Weekend Steam: Train Whistle Blues

Uploaded by billbilladaada

We Didn't Have Enough To Do...

...so we signed up to be foster parents for wayward Schipperkes. A few days later, Junior moved in with us. He is a ten-year-old Schip whose family had to move and couldn't take him. He was in an animal shelter when he was rescued, so we have kept him isolated from the other pets for ten days, just in case he picked up any bugs in the shelter. He is being introduced to the cats and dogs now, and he is very good-natured. He likes cats and wants to get along with the dogs, but the other Schips don't want to get along with him. No fights, though.

He is a big Schip, and looks and acts much like our first Schip, Merky, who we got as a pup in 1976. We might fail as foster parents and want to keep this boy.

Valentine Countdown: R.I.P., Kitty

Uploaded by Teddyb1939.

Valentine's Day Is Coming!

Our month of Christmas music was quite successful. Our readership on this little blog did not fall off while we put up a new record every day, and that is just about as good as it gets on True Blue Sam. We had so much fun choosing songs for you we are going to do it again for Valentine's Day. We will have happy, sad and hopeful songs, and vary the selections over several decades so you will have a good surprise every day.  We are starting out with a George M. Cohan song that was a big hit on the Edison label. Nellie Kelly, I Love You. Uploaded by AgesAgoMusic08.

Crankin' It Up With Brat The Cat: Dusky Stevedore, by...

Irving Kaufman. I pulled this one out of a filing cabinet on January 3 and Brat and I put it in the hopper. While I was looking up information I discovered that January 3, 2016 was the fortieth anniversary of Irving Kaufman's passing. He was a real trooper with an impressive career in show business and the recording world. This record was cut in 1928, but even though we were into the elecrical recording era, the Vaudevillian heart of Irving comes through. You don't have to shout on the stage, you just have to be heard and understood in the back row of the theater.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Light Foundation

Ruger's auction this week is a 1990, NIB 9mm P85 Decocker. This is a gun to use, not to put away in the safe, so you might have a chance to place the winning bid. This pistol will sell mid-day, Wednesday, January 6, 2016. 100% of the proceeds of this auction will go to benefit the Light Foundation. Click Here to read all about it and to place the winning  bid.  $636

Tuesday Turbo Boost: Soldier's Joy

Earl Scruggs and Jon McCuen performing live:

Uploaded by Roy Hillard Locke
And, as Earl and Jon recorded it for the Circle Album, forty some years ago, with Jon McCuen playing Uncle Dave Macon's banjo.
Uploaded by #NittyGrittyDirtBand

Where's The Meat?

And sprayed-on fat? Feed your fur-babies better than this. Well, the machinery is fun to watch.


Back To The Old Grind!

Not My Victrola: I'm Looking For A Girl Named Mary

I know this song from a version recorded by Edison, and it has been 45 years since I heard that. Sometimes I think my mind is a jukebox, what with all the old songs stuck in there.  Before radio, microphones, electrically recorded records and television killed Vaudeville, this is the sort of entertainment you could hear if you went into a theater for live entertainment.


Video by Victrola Jazz

Weekend Steam: Lombard Log Hauler

We have looked Lombards before, but these are new videos, and this is the season for pulling timber out of the north piney woods. Videos by Herb Crosby.  UPDATE: I sent a message to Herb on YouTube and heard back from him. He writes: "We will be running our c.1910 Lombard steam log hauler again this summer at the Maine Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley, Maine and invite all to come visit.
Herb Crosby" 

Baby Day, Baby Year

A Beautiful Start To The New Year

Dealing With Storm-Damaged Trees

This video starts with still shots taken after the top has been cut back to the point where the broken parts are hanging free from the ground.  Aside from the unpredictability of the broken top, The worst hazard on trees like this is the tripping hazard. Every time you move your feet you need to have the brake set on your saw, because you never know when you are going to trip and take a dive.

I really like the 1 1/2" thick wedges.  Wedges often kick out when you cross and stack them. You can beat that by driving in 1" wedges on one side of the tree, then pound in the 1 1/2" wedges in your free space.  If that doesn't tip your tree you can then cross and stack the 1" wedges you just freed up.  They probably will not kick out when you are able to start them with a little extra space between the stump and log.