So I was having trouble finding a reason to write a blog post this April. Just kinda chugging along, and I'm sure I'll get around to telling you all about it... But for now I'm gonna start with this past weekend.
Saturday we recognized some nice weather and we were both awake and ready to get stuff done so we decided to head to Yarmouth for a shopping day we've been putting off for a while.
We went to the feed store near there first to get some alfalfa pellets that aren't available at home, and when we went to put them in the back of the truck, the handle of the tailgate broke!
With the cover on, this meant that the bags of pellets had to go in the "backseat" area of the truck and we had to figure out how to fix the tailgate.
Well, with some web-searching and a trip to Canadian Tire we got some little hook picks and managed to pull the plastic enough to unlatch the gate. We opened the cover, and now knowing how to open it again, closed the gate for the rest of the day. I also got some strawberry and rhubarb crowns at Canadian Tire as well as getting a few other things around town. We stopped at Mary Brown's Chicken for dinner and then started heading home.
About half way home we hit a pothole, and then a few minutes later, still on the highway, our back tire exploded!
OF COURSE as soon as we went to call for a tow we realized that we only had one cellphone between us and it's battery was dangerously low. After a few calls we had someone on the way but, given that we were in the middle of nowhere, it would take 30+ min to just get to us. We got the truck towed to the mechanic in town, and walked from there the 30+ min home with our purchases (not including the 50kg of pellets of course).
After this VERY long day, I fed the goats their supper (2 hours later than usual), and we both collapsed for the night.
Sunday morning we tried to go get the pellets in the sports car, but it wouldn't start! :-( We tried to use the battery charger but it seems the battery is far too dead or broken and cannot be charged. This means we couldn't go grocery shopping, or pick up the pellets, and since the mechanic's wouldn't be open to fix the wheel until Monday anyway, we just kinda... crashed and napped the day away. I did get up and do some gardening in the late afternoon so I got the rhubarb planted and I got started on digging a row for the strawberries before resting for the evening.
This morning we called the mechanic and by lunch we found out that thankfully we DON'T need a rim on it thanks to quick and careful pulling over when the tire blew....... but not only did we need new tires, and to change the fluids and get a new oil filter (been meaning to get the truck in for an oil change for a while now) it turns out that the shocks and frame are starting to rust away, AND the reason the steering fluid needed topping up was because the steering box had rusted enough to start leaking, so fixing the truck enough to pass a safety wouldn't be worth it. :-(
So all this means that we've had to ask someone to drive us down to the mechanic's place tonight to get our stuff out of the truck so it can go to the scrappers. The mechanic is gonna order us a new battery for the sports car so I'll probably walk down to get that tomorrow.
It's our wedding anniversary this week. We're both kinda blarg about this whole vehicle thing and without a car it's not like we're going out anywhere. We will just have to have a romantic night in.
Honey's baby is still on the way. I'll say more on the next post (soon).
