Special treat! Happy 83rd Birthday To Country Joe McDonald!
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Tuesday Torque: Crank Those Weights Up!
Tower Time Pieces: Historically powered by weights. Note the auto rewind on the first one!
Sunday, December 29, 2024
January Is Darn Near Here
Got Wood? Got it under the eaves, or is it in the barn? Bring up a load when the mud freezes! Back To The Old Grind!
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Friday, December 27, 2024
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Monday, December 23, 2024
Annual Christmas Song Festival! Winter Wonderland, Dean Martin
Everybody understand that this is not a request for snow!
Meet Bandit
We picked up Bandit today. Turns out, he is 14 years old, so he may be difficult to adopt out. He is nervous, as he should be after being uprooted from his home. He will settle in with us quickly, I think. We must measure his food, because he is obese, and that is bad for an old dog. He will see our vet next week along with Princess Peaches and Zahara.
Tuesday Torque: Starting A Waterloo Boy
Many Thanks, Merle! Waterloo Boys are out of our reach, but I sure would love to have one to putt around on. Many years ago, Susan and I went to an auction where there was a complete engine from a Waterloo Boy, and we stayed in the bidding to our limit, but had to quit. Cost of living bills must be paid before play!
Sunday, December 22, 2024
New Schipperkes To Foster!
Our blog followers get to see Zahara and Princess Peaches before anybody else. These two Schips were dropped off at an animal shelter in the middle of the night with no information other than their name tags, with birth dates. Zahara appears to have recently raised some puppies, and is heartworm positive, so we will have her for a while to treat her. They made the trip from Iowa in three hitches and are now safe in our basement. Tomorrow we will be getting another Schipperke from here in Illinois. That boy is 10 to 12 years old, and was surrendered due to his owner passing away.
Not A Grind! It is a Joy!
Annual Christmas Song Festival! While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
One of our favorite old records, played on the Brunswick.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Annual Christmas Song Festival! Rusty Chevrolet, Da Yoopers!
I think we have not had Rusty Chevrolet in our list for a few years, and it is always good for a little laugh. Cold winters and old cars can conjure up nightmares, like being on your back in the snow while you are pulling a burned out starter off your beater!
Weekend Steam: More British Steam Scenes
Merle sent a link to a Facebook reel, and even though it has the YouTube channel listed on it, I can't locate it! MuddyLakeEngineering is the YT channel, and they have a bunch of great vids, so I will post one. Click the showman's engine for the Facebook reel. Showman engines always make me think of a Ringneck rooster! Many Thanks, Merle!
Friday, December 20, 2024
Wild Turkey Show!
We usually see this bunch on the far side of the pond, going up and down the pipeline. There are a dozen Jakes and gobblers that hang out together, and we see them going to the treetops at sunset. Hoot like a barred owl at first light and they will gobble for you. They made a trip through the yard the other day, and I had to hurry to get a photo.
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Pecan Wood; You Can't Ask For A Better Smoke!
We did this experiment with charred white oak splits, and didn't sample the taste for more than two years. With the high wood to liquid ratio, that was more time than needed. I would hold the jars up to a light occasionally and admire the ever darker color. I am thinking that six months will be long enough to see if pecan makes for a good flavor, so we will update this project for you in mid-2025.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Annual Christmas Song Festival! Carol Of The Bells, Double Feature!
Trans Siberian Orchestra
Jennifer Thomas, Orchestra and Piano
The Piano Guys
Tuesday Torque: Zetor Tractors?
Well, Merle, you found a brand that I have never heard of. We probably all have seen images on TV of this brand, but they were unidentified. The videos say they are Czech made, and they have been around for 75 years. It is time we become familiar! Thank You, Merle!
Monday, December 16, 2024
Sunsets And More!
We lived in Eastern Kentucky for a few years (Where the sun comes up about 10 in the morning, and the sun goes down about 3 in the day.) and we still marvel at the sky shows we get in flat old Southern Illinois. Nearly every day has a show. The full moon was setting the other day when I had the dogs out for an early walk. We admire the moon through all its phases, and sometimes it is planted adjacent to a bright evening or morning planet. Occasionally we get a rainbow around the moon. Rain usually follows that.
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Busy, Busy, Busy!
The fun never ends around here! We dragged out trees that had to go adjacent to the three-phase line, and then the co-op sent their hydro mulcher to finish the job. Good Times!
Wayne-White Electric Co-Op had their Fecon Bull Hog hydro mulcher cleaning up along our tree planting project Friday. You are supposed to stay back 300 feet from this amazing machine while it works, but I put on my hard hat and moved in close for our loyal viewers. I could almost un-retire if I could get a job running one of these!
Back To The Old Grind!
Annual Christmas Song Festival! Joy To The World Improvisations, Natalie Raynes
PLUS... Nine minutes of quiet Christmas favorites!
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Weekend Steam II: Scale Model Burrell Engines
Burrells are beautifully engineered, and they always please the eye as they chug down the road. Many thanks for the suggestion, Merle!
Friday, December 13, 2024
Weekend Steam: 36-120 Rumely Steam Traction Engine
Rumely 36-120s are big engines, meant for heavy work, and they are big enough to be in the prairie tractor class of traction engines and early tractors. This is a double-simple engine, so the steam is used once before being exhausted, and there are four power impulses per revolution of the engine. Many Thanks, Merle, for the pick!
Force Directed, Force Reflected
Chainsaw novices do not know this, and the realization may take a while with a few hard knocks, unless someone explains it to you. Move away from the stump quickly at a 135 degree angle from the line of fall. Limbs that spring back from the crown will be aimed right back at the stump. The stump is a bullseye. Get away from it quickly and stay out of that circle until debris is done falling.
Click The Photo For The Link!
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Taking Care Of Business On The Power Line Right of Way
I dropped a line of trees today that had been trimmed and topped down below the power line. Tomorrow I drag! Shot some vid, and we will put that up later.
Antler Madness
Bridge crossings out here in the country are depressing/maddening this time of year. We have had bow hunting since October 1 plus two firearm deer seasons, and the carcasses are piling up in the waterways. There are two common themes. One is the backstraps and hams cut off a discarded carcass, and the other is a skinned carcass with the antlers cut off the skull. There are evidently many who need a taxidermied deer on the wall to show off their hunting prowess. Look out there at the end of that point in Auxier Creek....
It has been skinned, the skull cut, thrown over the bridge, and cleaned by coyotes.
Here is a collection thrown over the bridge rail. There are some small antlers showing, so that one was at least partially butchered.
Here is a really big deer, skinned and de-antlered for a taxidermist. You have to wonder how many, if any, of these deer were legally hunted and killed. Hunter ethics and sportsmanship are sorely lacking in our neighborhood.
Just one of many laws addressing this:(720 ILCS 5/47-5) Sec. 47-5. Public nuisance. It is a public nuisance: (1) To cause or allow the carcass of an animal or offal, filth, or a noisome substance to be collected, deposited, or to remain in any place to the prejudice of others. (2) To throw or deposit offal or other offensive matter or the carcass of a dead animal in a water course, lake, pond, spring, well, or common sewer, street, or public highway. (3) To corrupt or render unwholesome or impure the water of a spring, river, stream, pond, or lake to the injury or prejudice of others.Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Monday, December 9, 2024
Power Line Clearance Giraffe
This big critter was fun to watch! Line clearance keeps evolving, and power companies are relying less on bucket truck crews now that contractors are available with circular saws on a pole. They can't handle every situation, but they can cover a lot of ground quickly and efficiently. The pruning may not be up to arboricultural standards, but they will do total takedowns rather than do big V-cuts that an arborist crew would do. This is one of life's big adjustments. The operator of this machine has been running it for twelve years, and he really knows how to handle it.
Tuesday Torque: 6 HP Sparta Economy
Thank You, Merle! Facebook let me embed this one. Wonders never cease!
Sunday, December 8, 2024
The Raccoon Bridge Is Gone!
Pour a cup of coffee, this is a long video! We've had wind and cold, plus company for a few days, but today was a great day to be outdoors with a chainsaw. Punch cuts were made for chain attachment points, sections were cut off, and that black oak came out of the pond with ease. It will be bucked up, split, and stacked in the barn to dry. It has a lot of drying to do! Many thanks for visiting!
Busted Sycamore
The top was snapped off a few years ago, and we will be dropping this tree for firewood. Sycamore makes good firewood, and this tree is straight and clean. It should split nice.
Back To The Old Grind!
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Friday, December 6, 2024
Weekend Steam: Stanley Steamers
Many Thanks, Merle! There was a time when steam, internal combustion, and electric were all seen as possible winners in the race to sell automobiles.
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
The Seabees On Iwo Jima
This video documentary grabbed my attention because O.T.'s brother Maurice was in the Seabees, and they actually got to meet up on Guadalcanal for a brief visit.
Annual Christmas Song Festival! Go Tell It On The Mountain, Sara Evans
And...the best version we have seen!
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The Schips Keep Us Busy...
Buster is a permanent foster with us. He has old age infirmities that would make life difficult for him if he moved to a new home, so he stays with us. We help him out, and then guide him back. He can't see, and can't hear, but he still enjoys his outings.
Sophie and Atlas are nearly ready to adopt out. Sophie was losing weight and we discovered that she has histoplasmosis in her gut. She is taking meds for a month and seems to be improving. We are having Atlas tested, too, just in case he came with that problem. We sent off his specimen yesterday and should hear back this week. If he is clear, we will be talking to possible new owners.
Monday, December 2, 2024
Tuesday Torque: Waterloo Boy, Popping John Deere Predecessor
And, the predecessor to the Waterloo Boy! This unique tractor was featured in one of the engine magazines a few years back. It was worse than a basket case, but perseverance brought it back from the grave for us to see. Thank You, Merle!
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Saturday, November 30, 2024
Annual Christmas Song Festival! A Marshmallow World, Dean Martin
It's 10:30 P right now, we have a bit more than 1 inch of fine snow, and the falling snow reaches back 100 miles to the west of us. Annual snowfall pictures in the morning! It's A Marshmallow World!
Weekend Steam II: Surprise Burrell With A Parade Through London
That is a beautiful cross-compound traction engine, but I am a bit taken by the Worshipful Company of Paviors. What is a Pavior? Paver savior maybe? Their logo seems to show paver or cobblestone pattern, so that is a maybe. Many Thanks, Merle, for our travelogue video tours!
Friday, November 29, 2024
Weekend Steam: Cumberland Mountain Helpers On The L & N
Recommended by our champion spotter! Thank You, Merle! This one is a real thrill. I wish we could still see the real thing. (Click The Photo.)
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Driveway Visitor Thrills
We were visited by a Bobcat last night! That is much more exciting than possums and raccoons. Occasionally we will see one slipping along the pipeline on the far side of the pond. We had not heard our owls for a few weeks and were worried about them, but they were talking out in the woods the other day, so they are OK. I went up to the north barn yesterday and saw the nice 8 pointer hunkered down next to a treetop. He let me walk by, but when I stuck the camera around the corner of the barn for a photo he made a hasty exit.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Campfire Cooking!
Here's some good info to file away in your memory! A cover for your skillet would be a great improvement to finish those biscuits evenly, but poor people have poor ways.
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Monday, November 25, 2024
Annual Christmas Song Festival: Christmas In Prison, John Prine, Live, and Studio!
This live version should start at the right place if I did this right. It is a little after 32 minutes on the video if I got it wrong. It isn't so much about prison, as it was meant to be about being in a situation or place you don't really want to be. Like blizzards coming at Thanksgiving comes to mind. I hope you all are prudent and safe this week! We traveled in a blizzard for Thanksgiving one year, and we don't plan on doing that again! Anyway, it's a good song!
Tuesday Torque: Not Every Antique Engine Is Hit and Miss
I think the Galloway is the only hit and miss in this short. Throttlers were also common, and I think all of the two strokes were throttlers. Many Thanks, Merle!
One of the Shellabarger brothers (I think it was Ralph.), of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa had an Eli Engine (Two stroke, reversible) that he showed at Old Threshers. It was for sale for $50 back in the mid-1960s, and of course I did not have that kind of money. I found one on YouTube, so you can get a little thrill. It is a throttler of course, being a two stroker.
Chainsaw Deer
The noise, the 2-stroke exhaust, the smell of freshly cut wood does not spook deer. It brings them to you. Have a friend run a saw while you slip out to your hunting location and you will see deer. These photos are from yesterday, with time stamps. I have more chainsaw tasks today, before the cold air drops on us.
Back To The Old Grind!
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Annual Christmas Song Festival! Handel's Messiah
We are just one month away from Christmas already, and here is the full 2 1/2 hours of Handel's Messiah, from Sydney, Australia to get things started. Open it on YouTube in a new tab and leave it up so you can come back to it easily.
Saturday, November 23, 2024
Backyard Buck
It is firearm deer season where we live and we have been very careful to leave the deer alone so they don't go out and get shot. The deer see our dogs out in the yard every day, and our activities around the house rarely cause any alarm.
Thursday, November 21, 2024
You Must Be Very Quiet?
This handsome buck along with a few other deer all were on camera a couple days ago. Forty-five minutes previously, Susan was on camera piloting the Grasshopper in what we hope is the final mowing this year. Firearm season starts Friday, November 22. Remember your camo, your scent killing spray, a see through deer blind, rattling antlers, grunt call, super-duper deer cartridges, etc. Or, just don't plod along like a human, go sit against a stump or tree, and don't wiggle around excessively. Ride in on a lawn mower or John Deere tractor if you really want the deer to come and check you out.
PS: One of our deer hunting tactics for friends going out in the afternoon is to crank up a chainsaw and let it idle at the house while they go to their hunting location. It works like a charm.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
One Of Our Old Landmark Trees...
...is falling apart. There is some ancient storm damage where the top spreads, so those big limbs are not anchored to the center. There is a hollow that squirrels will chew into for denning, then bees move in and run the squirrels out, then it grows shut again. Sort of amusing, and you have to observe for years to see it happen. It is a swamp white oak and is perfect for this upper glacial lakebed site.
Monday, November 18, 2024
Tuesday Torque: 1895 Motuer Millot
I don't know how you do it Merle. You keep finding new old things that I have never even heard of! Thank You!
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Weekend Steam II: Surprise Burrell
Thanks, Merle! Surprise Burrell is always a good channel to look at.
A Stack As Long As A House
We have been using the warm weather to get wood into the barn and under the eaves at the house. We have a stack five feet high covering most of the front now, nearly four cords of good wood. The blond wood on top of the stacks and in the back of the Kubota is from trees we planted in 1976. It's our normal!
There is always more to do. Back To The Old Grind!
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Out Strolling
I took a little walk in the woods at the farm today and the big old pin oak out back is really falling apart. It has dropped two widow makers in the tree to its left in this photo. There is plenty of dead wood on the ground. Don't stand around under trees in this condition...It is all going to be on the ground someday.
I wandered over to a hollow hickory that is used as a den tree. Don't reach in and feel around in hollow trees. You might shake hands with a wampus cat. It looks like a young raccoon, and it did not wish to be bothered.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Stump Analysis
We always examine our tree stumps and evaluate them for any mistakes, and to improve our tree cutting skills. This is the stump of the sweetgum we cut at the Carmi Rifle Club recently. I was asked a question about cutting trees and that stump is a good one for labeling and instruction. We do a five step plan for every tree. 1: Assess hazards 2: Assess forward/backward weight and lean, and side lean 3: Design front cut and hinge 4: Design your back cuts 5: Escape from the stump, preferably at 135 degrees to direction of fall.
The stump shows how steps 2, 3, and 4 go together. Click the photo to enlarge it.
And here is the tree going over, in case you missed the post about it.
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