Good morning!!!!

[pennwalk]

65F It was raining when I woke up but now I think it is just dripping off the trees. It was getting dry here. My wife pulled the hose out to the vegetable garden and hooked up the sprinkler. I doubt if this was enough rain to wet the ground down much. Our raspberries and blueberries are looking good. I need to rig the bird net over the blueberries. I stopped by the neighborhood farm stand the other day to see if strawberries were ripe. The lady said they had been hit hard by cold spring and a late frost. All she could say was soon. I fear that the early berries that we love got zapped.

I found a mower to replace my ragged old John Deere 425. It's a Simplicity Contender XT. What do you think XT stands for? Anyway its a mid sized Zero turn (25hp/52inch). Only had 89 hours on it. I felt lucky to find it as equipment of all kinds is scarce. Now we will see if this old dog can learn new tricks. I used it to mow at the farm yesterday. I didn't mow over any flower beds or knock down any fences so that has to count as a win. Controlling it to trim along the edge is hard but out in the open that thing is a rocket. I have to learn where the edge of the deck is and also where the rollbar is. I can't duck under branches like I used to do. It doesn't have a bagger yet. I didn't see any grass clipping laying on top. I got the yard done in 3 hours and got back to the barn just before a rain shower. I'll miss the old JD. I liked that machine.

Memorial day here was really nice and quiet. I felt bad about disturbing the peace to blow off the patio. A good day for reflection and remembrance.

Is PJ gone?

Loving Spring

Chris

 

[mpham]

Morning all!
Rainy and colder yesterday and today so I decided to pull out the pressure washer and clean up the yearly winter/spring mess on the deck. Came out pretty good. Being northern exposer it never gets enough sunlight to burn off the moisture. Need to get the table and rest of the chairs out from storage. Not much else planned for the week. Might try and get the car and truck washed.
Hope everyone stays safe and healthy!

 

[pennwalk]

"Was told Dad fixed the electric wire, put a piece of barbed wire around it to hold it on."

I had to laugh. When I saw that picture I thought all he needs to do is cinch a couple of lenghts of wire around that tree and he will be back in business. Great minds think alike.

Chris

 

[daugen]

Nice job Phil
landlord and son pleased with property, understand water problems here now
he said house was neat as a pin. Guess I passed.

they looked at my broccoli and said time to pick!

 

[toppop52]

Looking4new
Well, as soon as I saw your post I looked up and the sliding door was open. so I walked up to close it and she walked through it before I could. So I closed it behind her and am now waiting for her to plaintively meow to be let out.

Looks like the latches (there are two different sliding doors) are going on tomorrow... I simply can't waste heat going into two unoccupied upstairs bedrooms.

There is only one side of a closed door a cat wants to be…the other side.

 

[daugen]

Contender™ XT Zero Turn Mower

<p>The Contender XT has the durability and performance of a commercial zero turn but with the comfort features that make mowing a joy for those who take pride in a well-mowed lawn. A Briggs & Stratton Commercial Series V-Twin powers the Contender XT, while the upgraded high-back seat and...

www.simplicitymfg.com

Chris, still a current model, looks nice, good Vanguard engine
weighs almost 1000 pounds, lot of machine

TractorData.com Simplicity Contender 25/52 tractor information

www.tractordata.com

stuck inside while landscapers run their leaf blowers. That sound just bores into my head.

 

[Popgadget]

had a nice bowl of Breyer's peach ice cream, fine way to end the day

Was it really ice cream or “frozen dessert”?

Not only is the size of the container shrinking, the ingredients are changing as well.

 

[daugen]

Was it really ice cream or “frozen dessert”?

Not only is the size of the container shrinking, the ingredients are changing as well.

still says ice cream, honestly way too much sugar for me, but hard to get "diet" ice cream without a lot of very strange ingredients in it.
they say "all natural". What an abused term.
Soon we will be down to 10 ounces and yes the fake bottoms keep getting deeper. As they sell us air.

 

[txdon]

still says ice cream, honestly way too much sugar for me, but hard to get "diet" ice cream without a lot of very strange ingredients in it.
they say "all natural". What an abused term.
Soon we will be down to 10 ounces and yes the fake bottoms keep getting deeper. As they sell us air.

Unless you get the ones without milk.
However sugar and saturated fat added in the form of coconut oil does not make it close to "healthy".

Non-Dairy Frozen Desserts

Breyers® Non-Dairy frozen desserts are made with real almond milk and have the same taste that Breyers fans love. Try Vanilla Peanut Butter or Oreo® today.

www.breyers.com

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning.
67 and going up a little, cloudy with thunderstorms this afternoon. Sim passed through overnight, leaving about 7/10” of rain.

Yesterday was busy. Started by helping a buddy with a vintage Capris, which was actually a Fox Body Mustang with a Mercury badge. He replaced the entire AC system with an R134a system. Everything is new from the Condenser to the Evaporator, even the accumulator, compressor and all the lines. He needed to pressure test, evacuate, add oil and charge it with refrigerant. He did a great job with the install system was tight and evacuated to under 200 microns. When we were done, you could get the cabin as cold as you could stand.
While I had the AC tools out, next stop was another friend to see what was wrong with his house AC. Replaced the compressor run capacitor and it worked, but needed some refrigerant. Looked for leak without success, it wasn’t down much, so I’m not surprised I couldn’t find it.

Got home, changed a tire on the progressive mower, so hopefully it will be good for the season now. Did some weed whacking and a little work on the mailbox before calling it a day.

Today I’ll probably cut the bottom out of the mailbox and weld a stainless one in. I’ve got some paper work to wade through, but somehow that always seems to get put off.

 

[daugen]

Don, I've never seen that non dairy Breyers alternatives locally. I'll look harder.
No question milk and ice cream give me gas, not terrible but consistently.

I don't mind ice milk. Does Rita's have anything healthy?
The stuff from McDonalds comes from another universe vs a cow.
And now their one dollar cone is 2.29
It's much better ice cream, still fake as can be, but the previous stuff
came from a laboratory and was really awful, left a kind of slick in your mouth.
But for 2.29, I'll look around.

 

[Looking4new]

Looking4new
Well, as soon as I saw your post I looked up and the sliding door was open. so I walked up to close it and she walked through it before I could. So I closed it behind her and am now waiting for her to plaintively meow to be let out.

Looks like the latches (there are two different sliding doors) are going on tomorrow... I simply can't waste heat going into two unoccupied upstairs bedrooms.

A 'cat door' will probably fit in the bottom of your slider. That would solve both of your problems. Yours & the cat.

 

[pennwalk]

"Chris, still a current model, looks nice, good Vanguard engine weighs almost 1000 pounds, lot of machine"

There is a Simplicity dealer in southern Lancaster County who's web page shows a new Contender for $7250 and a leftover 2019 for $6000 but they are out of stock. It felt like I was paying too much but I kind of needed it.

The reviews said the seat back leaned back too much. Yup. Maybe I can rig some spacers.

And they also said the fuel gauge shows empty when there is 1/2 a tank. That seems to be true too. I need to get a stick to check it with.

Looks like it is going to be thirsty. I filled it to start and it looked like it was mostly empty when I finished. The gas stick will help check fuel consumption.

Chris

TractorData.com Simplicity Contender 25/52 tractor information ​

 

[daugen]

others will disagree but if you don't have to run the engine flat out, as almost all commercial guys do, and your blades are reasonably sharp, if you can
back off the throttle 10 or 15 percent, you'll save a lot of gas
Need good engine speed for cooling air cooled engine, but not flat out.

 

[Looking4new]

Way back when I was a youngun my Grandmother (she was a photographer) gave me a Kodak Brownie camera. That camera lasted me about 10 years, when she traded her Leica in on a Zeiss-Ikon she gave me an Argus twin lens reflex. I was forbidden to touch the Zeiss nor the Leica.
After she died, Dad her oldest son got the Zeiss but he didn't like it so he gave it to me. I still have it. She wanted to teach me how to develope film, but at the time I was too busy partying to be bothered. Now I have a Canon Rebel xsi, which is my go to camera if I have the time to set up long shots. My zoom 75-300mm lens certainly is NOT forgiving. No tripod? Don't try the long lens, not me anyway, I am way too shakey for it.

 

[kenmbz]

Drew,
Lactaid Ice Cream is well made with natural ingredients. Giant usually has it and sometimes Acme.

Breyers made a lactose free version for a while, it was not good.

Being severely lactose intolerant, Dairy is very dangerous for me to have,

 

[LouNY]

For those of you with milk tolerance issues,
you might find this interesting;
Welcome to Ideal Dairy Farms
It would be a long way away for most of you but there may be an A2 producer in your area.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 47°, going up to 81°. There is still a slight chance of t-storms this afternoon. Humidity is up to a whopping 57%! Total cloud cover right now. Maybe some rain? I sure hope so....

Drew, nice new trailer and new camera! We both just use either our Iphones or Ipads for pictures now. Up on the shelf in the closet are the wifey's Cannon AE-1 and my Nikon FE. We haven't touched them in probably 20 years. We both used to develop and print our film/pics.
Good to hear that you passed inspection!

Thomas, don't be too hard with the Mrs.... she's only concerned and looking out for you. Hope you didn't scare baby Boo too bad.

Ken, good to hear refer install went easy. Sorry you couldn't eat at the banquet.

David, sounds like Sophie is really enjoying the BX!

I still have decreased energy, an occasional cough, and congestion. Wifey is getting better after just one day... for that I am thankful.

I did get the transplanted shrubs hooked up to the drip system and was able to get the main run up along the fence out to an old existing piñon tree. Amazing that it has survived this desert environment for 20 years without any supplemental water. It should really like getting some of the irrigation water.

Then I was at a standstill.... ran out of fittings to continue with the drip system. Going to run into town for the postponed Costco trip, I'll stop at HD and get the needed supplies to finish the drip.

Maybe get to spread some mulch... just maybe. Need to finish the drip first.
It's getting close..... Noticed that half of the solar lights on the courtyard fence were out last night. They probably need new batteries. Need to troubleshoot them.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

On the Ice cream discussion..... Not knowing there was a thing called "frozen dairy desert", soon realized that all the ingredients did not agree with my digestive system. That stuff just goes right through me--- fast! Now I read every IC label to make sure it is "real".

 

[daugen]

now I'm wondering if my "intelligent automatic" is so intelligent.
First three broccoli florets.
First pic seemed dark, and I had remembered to pop up flash. No flash. Seems too dark.
So....I turned the knob to A which I believe is aperture and lo and behold it flashed and a totally different picture.
Hmmm.
But which one is better?

I also noticed on the brighter pic it's only really focused on the front floret. While on the "intelligent" setting the focus is equal.
Lot to learn.

I've seen that lactaid brand, will try it. I really want to avoid the sugar, hard to do with questionable artificial sweeteners.