Mr. Completely's April 2013 e-Postal Match Begins...

... over at The Conservative UAW Guy.  Click Over to read the rules and to print your target.  You have all of April to submit your targets, but I recommend shooting it right away while it is fresh on your mind.  You only need twenty shots to enter this match, and that shouldn't hurt your stash too badly.  A perfect score is one hit per each fly, for twenty points.  Good Luck; you know you need the practice.

It's That Time Again

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: Lent's Over, and You Know What That Means!

From WarholSoup100

Hallelujah!

It's So Easy...

...to bring in wood!

Crankin' It Up With Brat The Cat

We are changing pace just a bit this week, and moving up a decade from the 7" discs we have been sharing. This is a Victor Red Label disc of Alma Gluck and Efrem Zimbalist; a real treasure. Brat settles down and enjoys the music.

Weekend Steam: Hop Across The Pond

Let's go over to Carlisle, UK and take a ride on the Cumbrian Mountaineer, courtesy of Allen5919.

Way, Way, Out In The Sticks

I had a long walk recently on a cold, windy day, and got lucky with this shot of a wise donkey in the same neighborhood in southern Jasper County.  The shaggy critter was keeping his backside out of the wind and catching a few late winter rays.  I got out of my warm truck and hiked a couple miles on a mud road, in the wind, and downwind from a hog operation.

I gave myself a challenge last fall, and have made it through the entire winter wearing leather boots without the benefit of Gore-Tex.  My Corcoran Field Boots have had regular applications of Pecard Leather Dressing, and I wear Thorlo combat boot socks most of the time; mil-surp wool socks on really cold days.  This day was the first time that water invaded my boots, and it came in right away when I had to walk through a ditch.  The boots are about three years old, and a crack has opened up that the Pecard dressing couldn't seal.  I'm breaking in a new pair now, but three old pairs stand in the wings for dry days and upland hikes.

Most of my work hours are spent on a computer or behind the steering wheel, and my boots are greased well weekly, with hours to dry sitting near a wood stove at night.  The Corcorans have performed well with my relatively light duty and regular applications of Pecard Leather Dressing.  They hike a lot of  miles during a year, but I baby them and don't allow mud to stay on the leather, sucking the oil out of my boots.  Good boots, well cared for, feel great when you pull them on in the morning.  Nighttime, when I pull them off and pull on my sneakers; the sneakers are almost painful.

Stand by for Brat Cat and a record.  I was beat when I got home from work and didn't feel like setting up to do a record.  I will crank up sometime on Friday.

A Few Days Ago....

One of these days winter will finally be over, and we will be doing nightly tick inspections.  Many years ago, a friend was telling me about a nature walk he did for some kids in Eastern Kentucky.  They were looking at a trash and garbage choked creek, and he posed the question of what would make it look better.  Some wise-acre remarked that a foot of snow would do the job.

I guess the kid was right, because I get out the camera and take some shots every time we have a little snow, even though the pictures look the same year to year.  These pictures will look pretty good, come July.

Nothin' But Trouble

Some of the problem critters that come around for handouts don't show their faces until 3 AM.  Staying up all night to shoot them doesn't work, so we trap the crafty ones.  I hope I took him far enough.  Coons carry some nasty diseases and parasites, and we don't want them around our pets, or in our outbuildings.  Coons and possums both like to leave their calling cards in barns instead of stepping outdoors; even a groundhog knows better than that.

Speaking of groundhogs, I almost stepped on one in the north barn last week.  Surprised me as much as it did her.  Groundhogs were living in that barn when we came here, and I leave them alone.  A bonus you get with groundhogs is a constant resupply of dens for other animals, like rabbits and foxes.  And groundhogs have the good sense not to come begging for meals at the house.

March e-Postal Deadline Coming Up

Don't forget to shoot the Mr. Completely March e-Postal Contest before the end of the month!  The Mess Revisited is a fun target to shoot, with great rewards for the needle-eyed, and pitfalls for the rest of us.  Shoot your targets, scan or photograph them, and send them to Mr. C ASAP.

JimmyB, the Conservative UAW Guy is the host for the upcoming April match; stay tuned.

That Was A Long Night Thirty-One Years Ago...

Two weeks later.  It looks like I just got home from work.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit Honored American Veterans Afield

This Ruger Security Six was test fired in 1975, and has resided in Ruger's vault ever since.  CLICK HERE to read all about it and to bid on Ruger's GunBroker page.  100% of the proceeds go to Honored American Veterans Afield.

Are You Ready For Monday?

Back To The Old Grind!

Hickok45 Compares Firearms For Home Defense

Hickok says it all so well; I don't really have a thing to add.

Spring, Sprung?

One of these days the winter surely will end...maybe then I can get this stupid song out of my head.

Not My Victrola

Crankin' It Up: Brat's Pick

Brat was pretty clear about his preferences when we played these two discs. I thought the march would have him high-stepping, but he never even flipped his tail. Sousa's Band turned him on, though.

Weekend Steam: Testimonial For A Top Brand

 Minne's are a good looking engine, and they have been one of my favorites for almost fifty years.  This ad ran in American Thresherman when steam engines were at the end of their era on the farm.

 Read the fine print in the ad, and you will see that gas engines are taking over in the 1920's.

Here's a nice video of a Minneapolis from OldIronMike.

It Was 18° This Morning....

Big Old Galloway

 Dave Rotigel really likes big-uns, and just to make sure you know that...




... he also shows his Maytag.

I See Dead Cars; Dahlgren, IL

Ruger's Auction To Benefit Honored American Veterans Afield

Ruger hasn't made any of these for a long while.  The auction this week is a 1974 vintage .44 Magnum Carbine!  Here is Ruger's description from GunBroker.com:  "You are bidding on a .44 Carbine rifle. The serial number is 100-49782, and the testfire date is March 5, 1974. This .44 Carbine rifle features a fixed tubular magazine that holds four rounds plus one round in the chamber. It has an American walnut stock with a curved, metal butt plate, a barrel band at the front of the forend, and sling swivels. This 44R model features a blued, 18-1/2 inch barrel with a folding leaf rear sight adjustable for elevation, and a 1/16 inch gold bead front sight. The frame is drilled and tapped for scope mounts. There is no manual warning on this rifle, and the Sturm, Ruger address is stamped into the top of the barrel. The rifle is being sold “as is.” The purchaser assumes all liability for its safe and proper ownership, storage, use, and resale. The .44 Carbine rifle will be shipped in the 44 Carbine rifle box it had been stored in. The rifle is a part of the Ruger factory collection in Southport, Connecticut, and a Certificate of Authenticity will be mailed to the winner of the auction. Note: the winner of this auction will be responsible for paying the Federal Excise Tax."

100% of the proceeds from these auctions is being donated to Honored American Veterans Afield.  Check out Ruger's auction every week, even if you aren't bidding, and drop Mr. Fifer a thank you from Ruger's website.

Experience Counts

 Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: Poet and Peasant

By Lucius 1958 The first side is over 100 years old, and is played by Sousa's Band. The second is played by the American Symphony Orchestra on an Edison disc. What the heck; let's listen to it on a player piano, too.

Feed Me; Or My Place In The Scheme Of Things

This is the sight that greets me when I come home from work at the end of the day. It's good to know that I am appreciated. Missing from the photo is Big-un, who is a bit of a loner, and Shorty, who disappeared a week ago. I think a coyote has picked him off. Pansy, on the left, had me worried this week when she missed feedings for 36 hours. Woody is in front of Mean Jean, and Brownie is on the right. Brownie is black now that she has matured, but she is stuck with her name. A BIG possum moved into the garage this week and was disrupting their home, but he has been reprimanded by Ruger, and will not be causing any more problems.

Weekend Steam: Accessorizing Again

 Traction engines came from the factories with two ways to feed water to the boiler.  Most engines had two injectors, but some had a crosshead pump, or steam powered feedwater pump plus an injector, but engines always had some combination of these devices so the engineer could replace the water in the boiler.

Penberthy injectors were a very common brand, and that is the brand that I have experience with.  Steam engine owners were a lot like auto owners who like to tinker and improve their ride, so markets developed for accessories to improve performance.  Ads in the old Thresherman magazines cover important engine components like governors and feedwater devices, plus boiler additives, grease and oil products, belting for powering threshers and sawmills, and just about anything steam and threshing related.  Think I'll go shopping for some automatic grease cups

A Hero Rides Quietly Away

I clicked over to Chuck's site a few days ago and was saddened to see that he is dropping out of the blog world.  Major Chuck, for those of you who haven't followed him, was blown up in Iraq, and was revived multiple times while he was being transported to Germany.  It was Chuck who started Project Valour-IT with Soldiers' Angels, to provide voice activated laptops to wounded soldiers.  He was the guest of honor at the Gun Blogger Rendezvous back in 2009, and Mom and Zeke were honored to meet him and hear about his journey.  Mom still talks about that, and Project Valour-IT is still our favorite cause.  We are going to miss you, Chuck.

Crankin' It Up For St. Paddy's Day

Brat is ready to party hearty, with his little shamrock necklace to celebrate being Irish.  Here are a couple of sides from a 1916 Victor record that met with Brat's approval.





Gratifying Stats: It's no secret if you check my YouTube channel that these old records don't exactly go viral. A couple dozen views in two weeks is pretty good. Well....in one day, this video has had seven views, and I know that two of them were me, and one was Mom, which leaves four views by others. That is not surprising, BUT, I have had two comments out of those four views! One from the Emerald Isle, and the other is a nice compliment for Brat in Spanish! AND...two thumbs up ratings! Sweet rewards for an odd hobby.

Smilin' Ain't Always Easy

 Susan's mother, Pat, had a serious stroke in July, 2012.  A month later there was a lot of uncertainty about the future.  Pat's left arm barely moved, and she could walk short distances with assistance. 

Strokes paralyze half your body, and the effort to smile can be brutal.  Half your face won't respond, and smiling looks more like a grimace.  Attitude is hard to build with the broken connections in your head.

Support from family is crucial to recovery and having a chance for a decent quality of life.  Pat is now able to cook eggs and bacon for breakfast, and use the bread maker to turn out a nice loaf.  That left hand is working pretty well, considering that it was paralyzed last July.  A Schipperke helps more than you can imagine!  (Teddy and Liza are important, too, but there is just something about a Schipperke.)

Pond Dam Maintenance

We have had to do some heavy maintenance on the pond dam because of age and tree roots, and this spring we have begun in earnest to fight the trees back. We did a burn recently, and as soon as things have leafed out, we will be spraying herbicide to kill the brush and trees. Next spring we will burn again, and the plan is to do it every year so trees don't have a chance to start up again. The only problem in burning this spot is that the dam faces north, and it doesn't dry very well.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit Honored American Veterans Afield

This is a special one; Ruger's 100th auction on GunBroker.com! Ruger's Description: "This is Ruger’s 100th auction with GunBroker.com, and we are celebrating this milestone by auctioning off a .375 Ruger caliber M77® Hawkeye® Alaskan Rifle previously owned by President and CEO Mike Fifer. The serial number is 710-49691, and the rollmark date is January 10, 2008. Mike Fifer used this rugged, big game rifle during a brown bear hunt on the Alaska Peninsula in May 2010 where he successfully harvested a large 8’ 10.5” brown bear. Ruger Senior Sales Manager Randell Pence, hunting guide Bob Lacher, and videographer Danny Dodge accompanied Fifer on this hunt. Their exciting adventure was featured on an episode of the television show Ruger’s Adventures, and has been documented in a photo book created by Fifer. An autographed copy of this book will be included with the auction rifle, along with the same Burris® scope used during the bear hunt, and a Ruger-branded rifle case. This rifle features a textured Hogue® OverMolded®, non-slip rubber stock, a 20 inch hammer-forged barrel, and V-Notch windage adjustable express iron rear and white bead front sights. Other features include: the LC6™ trigger; non-rotating, Mauser-type controlled round feed extractor; patented integral scope mounts; and three-position safety. The M77® Hawkeye® Alaskan Rifle is being sold “as is.” The purchaser assumes all liability for its safe and proper ownership, storage, use, and resale. It is a part of the Ruger factory collection in Southport, Connecticut and a Certificate of Authenticity will be mailed to the winner of the auction."

 Be sure to click over to this auction on GunBroker if there is any chance that you will be going on a big game hunt any time in your life.  The .375 Ruger cartridge exceeds the performance of the .375 H & H Magnum, which is a doggone fine moose cartridge, or for nearly any big game. 100 % of the proceeds from this auction will to Honored American Veterans Afield.

Be Sharp!

Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: Go To The Range For The e-Postal Contest

Mr. Completely is hosting the first month of his 2013 e-Postal contests, and if you aren't packin' your pistols for the range, you need a little inspiration.  It's been a long winter, without many opportunities to go shooting outdoors, and we are all getting a bit anxious at the True Blue Sam compound to get out and bust some caps.  Have a listen to this old Jimmy Rodgers song, and then CLICK HERE to go to Mr. C's blog for the target and the rules.

Weekend Steam: Accessorize Your Threshing Rig

Click To Enlarge

More steam engine goodies from the American Thresherman Magazine, 1924.

Crankin' It Up: Another Levee Tune

Brat helps out again while we play another of our seven inch disks. I couldn't find Climax records on 78Discography, but another site says that this record is from 1901 or 1902.

'Nuff Already

They're calling for 60° Saturday. Next week we will be complaining about the ticks.

Pine Pain

Here is a common problem if you have to cut pines in a stand of trees. Pines are taller and thinner than hardwoods, and they are not as heavy, so they have more of a tendency to hang in the branches of the trees around them when you are dropping them. This tree was dead, and the only direction to drop it wasn't open; it was only less blocked than any other direction. The first wedging started it over, and it promptly stopped when it was snagged at about sixty feet up. I cut a shim out of the face cut wood and had a second go with a wedge, and pushed it a bit further, then made a thicker pine shim, and pushed it further still, but it still wouldn't drop. The second shim crumbled under the pressure, so I cut a thick shim from a honeylocust that I had just dropped and wedged for a third time. That one pushed the top through the overhead crowns and the pine broke through and crashed. If you have to drop trees during your woodcutting activities, you need to practice cutting tapered shims before you have to use them. Shim grain should stand in the same direction as the tree you are pushing over, and you can cut your shims out of nearby stumps so the wood holds still for you. I like to do a bore cut on the stump, angling the bar upward to create a bit of taper, then cut downward to make the sides; then punch down at the inner end to turn it loose. Keep the good ones you create in your woodcutting kit; you never know when you will need it again.

Historic Moment At The Engine Shed

Susan and I were invited to an exclusive affair at a classified location over the weekend, and we were thrilled to be part of an historic crank-up event. The engine you see the guys fussing over was an incomplete pile of parts just one year ago. Several parts were cast and machined, a magneto had to be purchased, and there has been plenty of cleaning, fitting and assembling. This 6 HP IHC Titan came from Floyd County in Eastern Kentucky, where it was used to power a stone bur mill. Every neighborhood in the hills had a mill where the locals could have corn ground for bread, and for mash to make moonshine. This video is a collaboration. I shot some of it, Susan did, too, and Gary, the engine owner and restorer shot the final part from 2:10 on, where the engine is finally coaxed into firing for the first time in sixty or seventy years.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit Honored American Veterans

Ruger's writeup on GunBroker.com:  "Up for auction this week is a limited production distributor exclusive. The catalog number is 10/22-22, and the serial number is 252-89723. The rollmark date is August 24, 2001. This is a variation of the Deluxe Sporter Model which first appeared in the 1966 Ruger® firearms price sheets. This version of the 10/22® Deluxe Sport Rifle has a solid birch sporter stock without checkering on the forend and pistol grip areas. It is equipped with sling swivels and a black rubber buttpad with the Ruger eagle logo embossed in it. “MODEL 10/22 RIFLE – .22 LR CALIBER” is stamped on the left-side of the receiver along with the Ruger eagle logo. Other features include: a blued 22 inch barrel; folding-leaf rear sight (adjustable for windage and elevation); and gold bead front sight. The frame is drilled and tapped for scope mounts. Also included in this auction is an original instruction manual, yellow cable lock, and a 10-round rotary magazine. It will be shipped in the 50th Anniversary Ruger rifle box it had been stored in. The rifle is being sold “as is.” The purchaser assumes all liability for its safe and proper ownership, storage, use, and resale. It is a part of the Ruger factory collection in Southport, Connecticut and a Certificate of Authenticity will be mailed to the winner of the auction. Note: the winner of this auction will be responsible for paying the Federal Excise Tax."

 100% of the proceeds will go to Honored American Veterans Afield. Click Here to go to the GunBroker page.  This fine .22 rifle will sell mid-day, Wednesday, March 6, 2013.

Feeling A Bit Rough Out Here

 Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola

The winter won't quit this year, and we have had little snow showers going on for the last several days.  We need something peppy and happy to beat back the cabin fever and winter doldrums.






Where'd You Get Those Eyes? (1926) by Ted Lewis and his band; posted by EdmundusRex.

Weekend Steam: A Frick...

A popular term lately has been making me think of Pennsylvania-manufactured steam engines.  We watch the Gold Rush show and they are always talking about Frickin' This and Frickin' That; the Swamp People are always talking about Frickin' alligators, and over on Curmudgeonly, Rodger was even talking about A-frican Elephant.  Well, here is the real deal, from the April 1924 American Thresherman magazine.  It's a Frick 'n Thresher.