Sunday April 30, 2023 Guerneville CA.
My intentions were to check the old van’s transmission oil and add some if needed. I was pretty sure it needed a little oil as the last time I checked it, it was down just a little.
I got the blanket out and the wrench, but I wasn’t into it yet, so I left it that way until later.
Instead I did some chair hopping around the yard as it was a nice day.
Firewood stacking
While doing that, I noticed I hadn’t moved the firewood to it’s new spot yet and the weeds were growing around it so I better get it done.
The wood that needs moved is under the cherry trees to the left and the spot it needs to go is right there by the new shed.
Black butterflies
While doing that I noticed the big black butterflies have returned. They have something going with the California Dutchman’s Pipe flowers. They lay there eggs on them and the big black caterpillars feed on the leaves and pods of the plant.
A good start
I moved that wood to here in short order.
But I had more to move. It was further away from the stack so I got the wheelbarrow out to move this wood to the shed.
There was quite a bit of this wood, so it took a lot longer to move with all the chair hopping rests involved.
Transmission oil
I got all the wood moved so after some more resting up, I got under the van to check the transmission oil. It was down just a bit so I got the oil out and tried to get it in the hole. I think I spilled more then I put in the transmission. I need to find a better way to add oil to it as the way I was doing it was pretty messy and required some cleanup.
That task should complete all the maintenance I needed to do on the van at this time and now I can start stocking it up for a future trip.
Stickers and berry vines
I’d noticed these big stickers were getting quite large the other day and were about to flower and go to seed. I don’t need any more of them in the yard so I got the shovel and cut them down.
The stickers have a lots of real sharp thorns on them. The chickens don’t like the thorns, nor do I.
Wild blackberry vines
These are coming up and growing fast so I got a start on digging them up too. There’s lots of them and it’s going to take me awhile to do the whole yard. These vines are a constant battle to keep under control.
Dinner
I’d taken a bag of ocean fish that my brother Tom had given me ,out of the freezer for dinner and was napping a bit when Tom came by with some more fresh fish, so I put the freezer stuff back in the freezer. Fresh fish for dinner tonight.
Nice day.