Geeeeeeze Louise!!! BEES!!!
Well, today was a day that didn't accomplish much of anything...
I had to wait for the stores to open so I could buy some cat food, RAID, and fly-strips. Once I had all that stuff, I headed out to the farm to try to get some work done. First thing I had to do was to plant the plants my mom sent along before they died. Some of them are gonna die, period. Sorry Mom... I did the best I could with what I had, and that will have to do.
Then I started on the daunting task of trying to clear the overgrown grass from around the grainery and what will (may?) be the future barn for the minis. From what I can tell, I think the building actually used to be a chicken coop. In any case, it's got a good concrete floor, two "stalls" and electric wiring (that will need to be reconnected to a power source.) All kinds of junk buried in the tall grass around it, and I've got some pictures that I'll have to post eventually. Old tires, a chair, machine parts, even a burned-out, rusted-out safe! Worst of all though, was barbed-wire! I hate that stuff, particularly when it's old and rusty. I got a Tetanus shot before I came out here, because I knew it was only a matter of time before I stepped on something, or got snagged by something. Sure enough, one of those damnnable peices of barbed-wire snagged my upper left arm. Not a deep cut, more of a scratch, but enough to make me notice it. Definitely enough to be a problem if I hadn't already had a Tetanus shot.
The thatch around the "barn" is so thick that the task is becoming overbearing. It's obvious now that there is no way I'm going to be able to accomplish this by myself with the tools I have right now. Again, all I've got to work with is a 17" hand-held weed-whacker, a rake, and a pitch-fork. My father-in-Law gave me his old JD-214 riding mower, but the mower deck is jammed (blades won't turn) and even if it wasn't, I don't think it would be up to this task. I NEED a small tractor, with the appropriate attachments, period. My host keeps telling me that there's a crew of Newfies (Newfoundlanders) here that specialize in that sort of work, and I really ought to call them. I think I'm going to. Once the initial clean-up is done, I can keep in maintained, but the clean-up is just more than I can handle.
I also found out that there's a BEE HIVE in the roof of the barn. Dammit... Fortunately, my host knows a fellow who raises bees, and he may be interested in coming to get them out of there. I'd MUCH prefer that to killing them.
To top off a bad day, my truck started stalling again on the way back to town. It's done this in the past, but I thought I had the problem fixed. The truck is a 1998 Chevy 2500 4x4 with a 6.5L Turbo Diesel engine. Apparently, this stalling problem is common with these engines. I've already replaced the lift-pump, and the PMD is already on a cooler. Not sure why it's doing this - it acts like it's running out of fuel. If you leave it sit for a while, it WILL start up again. I've been told that one tank of bad fuel can gum up a filter really fast, so I wonder if my new fuel-filter is already buggered? Might have to change that in the morning before heading back to Calgary.