Weekend Steam: Oregon Rail Heritage Center

 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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Still Looking For A Home

 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.

Here's Bandit getting a checkup at our Vet this week. He is looking a bit sleeker now. 

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.

Mike Venturino Collection and Wolf Ears Holsters

 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. 

Mike discussed Mexican Loop holsters in one of his articles, an authentic style of holster from the late 19th Century. He featured a couple from Wolf Ears Holsters, Stan Dolega, proprietor, of Laramie, Wyoming.  Stan builds his Mexican Loop holsters with a bit of belly between the two restraining straps, so the holster doesn't try to climb when you draw. It is an authentic design that was used in the 19th Century. Click the photo for Wolf Ears' website. 

The holsters are made to order, so there is a bit of lag time after ordering. Stan called to make sure the information I sent was correct, and provided an estimated time. Wyoming, and his shop was very cold at the time, and he was running behind, but the holster arrived in three weeks.  It is a perfect fit, and shows excellent workmanship. Click over to Stan's website and have a look around. 

Almost Spring,

 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. 

Tuesday Torque: Lister 4 Cylinder Startup

 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.

I Guess We Are Blessed!

 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...

Weekend Steam: Darjeeling Railroad

 Many Thanks, Merle! This would be a good trip!

An Inch Of Snow Can Make A Messy Road

 

You don't need much snow to make our roads impassable. A couple inches of light, dry snow, a bit of a breeze, and you better know your drifting spots or you will be stuck. The good news on our light snowfalls is that they have protected the wheat from the bitter cold that will go on through Thursday night. The wheat would survive it naked, but it really sets it back. The weather will be better soon! We Hope!

Tuesday Torque: Lindeman John Deere Crawler

 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. 

Winter Is Still Hanging On

 

We were down to about two week's worth of wood at the house, so we brought up wood from the barn to get through the coming snow and cold spell. I can hardly wait to get out in the woods and start making wood for next winter.

We are staying in except for walking dogs, and anxiously waiting to see what we get in precip tomorrow. Might get another two inches, or more, depending how the storm blows through, then the really cold air moves in. It's getting better next week, though. Most of this snow has dissipated in a couple days through sublimation. We are not really doing any Old Grind right now. It is good to be retired!

The pond re-froze last night, and the silly geese were out there cooling their heels on ice today. They took off about 3 P, and I bet they are pushing south ahead of the Arctic air coming in. 

The end of our 95 feet of stacked firewood!