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!

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.)

Annual Christmas Song Festival! Jingle Bell Rock, Brenda Lee

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. 

 

Annual Christmas Song Festival: It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Andy Williams

Annual Christmas Song Festival: Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley

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. 

Morning Light Show

 Coffee, warm fire, dogs at our feet and sitting beside us.

Annual Christmas Song Festival: Let It Snow, Dean Martin

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!

Annual Christmas Song Festival! O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Anna Hawkins, Filmed In Israel

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.

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.

Weekend Steam: We Are Going To Germany!

 Many Thanks, Merle! Sorry I am so late today.

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. 

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.

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!

 

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!

 

Weekend Steam: Samson Traction Engine Scale Models

 Beautiful, aren't they? Many Thanks, Merle!

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. 

Burglars Have Visited Again!

 What an aggravation!

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.

Tuesday Torque: Case 40-72 Cross Motor Tractor

 These were rare from the beginning, now there are only about five, and not all of them are running. Thank You, Merle, for spotting!

Robert Service Favorites For Armistice Day....

 Performed by Country Joe McDonald.

Plus, a bonus Robert W. Service poem for you to read.

The Odyssey of 'Erbert 'Iggins

 Me and Ed and a stretcher
 Out on the nootral ground.
 (If there's one dead corpse, I'll betcher
 There's a 'undred smellin' around.)
 Me and Eddie O'Brian,
 Both of the R. A. M. C.
 "It's a 'ell of a night
 For a soul to take flight,"
 As Eddie remarks to me.
 Me and Ed crawlin' 'omeward,
 Thinkin' our job is done,
 When sudden and clear,
 Wot do we 'ear:
 'Owl of a wounded 'Un.

 "Got to take 'im," snaps Eddy;
 "Got to take all we can.
 'E may be a Germ
 Wiv the 'eart of a worm,
 But, blarst 'im! ain't 'e a man?"
 So 'e sloshes out fixin' a dressin'
 ('E'd always a medical knack),
 When that wounded 'Un
 'E rolls to 'is gun,
 And 'e plugs me pal in the back.

 Now what would you do? I arst you.
 There was me slaughtered mate.
 There was that 'Un
 (I'd collered 'is gun),
 A-snarlin' 'is 'ymn of 'ate.
 Wot did I do?  'Ere, whisper . . .
 'E'd a shiny bald top to 'is 'ead,
 But when I got through,
 Between me and you,
 It was 'orrid and jaggy and red.

 "'Ang on like a limpet, Eddy.
 Thank Gord! you ain't dead after all."
 It's slow and it's sure and it's steady
 (Which is 'ard, for 'e's big and I'm small).
 The rockets are shootin' and shinin',
 It's rainin' a perishin' flood,
 The bullets are buzzin' and whinin',
 And I'm up to me stern in the mud.
 There's all kinds of 'owlin' and 'ootin';
 It's black as a bucket of tar;
 Oh, I'm doin' my bit,
 But I'm 'avin' a fit,
 And I wish I was 'ome wiv Mar.

 "Stick on like a plaster, Eddy.
 Old sport, you're a-slackin' your grip."
 Gord!  But I'm crocky already;
 My feet, 'ow they slither and slip!
 There goes the biff of a bullet.
 The Boches have got us for fair.
 Another one—WHUT!
 The son of a slut!
 'E managed to miss by a 'air.
 'Ow!  Wot was it jabbed at me shoulder?
 Gave it a dooce of a wrench.
 Is it Eddy or me
 Wot's a-bleedin' so free?
 Crust! but it's long to the trench.
 I ain't just as strong as a Sandow,
 And Ed ain't a flapper by far;
 I'm blamed if I understand 'ow
 We've managed to get where we are.
 But 'ere's for a bit of a breather.
 "Steady there, Ed, 'arf a mo'.
 Old pal, it's all right;
 It's a 'ell of a fight,
 But are we down-'earted?  No-o-o."

 Now war is a funny thing, ain't it?
 It's the rummiest sort of a go.
 For when it's most real,
 It's then that you feel
 You're a-watchin' a cinema show.
 'Ere's me wot's a barber's assistant.
 Hey, presto!  It's somewheres in France,
 And I'm 'ere in a pit
 Where a coal-box 'as 'it,
 And it's all like a giddy romance.
 The ruddy quick-firers are spittin',
 The 'eavies are bellowin' 'ate,
 And 'ere I am cashooly sittin',
 And 'oldin' the 'ead of me mate.
 Them gharstly green star-shells is beamin',
 'Ot shrapnel is poppin' like rain,
 And I'm sayin':  "Bert 'Iggins, you're dreamin',
 And you'll wake up in 'Ampstead again.
 You'll wake up and 'ear yourself sayin':
 'Would you like, sir, to 'ave a shampoo?'
 'Stead of sheddin' yer blood
 In the rain and the mud,
 Which is some'ow the right thing to do;
 Which is some'ow yer 'oary-eyed dooty,
 Wot you're doin' the best wot you can,
 For 'Ampstead and 'ome and beauty,
 And you've been and you've slaughtered a man.
 A feller wot punctured your partner;
 Oh, you 'ammered 'im 'ard on the 'ead,
 And you still see 'is eyes
 Starin' bang at the skies,
 And you ain't even sorry 'e's dead.
 But you wish you was back in your diggin's
 Asleep on your mouldy old stror.
 Oh, you're doin' yer bit, 'Erbert 'Iggins,
 But you ain't just enjoyin' the war."

 "'Ang on like a hoctopus, Eddy.
 It's us for the bomb-belt again.
 Except for the shrap
 Which 'as 'it me a tap,
 I'm feelin' as right as the rain.
 It's my silly old feet wot are slippin',
 It's as dark as a 'ogs'ead o' sin,
 But don't be oneasy, my pippin,
 I'm goin' to pilot you in.
 It's my silly old 'ead wot is reelin'.
 The bullets is buzzin' like bees.
 Me shoulder's red-'ot,
 And I'm bleedin' a lot,
 And me legs is on'inged at the knees.
 But we're staggerin' nearer and nearer.
 Just stick it, old sport, play the game.
 I make 'em out clearer and clearer,
 Our trenches a-snappin' with flame.
 Oh, we're stumblin' closer and closer.
 'Ang on there, lad!  Just one more try.
 Did you say:  Put you down?  Damn it, no, sir!
 I'll carry you in if I die.
 By cracky! old feller, they've seen us.
 They're sendin' out stretchers for two.
 Let's give 'em the hoorah between us
 ('Anged lucky we aren't booked through).
 My flipper is mashed to a jelly.
 A bullet 'as tickled your spleen.
 We've shed lots of gore
 And we're leakin' some more,
 But—wot a hoccasion it's been!
 Ho!  'Ere comes the rescuin' party.
 They're crawlin' out cautious and slow.
 Come!  Buck up and greet 'em, my 'earty,
 Shoulder to shoulder—so.
 They mustn't think we was down-'earted.
 Old pal, we was never down-'earted.
 If they arsts us if we was down-'earted
 We'll 'owl in their fyces:  'No-o-o!'"

Furbearer Season Is Here!

 It is time to deal with nest predators...

                                    Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: Derelict Road Rollers

 Merle spotted this photo on Rural Historia, on Facebook. It appears to be in the UK. Thank You, Merle!

Bob Deford And His Homebuilt Spitfire

 

Weekend Steam: Westinghouse Steam Engine At Rough And Tumble

 Great topic, Merle! I think we have never shown a video of a Westinghouse. Thank You!

Walking In The Rain

 I took a woods walk the other day when it was solid overcast with rain, and thoroughly enjoyed myself looking at trees. This little sugar maple seemed to be lit from within on a dreary day. The colors have been good this Fall.

Tuesday Torque: Two Stroke Exhaust Rhythm

 Merle sent the link for the Lanz Bulldog exhaust video. I always pause to listen to Bulldogs, but there are other two-strokes out there. Let's compare a few. Many Thanks, Merle!

Same Old, Same Old

I did a little chainsaw work today for our deer hunters, including a cull black cherry that endangered them in a prime location for hunting. I had a peaceful walk to spot trees that ought to be blocked up for firewood. One was a nice 10" diameter walnut that had the entire top knocked out by weather. Another is a recently fallen ash sawlog that will be prime firewood. This is prime time to make wood right now.  The weather is moderate and the ground is not muddy. Maybe we can get a few cords in the barn before we have snow. Back To The Old Grind!

 

Weekend Full Of Surprises

 Susan's weekend was a series of fine surprises. Her cousin Ann called Friday night to see if she was up for a trip into western Kentucky on Saturday for an event planned to honor a common ancestor.  I can handle the dogs by myself, so of course she went. The event was for a ceremony to honor Mandley Winstead, who was a Revolutionary War soldier, buried near Nebo, Kentucky in 1846. Susan and Ann's connection to Mandley is through his third wife, Amy, and that was close enough for the invitation.

The church was nearly full, with descendants from the area, and a small band of re-enactors for a little ceremony. 

Visiting the grave site involved some utility vehicles and a short hike.

Mandley Winstead's new marker, courtesy of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and the Hopkins County Genealogical Society. 

Here is a big surprise. This broken marker near Mandley's original stone still has decipherable dates, but the top is missing. Nearby is a footstone with the initials A W W. We looked up Amy Winstead's dates, and this is her headstone. Amy is a 5th great-grandmother to Susan, and a 6th to our son Zeke. This is a great, surprising bonus, having a grandmother we weren't even looking for to suddenly appear. Now we must maintain contact with the landowner for this little cemetery and plan a trip to find the top of Amy's stone. It probably is covered with soil nearby to what remains.

Book excerpt from: John S. Crow and Nancy W. Hutcheson of Mecklenburg County, Virginia and Hopkins County, Kentucky,  A Compilation of Collected Materials Pertaining to Their Ancestors, Their Lives, and Their Descendants, Assembled by Ann Austin Hecathorn, July 1992

Photos and video by Susan. 

Weekend Steam: Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad, Fish Camp, California

Many Thanks to Merle for this suggestion. This California logging railroad (West Side Lumber Company) was the home of Number 9 Shay that you can see at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa on the the Midwest Central Railroad. Number 9 moved to Iowa in 1966, and I have been a fan of Shay locomotives ever since. I doubt that I will make a trip to California, so I must travel vicariously via YouTube.