Weather Has Been A Good Show This Week.

The temps have been coming up and tonight we are letting the basement stove go out.  We have burned nearly all our firewood, so tomorrow I need to get out and cut a hickory log and bring it to the splitter.

The fog yesterday had visibility down to 100 yards, and it is good to be retired on mornings like this.  Today we had a hot little cell come at us from Mt. Vernon, and we got some pea-size hail.  It lasted a bit over a minute and ended suddenly.

We Totally Missed National Puppy Day! Better Late Than Never!

National Puppy Day was on Monday and here it is Wednesday already.  We will catch up with a little post about Pete the Pup from Don Marquis in The Lives And Times Of Archie and Mehitabel.

pete at the seashore

i ran along the yellow sand
and made the sea gulls fly
i chased them down the waters edge
i chased them up the sky

i ran so hard i ran so fast
i left the spray behind
i chased the flying flecks of foam
and i outran the wind

an airplane sailing overhead
climbed when it heard me bark
i yelped and leapt right at the sun
until the sky grew dark

some little children on the beach
threw sticks and ran with me
o master let us go again
and play beside the sea
                                       pete the pup

The Great Outdoors: Gun Itch Flareup

We stopped in Larry's Gun Shop, McLeansboro, IL before the lockdown to see what was good, and drop a little coin to show our support. As usual, we checked all the trade-ins for interesting guns.  This Ruger Flattop Blackhawk is a .44 Special made in 2014, and it looks absolutely new.  There is not even a drag mark from the cylinder being turned!  The price is quite reasonable, especially considering that single-action fans all crave a .44 Special. These are no longer in production, and I think this one is calling me!

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Scholastic Action Shooting Program

                                                                             $1375, Wowsers!
Ruger is offering a New Old Stock GP 100 this week.  It was built in 2002 and has been residing in Ruger's vault ever since. Click Here to read all about it and to place your bid.  This fine revolver will sell mid-day, Wednesday, March 25, 2020.

Tuesday Torque: Pioneer Prairie Tractor

I first saw a Pioneer Prairie Tractor in the Iron Men Album, back around 1965.  They are a fascinating old tractor with a four cylinder opposed engine that lies horizontally on the frame.

 This one was at Pinckneyville in 2015 and that was the first time that I was ever encountered one in the flesh.

Believe it or not, a new one is being built! Someone needed some major parts and that project has evolved into building the entire tractor. One of the obstacles has been finding a foundary with the talent and knowledge necessary to make intricate castings needed for century-old technology.

Here is a look at one being started that I pulled off of YouTube.

Staying Out Of The Office?

That shouldn't be a problem for many foresters.  The office became a time eater for me, and I moved most of my office activities into my work truck.  I equipped myself with my own computer, a scanner/printer, a phone that could be used as a modem, and for many years I went into the office only outside of working hours.  My accomplishments went way up without the distractions of walk-ins who would sit and visit when I was trying to write. At a Division meeting in 2010 the State Forester had me explain how I worked to all the other foresters.  There had been some murmuring about how I was getting trees ahead of other foresters for my CRP cases, and it was because I could check my emails from the truck, complete orders as inventory was posted, and email the scanned order minutes after the trees became available.  Look at out-of-office work as an opportunity to increase your effectiveness, and Back To The Old Grind!

The Great Outdoors! Snakes Alive!

Here's a little gift from Merle.  I'm not a snake handler, so even harmless ones give me the heebie-jeebies. 

Weekend Steam: Argentina Is A Nice Destination For A Train Ride

I wonder when it will be safe to travel again.  We know a couple who went to Argentina for a 14 day cruise, and the plan was to fly home from Chile.  As the neared the end of the cruise, no ports would allow the cruise ship with healthy Americans to land, so the cruise is past Day 30 now, and they are still about three days out from landing in the U.S.  Thanks to Merle, we don't have troubles like that! I continue to be amazed at the steamers that are still being used around this world.  Thank You, Merle!

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Scholastic Action Shooting Program

                                                                   $780
Ruger has another great one for us.  It is a P94 in 9mm, made in 1995 and returned to the factory in early 1996 for unknown reasons.  The laser currently does not work, but Ruger is including new batteries, and that may make it light up.  It comes with two 15 round magazines.  This fine pistol will sell mid-day, Wednesday, March 18, 2020.  Click Here to read all about it and to place that winning bid.

Tuesday Torque: Super Slingshots

The Slingshot Channel is always fun to watch.  These big slingshots are powered up with a windlass, and that takes torque, so here you go!

Some Cannot Phone It In!

Back To The Old Grind!

Difficult Wedging Is No Fun; Revisiting An Old Post

If you have to use more than the thickness of two wedgers to make a tree go over, you are not having a good time.  Figure everything right and you will win, but projects like this wind me. This post is from March, 2013, when I was cutting dead trees at the Region V IL DNR office at Benton, IL.

Here is a common problem if you have to cut pines in a stand of trees. Pines are taller and thinner than hardwoods, and they are not as heavy, so they have more of a tendency to hang in the branches of the trees around them when you are dropping them. This tree was dead, and the only direction to drop it wasn't open; it was only less blocked than any other direction. The first wedging started it over, and it promptly stopped when it was snagged at about sixty feet up. I cut a shim out of the face cut wood and had a second go with a wedge, and pushed it a bit further, then made a thicker pine shim, and pushed it further still, but it still wouldn't drop. The second shim crumbled under the pressure, so I cut a thick shim from a honeylocust that I had just dropped and wedged for a third time.  That one pushed the top through the overhead crowns and the pine broke through and crashed. If you have to drop trees during your woodcutting activities, you need to practice cutting tapered shims before you have to use them. Shim grain should stand in the same direction as the tree you are pushing over, and you can cut your shims out of nearby stumps so the wood holds still for you. I like to do a bore cut on the stump, angling the bar upward to create a bit of taper, then cut downward to make the sides; then punch down at the inner end to turn it loose. Keep the good ones you create in your woodcutting kit; you never know when you will need it again.