And the meadow grows

I've been having problems with my riding mower.

The last time I used it last year, the belt that drives the blades broke. I bought a new belt, but I had to wait until it warmed up and the ground was dry to install it. A few weeks ago, I went to install it, and I had to detach the deck. When I pulled it out from under the mower, I found a bunch of broken brackets, so I had to load it in the Jeep and have my father-in-law weld them back on. When I got back, I had tons of trouble trying to get all of the pins and linkages to line up again. Eventually I got it back on, but then it wouldn't start. Turns out, by welding some parts back on, the rest of the thing was out of alignment, and the blade belt was constantly engaged, which prevented it from starting. And then the welds broke and I found more breaks.

I then decided to take it to a professional mower repair place up the road. It was a rainy day, and I drove the Jeep around back as I always do to pick up the deck. I underestimated how wet it was and got stuck, and my mechanic STILL hasn't found the part to fix my 4WD. I got out, but I dug some trenches on the way out.

So, now the deck is hopefully being totally fixed. Meanwhile, my backyard is getting deeper. Fortunately, my neighbor has offered to let me use his mower, but now I have to wait for the weather to clear up, hopefully on Friday.

I hope the old Craftsman will make it through one more season, and then next year I may shop around for something new. Our stimulus check is destined to repair our back patio roof.