Working Ahead

 

80% kraut kit is progressing nicely.

Taters are coming up!

We'll be lighting up again in less than six months.

Back To The Old Grind!

Over Our Heads,

 or, Don't stand there when the wind blows! I was reminded of the reliability of gravity yesterday when cutting an ash tree in a young stand. The limbs tangled, as is usual in young trees, and a hefty limb came loose and beaned me on the hard hat. You don't need old, decadent trees to have wood drop from the sky on your head. Gravity likes to win.

Ruger Mk III Loaded Chamber Indicator Replacement

If you have a Ruger Mk III, you know the frustration of periodic jamming due to the Loaded Chamber Indicator.  We like to blame bad ammo, but the LCI usually has a hand in the hangups of empty cases.  It is annoying when you are being timed, and even more annoying when you are using your pistol to instruct new shooters.  TANDEMKROSS sells a drop in replacement to solve your frustration, but making the switch can have its own frustrations.

Here are the parts from two Mk IIIs, one from a steel barrel, and the other from an aluminum Lite model.  Changing the parts on the steel guns is easy.  Disassemble the barrel from the lower receiver and you will see the little steel pin barely protruding from the underside on the left of the barrel.  Tap on the bottom of the barrel with a non-marring mallet, or hickory hammer handle, and the pin will work out.  After it is out you can remove the LCI and insert the replacement hole-filler. 

The problem in changing arises if you have the Lite model.  The aluminum grips the steel pin and it will not come out.   I had our Lites apart three times trying to remove the pins with no luck.  Here is how you do it.  Put a cutoff disc on your Dremel tool and very carefully attack the LCI.  Be careful so you don't mar the finish. The LCI has a metal part on the upper side, and after you have the polymer part removed, let the cutoff disc ride against the metal part  and cut a groove into the pin.  Use good lighting.  Use a small screwdriver to pry the pin out a bit, and then you can grip it with some tiny pliers and remove it. 

We have run our guns since making the change and they have not choked since.  Using a Dremel tool on your guns is usually not recommended, but in this case I had to make an exception. 

Tater Time!

 Easter is two weeks later than last year, and we have rain predicted this week, so we jumped the gun and planted potatoes on Palm Sunday. The ground was a bit wet to our liking, but it worked up OK. We dug potatoes on July 25 last year, so this year they should be ready around August 1. We must tighten up the bottom of the fence to exclude rabbits, and then we need to put the bean trellis up.

Back To The Old Grind!

Rest In Peace, Bill Fries, aka C.W. McCall, 11/15/1928-4/1/2022

I remember hearing Old Home Fill 'er Up And Keep On Truckin' Cafe on WHO of DesMoines, many years ago, and they played it hard for a while. That song came about because of a successful advertising campaign made by Bill Fries, featuring a trucker, a diner, and a waitress named Mavis.

Those ads led to a regional hit song, and that led to a record contract in Nashville. Click for the Billboard obit and story.

Here are a few of my favorites by C.W. McCall.

Saddening, Maddening

 Below are a couple of bucks on our place. The first one was road kill, just past our driveway. He was hit in a curve that slows traffic a bit, so most people are able to hit the brakes and miss a deer, but one gets it occasionally. The deer herd moves around the house regularly, so young bucks like this one are practically family. We have hit our share of wildlife on the road, and we always hate it. Squirrels, birds, rabbits, and a few deer; I think I remember every one of them.

The second one is an aggravation. We have good habitat where we live, and there is habitat around us, but it all is an island surrounded by ag fields. The deer, turkey, and coyotes attract hunters all out of proportion to the size of the resource, and we have to turn away hunters and trespassers regularly.  We always have hunters that hug our lines, and this buck is from one of those. Whoever shot it should have come to our door and asked about retrieving it. We actually go out and help find deer for hunters who ask, and we are glad to retrieve them with the tractor and loader. So, I wonder if this was done by an inept hunter, or a poacher.  Line hunters are an aggravation, as are poor shooters, and any hunter who doesn't track down and retrieve game.

Thank You for the photo, GW!