Never A Dull Moment

   Yesterday we had invited my cousin Ed over for supper so I decided a 'picnic' menu was in order.  I made Angie's Fried Chicken and it came out better than I ever had done them before!  Of course, Jeff wanted gravy and baked potatoes instead of pasta and sauce but it was still a very good dinner.  During the meal we noticed that one of the legs on my grandmother's round pedestal table had loosened and the table kept shifting.  By the end of the meal the table was listing dangerously to one side!  So after I cleared the dishes from the table I put a piece 

of firewood under the leg
to stabilize it till
morning.  I really did not want to be woken during the night by the sound of the table and Jeff hitting the floor.  (He is a notorious midnight snackier.)  Instead this morning I was woken by the sound of him clearing the table so I got up to help.  Then we turned the table over on it's side (not an easy job...remember this is a 100+ year old solid oak pedestal table) and I held it steady so Jeff could tighten the loose bolt and nut.  Then we turned it back up right and reset the table.  That was the first time in the nearly 60 years that table has been in this kitchen that a leg has loosened.  Hope it's set for another 60 years...it will be nearly 200 years old by then!!
   Since I was satisfied that the table was back in good condition Jeff got down to his original task for this morning.  He's been planning a repair to our Cub Cadet and I had to be his assistant.  I got to hold the wires he was soldering back together.  That went smoothly and he put the PTO back on the machine but something is still wrong.  Either he soldered the wires together wrong (?) or something else is wrong with the rider because while the Cub Cadet will start and drive, it won't cut grass or blow snow.  Jeff was afraid that would happen.  Now he's trying to decide if it's worth taking the part off and trying to re-solder the wires or just give in and order the part. 
   Zoey loved having company last night and even climbed onto Ed's lap for awhile.  She kept trying to get him to give her a piece of chicken but he wasn't falling for her 'poor hungry puppy' routine.  I ended up giving both dogs some chicken and gravy with their dog food for supper and they cleaned their plates, too.  In fact, the leftover chicken I had put away thinking it would make a nice chicken sandwich for lunch today had disappeared overnight.  I told you Jeff is a midnight snackier!