Too Much Adventure

I'd gotten a flier from Lowe's.  They had mulch on sale-- four bags for $10.  So yesterday after work, I jumped into the Jimmy and headed to Batesville.

On the way there, I noticed Jimmy was running a little hot.  At first I thought it was just because it's been over 100 degrees these last few days, but I'd made sure to top up the radiator before leaving the house.  By the time the needle got into the red, I knew something was wrong.

I wasn't sure I'd even make it to Batesville, but by turning the heater on (yes, I know) full blast, I was able to draw enough heat off of the engine to get there.

My initial thought was that the thermostat was sticking again.  I'd been though this before.  But never before had a stuck thermostat caused all my antifreeze to spill out onto the parking lot.  That kind of made me think a radiator hose had come loose or busted or something.

I went inside and called Beverly, and she tracked down Mike and sent him up to fetch me.  In the meantime, I wandered all over Lowe's, and I think some of the employees were starting to look at me a little bit sideways.  I told one of them what was going on, and that I was waiting on someone to come up from Grenada, and she told me I could sit in one of the patio pagoda displays.

In the meantime, I carried on a text conversation with my friend Kyle, so I didn't get too bored.

Mike and Dennise got there, and Dennise and the girls went inside Lowe's while Mike and I tried to figure out what was wrong.  We started the Jimmy and drove around the parking lot, but we couldn't find any sort of a leak.  Mike decided there wasn't enough water left in my radiator to build up pressure, so we drove -- in his van-- across the street to Walmart and bought some water.

We filled it up, and let the engine idle for a long time.  We just about decided it had been a freak thing when suddenly, the pressure built up and water started shooting out of the overflow hose.

I didn't know until that moment that I had an overflow hose.

It's the thermostat, Mike declared, confirming what I had first suspected.

About the same time, we heard a crashing and a banging.  A semi was driving through the Lowe's parking lot and hit one of the Lowe's delivery trucks.  Of course, Mike had to go get right in the middle of that.  I went back inside to cool off.

Well, Mike called James, and he said to just pull the thermostat out, seal it up with some high temperature silicone and drive on home.  But, since we had to go to an auto parts store to get the silicone, we just picked up a new thermostat.  OK, Mike sent Dennise to go get it, while we stayed in the parking lot. 

It didn't take long for Dennise to get back with the thermostat, and Mike to get it installed.   As soon as he pulled the old one out, it was obvious that it was the problem.

Finally, after three hours, Jimmy was fixed, and I was able to go get my mulch.  Because, after all I'd been through, by golly, I wasn't leaving without that mulch.


Now, y'all got to remember that all this took place after I'd worked an 8 hour shift in the factory.  By the time I got home, I was plumb knackered.  Needless to say, the mulch stayed in the back of the Jimmy until today.

I did get out-- at 9:30 -- and plant the new marigold I bought to replace the one that died.

Cyndye had suggested that my other marigolds might be a bit root bound, so I dug them up at the same time.  I gently broke up the root ball, and used my garden claw, which is like the best invention since bacon and chocolate-- to loosen the soil in the holes.  I replanted them and gave them a good watering.

This morning, I don't know.  They seemed to have better color, even though they are still a bit bedraggled.  We'll just have to wait and see if they survive.

I got out this afternoon and got some mulch in my front flower bed, finally.

And I spread two bags in the back flower bed, and gave it a much thicker layer.

But then, I got hot and decided to spread the last bag tomorrow evening.

Whatever this is is finally blooming.  It looks almost like a mini sunflower, but I don't think that's what it is.

 It's something that was in that wildflower mix I planted.  Anybody know what it is?