April 6 - 13, 2025 - Church Service - Limb Cleanup - Lake Lot Cleanup - Work on Battery Box - Taillight Bulb Replacement - De-Winterizing

My Blog Reflection

There really is a kind of insane beauty around us all the time. It’s just a question of learning to slow down, take a deep breath and meet the moment.

Graham Nash

Sunday April 6, 2025

The Easter service at Hill of Peace Church was well-attended and the re-furbished chandelier was quite a hit. The only prior picture of it hanging was in 1919 - over a hundred years ago when it was lit with kerosene.

Monday April 7, 2025

In January, while in Florida, we hired a company to cut down the ice-damaged trees at the house and clean up the branches. It was not part of the deal to cut and remove the branches that fell over the fence that separates us from the Conservation property. The Conservation Department is not going to do anything about these branches so I will. Here is what one section looked like on one side of our lot.

 

This morning, after cutting the grass, I used the chain saw to cut the branches so I could drag them away. 

Tuesday April 8, 2025

This morning I got back on the tree branch clearing project. I finished cutting up the branches and piled them on the Conservation property, where they will make great cover for the wildlife. Here is a picture of the cleaned up area. The Conservation property sign was knocked down on the fence post. I will leave it there for them to fix if they want. After the branches were all removed I cut the grass growing under them.    

This was enough for today. Time to take a shower.

Wednesday April 9, 2025

We've been home for a week and it was time for a Costco run to replenish our supplies. We spent more than the usual $200.00. LOL

After getting back home we decided to drive out to the lake lot to see the damage out there from the ice storm in January. We knew there would be some damage but were shocked by the amount. Here are some pictures. We couldn't even get in the driveway.

This tree is on the property line and a chunk fell on the neighbor's property and they cleaned it up. 

The ice splintered the two Elm trees badly.

Falling branches knocked the electric meter box loose. I'm hoping Citizens Electric will repair that once the branches are removed.

One branch fell on the steps handrail and busted it up. 

Luckily no branches fell on the shed but several fell into the creek nearby. 

While I was there I tried to start the golf cart. It turned over but wouldn't start. The battery is too low. After everything is cleaned up I'll bring out a charger and hope the electric is still working. I'm paying a bill every month.

Thursday April 10, 2025

My plan for the day was to clear out the branches on the other side of the lot from the ice storm. A rain storm came through and delayed the job until around 3:00 p.m. In a little over an hour I had that side of the yard cleaned up as well. It wasn't nearly as bad as the other side.

Friday April 11, 2025

We waited for the Terminex guy to arrive to see about getting the squirrel out of the attic. He didn't arrive. I called the company and the lady on the phone had no idea why he didn't show. She said her phone call went to his voice mail. She said someone would call me in a half hour. No one did so I called back later in the day. The lady sent a message to another guy and said she would also contact the District Manager. I should hear from him soon. I heard nothing.

Kelly told me the company that sprays our house for bugs also exterminates wildlife pests. I called and the lady advised that the guy who does the inspections is off next week. She said she would contact the supervisor and have him call me. He didn't call back either. This is the way businesses operate these days. I will call both places back on Monday.

Earlier in the day I called the tree trimmer about getting an estimate to clean up the lake lot. He said he would call me back in the evening. He didn't call back either.

Saturday April 12, 2025

In the morning we got Homer out of storage. Once I had him home I started to work on the battery box problem that I discovered when taking the house batteries out last fall. 

You will recall that I found that the metal battery box for the house batteries had pulled away about and inch from its mounting bolts through the floor above. The weight of the two house batteries had actually fractured the metal on the flange and on the battery box itself in one corner. The entire box was down an inch on the other corner. If this metal box had fallen out with the batteries in it going down the road it would have been a catastrophe. It was good luck finding it when I did.

While I was working on the battery box the tree trimmer called. I drove out to the lake to meet him for an estimate. He suggested that the two Elm trees be taken totally down due their age and poor condition. If not we would be dealing with them again later. After looking it all over he gave me a price of $3,300.00 to cut everything down and clean up the lot. I agreed and he will start on it when he gets a chance. No big hurry. Owning this lot has been expensive this year for trees. In the fall we had spent $800.00 to have several smaller dead trees cut down.

Once back home I went back to working on the battery box. The metal box has a flange on each side. Two 3/8 inch bolts were installed on each side of the box through the flange and through the floor above to secure it. Apparently over the years it had been slowly pulling loose from the floor above. On one side of the box the back corner bolt was firmly in place but the metal tore away from the box on the flange and on the side of the box. Here is a picture. The green arrows point to the area where it tore away from the mounting flange and from the box itself.

It is fascinating to me that while one bolt stayed tight but ripped the metal on the box, the bolt at the other end of that flange pulled down over an inch but didn't tear up the flange. The red arrow points to it in the following picture. My guess is that this bolt pulled through the wood above. These bolts are under the furnace so I can't see what exactly happened.

My goal today was to jack the box back into position and screw it to the floor above so I can measure accurately for the new support brackets I am going to make out of angle iron. 

The other side of the metal battery box had pulled away from the floor as well. I put two screws in it also.

I will fabricate two angle iron support brackets to go under the metal battery box over to the truck frame. Monday I will go to Perryville Steel and purchase eight feet of 1 1/4 inch angle iron for this project. Making these brackets will require lots of measuring, cutting, drilling, and welding. 

Laying under Homer doing this type of work is no fun. For whatever reason, as I have gotten older, when laying flat on my back working like this I get nauseated. A pillow under my head helps but makes for a tighter working space. I will be up and down from under there a dozen or more times measuring and fitting the new brackets.

Another Homer issue discovered:

Homer has two taillight and brake lights on each side. In following me home from the storage shed Kelly noticed that one of the taillights on the driver's side was out. I took the lens off to check the bulb. It was out but would not turn to come out. I had to break it off and use a pliers to get the base out of the socket. I went to O'Reilly's and bought a replacement and installed it. LED bulbs are not cheap. They come two in a package so now I have an extra.

Sunday April 13, 2025

The project for today was to de-winterize Homer. For me this process is always a little stressful not knowing if I did a good enough job winterizing. Broken water pipes in an RV are usually a major problem to fix. The pink antifreeze was drained and the water tank and lines were flushed several times with fresh water. There were no plumbing leaks but two water issues.

Apparently the kitchen sink sprayer retained some water in it because it cracked and spued water upon being turned on. A quick trip to Buchheit's and I had an exact model to change it out. 

The other water issue was the drain plug for the water heater. I had been using a metal plug with no problems but learned that I should be using a plastic plug so there is no galvanic corrosion between the tank metal and the metal plug. I purchased a plastic plug. It is a bear to get it to not leak. Ultimately, I was successful.

The fridge, furnace, and water heater all came on and functioned properly. I once again drained the fresh water system and sanitized it with a cup of bleach.

The fridge was filthy because when we got home from Indiana last fall we immediately winterized Homer and put him in storage so we could head to Florida. 

Kelly and I scrubbed every inch of the fridge. I removed every piece that would come out and cleaned each one thoroughly. Kelly cleaned the bathroom and I put all the medicine and cleaning supplies back in place for the season. We always take this stuff out so nothing freezes. The bottle of Peppermint Oil I keep to ward off mice broke and leaked all over the tub I store all this stuff in. While it was a bother to wipe everything down, it did make Homer smell nice. 

Now I just need to get the battery box brackets made and installed so I can install the batteries. That project starts tomorrow.