Did it finally happen?????

Holy Moses, I can't believe my ears or my eyes.

Did I hear correctly that the Temperature yesterday morning as 28 degrees in Daytona Beach, Fla. Birthplace of Speed and home of blue hairs???????????

I know temp on my back porch yesterday was 30............

SO IT FINALLY HAPPENED........

IT WAS COLDER IN FLORIDA THAN IN MISSOURI......

Glad the Barngoddess1 and I put off our Florida vacation to April instead of this week.

Hey Long Roof and Jeep

I have carharts bibbers for sale.. cheap too,...... only $200 a pair........

LOL

Finally catching up

Well I am finally catching up on my writings, but first a big big birthday celebration to the #1 son of Robert G and Mary L Lee.
Robert G. Lee, Jr.

or BBB as the Longroof and Jeep refer to him.

Happy Birthday you old coot, have another one from the Tiki Bar and take a dip in the pool.

So while my older brother gets older, I will fill you in on some of the doings around here lately.

You remember the post about the maiden voyage? well that tractor is back in the Ford Garage getting another overhaul. Yep, my able daughter, my noble assistant and Derrick have been transferring features from our old tractor to the new tractor - little things that make it easier to drive.

So here are a couple pics of the goings on


this one shows Derrick under the new tractor putting the hydraulic filter cover back in. This is the replacement so the loader hydraulics can be connected.



Steph and I are preparing the new tractor to receive the new battery box-dash which replaces the rusted out old battery box.

So progress on Tuesday evening came to a screeching halt when this old Horsefarmer did something wrong, not sure what, but my back gave out again, and I couldn't lift the wires to hook to the battery. So for the past three days, it's ice, heat, ice and just laying around resting.

Went to the Doc today, x-rays, prodding, pushing, tapping, punching, stretching, = you know all that stuff the Docs do to see if it hurts and where it hurts.
Heck just sitting here it hurts.....
anyway somehow I sprained my lower back again.

Needless to say, no traveling to look at a bunch of 60's mopar vehicles at auction, no working on the tractors, no nothing.........
lay around with ice, heat, ice for the weekend.

Danged if it ain't hard getting old.

So hopefully, Monday I'll be able to move about without a lot of painkillers in my system.

So enjoy your weekend.

At least I can still enjoy the company of the Barngoddess1 and our kids and grandkids.

So in that I proudly Celebrate Life.

Maiden Voyage

So it is Saturday, December 4, 2010, and at 1:20 it is still warm here in the Ozarks, temp hovering around 40 degrees since 7 am this morning.

Have been working on the new tractor, and finally got it ready for the maiden voyage.

Yep, with My noble assistant's hard working help, and a little input from her mom, we got the tractor ready.

Out of the garage, and moved a hay bale to the horse's field and put the new tractor back in the garage to finish a couple other projects on it.

So here is a pic of the new tractor out back before we put the bale spike on it.



photo credit to "HavenJay"

and sitting here in the kitchen with a bowl of Campbell's vegetable soup with crackers and we'll be back in the Ford's garage working on the other tractor.

that's all for now.

www.upexcursion.com

Okay Papa and I saw this post on www.news-leader.com. It tells about how to vote for a steam engine to come through Springfield, Mo. So Papa decided, "hey lets vote for it." Everyone vote!!!
It's real easy just go to www.upexcursion.com enter Springfield as your hometown then choose springfield, Mo. Enter your email address and follow the remainder of the directions. Easy! Go vote!
Celebrate life,
Little Princess

It's been a long week

So here I am, totally wasted from a speed trip all around Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri.......

And someone wants my picture taken to put on the Thanksgiving Card........

So there I stand, "Deer in the headlight look"

and danged if the camera doesn't flash.........



So here is a photo of the Audiology Department Staff where I work.........





now remember we are high level government employees, and we appreciate your tax dollars paying our salary. So keep paying them taxes.

tom

WE'RE TIRED

Ok we are tired, both of us...........

51 hours

1,125 miles

79.6 gallons of diesel ($3.25 gallon average)

We're tired.

Now have a new tractor............
will pick up Thursday (another 300 miles or more)

Now have a new generator...........
tractor driven, so portables are for sale
look for a posting soon

Now have a new dining room set.........
bet we don't medically treat a newborn foal on this dining room table......
no sireee... Carol and Mary would have my goat if I did that.......

But we are home safe and sound.

Had a GREAT AND I MEAN GREAT visit with my little sister Mary and her husband Don...
long time since I've had a one on one with a sister.
Thanks Mary. I REALLY enjoyed our visit. And finally got to meet Don......... what a way to Celebrate Life.

So now on to day to day routines again.

Now when I made the comment about 1,125 miles in 51 hours, my granddaughter made the acute observation that Viola and I averaged 22 miles per hour.............

WHAT????????? WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course she is a math wizard, and only she could come up with that figure......
But I guess I'm getting old when I only average 22 miles per hour................

So after a long and tiring weekend...... we still managed to

CELEBRATE LIFE TO THE FULLEST..........

I wish it was snowing!

Well here it is early Sunday afternoon.

Had a great week, got to attend a Veteran's Day concert by the Springfield MO Army National Guard Band with my granddaughter. Great show held at the Marionville school. Kids had a grand time, especially the songs that had a strong beat to them = ie: marching song and the Service Songs. I sang along with "Anchors Aweigh". Last time I heard that song was on 9/30/1989 at my retirement ceremony.

Then on to working on the tractor and travel trailer.

Even better news from my two sisters who live way out east in the mountains of NC somewhere.
Seems my grandmother's dining room set won't fit in either of their new homes, so it is offered to any family member wanting it.
I piped in and volunteered to take it. "To keep it in the family" as with all the other heirlooms. Granny bought the set in the 30s if I am not mistaken, and it is well taken care of.

So after a wonderful visit on the phone with Mary and Carol, and a couple revisions along the way, this coming weekend Viola and I will be heading east to meet Mary and her Don to pick up a UHaul trailer full of the set. The girls are having "two men and a truck" load the dining set in a trailer for us. What a wonderfull gift, as I know the furniture will survive the trip from NC to MO.

On the sad note, the big bad 1 ton of mine, used to towing our mobile house, wouldn't start that morning, so jumper cables and it started. Later in the day, it would again NOT start. I hooked the cables up, got turned around on the second set of cables and "yeah" I hooked them up backasswards. by the time I got in the truck to start it, we had a major smoke scene going on, and by the time this old man got out of the truck and up to the front the cables were fried. Fried hell, they were toast. The dually now won't start. So after checking all the fuses, finding one blown (duh wonder why?), trip to my local parts shop "Hey tom what's up" and back home again, truck still won't start.

So looking at the battery cables... yep, rust and corrosion to the max.

So I have this 2001 Ford F350 crew cab super duty truck with a 7.3 deisel that needs negative battery cables replaced. Yep two batteries = two negative cables corroded. So back to my parts shop, "Hey tom what's up" and find out that one of the cables is listed at $109.99. NOT OUCH, NOT WHAT, NOT HOLY COW.... came from my mouth, just a simple "oh shit, you gotta be kidding me". 3 days to get it also.

So after talking with the Manager and deciding to use the local machine shop, off I went. $75.00, and 45 minutes later I was out the door with the two cables needed to replace my corroded ones. Now note, for once in my life I did things in proper sequence, yep the proper sequence. Before heading to the parts shop, Viola helped me remove the two cables from the F350 so I could take them with me to get exact duplicates.

So this morning I am ready to head out and put in the new cables. WRONG!!

MAN ALIVE, IT IS COLD OUT THERE. Temp o meter is below 40. If it was snowing I would have an excuse to stay inside and watch football and nascar. But it ain't snowing, so I guess it's get bundled up and head back out to get the job done.

Forget it, the truck can wait till this afternoon when it warms up some.

And in the middle of all that yesterday, Viola (aka Barngoddess1) tells me I need to put a couple round bales out for the horses and cows. So that is the easy part, just hook the bales mover to the three point hitch and easy..........

Tractor won't start! So on one of the trips to town bought deisel (off road deisel is now $3.03 a gallon). Hook jumper cables to tractor from My little mule, and it won't start. Finally got the daughter to pull me with the F250 and we got it running. Quickly delivered the two bales and headed for the Ford Garage.
More bad news. Fuel tank is leaking again at one or two previously welded joints. And to top it off the fuel injector pump is now leaking. ARGH>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So set up and drain the fuel tank again.

So it's been a fun weekend so far.

Really great thing is that Derek (daughters friend) borrowed my 243 to go deer hunting. Haven't heard from him yet. But can tell him where for the past two days I have dodged a doe and her baby on the highway. Maybe next time hit them and bring them home to put in the freezer.

Even better, oldest daughter, Michele, popped in on Sat morning for a couple days to just visit with the wife and girls. Always great to have her here for a visit.

So it's now time to decide to buy another tractor, or invest more money in this one. Glad the deal to buy the property next door fell through.

So hunting for tractors like I have now, in any kind of shape is rough. Found one in Tallahassee Florida, motor is froze up, but the parts might work; maybe I could get the Jeep and Long roof to buy it for me and deliver it........... nah, long roof went and got a job, so now he is tied up 6 to whatever every day. In fact he told me he gets up a 4:30 in am...... hell that time doesn't come unless you have been up all night.

Oh well. keep looking for parts. Fuel tank runs from 470 to 700, fuel injection pump is 1400 with 300 core deposit.

So the saga of the Haven Lee Farm continues.

Have a happy day and remember as you go about the trials and tribulations of the day, it took the Long Roof about 700 and some days to find a job, but he perserved and something finally came through.

Remember to Celebrate Life and enjoy.

tom

Just for the LongRoof

So coming home from a wedding late this afternoon, the Barngoddess1 points out a parking lot full of classics.

In we go and as she sat in the truck, I walked around and took pictures.
That OleLongRoof isn't going to do me one better.

The first car I saw and recognized was a 57 BMW Pewee



yeap, one that the door opens to the front




After that I saw a 58 Chevy apache. When we lived in Connecticut, I owned two of these, one a short bed, one a long bed.




Then I came across my dream car…… should I ever win the powerball, I will own one of these

1968 Ford Shelby Mustang, one boss car



Of course I took a bunch of other shots, but it takes too long to up load, so will post again with those pics later... lets see, Lincoln, Packard, three rods, 59 Ford Convertable hardtop, etc.

So enjoy

tom

When it rains it pours

Well the other night the Barngoddess1 and I decided to put hay out for the little horses and little cows.

So hook up the bale spear to the loader of our favorite little deere and away we go.
BUT WAIT....
I fear the loader is not on the tractor straight, and where is that diesel fuel coming from.......
Oh no, oh yes problems.......

So we quickly put out the hay bales and back to the barn.

So Friday after work, we decide to take the loader off the tractor and figure out what is going on. The daughter and my noble assistant and I remove the loader from the deere, really easy actually, and the load sits out there by itself all alone now.



Then the deere to the Lee's Ford Garage and after spreading a bag of cat litter on the floor to soak up all the diesel fuel that poured out, we got down to figuring out what is leaking.

NO problem, we find that the fuel leak is just a overflow line popped off the tank.

But in the process I found that the front support, a major part of the frame is cracked completely through on the right side.
This is the cause of the loader not being level.
So off comes the gas tank, off comes the radiator, off comes the hydraulic tank,
and then




It's a phone call to the Bus
"Hey whatcha doing?" Sound familiar? all Lee boys are the same
"Nothing, what's up"
"Can I borrow your power washer?" Now the farm's power washer is still missing parts that I haven't quite got around to ordering. We have a lot of 'ROUND 2 ITS' here.
"Meet at Republic?"
"Fine, see ya"

To the kitchen sink and remove about twenty pounds of grease and grime and it's off to meet the Bus.

Back home, power washing helps and soon it is so dark I can't tell grease and grime from clean and neat, so quit for the night.

This morning was spent removing the power steering pump, pulling the front end off, and presto we have the cracked part ready for the power washer.
Bus the part is to the left (front of tractor) in this picture.



So now the Deere is sitting in the Lee's Ford Garage....... Jeep it's ok, it is a tractor not a car.....
minus the front axle and steering assembly, the cracked part is in the back of the dually to go to the welders tomorrow to see if they can fix.... if not.........
so here's a pic of the crack



backup plans hurt for this one part.....
John Deere has one new old stock left in the great USA, it's in Wisconsin somewhere and it is relatively cheap at $3,500.00. Yes 3500 dollars.

Cooks tractor in Clinton MO has been contacted to see if they have the part..
Ebay has been searched
Craigslist has been searched

We learn more tomorrow.

But wait it gets better.........

My little mule, F250 super duty, driver's window goes down today and refuses to go back up....
After disassembling the door, unable to tell if switch bad, or motor bad, try to put connectors for passenger window to driver's window and fried the circuit board...
So now, after moving everything in the Lee's Ford Garage back to the side with the Deere, the Little Mule is parked inside with the driver's window still down........



When it rains it pours.........

But at least we know how to fix things that are broke.......

"JEEP WHERE ARE YOU???????????????????"

Oh well, celebrate life.

ForSale, Sad but true

The above picture is of our 4 up team of miniature horses and the stagecoach during the Mt Vernon MO Applebutter making days parade. We had just come through the gauntlet in the backgorund that had the crowds less than two feet from the team.
The team did marvelous and didn't panic or startle during that gauntlet.

Unfortunately, my back has finally gone south, and I am stuck up here in the midwest, tried to drive one of the horses today and .......... pain pills didn't help, and haven't helped in some time.
We haven't had the coach and team out all year, and after much soulsearching and discussing, the wife and I decided to sell the stagecoach and 4 up team of miniature horses.

The ad is on craigslist @ Springfield Mo under Farm and Garden.




So if you know someone interested in driving a team of 4 miniature horses pulling a stagecoach, let us know.

Tom & Viola Lee

HavenLeeFarm.com

Well, it was bound to happen, the person maintaining our website was soo soo busy that she couldn't spend 5 minutes of her time talking to the Barngoddess1 about the site, so I refused to pay the fee for another year.

So Havenleefarm.com is no longer.

I have commissioned our daughter to find a host and develop a website.
I will advise what she finds.
So for now, no website "Havenleefarm.com"

tom

Major Decisions, Major Decisions

Aw heck, I am getting too old for this..........

This here little piece of Lawrence County we live on is a mere 28.5 acres.
and we have it pretty nice here.

House and barns on the west side of property, pond on east side..... highway 600 feet out south, and farm land north of us.

Now comes the problem........

The ten acres abutting out property on the west has come on the market.

And I can't figure out whether to spend the money and buy it, or just let it go....

Can't say too much about the zoning regs in this county, so could get some really bad squatters...... or might get a decent person who puts up a 300 k house.....

So now I have to decide to buy it or not........

oh these decisions.........

I'm too old to make them, but what the heck, I will probably work till I fall over, so who knows............

Billy Long and Roy Blunt get elected = don't buy....

Oh these decisions == aurgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg

A bunch of lies

Now I am not a politician, nor one of those guys who raise hell about what is going on in political campaigns.

But I am against guys who lie and stretch the truth.

Over at Roy Blunts campaign web site, he is bragging that "HE" was the one to push the "Concurrent Receipt" thru and get it passed.

BS to the nth degree........
Roy Blunt did not support Concurrent Receipt until after enough congressmen (and women) had committed to the bill.

If Roy Blunt was for concurrent receipt,

WHY DIDN'T HE MAKE IT FOR EVERYONE? Not just the ones who are 40% or more service connected.

I AM ONE OF THOSE VETERANS, WHO HAVE A DISABILITY THAT WAS DETERMINED TO BE "SERVICE CONNECTED" AND I WAS GRANTED 10%.

I ALSO SPENT 21 YEARS IN THE SERVICE..... 7 OF THOSE YEARS IN SUPPORT OF THE US MARINE CORPS, AND THE FOLLOWING YEARS ON SUBMARINES.

I RETIRED IN 1989, and was granted 10% disability in 1990.

10% of my retirement pay was deducted because of the disability. The VA gave me the 10%. So since 1990, 10% of my pay was lost, and would still be lost, if the VA had not reevaluated me in the past 3 years and determined my medical condition has degraded.

ROY BLUNT YOU DIDN'T HELP ME ONE DAMNED BIT........

When I emailed your office for support of the concurrent receipt for ALL retirees, I got not a single answer back....

To claim you ensured the Concurrent Reciept was passed is bullshit, like the rest of the crap you pull............................

Roy Blunt is a joker and a liar.....

Tom Lee
A retired disabled military member who is fed up with Blunt and his bs.......

Golf in Biloxi MS

I blogged earlier that I played golf at the oldest Golf Club in Mississippi.

I took some pics and now that we are home, I share them with you.

Also talking to one of my three sisters - Carol - found out her husband learned to play golf at Great Southern, AND his mom used to take him to Waveland to play on the beach.

So Carol, here are some pics to remember George's youth:

The first one is from the green looking back toward the tee and the ocean we started at.



The next one is the tree blocking the green on #17, well it blocked the green for my shot both times I played. Seems it had something to do with a little slice. This tree has survived a bunch of hurricanes, and it was nice to just sit under it and relax.



The last is the beach at Waveland, where we saw several Manta Rays.



Now the joke is that we can really pick campsites.

The first night we stayed at a campground that was right at a busy interstate interchange. So we listened to traffic all night.

AUTOMOBILES

The second night it was near train tracks, so we listened to whistles all night.

TRAINS

The third night it was near an airport that had air force C141s practicing touch and goes.

PLANES

SO: PLANES, TRAINS, and AUTOMOBILES........

Two nights ago, we were on the river and thought, PERFECT

NO HIGHWAYS NEAR BY, NO AIRPORTS, NO TRAIN TRACKS........

guess what we forgot about?



Yep, BARGES AND TUGBOATS...................

We have them all, Planes, trains, automobiles, AND Barges..............

But we spend two weeks doing what is best for us

CELEBRATING LIFE.

WE did it

Today was one of those Chamber days down here in Mississippi. Temp in the 80s, humidity in the 50s. Perfect mild on shore breeze.

The Barngoddess1 and I got up late and changed plans for the day.

So we drove over to the oldest golf course in Mississippi. Yes that is right, the oldest golf course.

Needless to say I took a lead from the LongRoof and walked right in and asked if I could play 18..

Yes sir, just sign here.

Can I walk?

No sir, you need to take a cart so you don't tire out too quickly.

And that my friends is how I got to play the oldest golf course in Mississippi.

The Great Southern Golf Club, Biloxi, MS.

Start at the beach, head to the swamps, and return to the beach. What a course!

If you come to this area, you have to play this course.

It looks very easy and simple, but has little tricks in it that just drive you crazy. Take the ninth hole. It is a blind hole, 350 some yards long. You don't know where you are going due to the trees and layout.

I hit the driver about 230 on that hole and was in perfect position to play a wedge to the green. Wow what a course.

We took quite a few pictures, but due to the cable being in Missouri and us being in Mississippi, well, I'll just post pics later.

Now this course was established in 1908 and it is great.

Oh yeah, when paying for the 18 and cart, I asked if they gave a military discount.

Yes sir we do!

I gave him a twenty, he gave me a score card and key to the golf cart, and I went and played 18 on some of the best holes I've played in a long time.

The par 5, 510 yard, number 15 was the killer. Three shots and I was over the green, took three more to make the green, and one putt gave me a 7. But the scenery was perfect.

Play this course if you love golf and come to this area.

And don't forget to ask for military discount if you qualify.

And then we roamed over to Waveland and spent two hours on a great beach, just walking and talking, walking and not talking, just spending time together.

Saw several baby sting rays (or were they manta rays), and enjoyed just walking in the water and spending time together. Also saw a lot of left over damage from Katrina and Ike. Sad to see so many vacant lots with just foundations left.

But then we came back to our mobile house and had some excellent steak, thanks to the Barngoddess1 and "hamburger".

More later, as we

Celebrate Life

YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID

BUT YOU CAN

VOTE THEM OUT

I'm Busy

I guess the correct phrase should be

I am busy traveling all over the southeast.

Spent yesterday in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.

Today is spent in Mississippi.

Tomorrow? who knows.

I can't post any pictures because I left the connecting cable at home.

Can't watch tv cause the connecting cable is too short.....

I'll just have to post pics later.

BEsides, I'm busy, golf tourney 9/10 and then on to other and better things.

later
tom

I guess it's full

My last blog I talked about the rain filling the new pond up.

Well, last evening we had more rain..... Kind of like the eye of the hurricane went over us, left us with a feeling of relief, and then the second round hit.
We missed out on the tornado warnings, city of Republic and east didn't though.

But we sure got some more rain. In fact, so much rain the pond is now full......
yep, probably 12 to 14 feet of water in the new pond, along with the pallets we didn't get out, the mud and muck that was still there. But the pond is full.
Dang near overspilled the dam in one area.

If you look at this picture, above my head you see the clean dirt row... that is the north end of the new pond,



the next picture is of the new dam from the west (house side) and the dam goes clear around to the left where the first picture showed plain dirt. The water almost breached the dam in the center of the picture. only about 10 inches and it would have been over the dam.



another view from the north side you can see the pond etal.......



Yep the pond is becoming a lake and we are ready for the weather to get hot again so we can use it for a swimming hole, but weather this weekend is highs in 70s, so may not swim for awhile.

Might try to get The Bus to bring his boat out and we could water ski ????? well ok.

but we will Celebrate Life

Only needed 2 hours more

So Fred has been diligently working to get the pond expanded and ready for the rains that were due on Thursday of this week.

So Wednesday morning he only needed about two hours to finish hauling that last big pile of mud and muck from the original pond bottom over to the other side of the dam.

Well guess what, the rain man didn't wait, and Wednesday this part of the Ozarks was like Daytonna Beach or NewOrleans during one of those big round storms....

We had 6 to 10 inches across southwest MO and the pond....

well it's half full now........



The pile of muck sticking up shows where the original pond was, and you can see how big the expansion will make the pond... a lake now. Great for swimming and fishing.



Now to just get the water out of the pond so we can finish removing the mud muck pallets and tin, and then be ready for the rain again.



but we are like a willow tree, bend in the wind and recover to continue to

CELEBRATE LIFE

What we found .....

Now when the big little brothers of mine go out they always come back with something that is auto related.

When I go out I find all kinds of neat creatures of the wild.

Recently draining the pond we found some of those wild creatures, and I share them with you for your viewing pleasure.

First THE FISH
as previously posted about, here is another view



but before the fish came THE FROG



and shortly after the frog,

the daughter alerted me to something slithering on the other side of the pond, in the general vicinity of where we are standing in this picture



and after popping a couple rounds of 22 short shot into that area, we came up with THE DEAD SNAKE



then yesterday when the dozer was working in that same area, the operator said there were about 50 hundred of them snakes all across the ground, it looked like the ground was covered with them.

fortunately, they are black water snakes and common to this area, similiar to black snakes that eat rodents and other venonmous snakes.

So that is another part of the wonderful sunday at the pond

Celebrate life.

Fishing in the Ozarks

OKAY HERE IS THE CORRECT WAY TO FISH IN THE OZARKS.

A number of different terms could be related to this style of fishing. Several people would call it illegal. A bunch of others saying that the poor fish is treated inhumanly.........

Who gives a rats a_ _ what others say, it is my farm and I'll fish any dang way we want to.

So - how do you get that fish that won't bite a worm, won't bite a lure, well it's easy if you live in southwest MO.

You put a pump in the pond,



start it up and drain the damned pond.

Hence you can see that illusive fish out there in the water....



and then you use the newest redneck fishing equipment to catch him.



And you get a fish that is 24 inches long and has a heck of a lot of fish to eat when you cook it up.




Of course you get a little dirty with this style fishing, who cares, it was fun.



we got the fish, we drained the pond, and when we are done, we'll have a fish fry and go swimming in the new pond.

Just a little more dozer work, fix the dam to make it easier to mow, put the floating dock in the center of the pond (with a walkway of course), and then restock the pond with bass and we'll be ready to go.

And all day today, my wife, my daughter and my grand-daughter and I had a grand ole time playing in the mud and the muck and we dang sure did what we were supposed to do on such a wonderful day.............

CELEBRATE LIFE................

Boys N Toys

I remember as a kid that we used to play with Tonka trucks and bulldozers and lots other toys. Somewhere in the family pictures (I'll probably never see it again) is a picture of me sitting on Edie Pilla's bulldozer (or could be a backhoe) in St Louis area.

So to keep you counters out there wondering what we are doing now-a-days, well I am again using bulldozers to have fun in the sun in the Ozarks.

Here are a few pictures to let you know what kind of fun

watchout Viola, here comes the dozer to do some of this



we're coming to take you away hey-hey

of course this is the final result



Yeah it's a CAT 963 and that bucket is huge...




now that the 1,380 feet of fence row is cleared of heavy overgrowth and trees, the pond work can begin. I am now delegated to supervisory role to watch the dozer start digging topsoil (which is for sale) and make the pond expanding project come to reality. The dozer is that deep and is still removing topsoil......
a join project to use local people who are hurting for work....
hey maybe Billy or Roy can get me some "earmark money" to help with expenses......





Anyway, helping a friend out in his time of need, well that is the real meaning of

CELEBRATE LIFE.

It's Done

Well after slaving away on Saturday, and then a late start today, we finally got almost everything done on the Breezeway addition.

Some pieces of trim around one window, and a Z channel and we'll be done with the outside.

Lots more inside, but that is another adventure.

The view from the south as you come up the drive from the highway:



and as you come around back, the view from the northside:



So that's about all from this neck of the country, cepting J beat me at Golf again, but I trounced her 3 games - nil in tennis.

PSS: someday I'll learn how to set the date on the camera. Pics show date of 7/13/2007 yeah...... what were we doing back then??? was it "The Coop"?


So we settle back to a quiet evening after spending a weekend

CELEBRATING LIFE.

THE BREEZEWAY CONTINUES

So since taking on this massive project

= mind you without the help of the Florida crew, {who helped put The Coop up in record fashion
}

we continue the saga of bulding the breezeway. With the help of the Barngoddess1, Sharks Angel (daughter), Little Princess (granddaughter - aka my noble assistant), and Derek (daughter's friend), we continue to make headway on finishing the breezeway before winter hits.

For John, here is another picture of that scaffolding that isn't OSHA approved, but works great. Notice no safety harness either. Glad Missouri isn't an OSHA state.


and another picture of the opposite side of that wall, with more scaffolding in place over the hot tub so a window can be framed out and installed without moving the hot tub.


A few more shots so you can see the progress. But first another picture of my Noble Assistant holding the scaffolding steady while it was being screwed together.



a picture of Sharks angel and I putting the north wall on:


and a picture of the two of us arguing which LEVEL is indeed LEVEL.


Now if you remember way back in this family's saga, you would recall a project we were doing that involved a LEVEL that my brother (The Old Long Roof) had as a youngster, it was't so level


but no matter how we tried, the two levels we had, never paired up and matched. So OK now what, put the tin up flush with the garage and go on. PS A new level for Christmass would be great!!

But after 7 hours of
1. putting the roof on: yes the roof is finished, even put tar paper down under the tin to deflect any tin sweating down the roof.
2. building our own souffet to include holes for vents
3. painting the soufeet, well primering it
4. getting 3 pieces of siding on



The Little Princess and I decided to call it quits and go play 9 holes of my favorite game = golf. Unfortunately she whipped me: Jay 3 under, Tom 3 over
a picture of us mid game



and that is it for Saturday, July 23, 2010, at the Haven Lee Farm, just outside Marionville MO.
Today, I am so sore it is 9:42 am and I still haven't got up the energy or over the aches and pains to go outside and start anew.

But with all the aches and pains, we still enjoy life and by being able to still do the work we do ----- we

CELELBRATE LIFE to its fullest.

ps. Ed and John, miss you guys, but you are here in spirit.
Ed - left some bent nails for you
John - that level isn't level!

tom