Labor Day Weekend

We are winning the war against pink-eye. Yesterday, it was two goats out and only one in. We are down to eight goats in isolation. Two are almost ready for release, probably by Tuesday. We hope that two or three more will be ready for release by the end of the week.

Good news! We may have finally found a home for Max. That means we will have our isolation compound available. It will be a little too late for this pink-eye outbreak. However, there will be other sick goats as time goes on. That is as inevitable as rain in Florida. We just do not know whether it will be next week, next year or five years from now. All we can do is try to minimize the opportunities for disease to strike.

Recently, we bought my wife a new chain saw. The old one, a Sears Craftsman, had served us for a number of years, but it had died. The Sears repair center said that the cost of repair was almost the cost of a new saw. We took their advice seriously and bought a new one. After reviewing the options available, and doing a little Internet research, we decided on either a Husqvarna or a Stihl. Price and availability of parts tipped the decision in favor of the Husqvarna. My wife wanted an 18" chain bar. Two local stores, both of which we shop at regularly, stocks Husqvarna chain saws. Tractor Supply Company and Lowe's Home Improvement Center were within just a few dollars of each other. We chose Lowes's to save about $5.00!

The new Husqvarna saw has the 18" chain bar and a 3.5 cubic centimeter two-stroke gasoline engine. Among the safety features is chain brake that is activated by tipping the hand guard forward. The on-off switch is located right under the operator's right thumb when they are pulling up on the throttle. A quick flick of the thumb turns off the engine.

My wife finally got the chance to use her new saw today. It works much better and faster than the old one. Partially that is due to the larger engine. My wife says the Husqvarna has a better "feel" to it than the Craftsman. We worked on clearing some fence line for about two hours. The heat forced us to quit after that.