Pheebs & set off this morning with the mower in the back of the Jeep......and came home a few hours later with the mower still in the back of the Jeep.  We were unsuccessful in finding a place which still sharpens those types of older push lawn mowers.

 

Our travels this morning did take us to Goderich as well as up into Mennonite/Amish country.  Did stop at a rural machine shop but they didn't sharpen rotary mower blades & had no idea who did.  On our drive I kept a sharp eye out while passing Mennonite farms for any signs sayings 'saws sharpened here' etc.  I did see one Mennonite lady cutting grass with a similar push mower but I didn't feel comfortable stopping to ask where she got her lawnmower sharpened.  More than likely she or her husband sharpened it themselves.

@q#!!!&%{#* The Live Writer album feature wouldn’t work again so I’ll have to put the following photos in the post instead of in an album!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The album was titled, ‘Haying Mennonite/Amish Style.  I may try the album feature later tonight & if it works I will include it.  This series of photos works better in a larger slideshow format.

I WAS SURPRISED THE BOYS HAD SOME KIND OF GASOLINE ENGINE WITH THEM OUT THERE

Decided to pull my heavy old toolbox apart this afternoon re-organizing & eliminating things in it that are not necessary.  I found a total of 16 screwdrivers of various sizes.  6 Flat Heads, 6 Phillips, & 5 Robertsons.  Two pairs of scissors, 2 small crowbars, 3 vice grips, & 2 adjustable wrenches for starters.  Now if that was the only toolbox we had it wouldn't be so bad but I have another tool bin in our  metal shed with more of all the same, another small portable tool carrier in our bathroom plus another toolbox full of stuff at our Congress Arizona house.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we had over half a dozen hammers if I was to go around & count em all up.  So where did all these tools come from anyway?  Ten years ago Kelly & I cleaned out my Mother's house & a lot of stuff came from there.  When my Uncle Harry gave up his house we gained some more tools & when a few neighbors of ours here in the Park downsized we accumulated even more tools.  And of course I myself used to have a habit of buying things on sale whether I needed them or not.  For a guy who doesn't use a lot of tools I sure seem to be way over-tooled alright.

In a blog comment Geri from down there in that Florida place asked, ‘Have you begun desert dreaming yet’?  Well I did touch on that a few posts ago but so far have been able to keep myself pretty well focused to where we’re at now.  I do know in another month when our weather begins it’s early shift into Fall the south-west section of my mind will begin to stir.  That little twinge of excitement like a stove’s pilot light will be lit.  Thoughts will begin drifting through my mind & some early travel plans may slowly filter through current thoughts.  I have noticed one curious thing already though.  When my thoughts do turn to the winter months now I find myself thinking more of the side trips we make rather than our time spent in Congress at our house.  It seems I’m missing more of our older haunts from earlier years.  I do enjoy traveling around & briefly touching base with old memories.  Guess it’s kinda like here in the summer when Pheebs & I travel around to all our favorite spots every week.  We have toyed with the idea a few times of selling the RV & just driving down to our Congress house & staying there for the winter.  Only good part about that as I see it is the money saved on gas & motorhome maintenance.  I’m just not at a stage in my life yet where I could go somewhere & then just sit in one spot for the whole winter.  And especially not in the great American south-west where there is still so much to see & do.  The first winter after buying our place we did spend most of our time working on the house & that was a nice break from our previous 6 years traveling & boondocking our way around southern Arizona & California.  I must confess by early 2012 we were beginning to tire a bit of all that.  The house & property came along at just the right time for us.  We have really enjoyed our place in Congress these past 3 years but I’ve noticed this year it is the traveling side trips I’m really looking forward to.  Just as it is my country drives with Pheebs I look forward to when we are heading home in the Spring.  We did more south-west side trips last winter than the winter before & I’m hoping this winter we can travel around to see & do even more……………..Well by golly Geri it does look like I have been doing a little desert dreaming after all & your question just may have lit my pilot light a tad on the early side again this year:))

GROANER’S CORNER:)) My brother wanted me to find him a summer job. He asked me to check with my boss, my friends, my business associates.  Then he asked me to run off 100 copies of his resume, call up the employment agencies, and write an ad for the Positions Wanted section of the newspaper.  I asked him what he wanted to call himself in the ad.
He said, "A self-starter!"

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Summer vacation was over and the teacher asked Little Johnny about his family trip. "We visited my grandmother in Minneapolis, Minnesota."  The teacher asked, "Good for you, can you tell the class how you spell Minneapolis Minnesota?"
After careful thought, Little Johnny said, "Actually, we went to Ohio."