Battening hatches!
We will no longer be surprised if the 45th and 47th President announces as his next appointments the Menendez Bros for Supreme Court. They would job share.
“How amazing that in the rosy glow of election, he will spend so much political capital and goodwill on confirmation fights he may well, and certainly deserve, to lose.” — Peggy Noonan
“We’ll see whether Republican Senators have a gag reflex or not.” — U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-VA
This dues-paying RINO is weary of politics. Beaten down. Just when you try to defend the guy, he ups the ante — as if to cull the mere sycophants from the truly crazed. Today, we are standing down and standing by “peacefully and patriotically.” Before Matt Gaetz can order our detention, let’s take a field report from the Head Groundskeeper at the Experimental Work Farm (and Penal Colony)!
Baby it’s getting cold outside
The indentured servants, he reports, are engaging in that semi-annual ritual: getting ready for the change of seasons, for the nekkid-lady calendar on the garage wall indicates that winter cometh. (She’s wearing ear muffs.)
Number One Son brings the storm windows up from the basement and takes the screens down. The Head Groundskeeper mulch/mows the fallen leaves; one pass macerates the leaves almost to the point of invisibility. Easier than raking.
Weed whacked (verb, transitive) the asparagus garden, into which we had sown a meadow flower mix, heavy on cosmos (a favorite). Asparagus this spring was sparse. Still taking lettuce from the other garden — our third planting. The carrot crop, planted late, was abundant. First time we attempted carrots. We just sow them in like grass. The unlettered field hands do not row crop. The theory is broadcast planting crowds out weeds. That’s the theory, anyways.
Bucked up into 16-inch pieces the dead branches we scavenged from a neighbor; they’re dry as a doctoral dissertation. Emptied fireplace insert of two bucket loads of ashes from last winter. Need more farmer’s matches.
Have begun watching Smerconish, 9 am CST Saturday mornings on CNN. Fun, fast-paced, and fair — unlike Wolf, Erin, and Anderson. This morning Smerconish said something we never hear from Rachel or Sean Trumpitty: “I may be wrong.”
Who’s been sleeping in my snowblower?
The warm weather machinery gets a dollop of STA-BIL in the gas tank for the winter snooze. The Moto Guzzi V7, too. Also the 1950 Allis Chalmers model G tractor, which we repainted three years ago with the model-correct Persian Orange #1. We ask you, who else parks a tractor as a lawn ornament? (Probably for good reason.)
Pulled the Ariens snowblower out of the garden shed. Wouldn’t start. Drained the old gasoline, thinking that may have been the cause, before dismantling the shroud over the carburetor. Packed tight with a mouse nest! Third straight year mice have disabled our machine! We thought sprinkling moth balls would discourage the critters from using the blower as an Airbnb. Another theory blasted all to hell.
Learned enough from You Tube technical college not to mess with carburetors! Time to visit the wonderful folks at Middleton Power Center, whom we have come to know and love. Because the machine weighs 187 pounds, because it won’t start, and because Number One son was unavailable, the Head Groundskeeper crawled onto the pickup truck bed (itself a test worthy of Hercules) and pulled the heavy beast up the steep ramp with a rope. (Pushing would require the handlebars at ground level because the wheels are in back.)
We can report that the old guy still has upper body strength but his stamina meter is reading empty. Plenty of amps, but low on voltage.
If the Badger bucketball team can beat #9 (Number 9, Number 9, Number 9) Arizona, maybe the footballers can beat Number 1 Nike … er, Oregon, today!
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Next Spring, we’ll store the snowblower in our bedroom, if necessary. Fewer meeses.
6 responses to “Ready for a long, cold winter”
Dave, how can someone contact Nino Amato?
Met him few months ago and was very impressed by his knowledge of this really mad city out of control.
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OMG! You made me spit my coffee-laden toast right onto the bloody keyboard with the already-sticking “o” key. Dayam, Blaska, how did you find that cool picture of me on the scooter? I thought I burned them a long time ago, along with others we won’t talk about. The best machine repair shop I found in Madison was F&F on Stoughton, so I hope Middleton can get those mouse turds out before the white stuff comes down. KwikKill in Madison dispatched our Tom and Jerrys with very little fanfare before we had to showcase our manse for the sale. We got bigger problems here in FL because everything out there wants to kill us. But I digress. Thanks for the fun read, especially the adventures in asparagus and the old guy snow-blower towing olympics. I hear Ben-Gay – do they still make that lovely smelling unguent??? is good for when you don’t have an heir around to do the heavy lifting and you insist on thinking your body is still capable of what your brain should only be dreaming of.
“How do YOU prepare for winter?”
Continue harvesting Kale, plant Garlic (~350 cloves), and fill the Bucky Fridge with beer.
Bucky? Anyone who thought the Badger Cagers would lack offensive firepower with the (regrettable) departure of A.J. Storr, John Tonje says HOLD_MY_BEER
Tonight? In the absence of an unlikely Badger Blowout, The Gotch hopes for a good game, no injuries, and a chance to win it at the end.
ON WISCONSIN!!!/i>
The Gotch
Glad to see you own the same Wisconsin made Ariens machine I do. Gotta keep that factory home.
[…] many plumbers won’t touch it. One of the few who does bills $3,150. For the third straight year, meeses set up housekeeping over the summer in the Ariens snowblower. Another $500. […]