Tuesday Torque: Big Fairbanks Engines!

 Good One, Merle. Thank You!

Valentine Countdown: Lulu's Back In Town, Leon Redbone

Valentine Countdown: Moonbeam, Kiss Her For Me, Nick Lucas

So Many Trees,

 So little time.

Back To The Old Grind!

Valentine Countdown: Misty, Johny Mathis

Weekend Steam II: Durango And Silverton, Through The Snow

 The exhaust is crisp when there is a blanket of snow!

Weekend Steam: Princess Elizabeth Thunders....

 If you can remember when Princess Elizabeth became Queen, you are just a wee bit older than me...

Many Thanks for spotting a great video, Merle!

PS, I wasn't yet 2 years. 

Valentine Countdown: I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Arlo Guthrie

Valentine Countdown: Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison

Valentine Countdown: Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Paul Anka

Horizontal Logs Never Dry

 We have had very good luck over the years dropping dead trees and burning them soon after. Treetops on the ground, not so much. They were always wet when we cut them, and that isn't what we expected. We thought that dead wood would be dry after several years, but treetops stay soppy wet. The same thing happens when dead trees are on the ground. Plan ahead and put those horizontal dead ones under cover so they can dry before you use them in your stove.

Valentine Countdown: You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me, Maurice Chevalier

Here's a little bonus for you, the Marx Brothers as stowaways, pretending to be Maurice Chevalier, without much succcess. 1931.

Tuesday Torque: Starting 5500 Horsepower Diesel Tug Boat Engines!

 This is great, Merle! Wonderful pick!

Valentine Countdown: These Foolish Things, Rudy Vallee

Yard Art From My Archives

                                                               Back To The Old Grind!

Valentine Countdown: My Darling Clementine

 He should have jumped in and saved her!

Weekend Steam II: Rivers Of Silver, Ribbons Of Steel...

...A look back at a look back!

 

Valentine Countdown: Dream A Little Dream Of Me, Mamas and Papas

Valentine Countdown: Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin

Weekend Steam: 45231, The Sherwood Forester

How many great locomotives are in the U.K.? Thank You, Merle!

 

Valentine Countdown: Hello Ma Baby, Joan Morris

Valentine Countdown: If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot

Check Your Chimney, Scratch It Down!

 We had a warm, dry, January day, so it was time to clean the chimney. Wear your oldest coat, grab your leather gloves, and be careful getting off and on the ladder.

Let your fire cool down and cover it with ashes. If your flue is above your pile of coals you will have a stinky, smoky mess when the creosote comes down. Remove all the coals from your stove if this applies! Scratch down your flue several times and clean all of the creosote from your stove before rekindling your fire.

Walkin' The Dogs

 Hopping up when the dogs stir gets you going every morning, gets you ready to turn in at night. We see the sun and moon rise and set, and it is often spectacular.

Valentine Countdown: I Wanna Be Loved By You, Helen Kane

Valentine Countdown: Darling Cora Is Gone, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs

 The banjo is always supposed to provide a happy song. One of my favorites!

Tuesday Torque: Chain Up With Rope!

Valentine Countdown: Chantilly Lace, The Big Bopper

Maybe You Get The Day Off...

 

For Many, Back To The Old Grind! Everyone else, enjoy your day off!!

Weekend Steam II: Steam Powered U Boat!

 This boat would have been a great leap in technology in 1918.  The concept certainly was pushing the limits of possibility for the time it was designed. Thank You, Merle for spotting this one!

Holy Cow, Valentine's Day Is Just One Month Away! Let's Begin With...

 ...Leon Redbone and the incomparable Joe Venuti and his Jazz violin!

Weekend Steam: Fantasy Double Header!

 The final day of the Welsh Dragon tour would see unusual double headed pairing of LNER B1 61306 Mayflower & LMS Jubilee 45596 Bahamas. The pair are seen on the climb away from Shrewsbury at Bayston Hill and Condover on the Welsh Marches Line. We also managed a bonus shot at Stokesay Castle after the dynamic duo stopped at Craven Arms for longer than expected which gave us those few extra crucial minutes to get set up.

Doggy Dig No More!

 The dogs like to snuffle and eat dirt wherever the moles make a hill. I think Susan has found a great solution with the chili powder cure.

Hog House School Marm, The Rest Of The Story!

The second half of the hog house school marm went pretty well, and there is a lesson. You have seen me many times cut the heavy (bad) side of the tree and finish on the opposite side. That rule fits in with bucking rules, too, where we cut the compressed side first. The good side did not have a good escape route, and the footing was bad, plus the weight on the bad side was not excessive, but you see the result after I finished the back cut. I should have pounded in a wedge before finishing the final cut "Just In Case" it was needed. Turned out that it was. Every tree is a lesson.

 I really do wish you could feel the ground when one of these big ones comes down. The sensation is addictive.

Don't Smash The Hog House! Dropping A Dead School Marm

This red oak over by the old hog lot died a few years ago. I have been putting off cutting it because it wants to fall on an old hog shed. Of course, if I don't cut it, it will eventually come right down on the shed, so I decided "Why Not!" Here's how it goes.

Tuesday Torque: Let's Listen To Some Oil Pulls

 We'll begin with the startup of a 30-60. Folks have been starting big engines with their legs for a long time, and most of the time it works fine. Occasionally the engine will kick back, breaking bones and throwing the operator some distance. Think about that if you buy an Oil Pull!

Snow Belt Solar Secret

The salesman never mentioned snow! We knew snow would shut down the panels and knew that we could blow snow because we have used leaf blowers for fireline construction and snow removal for decades. Your blower can move snow without scratching the panels, and that is an important benefit. Think about and plan for snow removal when you plan your solar panel installation.

There is an important safety issue that you should know when you are using a blower to move snow. Wind blown snow generates static electricity, and if you touch the panel framework while blowing you are going to feel the burn of a constant static discharge. It can make your heart go out of rhythm. I found these facts myself last year when blowing 3-4 inches off the panels. My heart settled down and ran right after a while, but it can be worrisome, maybe worse. Don't belly up to the panels while blowing snow!

Weekend Steam II: This World Needs More Road Locomotives!

 Thanks, Merle! British engines are a joy!

Weekend Steam: Sans Pareil, The Engine That Didn't Make The Cut

 Thanks, Merle! Locomotive  history is always fascinating and educational.

This One Was Easy To Spot

 And you could have chucked a rock at this one!

Wild Turkeys...

...Line Dancing?

 

Changing Your Headlights, Just Like It Was A Century Ago!

 Today it is more like it was in 1923! Back then, headlights had bulbs, and you would carry a few extra under the seat in your Ford. Then headlights modernized and we had sealed beams. Now we are back to bulbs. What's old is new again.

Tuesday Torque: 1917 IHC Mogul 10-20

 I shot this video eleven years ago at Pinckneyville, and it still gets a few views per month. This tractor spent its working life in a feed mill, so there is still factory original paint. It is  a great running original condition machine, and I am always impressed when an old engine fires up as easily as this old girl.

Ready Or Not, You Gotta Do It!

 Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: British Road Locomotives and Great War Transport!

 Thank You, Merle!

Excerpt, Passing Of The Year, Robert W. Service

 My favorite poet says things well:

And so from face to face I flit,
     The countless eyes that stare and stare;
Some are with approbation lit,
     And some are shadowed with despair.
Some show a smile and some a frown;
     Some joy and hope, some pain and woe:
Enough! Oh, ring the curtain down!
     Old weary year! it's time to go.

My pipe is out, my glass is dry;
     My fire is almost ashes too;
But once again, before you go,
     And I prepare to meet the New:
Old Year! a parting word that's true,
     For we've been comrades, you and I --
I thank God for each day of you;
     There! bless you now! Old Year, good-bye!