Grandson Arick got his deer yesterday evening. It has a strange set of antlers: three points on one side, five on the other. So it doesn't make a perfect trophy. Since Cliff is an experienced butcher, he went ahead and skinned it for him. The butcher shop closed before they got it done, so they quartered it and put it in trash bags for Arick to put in his freezer overnight. Silly boy left his deer tag at home, so it's a good thing the deer police weren't around, ready to pounce.
That was our evening's excitement. It took Arick and Cliff forever to get the beast back to the house. After being shot, the deer had jumped the fence and run along the railroad track behind our place, putting quite a bit of distance between himself and our property before he died. So he had to be dragged quite a way through weeds and muck. There's no way to get a vehicle into that area. Once they got him on our property, the tractor bore the prize home.
Thursday Cliff's older brother, Phil, came for a work-day. Every once in awhile they get together at our place or Phil's and help one another with whatever needs doing. Cliff had a disk in need of repair, so they fixed that. After I fed them cheeseburgers and snickerdoodles, they went to the back of the place and got some wood up that Cliff will use to heat his shop this winter.
The farmer who found Cliff's ad on Craigslist for the Oliver fenders came to pick them up that day. Iris was curious about the dog in the back of his truck.
Cliff had the fenders painted and secured on a pallet, ready to go. (I'm seeing a smudge on this picture; I just recently replaced a camera that put a smudge on every picture. I certainly hope this one is on the outside and will wipe off!)
The farmer's friend drooled all over Cliff's 1855.
This guy has three tractors for Cliff to paint, if he should ever decide to do that for extra cash. He also has some Steiger tractors: He said he'd be willing to teach Cliff how to operate them and turn him loose in the field. Cliff saw those beasts; they are so big they dwarf the 1855.
It's been an eventful couple of days, and the weekend is just getting started.
Oh, we heard nothing from the man in Iowa, so I still have "my" tractor. Cliff plans to paint it before long, and then the guy will be out of luck if he decides he wants it, unless he wants to pay a much higher price.
