A couple of pieces of good news...

Weekend before last, Landlady moved a full-size refrigerator into The Meadow House. I promised to take the little fridge she'd been using out to the barn, but asked if she'd mind if I tried something at the Lair first.

The Lair's solar panels and batteries are all scrounged, and I have no faith in them. The Lair also has half a dozen kerosene lamps, though the few times it's been tried the electric lights have gotten through an evening/morning just fine. I wanted to torture-test the system with a load that would go through the night, so I dragged her little fridge out to the Lair, plugged it in and left it there overnight. To my pleased surprise, it was still working when I went out there after shit-shoveling. Which means my thoughts about getting myself a little dorm fridge aren't as outrageous as I feared they might be.

After re-loading the fridge into the Jeep, I drove to M's place with my heart in my boots. Yesterday I was moving dirt when the tractor showed signs of running out of fuel. I shut it down as soon as I could find a level spot, filled the tank, and the tractor would not start. Would not try. This was a big surprise, because since M got the injector pump rebuilt Gulchendiggensmoothen has never run so well. Starting it always used to be a big production, but lately it's been starting very well. I hoped it had just run out of fuel at the injectors and needed bleeding, but I didn't have my wrenches with me. So today I brought the wrenches with me. When I tried to bleed the pump, fuel squirted out right away. Not a good sign. But I moved the battery tray out of the way, bled the injectors, and got bubbles out of all three. Then when I cranked it with the fuel lines tight, it started immediately. That's very timely, because tomorrow Landlady's coming up and wants to tear out part of Gitmo. I'd a lot rather move the posts with a backhoe than with a pick and shovel, and now I'm back to believing that'll happen.