41°f/5°C, cloudy, then rain in late afternoon. Warmed to 60°!
Today's to-do list:
- Get the tractor started
- Finish Christmas shopping
- Get the van cleaned out and washed
- Get the van's front end aligned and find the source of that bothersome leak that drips in the driveway.
And guess what? It all got done, even though this sleepyhead did not wake up until 10am! Honestly, i never sleep in like that, but that's the second time this month. All I can say is, it was a rough night's sleep until 4am or so, and then I made up for it in spades.
Larry was thrilled to get the tractor dealt with. Being a diesel it is not easy to start in cold weather. I did some research this morning to try to understand why. Did you know diesel fuel has paraffin in it? That's wax! And it will "gel" in temperatures below about 20°f. When it gets it will clog up fuel lines and the fuel filter. There are solutions, because after all, the big trucks run in all weather! I found there is a winter grade fuel, and that there are additives that can be put into the fuel to prevent jelling.
We already knew that heat placed near the tractor would do the job, but I was sure there had to be something else, and the additives are what we need. Some diesel tractors have something called glow-plugs that help them start in cold weather, but ours does not. We hooked up the trickle charger to keep the battery charged up, and added a stop armt a truck stop to our to-do list for the additives we needed. Larry had used diesel tractors at one of his jobs in the past, but those tractors were kept in a heated garage so he never had to deal with the gel problem. I now know more about diesel fuel than I ever thought I would need to know!
Before we left I cleaned out the van. It gets such a mess with totes and such. Then off to town and to the car wash, because I wasn't about to make those guys at the tire shop have to work on it as it was, all covered in dirt and salt. This man who works at the car wash is 82 years old! His wife is from Wales, so he was excited to hear that we found the European license plate on the front of our van in a roadside ditch, in Wales! We had a lovely chat.
Then to the tire shop to get the van aligned and that leak, which turned out to be the oil filter being seated incorrectly. A quick fix, a little oil added, and no charge for that! We will certainly go back to that shop. Great service.
In the tire shop: nothing fancy here, but great people!
We ran into our neighbor Randy again, there at the tire shop. Yesterday we saw him and his wife at the restaurant 30 miles away, so funny to see them two days in a row when we seldom see them here on the ridge! Then we were off to the truck stop to get the diesel additives.
Seen along the way: this fellow on his wee bike, toting a 5-gallon gas can. Struck me as funny! But wearing a helmet, very wise!
Next stop was Walmart. My granddaughter Jordan, who is 36, wants to learn to can, so I picked up some jelly jars, a Ball Blue Book, some pectin, a jelly thermometer, and a canning funnel, so she can get started making some jam, I hope. I think that's the easiest thing to can, next to pickles. That finished up my Christmas shopping. When I was leaving I ran into a ghost from my past: the former human resources manager from the library. I was shocked by how she had aged, but then I am sure she was shocked by my aging too! I barely recognized her, even after she told me who she was. I am afraid she left the library in disgrace for telling tales out of school, so to speak; she wasn't one of my favorite people, I have to admit, but it seems life is not treated her kindly since I last saw her.
We stopped for a light supper at the local Mexican restaurant, and there was our son Derek and his daughter Hannah. So we had a nice visit before finally coming home.
Tomorrow? I think we will be home until evening. Then there's a wine tasting in town, so we will have another evening out. I hope this weekend I will actually get to do some of the baking I planned on! I really doubt I will get through my ambitious list, but that's okay. There will be plenty, I'm sure.
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