May 6 - dave of many trades

... or is just that chores spawn more chores ...

So ... I had thrown the minnow trap into the water in front of the small floating dock and when I checked it this morning I had 18-24 perch minnows inside. I guess that I don't have to look very far ! Wanting to keep them for a while, I went up to the garage to get the big white bucket that came from a Hydro bucket truck, and found that it was cracked, unusable as a minnow keeper.

As luck would have it, a few days ago a large blue barrel came floating down the lake into our cove. It was half-full of water but I was able to remove one of the bungs and drain it. It was bent, dump-fodder but a day later it popped out straight. What a coincidence, just what I needed !

I used the reciprocating saw to cut the top off, set it up by the boat-house, put a drain hole about 8 inches down from the top and filled it with the hose from the lake-water pump, leaving it trickling. I setup my air bubbler so I think that I'm set for long term minnow keeping. The only issue is that the barrel is so dark that I need a flashlight to see the minnows to be able to catch them ! The minnow trap is back down at the bottom by the small dock and I saw a school of minnows around it. No doubt there are now more minnows in the trap. Perhaps I should go fishing tonight.

For my next project on what will probably turn out to be the last dry bug-free day, I pulled the power washer up to the barn, by hand, preparing to wash the Bayliner. Just out of curiosity, I decided to start it up before pulling the boat out -- good thing. No go. Furthermore, after a couple of minutes gas was dripping out of the carburetor -- not like it was flooded, but a steady drip. It continued to drip even when I stopped pulling at the starter. It stopped dripping when I turned the gas off.

So ... I removed the gas tank, removed the carburetor and found that the float was sticking. That was quickly fixed, reassembled, pull, pull, pull -- no go. Ok ... what now. I poured some gas into the carburetor throat and it started up, ran for a couple of seconds, and then stopped. Great. I took the carb off again (actually, I'm abbreviating this, I did this about 5 times) -- found a small wire-sized probe that I could poke into the inlet in the carburetor float tank and hopefully removed some dirt. I started it up ... success ! Except that it would only run with almost-full choke. That's not good, eventually the plug will be fouled plus I'm only getting part throttle so the washer isn't as powerful as usual. I had some carburetor cleaner that I then applied into the throat of the carb and solved that problem.

All of this sounds very quick, but of course it took about 3 hours. I then pulled the boat out and cleaned it ... it's now back in the barn, frontwards, draining, with a small fan sitting on the floor of the boat so that it will eventually dry.

Onward -- next stop is the telephone, talking through the Roads Board budget with Erika Bradley, working on the minimum assessment. We'd pretty well covered all the ground with emails, but needed to talk live. Art is off on a cruise and Susan has not responded to any of the emails so I've explored all the options with Erika. We're set.

Next stop -- well, I'm here typing my blog. I'm also watching TV.

It's sunny and warm. Sandy left around 11:30 for Sudbury, an appointment with that therapist. All I can smell is gasoline, not sure if it's my body or my clothes. I've washed and washed ... probably got some on my clothes so I'll ditch those shortly. I'll put something else on :).

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I puttered around for what was left of the afternoon and then around 5pm grabbed a beer, the dogs (real dogs, not hot dogs) and the box with the little wicker dresser that Sandy had purchased last fall, and headed to the gazebo. For the next 45 minutes or so I was assembling this thing during which time Sandy arrived. Now 6pm, we went back inside. It was time to feed the dogs and have a snack. Without Stargate to watch, we're stuck with looking at each other :).

Later, I turned on the barbie and watched the black flies gather. Ah yes, it's that time of year already. What a difference a day makes. I'd noticed a few around whenever I was in the sun during the day but luckily my work on the power washer was in the shade ... or ... perhaps the black flies are smart enough to know that gasoline is not good for them ?? I guess if you only have a half-dozen brain cells you have to preserve them carefully !

We had pickerel for dinner which was kind of a mixed bag. It was partly fresh and partly just over the edge. Sandy had the over-the-edge piece that tasted fishy. Mine was great ... except for the last couple of mouthfuls at one end which were fishy. Pickerel season isn't open here yet so it's unclear where they got these fish -- the season is open in the great lakes, so perhaps there.

It's glass-calm out now with a dark haze in the sky portending the rain to come. It's supposed to be wet for the next three days.

Oh -- I pulled up the minnow trap a couple more times yesterday and probably have 6 dozen minnows in the blue barrel at this point. It's too bad that we can't eat them like smelts ! They are all perch ... I've probably got more in the trap this morning. I probably need to either start fishing soon or stop catching minnows. It remains to be seen how well they last in the barrel. I'll go out and check them and the trap shortly.

Today ... no big plans ... no bike ride. I called Jim Matthews yesterday to see if he was around because I'd said that I'd help him check out the wiring on his trailer. If the rain holds off, I'll do that this morning. Tomorrow, of course, I head off to Rochester. I might find a Wegmans on the way and see what they have in terms of an olive bar. I'd also like to stop in a Home Depot somewhere and check their prices on ceiling tile and suspended ceiling hardware.

It's time for breakfast. The dogs are ahead of me. When it's just Abby here, I feed her around 6am. With My and Abby, I feed both of them when I get up. Abby waits patiently while Mya eats and then Abby eats -- both out of the same bowl. At night Abby gets fed first. They are both very good. They've both been outside. Abby goes exploring, covering her territory first thing in the morning. I think that she goes over to Jason's to poop :). Mya explores the limits of her tie-out. Then they come in, but it's quiet time. Abby lies by the fire or on her pillow. Mya lies in the kitchen. Once Sandy gets up all hell breaks loose, so to speak, as they get rambunctious in the kitchen rolling around together.

That's it ....