I was sitting here at my little table at the Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse and planning to post . . . and then I thought, “I’m mundane.”  So I closed my laptop, said “So long, Oolong” to the others, and headed up to Mother’s for a little mousetrap checking and potential mowing.

There were two mice caught in traps; all the other traps had sprung prematurely or had not sprung at all because they are the new Victor mousetrap made with plastic. They are not a better mousetrap. I did my best to set them again, but I am not confident. Aha, I was going to show you a picture and went to the Victor site and found out I have not been using the traps correctly – they are pre-baited and disposable. Okay, made a little mistakie. Nevermind.

On to the mower. I backed it out, gassed it up, did the oil thing and started it and flicked the mower switch. Such a CLANGING. It was not a good sign and so I went into the okay, let’s get this figured out mode and lay down beside the Wheel Horse. I had found a wee old pen knife in the shed – about two inches long – and was using it to cut away stuff from the shafts. Then I put it down beside me and when I went to get it again, I couldn’t find it. I looked for several minutes – I mean, where could it be? But I gave up and got something else. Still it clanged and I realized that the motor itself was not revving to well.  I dug into the air filter and engine and poked debris out and, yes, we had power and the blade went fast enough it did not wobble.

I was good to go. And I did. For about four hours, or maybe five. Then I had no more gas and, gosh darn it, I had to stop. So I decided to look for the knife again . . .  I used a metal rake and I used a plastic rake and I watched for the sun to reflect on a blade and nothing worked. I am going back with a big magnet.

So, this is to be continued.