Pictures of our Autumn Trees

It was a nice sunny afternoon, so I had to take some pictures around the house of our colorful trees. I'm sure I'll look back at these pictures in the middle of winter.

Here is the view from our front window looking east:

And our big oak tree in the center of the driveway:

The big oak at the entrance of the driveway:

The leaves are falling fast, and I'm sure 5 months of the leafless tree season is closing in. Enjoy the trees while you can!

Archived Hodgepodge

Old favorite pictures from 2005 and 2006:

Saturday Work Outside

We spent the morning this Saturday outside - picking up sticks, putting away outside toys, and cleaning up the garden. The kids took a wagon ride in the wagon full of sticks. The Boy sure looks sad here:

But the Girl can perk him up quickly.

We also made a round wooden cover for the sandbox.
Here they are showing it off along with the Boy's rock.

It was a nice day of getting things done.

Flufff Party

After church today, the kids and I pulled off all the couch cushions along with all our blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, slippers, and toys, and piled it all up into the hallway. It was our Fluff Party.

Yet Another Lawnmower

I always scan through Craigslist probably once a day looking for a great deal. Yesterday, I found an old lawnmower, and was fortunate enough to call early enough and buy it. I travelled to Greentown (10 minutes east of Kokomo) and picked up this old lawnmower today. It is a John Deere model 300. It is a 1975 vintage, and came with a bigger (and complete) snowplow, a 48" mower deck, tire chains, and rear wheel weights. It's powered by a single cylinder Kohler engine. The seller told me it was 14HP, but all the information coming from the web is telling me it is a 16hp engine.

I was in the market for tire chains and wheel weights for the little snowplow I already own, so I hope to pretty up this new lawnmower with some fresh paint and sell it (while keeping the snowplow and weights for myself). I think I can come out a little on the positive side.

Recycle Day

Today we broke down all the empty cereal boxes to prepare for our quarterly recycling run. The Boy and the Girl liked playing in the boxes.

The Boy's Newest Injury

The Boy scuffed up his head again yesterday. As I understand it, he was near the breezeway door (on the back of the house) when he tripped and slid his face across the concrete step. I think it looks like a good Halloween mask! He doesn't seem to care too much about it, and was fine in the evening. He really enjoyed sliding down his "cushion slide". I think he'll be OK.

The Lawnmower Ignition Upgrade

A week or 2 ago, I mail-ordered an upgrade to the John Deere 316 lawnmower. The upgrade is intended to make a hotter and more consistent spark to the spark plugs. I have had some trouble starting the machine if it sat for a few days. With some research on the internet, I found this fix:



The upgrade is a small box filled with electronic gizmos that connect to the coil and to the points. This box takes all the current from flowing through the points. By not flowing such a high current through the points, they should (theoretically) last forever, and engine performance won't decrease. There is also a small red LED light on top of the module to assist in timing. Everytime the LED blinks, a pulse is sent to the spark plugs. In the case of this engine (180 degrees opposed), the spark plugs fire on both the compression and the exhaust stroke.



First, I had to find a place to mount the new box. I chose a place under the instrument panel - far away from the heat of the engine.





I also bought a new "hot" coil in addition to the module above. I had a hard time finding a location to mount the new coil, for it is a different shape than the old coil. I chose to mount it on the firewall above the air cleaner. Here is a picture of a little mount a machined out of aluminum to hold the new coil.




And finally, the coil is attached to the new bracket.


I made up some new spark plug wires with copper cored wire. The old wires were too short, and they were the carbon fiber wires good for noise suppression which is not needed in this case. Here you can see the new coil and wires fit nicely right over the air cleaner cover.

With the upgrade, I have noticed the engine starts up easier. It used to take quite a few seconds of cranking over the engine if it had sat for a few days. Now, it just starts right up at the first touch of the key. I'm happy with it so far, and the Boy is happy to get his lawnmower back for wagon rides.