From the back porch - July 1, 2020

I swear to you that in the few minutes I've been out here on the back porch this evening, the temperature has dropped 10 degrees.

First, the sky clouded over, then the wind started blowing - hard!  Hickory nuts started falling onto the shed roof and the metal roof of the porch.  It sounds like I'm in a popcorn popper! 

This cooling is a welcome relief, for I have been sweating like a pig since 11 a.m., when I went to the garden.  I hadn't intended to do any gardening, I just needed a walk.  But I ended up pulling weeds for about an hour, and as I worked around the green beans, I noticed they need to be picked again.  The picking would have to wait until later in the day. 

I may have already told you this, but I took my mini-tiller to a repair shop, and after about 3 weeks they called me and said they couldn't fix it.  It needs a new carburetor, they said, and they couldn't find one.  So I picked up the tiller, came home, and found the part online in about 2 minutes.  It came in the mail today.  Since then, I've watched a couple of videos on how to repair carburetors.  It seemed simple enough, so when I found the new one in the mailbox, I dragged the tiller onto the porch, took the old carburetor off, and installed the new one.  Piece of cake (kinda).  I took it outside, put some gas in it, and yanked the cord (which was hanging about halfway out of the cord hole), and IT CRANKED RIGHT UP!  It even sucked the pull cord back where it belonged.  I hurried to get my phone so I could send The Husband a "look what I did" video, but the tiller quit before I could film it.  And it would not start again.

I left it alone for a little while, and tried again.  It cranked again, but when I pulled the lever that engages the tines, nothing happened.  The lever wouldn't even move.  And the tiller quit again. 

I lugged the tiller back to the porch and watched more videos.  It's hard to find the right video when you don't know the real names for stuff.  Finally figured out it's a "throttle cable."  It goes BEHIND the carburetor, so I had to dump out the gas and remove the new carburetor.  The business end of my throttle cable wasn't connected to anything, and I had to watch another video to figure out where to hook it. 

Knock on wood, I believe it's fixed.  It cranked again, and the tines will turn when the lever is pulled.  I was going to try it out in the garden this evening, but now it's raining hard. 

At least I won't have to water the garden this week.  But I might have to pick beans in the mud.