It's Always Something!

The gas tank in my truck started leaking last fall. Since I wasn't working, I didn't really need to drive it, so I just parked it for the winter. I knew that we would need the truck over the summer (trips to Lowe's, the dump, yard waste, getting mulch etc...), so I decided I had better fix it. After spending 5 hours to remove 8 rusted (14 year old) bolts, the bed was ready to come off. I was told that taking the bed off would be the easiest way to do the work. I think it was.

My dad and a friend from school came over to help lift the bed off.

It was a little heavy, but not too bad.

I knew I had to hurry to get the new tank put in or this might have turned into a flower "bed".

I cut the bolts that were holding the old tank straps, and the tank came right out.

I installed all new fuel lines and bolted the new tank in place.

I got the new sending unit set up and put the fuel pump on it.

After installing the sending unit and connecting the fuel lines, wiring harness and ground wire, I put 5 gallons of gas in it, and it started right up.

My brother-in-law and the same friend from school came over to put the bed back on. It sure was easier to put the 8 new bolts back in than it was to take the old ones out. I hooked the filler neck hose and vent hose back up and thought I was done.

When I plugged the wires back in for the tail lights, one side wasn't working right. The reverse light would come on when I stepped on the brake and the turn signal was really dim. After messing around with it for a while, I found a broken ground wire. I spliced and soldered it, and all is good now.

I am glad I decided to take the bed off for this project. I don't think I would have wanted to do the whole thing from under the truck.

Bloomin' Tuesday!

Happy Bloomin' Tuesday

Click on any of the pictures for larger views

Rhododendron

We took pictures of the Apple Blossoms up where Chris hunts. There are apple trees everywhere.

Bachelor's Button from two different angles.



A picture of a Dogwood blossom taken a couple weeks ago.

We took this Iris picture while we were on a walk in our neighborhood last week.

These Daffodils are growing at the house next door to Moms. They are very interesting plants.

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Happy Memorial Day!

Always Remember!

A Trip To The Zoo!

Yesterday was our 15th wedding anniversary, so we decided to do something that we hadn't done in a long time. We went to the Erie Zoo. Here are just a few of the animals that we took pictures of.

Meerkat

Orangutan

Tortoise

Barn Owls

Polar Bear

African Lion

Bengal Tiger

White Rhino

Reticulated Giraffe

Australian Black Swan

Kangaroo

Red Ruffed Lemur

The weather was perfect for walking around the zoo. We stopped for a late lunch at the Olive garden and then headed home. When we got back to town we stopped for dessert at the ice cream shack.

We really enjoyed the day.

Bloomin' Tuesday!

Chris was telling me about all of the Cherry Trees in bloom at the college, so we took a trip down there for some pictures.

There were 20 - 25 trees all in full bloom.

We thought it was pretty cool the way this tree was growing straight out on one side.

The bees were going crazy and were so loud when we got close to the trees.....

.....but the smell of the cherry blossoms was wonderful.

Check out more of Bloomin' Tuesday by clicking HERE.

Osprey!

When we posted on April 25th, we thought that the bird we took pictures of was an Eagle. Come to find out, it is an Osprey.

The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching 24 inches in length with a 6 foot wingspan. It is brown on the upper parts and predominantly greyish on the head and underparts, with a black eye patch and wings.

The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

As its other common name suggests, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It has evolved specialised physical characteristics and exhibits unique behaviour to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognised. Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not a sea-eagle.

The sexes appear fairly similar, but the adult male can be distinguished from the female by its slimmer body and narrower wings. The breast band of the male is also weaker than that of the female, or is non-existent, and the under wing coverts of the male are more uniformly pale. It is easy to determine the sex in a breeding pair, but harder with individual birds

These birds are amazing to watch. They kept flying in circles around the nest, keeping an eye on us as we took pictures.

We tried to take video of them, but the camera has a hard time keeping up with them and it doesn't stay focused on them very well.

Bloomin' Tuesday!

We went on a Spring photo shoot to find some blooms.

We found this beautiful multi-colored Tulip....

and this flaming hot red Tulip.

We took pictures of this pinkish-purple Rhododendron.

We love these sunshiny Tulips.

We even got a picture of this bee in flight.

We had to take some pictures of these white Daffodils.

We hope you enjoyed our Spring photo shoot.

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A Day To Remember!

Today was a day to remember. There is a group of motorcyclists that get together and visit the grave sites of fallen 'brothers' and 'sisters'. We were lucky enough to have an Uncle that is involved with this. He gave Kim a call and told him when they were going to be at our Dad's grave site today.

This looks like a scary picture with all the men and women dressed in black. These men and women have the biggest hearts. They are a family and would do anything for anyone. They have been there for our family more than once, and if we ever need anything, we know who to call.

There were 25 bikes, and most bikes had two people on them. We posted a video on Dad's blog and we will be posting pictures soon. Just click on Butch's Battle on the side bar.



We would like to thank all of the motorcyclists for making today a day to remember.