Susan's Garden Update

 Susan's work goes on every day.

Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: Steam Powered Line Shaft Machine Shop

 Great topic, Merle!  This shop in Dubuque, Iowa is amazing! Thank You!

Weekend Steam: Steam Motorcycles Get Better And Better!

 Many Thanks, Merle for spotting this great machine!

Busy Week-New Fosters!

We have a couple of new-to-us Schipperkes in our foster dog yard, both are owner surrenders. Both are spayed females. One is easy, and the other needs extensive socialization. Both are beautiful and healthy.

 

Tuesday Torque: A Few IHCs

 

Thanks for the inspiration, Merle! 

Gardening Every Day!

                                  Back To The Old Grind!

Weekend Steam II: More "Surprise" Burrell!

 

Surprise is a real beauty, Merle!

Weekend Steam: "Surprise" Burrell Traction Engine

This is a beautiful engine Merle. Many Thanks for spotting it!

 

Buster Is Sixteen!

 Buster has been with us nearly a year, and his birthday is today, June 21. The old boy is sixteen now, a ripe old age, but not unusual among Schipperkes. He sleeps a lot, and stays in bed about half an hour longer every morning than the other dogs. He is mostly blind, and profoundly deaf, but he gets around the house and dog yard OK, and he gets along well with the other dogs. Susan made some special treats for him, and she will type those up so we can share here and on YouTube. The ice cream is great. It is yogurt, banana, and peanut butter. I stole one of his servings!

FROZEN PUP ICE CREAM 1 ripe banana mashed 32 oz of sugar free Greek yogurt 1 cup no sugar ( no xylitol) peanut butter or food process peanuts until smooth Real bacon crumbles Mix all above ingredients together and freeze in parchment paper or non stick foil Freeze at least 4 hours or overnight. Let thaw a little and scoop out. I refroze the scoops to make it easy to serve. Sprinkle bacon crumbles on top. DOGGIE CAKE (more or less ingredients according to pet size) ½ pound 90 % lean ground beef 1 egg beaten ½ cup quick oats ¼ cup finely shredded cheddar cheese Mix together and form 2 “1” thick cake layers Bake in the oven on low heat about 225 for 2 hours or more to done (use parchment paper so they do not stick) Remove from the oven, press them down evenly (make slightly flatten) FROSTING 1-2 orange sweet potatoes peeled and cooked until soft Whip the cooked sweet potatoes using broth or water if needed to make smooth Frost in-between meat layers, then frost the entire cake with the remainder of the sweet potatoes. Decorate with fruit if desired We had no digestive problems but as always you know your pet and serve accordingly

Heavy Hackberry

 This hackberry had grown over the barn roof, and when I measured it I found that the back weight and lean was more than my self imposed limits for wedging. It would have taken three thicknesses of wedges to tip over, and that is not practical, and it may have failed. Lift too much back weight with wedges and you might pop your hinge. That would be a bad thing! The tractor came to the rescue. I checked whether the tractor could move the crown, and it could, so I used the tractor, plus wedges for stabilization while setting it up. We will chunk this tree down and then cut the others that are too close to the barn.

Tuesday Torque II: LaCrosse Rein Drive Tractor

 Someplace Or Another, on YouTube has been posting from all over, and this short video is from Old Threshers at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. I know this tractor well, having seen it more times than I can count since I was a kid. Back in the 1960s, it was the only one known of this model, but now there is another one that has surfaced on YouTube. Here is Someplace's video, and then a brief narration by Yours Truly. 

Time For Turtles

 Red-eared sliders are on the march this week. These cute little critters do this hike every summer, getting away from the pond, where the raccoons are going to find every cache of eggs. We usually find a few nests dug out and pilfered by the raccoons, but the turtle population seems to be thriving, so they don't find many.