ApprenticeGardener, Not to step on your toes or anything. But I don't agree with "but it's better (trust me) to buy a restored vehicle than to try to "bring" one back to life yourself--" A "restored" vintage tractor looks pretty, but doesn't necessarily mean that it is a better tractor than an old ugly one that has been sitting for years and looks crappy. And the biggy, the restored tractor will cost about twice as much! I'm an AC fan, since you mentioned that! LOL I have a lot of experience with old tractors growing up and through the years. I have found that the AC's are more user friendly and cheaper to buy. They are cheaper because the 3 point hitch on them isn't the main standard that everyone went with, the Ford style. So 3PH (quick hitch) attachments are harder to find. AC's are more dependable, in my homely opinion. They are not as finicky to start, especially after sitting a while. And they don't break down as much. My neighbors, friends, brothers, and my Dad had Fords, Masseys, JD's, ETC. I spent a lot of time every spring helping them get them started. Plus I had to repair hydraulic cylinders, pumps, starters, generators, magnetos, and other things for them. I bought an AC-CA, 1954 model, about 25 years ago that had been sitting in a field for about 5 years after the owner died. I drained and flushed out the gas tank and carburetor, stuck a new battery in and it fired right up. I bought it for $1000 , including a bush hog, harrow, drag harrow, layoff plows, planter, and other stuff. I'm still using it and it fires off every time I need it! The only thing I have had to replace/repair were the brushes in the starter and the generator. Back to the OP: Look around for an older tractor, search farmer bulletins, and estate auctions. I wouldn't recommend buying a tractor that has a magneto, such as the AC-B, unless you want to convert it to a coil system. The kits are expensive to convert, $200 the last time I checked, 20 years ago. LOL But if you are kind of handy I can help you convert it to a coil for less than $50. I have converted several. If you buy an AC with the quick hitch make sure that you are getting and/or can find the attachments for it. And as ApprenticeGardener said make sure the rubber is good especially the back tires, they are expensive. Good luck!!

Interesting thread! I don't mind being told what to bring but in my group of friends, it's pretty much understood that we'll bring something when invited. I'm also one who means it when I say Don't bring anything, so when someone tells me not to bring anything, I don't. But when someone tells me what to bring, I prefer it to be a category, such as appetizer or dessert. Then I can decide what I want to make. Unless they are specifically requesting a particular dish I've made before and want me to make again, which is fine too. But recently I was invited to a party and asked, what can I bring? and they told me a specific thing. Now the reason I didn't like that is because it was something that didn't require cooking, and I'm known in my circles as someone who cooks and I usually get compliments on whatever I make. This was a party where there would be several of my regular circle of friends in addition to a lot of people I don't know (or know very well). I did bring what they wanted, thinking that they probably had a set menu in mind, and this was the exact thing they needed to fill the bill. Well it turned out that it was a huge party, lots and lots o' food, no matter what I brought it would have been fine so the specific thing they requested was not specifically needed and I would have been happier bringing something I'd figured out on my own. No biggie really but I wondered if they weren't used to people asking WHAT to bring, and didn't really get that the best answer would have been a category instead of being so specific. I do believe most everyone just brought whatever they wanted because there was a pretty big overabundance of desserts, which, IME, is what you get when people decide what to bring without at least some guidance. Anyway, this party is an annual event, we went again this year and when I RSVP'd I just said, I'll bring an appetizer & wine, and left it at that. Easiest all around. It's a fun party and the savory food gets eaten as if locusts have descended and desserts are overflowing.

I'm quite excited about meeting you all on Saturday. I spent today in the dirt -- literally -- after three cubic yards of good soil was dumped on my driveway this morning. One wheelbarrow at a time ... I'm working hard at setting up the garden area this year, doing what some call "hardscape." A month ago, the yard was dying grass with weeds and clumps of hard grass. Now, its the sort of mess that signals progress, I hope. In 2.5 weeks all the trees will be cut down. They're diseased and ugly. My husband built a fence around the small front yard to keep out bear/deer/neighbors. It is solid and private, creating a "secret garden." The fence encloses an asymmetric and oddly-shaped space which has had to be terraced because of the slope of the land. In this space I have started to carve out flower beds where ugly grass once tried to grow. Like the property, the beds are irregular and fluid in shape looking something like beans or teardrops. It occurred to me, today, that gardening is a process, not a goal; perhaps both. Still, I have garden goals. Simple goals. My first goal is to sip my morning tea on a sunken, old lawn chair while staring at flowers which will -- God willing -- climb up and cover the fence as well as crawl all over the ground. My second goal is to love the process of gardening, not just the goal. I'll sign off and take pics. Janni

Many times I don't come up with the right tone in voice/writing to express myself, and I can be easily misunderstood. I always need an editor, and I have lots here! Thank you all so much for "editing" the wording/potential interpretation. It helped enormously! DH was estranged from his kids for quite a few years, and all three of them suddenly mellowed a couple of years ago. They established a good, stable relationship and I want to continue that. Especially after the kids lost both their parents in 14 months, so I'm kinda sorta all they have left - scary thought :-) So, if they want to camp out, fine. They now know the rules (they absolutely, positively know what behavior their father would accept and what he would go ballistic about). They agreed that they are responsible for "their" guests. If it turns into mayhem and chaos, I have a stash of wine in the basement, I will sit with a glass in my hand, eat popcorn, and watch them clean it up, fix it up, or pay for it. I'm really looking forward to this celebration, and I'm not stressing at all anymore. Probably because I am the best (or is it the worst?) procrastinator in the ENTIRE universe, and I've started working on this early enough to think through the process. I can't tell you how much help you all have been!