"She was what we used to call a suicide blonde - dyed by her own hands." - Saul Bellow

First, the bad news:
Apparently, in 1966 Ford was still using a rope-type rear main seal on their engines.
That seal is what keeps the oil inside the engine instead of coming out where the crank shaft ends at the back of the engine. By 1966 most engines had a seal made out of neoprene or something similar but this engine had been used by Ford for years, back before neoprene was available, and they didn't bother to upgrade it when the new seal material became available.
Note: the '59 Chevy truck I restored had neoprene seals but that engine was only about two years old when Chevy decided to use it in their trucks.

I knew Sally's rear seal was bad because a) I had to put oil in every three or four trips into town, and b) I could see the spray of oil underneath the engine where that seal is located.

Replacing a failed rear main seal is not something you do on a dirt floor garage. It requires removing the tranny and opening up the bottom of the engine - something requiring a lift - and shouldn't be done where dirt can get inside the engine.

Ron just called to say he cannot get the top half of that rope (cord) out of it's groove. At least not without completely disassembling the bottom half of the engine ($$$$). It's baked in there. The best he can do is pack more rope on top of the old cord, close it back up, and call it done. If it holds oil we pray that fix lasts. If it doesn't.....uhm, I have no idea apart from either rebuilding this engine or finding another. ($$$$)

More bad news:
Sundae is not getting any better and cannot survive on the small amount of feed she's eating each day. Marta's husband David came late this afternoon, put her down, and then took her to bury her on their property. He has a business burying horses that the owners have to put down (they have a beautiful 300 acre place) so he's prepared to do this.
Sundae was a great doe for Marta and has been for us, too. She gave us five kids (two the first time and three the second), delivered a couple of them breech, and was a great momma. She's been far and away the most docile and cooperative of our goats. So we are sorry to see her go.
Now Stella and Dolly are going to have to learn to get along.
Frenchie, now in the weaning pen, will be our third breeding doe.

The sling shot arrived today. I'll be going for a walk tomorrow.

Except for wiring in the lights I finally finished the trailer build. We're going to call it Phoenix because it rose from the ruins of the teardrop (pic in the sidebar to the right). I cut off the end of the frame so this is 4' x 6'. It's made out of 1/2" exterior plywood covered in exterior house paint.

The aluminum right angle stock around the upper edge is only attached to the top and hangs over the sides. That keeps the lids from warping and also helps shed water because it overlaps the sides by 1.5" There's also a D-shaped rubber seal on the top of the sides so the lids close against that.

The front compartment is divided into a smaller section that will hold firewood and the part that extends into the rear compartment. Our canopy comes in a case that is about 5' long so when stowed it will extend into that area of the front.

I like the way it turned out. We've yet to see if my design a) works to hold all our camping gear securely, and b) is watertight.

It's been a long day but I got lots of things done. It's sad to think we're down a doe. And that Sally won't be right even after I get her back from Ron. But finishing the trailer feels good and I had some good study time this morning.
I wonder how Chip's hearing went.
I'm going to have a cup of coffee, a PB&J, and call it a day. Tomorrow will start early and has some potentially tricky tasks on the list.