Rust Revealed

 This McCormick tractor and baler were barely visible when I snapped a photo three years ago, and last year the shrubbery hid the tractor even deeper.

 Someone must have bugged the owner about selling the old iron, because it has now been freed from the multiflora rose.

 It was great to finally see these artifacts after driving by them for years.  The tractor would definitely be a challenging project for a collector.

 It will need lots of love to run again, and I bet it will be gone soon now that it is visible to passersby.

The Big Barn

 The Big Barn is one of the more obscure cultural oddities you have never heard about before.  The barn is in southeast White County, Illinois, a short distance from the Wabash River.

The Wabash River floods regularly, making agriculture difficult, even in our modern era with sophisticated machines.  The farmer who built this barn on stilts went to great lengths to build it above the floods.  Cement pillars hold it about fifteen feet in the air, and there was a ramp at both ends.  Give a thought to how it would have been built.  The holes for the pillars had to be dug by hand, and dug deep.  The cement would have been mixed on-site, and the process of mixing and pouring had to have gone on for days on end.

 I last saw this barn about nine years ago, and it was a solid structure yet at that time.  I didn't have a camera with me then, but I did last week when I was on a property next door.  Storms of recent years have really taken a toll on the old building.

 The runway through the center had double floor joists.  The lumber used for construction was not planed, and was probably sawed in the neighborhood from bottomland hardwoods.

 This aerial photo from 2005 shows that the roof was intact at that time.

The barn sits just south of the curve in the trail at the top of the photo.  This peninsula is an odd feature on the map.  It is lengthening to the south as the river deposits sediment.  Timber is growing on the undocumented land, and there are several acres that don't belong to anyone, although they are landlocked by the owner of this timber.  The river bank above and below this peninsula is collapsing a bit every year, making land disappear.  There isn't much you can do about it; rivers like to move around.  There are several landowners adjacent to the river who are planting trees, and that will eventually curb major changes during flood events.

UPDATE BONUS! A commenter sent me looking for more barns like this one, and I found two barns on Wabash Island (at the confluence of the Wabash River and the Ohio). These images from Google Earth are USDA photos shot in 2011. Note that the Ohio was flooding, and much of the island has water running over it.

Heavy Duty Work Ahead

Back To The Old Grind!

Double Your Pleasure!

Not My Victrola: An Exercise In Dialect

The famous entertainer Sir Harry Lauder sounds pretty Scottish to Americans, but one of the secrets of his success was toning down the Scottish words and accent so his audiences could understand what he was saying. EMGColonel has posted a rare gem; a narration of a Robert Service poem in dialect, performed by the Scottish elocutionist James Spence.  The Twa Jocks is a tale of daring on the Western Front by a couple of Laddies, and just so you might figure out what is going on, I am including the text of the poem for you.



The Twa Jocks

Says Bauldy MacGreegor frae Gleska tae Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye:    (frae-from)
"That's whit I hate maist aboot fechtin' -- it makes ye sae deevilish dry;    (maist-most)
Noo jist hae a keek at yon ferm-hoose them Gairmans are poundin' sae fine,  (hae-have, keek-peep)
Weel, think o' it, doon in the dunnie there's bottles and bottles o' wine.  (doon-down, dunnie-cellar)
A' hell's fairly belchin' oot yonner, but oh, lad, I'm ettlin' tae try. . . ." (ettlin'- intending, planning)
"If it's poose she'll be with ye whateffer," says Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye.  (poose-drink)
Says Bauldy MacGreegor frae Gleska: "Whit price fur a funeral wreath?
We're dodgin' a' kinds o' destruction, an' jist by the skin o' oor teeth.
Here, spread yersel oot on yer belly, and slither along in the glaur;  (glaur-mud)
Confoond ye, ye big Hielan' deevil! Ye don't realize there's a war.
Ye think that ye're back in Dunvegan, and herdin' the wee bits o' kye."  (kye-cows)
"She'll neffer trink wine in Dunfegan," says Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye.
Says Bauldy MacGreegor frae Gleska: "Thank goodness! the ferm-hoose at last;
There's no muckle left but the cellar, an' even that's vanishin' fast.   (muckle-much)
Look oot, there's the corpse o' a wumman, sair mangelt and deid by her lane.
Quick! Strike a match. . . . Whit did I tell ye! A hale bonny box o' shampane;
Jist knock the heid aff o' a bottle. . . . Haud on, mon, I'm hearing a cry. . . ."
"She'll think it's a wean that wass greetin'," says Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye.  (wean-child)
Says Bauldy MacGreegor frae Gleska: "Ma conscience! I'm hanged but yer richt.
It's yin o' thae waifs of the war-field, a' sobbin' and shakin' wi' fricht.
Wheesht noo, dear, we're no gaun tae hurt ye. We're takin' ye hame, my wee doo!
We've got tae get back wi' her, Hecky. Whit mercy we didna get fou!    (fou-tipsy)
We'll no touch a drap o' that likker -- that's hard, man, ye canna deny. . . ."
"It's the last thing she'll think o' denyin'," says Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye.
Says Bauldy MacGreegor frae Gleska: "If I should get struck frae the rear,   (frae-from)
Ye'll tak' and ye'll shield the wee lassie, and rin for the lines like a deer.    (rin-run)
God! Wis that the breenge o' a bullet? I'm thinkin' it's cracket ma spine.  (breenge-violent rush)
I'm doon on ma knees in the glabber; I'm fearin', auld man, I've got mine.   (glabber-mud, clay)
Here, quick! Pit yer erms roon the lassie. Noo, rin, lad! good luck and good-by. . . .
"Hoots, mon! it's ye baith she'll be takin'," says Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye.
Says Corporal Muckle frae Rannoch: "Is that no' a picture tae frame?
Twa sair woundit Jocks wi' a lassie jist like ma wee Jeannie at hame.
We're prood o' ye baith, ma brave heroes. We'll gie ye a medal, I think."
Says Bauldy MacGreegor frae Gleska: "I'd raither ye gied me a drink.
I'll no speak for Private MacCrimmon, but oh, mon, I'm perishin' dry. . . ."
"She'll wush that Loch Lefen wass whuskey," says Hecky MacCrimmon frae Skye.

by Robert Service; Ballads of a Bohemian, Book IV

e-Postal Reminder

You have this weekend and next to shoot and submit your April Target to JimmyB, The Conservative UAW Guy.  This will be a fun target for you to shoot, because you get to take a rest with your gun on the left side, but you have to shoot unsupported on the right side.  Dial those sights in fine before you shoot the contest so you can nail the spots.  Go over to JimmyB's for the rules, and to download the target.

Weekend Steam

Here's another gem from a family album.  After Lou married in 1912, she and her husband left the country to seek their fortune, and lived in East St. Louis for many years.  Lou or Will took this photo somewhere in the St. Louis vicinity in 1916.

Click to enlarge, study the boat, and then tell me about it in the comments.

Latest Ruger Releases Reviewed By GunBlast

The most basic gun needed in every home is a .22 rifle, and after you have one of those, the basic pistol you need is also a .22. These tools can be used for hunting, varmint control, home defense, and regular shooting practice at an economical cost. Ruger keeps on amazing us with new products, and they have really been teasing me lately with .22's that aggravate my gun itch. Here are some reviews by Jeff Quinn of GunBlast.com that show some of the current selection from Ruger



A walnut-stocked 10/22 has been part of our home for more years than I can remember, and Ruger has taken that design to a new level with their 10/22 Takedown model. According to the catalog it is a full pound lighter than a wood-stocked model. It would be perfect for those times that you want to take a .22 along with you on a road trip.



I have been thinking about moving up from the Single-Six to an automatic, and the new MkIII 22/45 Lite really got my attention. My Single-Six weighs 39 ounces, a Target MkIII is 40 ounces, a Target 22/45 is lighter at 32 ounces, but the new 22/45 Lite is just 22.8 ounces! You could pack that little bit of weight all day without it bothering you, and with a scope on top, it would make a good squirrel gun.



The latest version of Ruger's SP101 is an eight shot, adjustable sighted, stainless kit gun, weighing in at just 30 ounces. This would be a good choice, too, for a lightweight .22 that you could easily carry all day in the woods.



Ruger surprised everyone a few years back when they introduced the polymer framed LCR in .38 special. You can also buy that pocket pistol in .357 Magnum, which I think would require an extra tight grip, and now it is also offered as an eight shot .22 in the LCR22.

You can read Jeff Quinn's reviews on these guns and many more at his website, GunBlast.com.

Ruger is a generous supporter of the Gun Blogger Rendezvous and Project Valour-IT.

Saw Four Of These In One Hour

There I Was Without A Tripod

This flicker was way up in the top of a tall snag, and the only spot where I could see him had nothing to lean against. He talked a lot; pecked a little.

Gary Bahre Updates Us On The Titan Engine

 Gary Bahre dropped a line to us recently, and included some photos showing the progress on his IHC Titan engine.  He certainly has it looking like an engine again, and I think he will be able to show it off later this year.

An excerpt from his letter:  " The water pump is apart for a rebuild it will be done this coming week, the Titan being on the floor is  better to work on there, the casting's are back and in the machine shop. They should be here by mid June, check out the shop built muffler."  Wow!  The missing parts have been cast, and will soon be machined!  We will keep posting Gary's updates as he sends them, and we will shoot video when this engine is running.