Day 264, Saturday, May 23

It was the first day that actually felt like spring, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and for the first time in a long time, there wasn't that cold bite in the air.  I'm sure there are still a few snow flakes left to come before summer gets here, but it was nice to feel the sun and not need a coat.

There were plenty of chores to do outside, raking the yard, pulling weeds, picking up pine cones, mowing the lawn and blowing the bark-dust out of the gravel paths (thanks to the chickens). 

The Chickens had laid 4 eggs by 10am, so I let them out to enjoy the day.  They really are amazing little creatures and love to be near me when I'm out in the yard.  I think they know where their main source  of food comes from, but still it's fun to have them around.

I had several errands to run in town too, so I fired up the old Packard and put the top down.  I turned on the oldies music (i Pod Shuffle) and ran to town.  It was really a beautiful day.



With a new Sears Die Hard battery, she's ready to go for summer,
when and if it ever arrives.

When I got back home, I decided with the trailer at the restoration shop, I could move the pickup behind the shop and pull the BMW out of storage.  All of the cars are on battery chargers, so I unplugged the charger, but when I went to start the car there were no lights.  The battery was dead!   BMW batteries are over $300 and they last about 3 years.  I was not going to buy another one, so I called Sears and while they couldn't find one for my car, he said if I brought the battery in we could size one up.  I thought "great", so I went to jump in the Cadillac, and its' battery was dead too.  I had forgotten to put the charger on it and it had been sitting for over a month, ugh!  I knew the pickup was working, so I loaded the battery up and off I went.

I arrived a Sears 20 minutes later and within a few minutes we had found a battery with the same dimensions, cranking amps and reserve charge.  I was soon back on my way home and I had the battery in place in no time.  With a turn of the key the car fired right up.  The fuel gauge was reading nearly empty, which is not good for storing a car (can't believe I did that), so I went to fill the car up with premium fuel.  With premium at a $4.15 a gallon I was happy it only took 11 gallons.   This is by far my most fuel efficient car I have, so I will probably driving it a lot more as fuel prices climb for summer.

With all of my chores done and the sun sinking low on the horizon, I decided it was time to go for a run.  It had been a perfect day.