It’s Hurricane Season…………………….again…..(sigh)…

 

 

Yes it is……..

 

There’s no denying it.

 

 

We have a big “yard” to keep up with.

 

 

A couple days ago, I tried to crank up “Ole Sparky” (I do every month)……….

…..and “Ole Sparky” just spluttered and spit…

The usual suspects were ruled out…

The battery was still good/chargeable/and holding a charge…

The starter was okay.

The fuel was just fine and not gooey

 

The chickens do like perching on Ole’ Sparky, but I’ve kept it covered (mostly)…….so poop-seepage & caked-damage wasn’t the issue either…

Come on Sparky…….crank up!

Paolo did his YouTube-thing and we quickly discovered whatever was ailing Ole’ Sparky was beyond my capabilities and his time.

Next came a whiny, pleading call to our friend—–Grease-Monkey Ralph…….(and that was Paolo on the phone this time, not me).

Ralph was able to take a day off from the cattle ranch where he works and come to our aid…

We had a shopping list of things that were over our heads in terms of capabilities.

There were three big, dead trees who were just poised and waiting for the next big rain to come down over a fence line or the barn roof at an inopportune time.

 

I just wanted to plan ahead so I wouldn’t have to deal with goat carnage during a rain storm when stupid goats walked through a downed fence (because of a dead tree) and into the mouths of a pack of Wolfhounds…

…………………that’s never happened here before………..(sigh).

Ralph arrived and quickly fixed the generator……………(I won’t tell you what was wrong…….I’m too embarrassed).

He checked out the tractor’s hydraulics (which were A-OK).

And he started chainsawing.

I helped with the tractor and a ship’s anchor rope         (which was attached to the front bucket of the tractor to keep the tension on the trees)—–to (theoretically) guide the dead trees in the right direction…

 

…….which happened two out of three times…

 

 

BUT, no tree hit my hives, or my barn, and mostly avoided the fencing…

AND the one tree that did come down on the fencing—–hit between posts, and not at the corner, and not on the gate or on my bee hives…….so I count that as a win too.

Ralph’s a really nimble, capable (and trusting) dude…