[RHClarke]

You can't win with the weather around here. In late fall and throughout the long winter you are impacted by the cold and short days. In early spring, you start to grow fungus from all of the rain, and trench foot from all of the muck and mire. In late spring and all summer long, it is either too hot, or too wet. Spring, summer and fall are all blessed with the mosquito, black fly, horse fly, deer fly, midges and gnats. Who in their right mind would want to live here?? OK, it is a rhetorical question. It takes an element of insanity to put up with the vagaries of Ottawa area weather. On the positive side, it can be said that our weather is not as extreme as we have seen it in other places worldwide.

Now that mosquito season is upon us here at the barn, the grounds are drying up making Saturday the perfect day to do some work on the barn access road. First priority was getting the tractor sorted out. Grant was called into work this day, so it was up to Bob and I to keep Guy Vapeur entertained on his visit to the barn. Once the routine maintenance was completed, Bob ran the rotor tiller over the road and used the blade on the front of the bucket to flatten out the various dips, puddles and deep ruts that were the result of a very wet spring. Following that job, Bob pulled the hydraulic pump from his tractor to as it had developed a healthy leak. Off to the tractor store we did go – for more flimsy gaskets. While there, we stopped in at a local chip stand for some lunch.

Later that afternoon, I worked on my round hatch. Not much to report as the wooden spacer I built out of OSB pieces broke. As soon as I get the spacer dimensions sorted out, I intend to cover the wooden spacer with fiberglass. This should give it the necessary strength and will ensure a good long life. I am open to other ideas, and if someone out there has come up with a better idea on how to build the wooden spacer, I would be pleased to read about it. Keep in mind that the solution should be “cheap” but effective.

I finished my day with a little fun project – I roughed out a HUP key fob. The fob is a little bigger than usual so that I won’t forget where I put the key. I am finding that working with metal is enjoyable. Who knows, this may be the beginning of a new hobby for me. All too soon it was time to pack it in and head back to Ottawa. It was a nice low key day at the barn, but I was looking forward to a nice long shower to wash off the bug juice that one must smear on oneself unless one likes anemia…

Photos:

1- Bob fixing the road to the barn
2- HUP key fob