Range Backstop Day 1

 Posted by at 12:30 am  Nick's Blog
Sep 192023
 

Our son Travis and I have been looking forward to getting the shooting range set up, and yesterday was the first day of working on the project. While some people just depend on the heavy woods around here to serve as a backstop, and we have hundreds of acres of forest behind our property, I […]

Feeling Better

 Posted by at 12:25 am  Nick's Blog
Sep 182023
 

Thank you to everyone who has asked how Terry is feeling. After three weeks of being miserable, it seems the last round of meds is helping and she is feeling quite a bit better. She still gets fatigued easily and is fretting because she doesn’t have the energy to do everything she wants to get […]

Too Much Grass

 Posted by at 12:45 am  Nick's Blog
Sep 102023
 

I know there are plenty of potheads would who would tell me there’s no such thing as having too much grass, but I’m not a pothead and that’s not the kind of grass I’m talking about. I am referring to all of the dried out mowed grass all over our pastures and yard. And trust […]

Barn Project Part 2

 Posted by at 12:50 am  Nick's Blog
Sep 052023
 

As I wrote in a post titled Barn Project Part One last month, the front part of our barn was divided into three horse stalls and then an open bay in the center, with two freestanding rooms off to one side. That bay was crowded with implements for my Kubota tractor to the point where, […]

More Tractor Time

 Posted by at 12:57 am  Nick's Blog
Sep 032023
 

Though our grass really needed it, I was disappointed that it rained all day Friday because I wanted to take advantage of the slightly cooler weather to get a lot of work done outside. But as it turns out, Mother Nature never consults with me ahead of time. However, yesterday turned out to be a […]

Another Project Done

 Posted by at 12:57 am  Nick's Blog
Aug 312023
 

I was back at it yesterday, using my Kubota tractor to spread gravel on our driveway and then smooth it out with the tractor’s back blade and the bottom side of the bucket loader. It’s all done, and while it’s not as neat and tidy as somebody with more experience could do, a guy’s got […]

Big Boy Toys

 Posted by at 1:14 am  Nick's Blog
Aug 182023
 

You know the old saying that the only difference between men and boys is the cost of their toys. I guess that’s true, and I recently got a couple of new toys to help me out here on the property. Tractors like my Kubota come with what’s called a three-point hitch for attaching implements on […]

Barn Project Part 1

 Posted by at 7:54 pm  Nick's Blog
Aug 022023
 

As I have said before, the big barn at the back of our property is a bit dilapidated but it does have a nice flat concrete floor and is watertight so I keep the tractor implements in there. When the weather looks particularly bad I move the Kubota, the Husqvarna riding lawn mower, and the […]

Aug 022023
 

When Scott and Alan Banks were here building our deck last week, I mentioned a couple of other projects we would like them to do for us, and I also mentioned that I have not been able to get the mid-mount mower deck connected to my Kubota tractor. It was on the tractor when I […]

A Productive Day

 Posted by at 12:50 am  Nick's Blog
Jul 312023
 

Yesterday turned out to be a very productive day for us, even in ways we did not expect. The day started out just as hot and humid as it has been. When I let Alli out to go potty about 7:30 I could already feel the heat starting to build. We sure are glad we […]

What Could Go Wrong?

 Posted by at 12:57 am  Nick's Blog
Jul 232023
 

We had a couple of other contractors come out yesterday to give us bids on the deck project, and I think we have decided on who we’re going to have do the work for us. One other person is supposed to get back to us on Monday, so we’ll wait until we see what he […]

Jul 132023
 

Note: For some reason, some blog subscribers are not getting the pictures in today’s blog. If that includes you, please try this link https://www.gypsyjournal.net/2023/07/a-project-for-terry-2/ I started yesterday with a telephone interview with someone who is writing an article about going to school in Toledo, Ohio back in the so-called good old days, and she wanted […]

Jul 132023
 

I started yesterday with a telephone interview with someone who is writing an article about going to school in Toledo, Ohio back in the so-called good old days, and she wanted to talk to me about my experiences as a student in junior high and high school, and also about the books in my Tinder […]

Boxer Burglar

 Posted by at 1:12 am  Nick's Blog
Jul 122023
 

I’m a little too young to have taken part in panty raids, which were a popular pastime during the 1950s and early ’60s when young men, usually college students, would descend on female students’ dormitories to steal their underwear. Like other youthful pranks such as swallowing goldfish or stuffing as many people as possible into […]

Jun 242023
 

Yesterday was a good writing day for me and I managed to get about 3,000 more words done in my new Big Lake book. And as happens so many times, the characters threw me a curveball and took the story off in a whole new direction from where I thought it was going. That’s why […]

Weather Alert

 Posted by at 12:37 am  Nick's Blog
Jun 152023
 

There was a lot of thunder and rain Tuesday night, and we were awakened yesterday morning by weather alerts on our telephones informing us that a strong storm system was coming through our area and that we were under a tornado watch. That wasn’t a surprise because the night before, the weatherman had predicted afternoon […]

May 292023
 

I know I’m probably beginning to sound like a broken record (that was a vinyl disc that we used to play music on back in the day, for all you young whippersnappers), but I’ve been taking advantage of the lower temperatures while I can to get as much work done around our place before we […]

Well, Darn It!

 Posted by at 1:24 am  Nick's Blog
May 262023
 

Yesterday was an eventful day for us. Terry started the day by making us some mixed berries and half a bagel each for breakfast and then baked some delicious blueberry muffins. Just about the time they were ready to come out of the oven a very nice young lady named Jackie and her mother Lisa […]

Wet And Soggy

 Posted by at 12:55 am  Nick's Blog
May 212023
 

A few days ago, Travis and Geli came over and helped me get the mid-mount mower out from under my Kubota tractor and the brush hog mower attached to the three-point hitch on the back of the tractor. Getting everything lined up for the three hitch connections was a challenge, and then, as always, hooking […]

May 032023
 

Once again we spent the day yesterday working outside. Our son Travis helped me pull out the fence posts on the north side of our property and roll up the wire. Using a chain and the bucket on the Kubota tractor, some of them came out very easily, while others really made us work for […]