Happy Thanksgiving, our faithful reader! We wish you the best during this holiday week.

Here at 25 Acres, we have a Surus-sized trailer full of thanks for the past year.

To start, thanks to Olive Jenkins for joining our growing legion of 25 Acres subscribers. And more …

Happy Anniversary!

Yep, it’s Barbara and Steve’s anniversary! Here’s a little blast from the past.

Fun fact: the pink bundle in the middle of the picture? That would be Katie. She and Cory now have two kids of their own.

Yet Barbara and Steve look just the same, no?

FLASH, the 25 Acres Fashion, Lifestyle, and Style team wonders how do they do it? Do we need to charter an investigation into the benefits of hiking in state parks?

Tilling the Garden

A Funny Thing On The Way Back From Lynch Landscaping …

So, our ever-hard-working trailer Surus took a trip to see Duane down at Lynch Landscaping last week. The goal: fetch the last load of loam we needed for the garden.

Duane, apparently in a holiday mood, gave us a bonus-sized load. Nominally, the same size as the last time, but maybe just a wafer-thin bonus added?

It’s 25 miles home.

LEFT PICTURE (20 miles to go): Surus suddenly sways. What, a flat tire! Ah, not to worry, as I brought the spare. Whoops. I then realize that the spare is now buried under what I (in retrospect) estimate to be ~4,000 pounds of dirt.

Luckily Zach saves me by bringing the *extra* spare tire.

The back story: Since I was worried about the age of the tires, I replaced them a couple of weeks to go. Giving two spiffy new tires and leaving one spare under the dirt and then an extra spare back by the garage.

But then Zach & I find can’t replace the tire after all … two car jacks working together can’t lift the trailer. Is this perhaps a sign that maybe the problem goes deeper (is be piled higher) than a faulty new tire?

Luckily, a very Mainely version of AAA comes to help, see below, with a big old jack. We get the spare on and, afterwards, since I’m worried about that cheest old tire, I drive s-l-o-w-l-y.

CENTER PICTURE (12 miles to go): A bang! What, that old spare gave out? Ah, happily not. See, it’s the *other* new tire instead. Don’t make them like they used to?

OK, yes, perhaps the load is just too heavy. In retrospect, say maybe 2.5x the tire’s rated capacity. Time to get the shovel out and get rid of half the dirt. That lets me now lift the trailer if I use both car jacks together. And, emptying so much dirt means I’m able to get the original spare out. So, with the two old tires now reunited with their trailer, it’s time to head home.

RIGHT PICTURE (12 miles to go, again): Or is it? A pop! Even before I get moving, while I’m up on the trailer leveling out the remaining loam, one of the old tires goes. Hmm, started the day with 4 trailer tires. 3 now flat. Issue.

After some hunting and pecking, I’m able to get two new tires and have them mounted on the rims. These have a higher capacity than the “old” new tires that I started with in the morning. While it’s now dark, so I call it a day, I’m able to put ‘em on the trailer the next morning and bring Surus home before 9am. Easy peasy.

A big thanks to the rescue crew: Zach and the Maine AAA (shown below).

Sidenote: I happen to know from recent experience that when one calls the Providence AAA, they show up wearing a pressed AAA uniform in a branded AAA-mobile. In contrast, the Mainely AAA wear what you see below, i.e., a very Mainely uniform, and show up in a well-worn once-white Chevy Caprice.

Before We Leave The Garden …

The 25 Acres Team is thankful for your input and, based on the results, the great trust our readers invest in us. As you can see, not one of you predicted that we couldn’t beat The Great Frost.

We know, faithful reader, you want the insights under the surface. Some highlights:

• Our Sponsor has surprised the team by wanting to go straight for the hen-house and pasture.

• One of our readers, not to be named but whom you might sometimes find hiking in state parks, suggested we plant grapes. Could this perhaps be the same reader who suggested we might add a wine column?

Back in the Real World, Part I

Many of you know that Our Sponsor supports us through her work with College Unbound, a non-profit that focuses on adult learners who have faced significant barriers to attending college.

Here’s a pic from last week’s staff meeting. Now, doesn’t Michelle represent the Mainely uniform every bit as well as AAA?

Back in the Real World, Part II

That’s it for this week. Thanks for following along and Happy Thanksgiving!