April 22, 2008

• Never Lay Your Mantis on It’s Side And Other Bits of Trivia

  

  Back in February Doug bought me a Mantis tiller for my garden.  I have always wanted one.  They are small and easy to run.  Now I don’t have to call the guys to get out the big tiller everytime I want to work in the garden. 

  So last week we went out to work in the berry patch to try and get that under control before the weeds really got established.  Of course Doug had to be the first to run it and try it out to see if it was going to be something that I could handle all by my “little ol’ self”.  So we took it up to the berry patch and he ran it for about and hour.  Then it got late and he brought it back to the shop and put it away, on it’s side.  Not a good thing for a Mantis.  I could have told you that.  But I had gone in the house to get warm and go to bed long before he had gotten done.   Last night I went out to run it in the berry patch and finish up before I went to planting the beans and peas.  It wouldn’t start and there was engine oil coming out of the carburator.  I had smoke coming out of my ears.  My oldest son, Ian, took one look at it and at me and just said “Time, mommy, time.” and walked away.  He knew what I was in for.  An hour and a half later I had that engine purring like it did the first time it was started but not before it had smoked and struggled.  It took a lot of patience and beer before I could get it right.  The moral of this story is: don’t lay your Mantis on it’s side.

  I have a book in the house that I use whenever I have to work on one of my sewing machines entitled, strangely enough, Don’t Spit Into Your Sewing Machine and Other Helpful Hints. I am thinking that I should write a book of that type.

  When The Cat’s Away The Rats Will Play

   

  Last week Ian rented a bulldozer to do some cleaning up where the fire had been.  The day that he ran it he had Matthew on the dozer showing him how to operate it.  Ian is good that way.  He has always recognized the desire in younger kids to do what the older kids are doing and to let them join in.  So the next day when Ian was gone to work and I was in the house doing laundry I heard the dozer start up. 

  

  I looked out and saw Matthew starting it up all by himself.  Now Matthew is one who will run if he thinks that I am there with the camera pointed at him.  But he was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t see me sneak out of the house to take his picture while he was running the dozer all by himself.  I knew that Ian wouldn’t mind and that he was relatively safe so I would be the last one to say anthing to him. 

  

  Of course the jig was up when he turned around and saw me out there with the camera in hand.  Oh, well, so much for that Kodack moment!!!!

   

  • 5:38 pm
  • 1 Comment