Here's another great place to visit that I will never see in person. Merle keeps us in vicarious travel mode. Thank You, Merle!
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We still have foster Schipperkes waiting for someone to adopt them. I think the rotten winter weather has inhibited people, and we are hoping that some good applications come in soon.
Bandit, the 14 year old boy has his weight down from 20.2 when he arrived to 17.5. He is getting around much better, and we should be getting another pound off of him. He loves to lie on the couch in front of the stove down in the basement.
Sophie is definitely ready to move on to a permanent home. We have had her and Atlas for nearly a year now, and they will both be good companions for someone. Atlas is not a lap dog, preferring to stay by your feet, but Sophie will gladly get in a chair with you. That is Sophie looking at the camera. Vinnie and Mina are crawling all over Susan, and Teddy is wishing he had the chair to himself.
Firearm enthusiasts were all saddened last year when Mike Venturino passed away. A collection of his columns for American Handgunner was published, and I ordered one right away. It is a great collection with many years of Mike's knowledge in his postings. Click the photo if you wish to get a copy for yourself, or for friends and family.
and we are getting out a bit now! We went over to do some chainsawing for friends at Enfield. A tree in their yard went into their pond when our ice storm hit. They sent a photo of their problem, and it was a much smaller problem than our black oak that was in the pond. We were able to punch holes for chaining up and then winched it out, cutting off wood, and repeating, until it was all up on the bank. Two hours and we were done. It felt good to be out doing something constructive.
Watch carefully how he does it. He hits the compression relief for all four cylinders, gets the engine spinning, then takes the compression relief off of one cylinder. The engine starts on one, and then he quickly takes the compression relief off the rest of the cylinders. Many Thanks, Merle! Click the photo to go to the video.
This barn is a wildlife refuge. We weren't looking to get armadillos, but now we have 'em. No, we are not going to have a variety-meat barbecue! I never go to the barn without a .22 in hand...
You gotta love Lindemans! They are out there, but sufficiently rare to grab your attention. One of the tree planting contractors in my district used one for tree planting for several years. It had plenty of power to pull a single row tree planter, and it never got stuck planting in soft ground. He eventually retired it and planted with a rubber tired Johny Popper. Spring planting tree seedlings has to be done early. We often started in February, so getting stuck was always a possibility. A common tactic was to install duals on a two wheel drive tractor with the outer tires smaller in diameter than the inner tires. You could go down the road without handling problems, but when the tractor began settling into a soft spot, the outer tires would pull you through. If you don't have a crawler, the two-sized duals worked well for tree planting. Anyway, here's a Lindeman! Thank You, Merle for spotting this beauty.
The weather is not fit to work outdoors, so grab a cup of coffee and go to New Mexico with us!
The Groundhog got us all! Yesterday we had heavy rain and flash flooding. The state highway down to the county seat was closed, and someone wrecked in the water, either not paying attention or pushing their luck. Our township gravel to the farm was running like a creek, but you can drive it if you go easy. There aren't any culvert crossings in that stretch, so it is safe for the locals who know it. About midnight the rain blew out and snow came in, a couple of inches. This morning the cold air is streaming in, and it will be cold for a week. We are going to the barn to bring up more wood...
John Reynolds, well known steam engineer at the Antique Steam and Gas Engine Club, passed away February 12. We have admired John and his family's Kitten engine for many years, and we will miss him. Click the photo of him firing the engine for the link to his obituary.
Dogs have been running the neighborhood, and the deer are not loitering as they usually do. This group had three six-pointers, and another buck that had shed one antler. I hoped to get a good photo, but they were running before I opened the door. The deer understand our dog yard and they don't spook at the Schips.
Wow, Merle, this video is getting the hate on YouTube. My brother and I were both driving tractors when we were that age. Dad had me pulling wagons in, and pulling a side delivery hay rake. I have seen many kids driving farm trucks long before they could get a driver's license. That's what farm kids do.
It is time to update/renew our forestry plans, which are needed in Illinois so the assessor doesn't class our forest as residential. I wrote plans constantly for many years, and each requires maps of the boundaries, stands, and soils. Since retiring I have written no plans for a couple of reasons. There are some darn good consultants in our county, and I don't wish to compete with them. Their efforts over the years made my life much easier, doing tree plantings, harvest markings, and timber stand improvement for my landowners. The other reason is that I figure my replacement doesn't need the landowners saying, "Johnson said to do it this way!" So I have stayed out of the way, except for Arbor Day festivities with school kids. Anyhow, I now have my maps fixed up, and I am ready to write up the inventories, descriptions, and recommendations for the next ten years.
A country girl, you know, is just like a Ford
They're not so stylish, but for service, Oh Lord!
Anniversary Day Today! One year ago we went nearly total carnivore. We gave up bread, crackers, peanut butter, potatoes, and all those other carbs. I am back to 155 pounds, the same as I weighed in 1974. We will break over just a bit when we are out with friends, or feeding company. The only hard part was the peanut butter, but I have been clean for a year now, and 50 pounds lighter.
John Dolbeer invented the steam donkey in California in 1881. This was the beginning of mechanization in the logging industry. The first ones dragged logs through the woods, but they were soon used for lifting logs, too. Fifty years ago, forestry teachers were singing the praises of the Dolbeer Donkey, and I bet they still do today. Here are a few videos showing old steam donkeys in operation. Many Thanks to Merle for bringing up this topic!
