Day Lily Success!

Susan's day lilies have been hammered by deer every spring, but this year they are being left alone. I don't know why, because deer are in our yard on a daily basis. It is great seeing these old friends. 

 

 

Stop And Smell The Basswood Flowers!

Tuesday Torque: Rumely Oil Pull Details

 Have you ever noticed this on Oil Pulls? The big 30-60s are started from above by the operator pushing the flywheel clockwise with a leg. That always looked risky to me, but I guess it is OK. The smaller Oil Pulls are started from the ground by spinning the flywheel counter-clockwise, as in the following video. (Please don't grind the gears. Pull the clutch out, wait for the parts to stop spinning, and then engage the gears.)

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BONUS VID! Rumely Oil Pull Winch Tractor!

Stay Sharp!

 

                                    Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: Engine Rides

Scale model traction engine ride!  Thanks, Merle!

Going up the Animas River on Engine Number 476.

 

Driving A Cornish Bull Pumping Engine

 A short film showing the driver's platform of the Bull engine at Kew Bridge Steam Museum, as the engine is started, run and stopped. This engine is the only working example of a Bull type Cornish pumping engine in the World, and one of only four known examples surviving. The engine was manufactured and installed by the celebrated engine makers Harveys of Hayle, and has a seventy inch diameter bore and a stroke of about ten feet, with the cylinder positioned directly over the pump.

And here's another video of the same Bull Cornish Engine. Click the pic for the link to YouTube.

Keep Your Powder Dry!

 I dumped 150 .38 Special cases in the ultrasonic cleaner and ran it for two eight minute cycles.  After rinsing and shaking out water I dumped them on a cookie sheet to dry and found an unfired cartridge. Well, there is nothing you can do but knock it down. The surprise is that the powder was still dry!  It's good to know that a cartridge is fairly water resistant, but I won't be tempted to fire a cartridge that has taken a bath. Hangfires, squibs, and stuck bullets can wreck your day. 

Danger From Above

Another Nighttime Hunt Is Coming Up!

 

We have another nighttime hunt coming up. A second armadillo has invaded the compound, and it will be ejected!

Tipsy Mulberry

 This mulberry tree was a challenge. It was falling slowly, but was definitely going to block the driveway to the rifle range, and an event is coming up in a few days. This tree was situated on a creek bank, and to make the felling cuts I had to climb down and stand on exposed roots. You will see me clear the work area, then disappear to make the face and bore cuts. I released it from the back, and then we cleared the wood out of the road. This was a quick job, and with some difficulties because of the tree's placement. We got'er done, and made it home before dark. Many thanks to the club member who came to shoot and helped us clear the road!

Tuesday Torque: I Will Keep My Huskies!

 Thanks, Merle! I really like this one!

Rock Garden Fun!

 Our priorities have changed over the years. Susan had a great time building her rock garden, but it takes a lot of time and we have more important things to do. Gardening, wood cutting, grass mowing, and caring for Schipperkes keep us occupied and entertained. How on Earth did Susan move those big 'uns?

It's always something. Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: Shay Loco On Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad

 Many Thanks, Merle! You know we love a Shay!

Click Photo For Link

Weekend Steam: 0-6-0 On The Turntable

 Thanks, Merle!

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Gray, Drippy Morning

 

Model A, Not Even Stuck! Will It Fire Up?

 

Long Days = Let's Go To Pistol League!

 Now that days are longer we can go shoot a few rounds and be home before the light fails. One deer collision was enough for us. We try not to be driving at night.

Thinking About Going Into The Tree Trimming Business?

 Here's your ticket. You can get up in the tops of trees without a bucket truck now! You can pull this man-lift behind a one-ton-dually with a trailer, and the lift can go in places a two-ton bucket truck cannot go. You still would need a truck for collecting chips, plus a chipper. I was beyond impressed with this rig. I think you will be, too.

Tuesday Torque: Variety Engines Today!

 Nice ones, Merle. Thank You!

3 HP Australian Sunshine

Click for vid

Click for vid

The Trouble With Silver Maples....

 ....and also red maples to a lesser degree. 

Rot! Wounds send decay right into the tree where the light, soft wood rots away, leaving just a shell. There were three of these fresh stumps at the cemetery in Dahlgren when we visited today. These trees were on my radar because they were an obvious danger to tombstones, but there was no way I could handle them. The cemetery board had to hire a crew with a bucket truck and a chipper, so this job would have been north of two grand easily, unless the business owner was willing to make a large donation. These maples are also prone to running roots out of the ground, where they are wounded by lawnmowers. They are then infected with verticillium wilt, and you will see soft maples with large dead branches because of that. They die by degrees.  Don't plant soft maples where removal will be costly. Think of those folks fifty years from now. 

We Saw The Camel!

 We had company for five days and had a great time. Saturday we went south to the Shawnee National Forest and looked around at Garden of the Gods.  The weather was good and there was a crowd there, but they were all pleasant, and we did not fall off of any of the rocks. We stop way back from edges nowadays, and the sandstone rocks there are all rounded, and ready to deceive you into slipping over the cliff. We not only saw the camel, we met a very nice Belgian Shepherd named Mattox. Belgians are cousins to Schipperkes, with both originating from the Belgian Leauvenaar, a breed that is now extinct. Belgians have even more energy than a Schip and must work to be happy. 

Weekend Steam: First Passenger Train To Russell Springs, Kansas

First passenger train to Russell Springs, Kansas, July 4, 1911. Regular passenger service began August 1. The population of Russell Springs is now down to about 24 souls. Here is a website that makes this a worthwhile side trip if we ever go out through northwest Kansas.  Lots of little boom towns all over the country are disappearing. Look quick if you have some in your neighborhood.  CLICK

 

Struttin' For The Ladies!

 He survived five turkey seasons, with hunters on all sides of us!

Plant A Stark Brothers Apple Tree!

Get down at ground level and dig a good hole. Bust up clods. Plant the tree to the same depth it sat in the nursery. Trim circling roots. Gently pack your soil. Water in when you are finished. A little extra on top is good because the soil will settle.

Tuesday Torque II: Rumely 60 HP Oil Pull

 

Click For The Video Link! Thank You, Merle!

A bit more Rumely Oil Pull action!

Tuesday Torque: Big, But AI Fiction

 Thanks, Merle! This one boggles the mind, then you see the tracks doing odd things and a man appearing from the track. It is a robot manipulated image.

Maybe I Should Have Been A Railroad Man...

 

Back To The Old Grind!

Model A To Model A

 

Catalpa, Underloved Landscape Tree

 

Catalpa performs this show every year without fail, is able to grow on nearly any site, is long lived (100 plus years), and generally remains sound enough to stand up to ice and storms. It does all those things, plus it has a talent for developing cavities which make excellent dens for wildlife. Our catalpa grove is a haven for migrating songbirds on wintry evenings. It is thrilling to watch the travelers wing in at dusk as they seek shelter for the night. Catalpa seed pods open in winter and drop seed on snow cover, providing valuable food to birds. I am baffled by the lack of respect for this wonderful tree. Oh, the wood is beautiful, too.

(Repost from 2008) 

Weekend Steam: Darjeeling Himalayan Railway

Merle is taking us to the other side of the World this week. 88 degrees east, and here in Southern Illinois we are 88 degrees west. It's rough country, up in the Himalayas. Thank You for the pick, Merle!

Model T Sat For 75 Years. Will It Run?

 This fellow has some serious shade tree skills!

Long Term Lyme Disease Damage, Listen Up!

 Susan is on Doxycycline right now for a fresh Lyme disease bullseye. We have had many over the years and are not bashful asking for timely treatment. It destroyed the joints in our little Schipperke Lisa, and it can do much more. After listening to this video I have to rethink my Grandmother Orpha's end. She had Bell's palsy when I was in high school, and she developed dementia when I was in college. It killed her slowly over a ten year period. We called it Alzheimers then, but I wonder if it was Lyme.

There are many tick-borne diseases. Become familiar with them, and keep a few Tick Twisters on hand to pull ticks immediately. 

Tuesday Torque: Antique Steam and Tractor Show, Manhattan, Illinois

 Thanks, Merle. I would love to have that Atlas tractor!

Vicarious Vacationing!

You have to go to Hawaii to see this vintage coffee grinder!

 Back To The Old Grind!  Many Thanks to Gary Bahre!

Proud Mothers!

 

Our first nesting pair of geese that showed off their goslings had five, then a few days later they were down to one, and then none. Coyotes, raccoons, bobcats, and snapping turtles are all suspects to that tragedy, but yesterday we had three sets of parents showing off their babies in our back yard.

Hallmark Holiday Have-To-Hear

 

Weekend Steam II: Ford's Hybrid Gas/Steam Engine

Weekend Steam: Barking Locomotives!

 

Bird Behavior

I have seen turkey vultures spread their wings to soak up sun, but this is the first time I have watched one take a shower bath. He enjoyed the light rain this morning for several rotations.

 

It Burns The Eyes

 We had an unpleasant surprise while we unloaded the car after a trip to St. Louis today. A crop duster made application on the wheat field just to our south, and drifting pesticide rolled over us. I have to chase down the contractor and find out what was applied. It is usually a cocktail of products, all with their own cautions. Our trees are already looking screwy from other herbicide applications around us. 

UPDATE: It was a fungicide (probably with an insecticide) plus Serpent, a pyrethroid insecticide, with Danger label, which is the highest caution level on pesticides.   Don't stand around downwind of aerial applications on wheat!

"Exposure to Lambda-cyhalothrin poses both acute and chronic risks. Acute effects include skin and eye irritation, non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema, cardiovascular toxicity, coma, convulsions, and severe muscle fasciculation. There is no antidote for pyrethrin or pyrethroid poisoning."

It Isn't Safe

 Coyotes, bobcats, and raccoons stalk through the nights. Two days ago we had five goslings with our yard geese. Yesterday there was one. Today, none.

Tuesday Torque: World's Largest Dozer

 Courtesy of Merle. Thank You, Sir!

Women On Target, May 3 2025

 

Saturday, May 3 was our annual Women On Target event at the Carmi Rifle Club, with 18 participants. The first part of the day is a safety and basic instruction meeting, and then the rest of the day is spent shooting a variety of guns and indoor and outdoor ranges.  Every shooter has a Range Safety Officer to supervise and to help.

The above target was a thrill. The lady who shot it was nervous when we switched to a scoring target, so I spent extra time with her on stances and trigger pull. She shot with the Taco Grip, at 30 feet and put all ten shots in the ten ring. Pretty remarkable for a new shooter. 

Things normally start breaking up between 2 and 3 o'clock, but we had heavy rain with no wind, and the roof over the firing line kept us dry. Nobody wanted to go out in the rain to get in their car, so we kept shooting 'till 4.  I was running one of the .22 rifle stations and had a good time coaching ladies to hit clay pigeons on the 100 yard berm. One lady hit four in row, her first time shooting a .22 rifle. Another challenging target is a rack of 3/4" suckers at 50 feet.  Most new shooters have trouble hitting them, but some could break one after another.

Weekend Steam II: Hollycombe Steam

Weekend Steam: Reeves 40-140

 You have to go to Iowa to see this beast. I have seen it in person many years ago. The soil is sandy where this show is held. Bad for the gears on old tractors and traction engines.

Minor Aggravation

Susan and I went over to the neighbor yesterday to finish our storm cleanup for her. On one of the loads in the RTV I had a malfunction. I backed into the brush pile, pulled the lever to dump the bed, and the RTV would only grunt. The bed would not go up, but the hydraulic pump was straining.  We finished by unloading by hand a few times, and I looked over our little buggy after we were home. Something in the brush pile had poked into the space between that spring shackle and the hydraulic fitting, popping the male hydraulic hose end loose. It was about as simple a fix you will ever get. The little buggy is whole again. 

 

Auctions, Snooze, You Lose!

 Aumann just finished their annual Pre-30 tractor auction yesterday. I think they may have set a record. The 40-70 Imperial tractor went for $959,500! It went up by $150,000 during the last two hours.

PS, Steam engines are becoming bargains! Check out the price of the 65 HP Case vs the gas tractors.

It's Not Raining Rain, You Know, It's Raining Violets! Yeah, Sure!

 April 29 we had some strong thunderstorms blow through. We had tree damage, and around us there were trees blocking roads, damage to outbuildings, and minor flash flooding. We just have a bit of chainsaw work to do, but no real emergencies. We are going to a neighbor this morning to clean up limbs in her yard. Our old owl tree really was taken down a notch, but it will survive, for a while anyway.

Tuesday Torque II: It Looks Hopeless...

 ...but he makes it run, sort of. I don't think the rest of this 1927 truck can be resurrected.

All that ether makes me cringe. It dries out any lube in the upper cylinder. It is much easier on engines to prime with two-stroke mix so your rings have a bit of oil on them.

Tuesday Torque: New Mag On 3 HP Hercules

 It's a joy when a repair works right away. Thanks, Merle!

One Hundred Sixty Years Ago...

 

They Are Beautiful!

 Fly north, have babies, fly south.

Fly north, Back To The Old Grind!

Rock Crawling In A 100 Year Old Model T

 

Weekend Steam: Shovels!

Thanks, Merle! You know I love steam shovels!

And...They're Gone!

 

Sunday was stormy, not a good day to be outside. I went out to walk one of the dogs and he zeroed in on an owlet that had bailed out of the hickory. No damage, but the little bird was tee-totally soaked. I made a call to a wildlife biologist and discussed options. Mama Owl was watching, so touching the little owl was out of the question. 

We decided to set a folding table up over the little critter to keep the rain off of it. In a few hours it was dry.

We thought there were two little ones up there, but we soon found that there were three! The others popped out of the den when the rain slacked off and both went up in the tree. 

They stayed up there through the night and disappeared Monday morning. 

Mama kept close tabs on us. You have to respect those talons! Don't alarm Mama. 

Our last look at the precocious one. They will stay with their parents out in the timber, learning how to be big owls. I saw Mama again today when I  went out to the north barn, so I know the babies are close. It has been an adventure.