did it!

Good morning.
Well, I got home from work early and tackled putting back together the riding lawnmower.

A picture of the bottom of the deck and the missing spindle.

The top of the deck and the missing pulley.

New spindle installed and new blades put on.

New pulley

And good as new!..........Well, maybe not new, but it works! We lost the 'hood' a number of years ago when the supports rusted away. It doesn't look pretty, but runs just fine. And $65 beats the cost of a new one.
Oh, and if anyone noticed, The pic with the new blades? I put them on upside down. I didn't realize it until Craig got home and asked....."did you put the blades on right?" I thought about it and wasn't sure so I looked at these pics I took, and sure enough, I put them on wrong. Sooo, I had to go back out and reverse them. At least I didn't need to take the deck off. I was able to tip the mower up and get to them with Craig's assistance.
Now it's back to work for my last day this week, and after work, we are going to a celebration of life/memorial service for a good customer of mine.

hoping to get it fixed

Good morning.
It's been a busy week so far in the Salon.
I'm out a little early today, and happily have received the parts I need to fix the riding lawn mower.

The spindle on the left is how it is suppose to look with the bearings sealed inside.
When I get home this afternoon, I will attempt to put the mower deck back together and reattach it to the mower. Wish me luck!

It doesn't look too hard does it?   :-)

another weekend over

Good morning.
Well, it was a rather wet Monday and Tuesday, but the rest of the week should be sunny. Of course, I'm back to work.  :-\
We've had so much rain, I haven't watered the pots in the yard for nearly 3 weeks!
 I did manage to get a little yard work done and I discovered more of the foreign pond plants in the pond. So I dumped the rest of the granules in to see if I can shock it to death. I was careful not to over do it the first time, but now I don't care. What's the worst that can happen? I kill off the frogs?
Anyway, here's a few pics of the yard.......

And here's a pic of the tree in the back yard that was severely damaged by last winter's ice storm....

It's been leafing out furiously! I don't think it actually looks to bad now.   :-)
Now it's back to work.
And still no news on the house in Vegas yet. Day 127. But who's counting.   :-)

another project

Good morning.
While I worked late Saturday, Craig came home to mow.
When I got home, the front yard was done, but not the back. Craig was a sweaty mess. 
Apparently, when he started to mow, a horrible noise came from the deck of the mower, so he shut it off and did the front yard with the push mower. I fixed us drinks and we relaxed on the deck. I mowed part of the back yard with the push mower while he prepped dinner. We made a tasty taco salad.
Sunday, after I cleaned the Salon and we went for our walk, I tackled the riding mower to find what went wrong. I found this.......

A bent pulley and a destroyed spindle.

The spindle connects to the blade and goes through the deck and attaches to the pulley which is spun by the belt attached to the motor turning the blades. Whew! That was a mouth full!
The seals on the spindle for the bearings failed causing the spindle to wobble and the pulley to jam against the pulley shield bending it.
Sooo, I went online to upstate outdoor power equipment. 
They carry parts for just about any mower ever built including my 17 year old MTD mower. I ordered a new pulley and spindle.
So when the parts arrive, I'll try and put it all back together again.   :-)
I then finished mowing the rest of the back yard with the push mower and did some trimming.
I hope the parts come soon. I have a big yard to mow.   :-)

hail in August?

Good morning.
It's been a crazy busy week in the Salon and today is packed also. I'm starting at 7am this morning and going non-stop until about 3pm.
Got home from work yesterday afternoon to experience this.....

That's right, hail. In August. In Michigan. It's been the craziest year for weather. Most of the summer has been cool and wet.
We had a meatless tasty meal for dinner. I wish I would have taken pics. But we had Fajita's. We used Morning Star Farms Grillers and roasted green peppers, red peppers and onions with flour tortillas.
Sliced the peppers and onions, tossed with olive oil and baked at 450 for 20 minutes. Cooked the grillers until the outside was crispy. Sliced them into strips. Added them to a tortilla coated with a light sour cream and mayo coating. Added the veggies. Added some 2% shredded Italian cheese. Folded and micro-ed for a few minuted to melt the cheese and ate. Delicious!
Now off to work!