I had a lot on my after work to-do list.
1. Buy fabric for the borders for The Granddaughter's super-hero quilt. Done.
2. Buy a sparkplug for the little red tiller - had a bit of a problem finding the right one, but got it done.
3. Get new windshield wiper blades. Done.
4. Get seed-starting mix and trays to start some tomato plants. Done.
My top goal was to get the quilt borders on the quilt so that tomorrow I could take it to be quilted. The minute I got home, I tossed the fabric into the washing machine to pre-shrink it, and while the washing machine was running, I went outside to the patio table to plant the tomato seeds. Having room left over in the planting tray (there were only 25 tomato seeds in one packet, and only 10 in the other), I planted larkspur in the empty spots.
There are few places in my yard sunny enough to grow larkspur, and none of those places are existing beds. One of the places is right along the driveway, where the soil is like concrete. There's no way I'd even attempt digging it with a shovel. Last summer, we'd tried unsuccessfully to crank the little red tiller, so I knew it needed work before I could use it. (The big black one would do a better job, but it would be heck getting it up here from the garden shed at Nanny's.) I would've suspected the carburetor was the problem except that I'd replaced it last year. My son showed up over the weekend and tested the spark plug for me, and pronounced it bad. So my next order of business was to go out looking for a spark plug.
As I was backing out of the driveway, I looked across the road and saw Nanny raking pine needles under the pine trees. She had already raked up several monstrous piles of needles, and if I know Nanny, her next move would've been to bag up all that mess, or set fire to it. I wanted them for mulch in the garden. I hurried down her driveway and told her I would move the pine needles, then I went in search of the spark plug. Found it, and a new gas can - hopefully one that won't leak gas down my leg while I'm trying to use it - and filled the can up with non-ethanol gas (which I hid in the garden shed to protect it from lawnmowers, outboard motors, and such).
When I got back from my shopping trip, I put on my gloves, grabbed the yard wagon and the spark plug and took off to Nanny's. We loaded the wagon multiple times, and I dragged it up the hill multiple times and dumped the needles near the garden shed. After that, I installed the new spark plug in the tiller, filled the tank with gas, and put the tiller in the yard wagon to take to my house.
I was completely certain that the tiller would crank.
I was wrong.
It hit off once or twice, but wouldn't stay running. We fiddled with carburetor adjustments, and even tried cranking it with a power drill and a chuck, but IT WOULD NOT CRANK and keep running. There's a small engine repair guy about 5 miles away. I hauled it to him.
It was going on 7 pm when I finally started dinner. The quilt border fabric is in the dryer now, and I'm too tired to fool with cutting and sewing it tonight. And my muscles ache. I think I shall have a Tylenol nightcap and go to bed.
Might do those quilt borders in the morning, before I go to work.
Might not. ;)
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