The vacuum cleaner came on when I hit the switch and seemed to be pulling but the roller brush wouldn't turn, so it wouldn't sweep anything up into the cleaner. I've replaced the belt on that cleaner before so I was pretty sure that a broken belt was the problem, but this morning I didn't have time to mess with it. So I pulled a little canister vacuum cleaner out of the garage and use that. That little canister cleaner had 10 years of dust on it. It's been in the garage since I moved into the house so I wasn't sure it would even work, but it did. I have to tell you, that little cleaner probably was okay in an apartment with so-so carpet. In my house with thick carpeting, I worked myself to a frazzle just getting the house vacuumed. I now remember why I bought the heavy duty upright after I moved in here. It's been spoiling me big time.
Anyway, after going to lunch with my sister and bro-in-law I came home and my handy-woman gene kicked in. I happened to have another belt for the upright because they come in packages of 2. So I took the upright vacuum apart and replaced the belt. I think this will be the last time I'll be able to repair it though. There's a broken part that holds the roller brush in place and although I got the belt replaced and the parts back where they belong, I think it won't hold forever, and certainly won't hold if I take it apart again. Since the broken piece braces the brush, which is very taut with the belt in place, I don't think even epoxy would hold the piece in place if I tried gluing it. Currently it's mostly held in place by the rest of the vacuum cleaner structure, but I don't think it's a long term fix. Next time it breaks it'll be time for a new vacuum cleaner. Which is okay. It's 10 years old.
I figure it never hurts to pull a broken item apart and see if you can fix it. For one thing, it's broken and I'm going to throw it away anyway. If I can't fix it, I haven't hurt it any more than it was before I started. And if I can fix it I feel very competent. I won't mention that I just happen to like taking things apart to see how they work. Mostly I limit myself to broken things and can keep from taking working things apart.
I mowed and weed whacked on Friday afternoon. The grass is seriously coming up now. Thursday evening I transplanted 4 more peach seedlings out of the yard into pots, so I now have a mini-orchard starting in pots on my patio. I suppose you could consider 7 peach tree seedlings a mini-orchard. I also officially moved the aloe vera from their rolling winter platform to the back and front patios. Along with my other puttering today I sprayed some wasps who were starting nests in the bird boxes out front. I need to get up there before the birds start nesting with some Bounce sheets to keep the wasps away. I planned to do it later today, but I think I may have puttered myself out now. I'm feeling unmotivated after fixing the vacuum cleaner. Partly because my hands hurt from holding the broken roller brush brace in place while I worked to snap the rest of the vacuum cleaner back together. I think I'll take a break and go watch some TV. Plus Addy is demanding attention. Time to feed her or end up with scars.
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