Mechanics BeWARE!

Well, we were on our way to my buddy Seth's house for a sweet, sweet barbecue, when the car felt real funny! We turned around, decided to go to Seth's anyway, then turned around again, as the problem was getting worse.
We stopped at a Jiffy Lube, the only place open still, and the guy checked it out, but said it was a dealership problem, maybe four to five hundred bucks! Jiffy Lube is about two miles from my house and traveling that far almost overheated the engine. We decided we were stuck until we could find out what to do next.
The next day, I called a the closest dealership, and it was indeed going to cost a lot of money to tow and repair the vehicle.
We had an idea of what the problem was, so I called my old boss, Dave, to see if we could use his tools for the job. He did us one better, and let us borrow his truck for the night to go get the new parts and all the tools we needed for the job.
We started by taking the wheel and splash guard off, which gave us access to the bottom motor mount to the tensioner, which was the issue.


After getting the S-Belt off, we took the upper mount off, and replaced that bad boy. Trox did a lot of the work and it was great to see her get in there and kick ass.


We took it for a test drive, and it ran like new! We felt so satisfied and accomplished getting it done ourselves. Maybe we won't even get our oil changed at the businesses.

Same Deer, Different Day.

I think our house is a routine stop for this lady. It's cool, she is helping keep morning glory and blackberry bushes at bay.

Deer!

I was browsing the interwebs this morning when I heard a sound out my window. I looked out and saw a sweet little deer...

The Fireworks Show 2010.

I took the ladder to the side of the house and went to the roof for an almost clear view of the fireworks show for the festival. The finale ruled!

Old Fashioned Festival 2010, and Kick Ass Dragonfly!

Well, since the festival is held less than a mile from our house, we thought we should see what it was really all about. It had a handful of cool shops, it was really neat to see the local park filled with vendors and knick knacks. There was some band playing rock countryish music, and the food area was packed with tasty treats!
Later that day, as I was watering the garden, I came across this beautiful dragonfly! I told Trox to go get the camera, and she got some amazing photos of this guy before he flew away. Nature is awesome!

Official Naming...

We have debated on what to call the silkie chickens since we got them over a month and a half ago. I think we have figured it all out. The white banded one is called Petunia, the non banded white is called Esmerelda. The black banded one is called Rose, while the other is called Myrtle.
We don't know the sex of any of these chicks, so the names could be changed to older gentleman names before long. It has been written.

HOT HOT HOT!

It is a little after midnight, Saturday, July 10th, 2010. It is hot in my house. My forehead is sweaty and I am sleepy from all the work we did.
The chicken coop is almost done. We need to paint the door, and chicken ramp. Then we need to set the last section with chicken wire. So close and the chickens already love the upgrades! When we finish, a full posting will follow. I am tired, good night, Nurse!

A Lot of Time Has Gone By...

Wow, we have been so busy! The last week my parents have been visiting from Alaska. It's been a lot of fun having them here with us. They came right when the weather started to really feel like summer!

The first few days they were here, I had to work. We still found time to go pick strawberries and make tasty jam!


I took some time off so that I would have time to hang out and get a lot of yard work done with my dad being here. He loves doing big chores with me around the house!
The first day of my vacation, on Tuesday, we got to tree falling! We went around Newberg looking for a come along winch, and got some supplies to finish up the chicken coop in Sherwood. We got everything we needed to get to work. We started by me gearing up with the tree climbing gear, getting the chainsaw ready, then I climbed the pine tree that had been on our list to take down for some time. The wind was really strong and getting further up, the tree swayed too much for my liking and I came down. We decided to finish it on Friday.


We moved on by taking down two real big cherry trees. One was in my yard, inside the fence, blocking too much sun for our garden. My dad did the cuts and they were taken down right were we wanted them with the help and use of the come along winch.

It was a long, hot day of clearing brush and kicking ass!
On Wednesday, we went up to Kent, Washington to visit my brother, Nathan, and his wife, Allison. We checked out their animals, and stuff, then decided to head up to Seattle for the day to check out the Pike Place Market area. It was really awesome to go an take our time and browse some cool shops and check out some unique things. We headed home and went to bed, the weather was so hot when we got back to Newberg, everyone was zapped of energy.
Thursday, we went to the coast to have some fun at the beach. We heard it was suppose to get to 96 or even up to 100 degrees in Newberg that afternoon, but looking at the coast weather, it was a cool 65 or lower. Getting to the coast we saw that the forecast was fairly accurate. The coastline was foggy from the cool Pacific. It was almost too cool for shorts! We made lunch and walked the beach, checking out things!




I posted some great soothing wave videos, go trance out... When we got back, we started a campfire, and Trox, Dad, and I listened to music all night by the fire.

Friday was time to take down the pine. I got up early and geared up, climbed the tree and took it down. Again, the video speaks for itself. It was scary and fun as always.



We cleared some brush and even started a burn pile that got the fire department called on us! So far its been an awesome vacation!