We got it out of the pond before it rose, and that is a good thing. I will buck this log tomorrow, and then we can finish splitting. After that we will be loading brush and baldcypress segments that we will not be burning. The ground is still holding up well, so we are pushing to finish before it turns into a muddy mess.
I bought a belly band holster to try out, and these are my thoughts after trying it with various pistols. Leave your thoughts in the Comments. Re-holstering is my greatest concern. Don't blow your leg off!
Truly Historic, Merle! We are really glad you spotted this one!
We are making firewood from the trees cleared along the power line right of way. The old 272 still runs like new at 30 years old.
I couldn't get out and shoot today, so I am cheating and sharing a video from Tim Sundles of Buffalo Bore Ammunition. Tim and his wife have been busily posting regularly, and they share a lot of good knowledge. Check out his YouTube channel and enjoy. Here is one from his series on .38 Special and .357 Magnum with a good black bear story.
Here are a couple of nice videos that Merle spotted for us. One embeds, the other I have to link. I love quirky engine stuff, the older the better. Thank You, Merle!
London To Brighton Veteran Note the glass carburetor bowl!
Tractors, old cars, guns...Who has not been here?
...One has gone to Kentucky, one has left for Wisconsin, leaving Cole and Colby needing homes, plus the adults, Bella, Stella, Lyra, Sophie, and Atlas. We are making progress, it just is slow. Back To The Old Grind!
Dusty bagged his second buck for this Fall. It's a nice, mature boy with an eleven point rack.
Westinghouse engines are fascinating because of their age, and they were made before builders settled on designs that worked for traction engines. Henry Ford went to work as a technician for Westinghouse in 1882 while he was a teenager. That experience had to have been a large influence as he entered the automobile manufacturing world. Many Thanks, Merle, for spotting!
Waiting For The Robert E. Lee is a great song, written in 1912 (Lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert, Music by Lewis F. Muir), and recorded by numerous musical stars. Al Jolson recorded it in 1912, and then again in the 40s. There is a problem, though. The Robert E. Lee was a steamboat that worked on the Mississippi. The song places you in Alabama. Steamboats did work in Alabama, but the Mississippi does not go there! Oh Well, it is still a good song, and folks will probably be singing it for another 100 years.
I re-installed the scope on the new Ruger after a class, and after checking the trajectory out to 50 yards I have decided to crank it down a bit so it is slightly low at 50 feet to have a longer point blank range for yard varmints. Trajectory is fascinating stuff.
I apologize for missing last week. We have been extra busy lately. Today we had contractors in the basement doing cement work, but I was able to head out behind the barn to finish this little project. I have one in the hopper for next week already!
Merle, I have loved these Averys since 1965 when I saw one in my Iron Men Album Magazine! Many Thanks!
Here's the photo I remember from 1965.
We use our tractor nearly every day. It mows, it bush-hogs, it tills, carries brush, pushes trees, and carries wood. I remind myself every time I climb on that tractors are always trying to kill you. The wide front end models aren't as bad as tricycles, but they can all smash you in a heartbeat.
I have seen small-time loggers use tractors as skidders, and it is not pretty. They would hook over the rear axle so it lifts the front end of a log when they pull, and the front wheels typically will come off the ground so the driver steers with his brakes. It's dangerous as can be, and I don't know how any of them survived doing that. If you are going to pull logs with a tractor, hook it from the drawbar. Get a logging arch or a sled for the front of the log. Stay alive.
Back To The Old Grind!
Number 9 Shay came to Mt. Pleasant from California in 1966. Stan Mathews was a real hero in establishing the Midwest Central, and accumulating rolling stock. Back then, you could buy a share in the railroad for $10, and that got you a lifetime pass. It was a good fundraising scheme, and I still have my pass in case I go to the show again someday. Merle sent a link to a new-to-me channel with some videos at Mt. Pleasant. Thank You, Merle!
My first ride after buying the pass was in the cab of Number 9.
Susan and I were out in the back yard with three dogs, (Yappy Dogs!)plus a friend who had come by to visit, and he has an outdoor voice. We were out there visiting and watching the dogs when two bucks showed up and postured around each other for several minutes. I was able to get this one videoed with my phone before he turned around and went across the dam. I am guessing those two had already had a good tussle and didn't really want to do it again. I hope they can stay hidden, because we have crossbow hunters all around us again this Fall.
...but worth the wait! Many Thanks, Merle! We had company four of the last five days, plus dog things going on.
Monday, November 10, 2025, the Marine Corp will be 250 years old. Fifty years ago in 1975 the Marines planted trees with school kids around the country to commemorate their bi-centennial. I was involved with their project at Pikeville, Kentucky. You can see that tree project on Google Earth today! There are white pines on the point behind Pikeville Elementary School visible in the aerial photo and the drive-by on Google Earth. I would love to go up there and see how those trees are doing. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them.)
I nearly gave up on iron sights for a while. Cataracts made using irons nearly impossible, and driving was difficult, and dangerous at night with bright lights causing trouble. I tried several red dot sights, and traditional scopes on pistols, and found that Bill Llewellyn's Bullseye ghost ring sight blades worked well on my Ruger pistols. I had my lens implants done in 2016 and can shoot with irons again, but I had a minor panic attack lately when I realized that Billll's Idle Mind blog no longer listed Billll's Bullseye sights. I got in touch with him and he still had some, so I bought four. They are pretty darn useful in pistol shooting, but you do need to change your technique a bit to get the most benefit.
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We saw this neat little golf course tractor over at Boonville, Indiana recently. Adding rubber tires might be a sacrilege, but then it wouldn't wake the neighbors when you go for a midnight jaunt.
Back To The Old Grind!
We think this river birch was struck by lightning. It has a large dead area where the bark is falling off, and the crown has been receding for a few years. We got it on the ground and bucked up, ready to split for firewood.
The fall colors ease us into the dark time of year, but the rain and cold remind us what comes next. The stoves offer necessary comfort. We fired up the basement stove yesterday.
All the above are courtesy of our video spotter, Merle. Many Thanks, Merle! Below is a Vice Grip Garage video that popped up while I was grabbing the embeds for this post. Stuck engines, rodent-eaten wiring, brake pedals falling to the floor, none of that stops this guy.
I remember seeing this road locomotive by Coonrod when I started attending Old Threshers regularly in 1965. Mr. Coonrod was in the construction business, with cranes, heavy duty truck transporters, and etc. He was instrumental in moving engines to Mt. Pleasant to be installed in the stationary steam building. He tragically was killed on icy roads one winter when travelling to Mt. Pleasant for a board meeting of Old Threshers. Thanks for the link, Merle! (PS...While reminiscing one time about past acquaintances, a royal smart person asked, "Does everyone you know die?" Hmmm. Looks like that might be.)
Al Jolson passed away 75 years ago. He was known as The World's Greatest Entertainer for his music, Broadway shows, silent movies, and being in the first talkie. He was performing before microphones, and his voice could fill a hall, reaching all the way to the back rows. His most well known songs came from the acoustic recording era, and his career waned quickly when microphones came on the scene. Crooners took over the popular music scene, but he made a comeback in the Forties with electrical recordings. His final gig was in 1950 when he went to Korea to entertain troops. He died of a heart attack shortly after returning to the states.
I get nervous seeing engines revved up when they aren't tied down... I love the sound of the old rotary aircraft engines. It looks like a Curtiss Jenny in the background, and I would love to hear the engine on that one. I have met the De La Vergne engine at Rollag! Thanks, Merle!
I shot this video at Rollag three years ago and it has only 150 views, so you probably missed it. If you remember it, Thank You for viewing!
Back To The Old Grind!
Eric Janssen's Schipperke Saartje passed away two years ago. It was a shock to fans around the world, and I still miss her when I look at Schipperke pages on Facebook. Eric has since closed his page on Facebook. Saartje and Eric are based at Arnhem, Netherlands, and travelled the waterways of Europe giving their fans glimpses of an idyllic life for a barge dog. The photos below are from Eric's Facebook page.
We had a triple stem river birch on the pond bank, and only one stem was leaning into the yard. The other two were heavy to the pond. The water is low from the dry weather, so we took that opportunity to take down this problem tree. The second video is just the exciting part.
I gotta say WOW for this one! These old steam pumpers are rare, and few are operable. This one looks like it is ready to go back to work. Many thanks to Merle for spotting this video.
It looks like everyone wants to become acquainted with the groundhog. This critter is across the pond from our house, about 200 yards, but the den is easy to see from our dog yard. I was expecting an armadillo, so the whistle-pig is a bit of a relief. The digging is mostly done, and the industrious rodent is busy bringing bedding in for the winter. I think I will leave this critter alone, and go after the armadillo in the barn.
Our farmer finished up the soybeans last week and Susan rode along for a few passes in the big combine. It's a big thrill for both of us. She had a birthday last week and we celebrated by going to the Fall show at Boonville. It was a great week.
This beauty of a two-stroke engine was at Boonville, Indiana for the Fall show. It began life as a steam engine in the late 19th Century, and was converted to an internal combustion engine.
We had a gorgeous day at Boonville, with a big crowd and lots of engines. This shell and grind setup was really great to watch. It took a while to start the old hit-and-miss, but it ran well once they got it going.
Back To The Old Grind!
The annual Fall show is this weekend, so hit the road to Boonville, Indiana!
Groundhogs are a family meal sized squirrel that should get more respect. They hang onto life, and a heart-shot groundhog can often make it back into his hole. They are challenging game because they are extremely wary and will alarm at greater distances than most deer. Groundhogs replaced squirrel hunting for me because of the challenge of hunting them in the woods, and because you get much more meat for your effort. One groundhog makes a meal, plus leftover meat for sandwiches for two people. I recommend that you don't use a .22 Long Rifle, but a centerfire instead, because you want the groundhog to go down quickly. Center on the heart or just over the heart for most shots. Use a ground blind at close range, or lie down behind cover with the groundhog hole in good view. Get in position early, be quiet, do not smoke. The hog will smell you! Here are the typical postures you will see when hunting groundhogs. Go left to right, top row, then bottom row.
2) Quartering to you. Place the bullet where the neck meets the shoulder, sending the bullet through the top of the heart and out the offside lung. Quartering away, go through from the back of the ribcage and out the opposite shoulder.
3) Sideways to you, the heart is behind the shoulder and front leg. Go through the shoulder, midway up the body, or in the ear.
4) Standing, turned slightly, go inside the near shoulder.
5) Standing, straight on, go for the top of the heart.
6) On the ground, face to you, do the head shot. This one was just off center on the right side of his nose.
Some groundhog fans eat the brains. Aim accordingly....
If your groundhog gets back in his hole, find a length of old barbed wire or a greenbriar, and run it down into the hole while you keep it rotating. When it contacts the dead hog, keep twisting and then pull your groundhog out. Yes, this method really works!
Good One, Merle! Thank You!
Plus, A Bulldog workout! Note to tractor novices: Do not pull loads drawbar to front end. Hook that chain back to the drawbar on the tractor you are pulling. Look at tractor disasters on YouTube. Tractors can be pulled in two, and it happens often on the YouTube!
As Fall progresses be on the lookout for red wasp nests hidden around your domicile. These colonies produce a bunch of queens who will overwinter and start new colonies in the Spring. They are looking for cozy homes for Winter, and will even try to go into your pants pockets! They are hungry and ill-tempered right before frost, so deal with them forcefully or leave them alone. They will try to get into your house, so act accordingly.
We are busy getting ready for Winter. We pulled tomato cages today and have many posts to pull out of the garden, then cutting, cleaning up cardboard, and burning. I noted that there was a lot of bird spatter on the pepper plants. Susan said it is from hummingbirds feeding on the pepper flowers. That is a good reason to keep your pepper plants going until a killing frost! Back To The Old Grind!
These are new engines, built with Stutzman boilers in Ohio. They are serialed with numbers following the original Advance serial numbers. The neatest thing about having an engine like this is that you don't need a semi to move it. A heavy duty trailer and pickup truck will handle one of these just fine. They have some improvements from the originals, so they produce more than the advertised 6 horses.
The clouds have been remarkable this year, and they keep on giving. This was the show coming back from the farm this evening.
Goldenrod, boneset and ironweed put on a pretty show, and monarchs are leaving the milkweed patches for the sunny south, and soon it will be winter. Thank goodness for the wood stoves. They keep our spirits up through the dark time. Anyway, here is our annual visit to the goldenrod patch!
Everyone who carries has probably heard the advice to practice a bit with their carry ammo, with the firearms that you will be carrying. Rotating ammo is a good idea, too, so none of your ammo dies from old age and gun oil. I recently tried some Federal Punch .22 Long Rifle ammo in my Ruger LCP II. The little LCP II slips in and out of a pocket easily, so I often have it with me. These little guns can dry out quickly in a pocket, so you must clean and lube them regularly to keep them running. Mine runs great on CCI Mini Mags and Stingers. During practice sessions I also feed it Remington Thunderbolts, Golden Bullets, and various Federal long rifle rounds. The LCP is broken in and it runs reliably....
...until I tried Federal Punch .22 LR. The punch ammo, which runs fine in my Mk III and Mk IV pistols and 10/22s will not cycle in the LCP. I had to manually extract nearly every fired case. It took a bit of looking and figuring, but what I see is that the Punch cases are not just crimped into a groove of the bullets, the case mouth is ironed in and is thinned down in the process. Federal must be using a rotating crimping tool to make the crimp hold extra firmly. That ironed-down case mouth is then folding out so it drags in the chamber. Even more odd, the LCP II chamber is tighter than the chambers of my Mk Pistols. A fired case from the Mks will not fit into the chamber of the LCP. It is an unexpected problem, but one I can live with because Punch works fine in other firearms. Check out the photos and you can see what is happening. I plan to shoot a bit of video tomorrow, so check back and see if the problem repeats on camera for us!
