Crankin' It Up: Bird Count Bonus!

In honor of Illinois' annual Bird Count today, and for your gratification, we are posting another novelty record which celebrates our feathered friends.

Not My Victrola

This is a very good quality rendition of "The Glowworm" made from a 1909 cylinder recording.

Weekend Steam

From the pages of the April 1967 Engineers and Engines Magazine is a page reprinted from an old catalog. The purpose of the upper engine can be deduced by reading the fine print: "Capacity ample to supply 150 horse power Boiler." This engine is a feed water pump to supply a boiler.

The lower engine's purpose is more obvious; it is a hoisting engine. This type of engine is educational by virtue of the very visible reversing gear. You can see an engine similar to this one in operation at Midwest Old Threshers.

Nice While It Lasted

Dogwoods have been in bloom for a week now, and today's heavy rains will pretty well finish off this spring's show. We should have lots of colorful fruit next fall.

Out Back

Susan bagged this beauty during our outing on Sunday.

Last Day of Turkey Season

Our friends Bill and Troy hunted on our farm for two of Illinois' five turkey seasons this year. I thought they were going to be skunked, but they both connected on the last day posssible. Congratulations!

Extreme Wedging

Here is a very nice video from chainsaw safety instructor Tim Ard, which demonstrates the use of mutiple wedges to lift a large tree. Multiple wedges share large loads, making it possible for you to tip heavy loads over center. Be sure and note how he stacks two wedges for extra lift. You can learn more about chainsaw techniques at Tim's website: http://forestapps.com/

Monday Again!

Back to the old grind!

Not My Victrola

Poets' Corner

LOVELIEST OF TREES

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

A. E. Housman

Weekend Steam

Here is a very nice threshing scene from the November-December 1957 issue of The Iron-Men Album.

Crankin' It Up

Henry Burr was a prolific artist in the early days of recorded music, and there are many discs in our record cabinet with his name. When My Baby Smiles is a very pleasant little love song by Irving Berlin, and I think you will enjoy it.

WHEN MY BABY SMILES
(Irving Berlin, 1919)
I don't care if the weather's fair or if skies are gray,
I don't frown when the rain comes down on a rainy day;
It may storm and thunder for the longest while
Still I'll say it's a lovely day,
When I see my baby smile.

I don't brood when the price of food goes away up high,
Didn't mind when I woke to find, that the town went dry;
Let the skies be cloudy for the longest while
Blue or gray, everythings O.K.
When I see my baby smile.

When my baby smiles at me
Oh what a beautiful day
All my troubles go hurrying by
Just like bubbles they fly to the sky,
And I never ask the weather man
Whether it's fair or warmer
Rain or shine the weather's fine when my baby smiles.