Took A Walk In The Woods Today

I visited the remains of an old friend in the woods today and found that a nice young tree is growing from the stump. That Is A Joy! Time flies! Susan and I watched this red oak for years, visiting it every time we were up in the north end. We should have named it sooner! Anyway, I am thinking that it was a stump sprout, so it would have been 70-plus years when it was cut in 1940, and now it is growing again. How many cycles of stump sprouting has this tree had? No way to know, but if it survives wind and weather, the next time Ralph is harvested it will be from roots well over 200 years old.

 Susan and I have plenty to do in our timber. We have CRP tree plantings due for thinning, an old shortleaf pine plantation that needs prepped and burned, plus thinning in the timber stand you see in this video. Oh, autumn olive and bush honeysuckle need to be killed...

Brittle Tree Demonstrates The Importance Of Your Hard Hat!

 This shingle oak is dry and brittle! Watch the spears fall out of the top when this baby goes over. We will be making wood tomorrow and stacking this one at the house. I watched the seconds tick by, and from the time I turned to escape until the first spear dropped in was four seconds. A small limb dropped in at six and a half seconds, and a really hot spear comes in at seven seconds. Don't stand around watching the tree fall, because part it may be falling on you!

Tuesday Torque: Torque On Parade At Rollag

 Rollag is a great place, Merle. Thanks for grabbing this one!

Mystery Solved!

 Occasionally, but often enough I think about it, I would get a whiff of freshly cracked hickory nut while out in timber. I could never figure out why I would catch that smell, and it has bugged me for many years. It was usually fleeting, but unmistakable. I finally found the solution. This year we have a bumper crop of hickory nuts in the yard, and that means lots of hickory hulls on the ground. We have been raking them up so we can scoop them up and get them on the burn pile. We found that when they are damp after a rain and the humidity is up, you get that smell off of a pile of hulls. Fleeting, but definitely there. What will we figure out next? Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: More Santa Fe

 Thank You, Merle!

Weekend Steam: Santa Fe 2926

 Thanks, Merle!

150 Years Ago, America's Deadliest Fire

Today, Even More Groundhog!

Susan Said "No."

 We could have had this nice groundhog for the freezer, or maybe turned it into groundhog stew and canned it, but Susan wasn't interested. It's been a long time since I have skinned a groundhog and I was happy to leave it alone.

Neat Printing Method At Old Threshers, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa

 This popped up on YouTube, and it is neat as can be!

Fall Garden Bounty

Susan's garden is winding down, but fresh vegetables are still coming out every day. The Lazy Housewife beans were disappointing until recently when they have been producing. The Rattlesnake beans were great producers and we will definitely plant those again. We kept the deer out of the garden OK, but the rabbits were a daily feature. They worked hard on the sweet potatoes. We didn't have sweet corn, so raccoons were no problem. Susan sowed beets after the potatoes were dug, but a heavy rain wiped them out. The okra is just about done, but Susan has a bunch of that cut, dipped in cornmeal, and in the freezer.

350 HP Fairbanks Startup

 There's some good narrative in this video. Usually at shows you see them start up and run engines with no explanation, so this is a good one to watch and listen. Thanks for the pick, Merle!