A Hoe Instead...

 ...of a cane to wield! First a walker, then a cane, now she's out in the garden battling weeds. Two weeks after getting a new hip. Staples come out tomorrow. Back To The Old Grind!

The Maniac Bells Of War

Did you hear Pelosi say the other day that "We are in it to win it!" We are at war now, whether anybody noticed or not.

Telling words from a century ago...Many thanks to Country Joe McDonald for remaking his Robert W. Service album to bring these words back to life.

Shiny Shovel Show!

 Groundbreaking ceremonies are a hoot. New shiny shovels, and not a person who intends to work with them. WSIL TV3 posted this photo on their website of the ceremony for the new police station in Mt. Vernon, IL. Shovel Man #11 should have checked his equipment! (Click The Photo To Enlarge.)

Kids, on the other hand are eager to work with a shovel if someone will just show them what they need to do. Kids will get down on their knees to break up soil, fit a hole to the tree, fill it in, and punch down that soil nice and firm. They practically fight over the chance to get their hands dirty and do a job. I have shown many an adult how to plant a potted tree, and few want to get their knees dirty. Keep that youthful enthusiasm if you still have a bit of it. Back To The Old Grind!

My planting tools aren't too shiny, but their patina comes from honest work and an occasional rubdown with linseed oil.

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!

Barred Owl Glimpses

 Daylight glimpses of our nesting pair of barred owls are rare. They come up out of the hole in the hickory and head for the timber, where they first go to an eastern red-cedar and disappear. It was raining the other day and they showed themselves more, but they are darn near invisible in gray light against gray trees. The one that parked in the tree was watching my every move, and I was just shooting video from a door that was cracked open. They don't hide so much at night. They will sit in trees over our head and talk to us at night, but of course we can't get pictures then. 

Here's John McCormack,

 to make it officially St. Patrick's Day!

Annual Dam Fire 2022

You have to fight the trees every year to keep them off the dam. The easy part of woody vegetation control is annual burning to knock little trees back to the ground. We will be applying herbicide on trees out here after everything greens up.

See Good Trees, An Easy Method To Thin Your Timber

 Working in timber is good for you. I did this type of work for thirty five years and still have good knees, and I enjoyed all but one day in the woods. In this instance we are working in large sapling and pole timber. Using a spacing for 40 to 50 crop trees per acre will have your timber in good shape. A spacing of 33' by 33' will give you 40 trees per acre. A spacing of 30' by 30' will yield 48 crop trees per acre. You will be pacing the distances and selecting good trees close to your distance, so the actual number of crop trees will vary. Shoot for opening your crop trees on three side, and some on four sides. Trees along the edges you can leave alone, or open them on two sides, because the ones on the edge are wide open on two sides already, and will be low quality because of limbs hanging on.

Country Joe McDonald, War War War

 Joe McDonald recorded War War War in the studio in 1971, and you will have to pay an impressive price if you can find an original vinyl disc. He re-recorded it live in 2007, and he tells a bit of the history of this fine collection in his introduction. The songs are all poems written by Robert W. Service, and set to music by Joe. 

Introduction:

Foreward:

The Call:

Young Fellow, My Lad:

The Man From Athabasca:

The Munition Maker:

The Twins:

Jean Desprez:

War Widow:

The March Of The Dead:

Valentine Countdown Finale! Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin

 Susan and I always enjoy posting for Valentine's Day, and I hope that all of our followers have enjoyed the songs, too! Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Countdown: That's Amore, Dean Martin

Valentine Countdown: The Man On The Flying Trapeze, Spike Jones, Featuring Doodles Weaver

Valentine Countdown, You Never Can Tell, Chuck Berry

Valentine Countdown: Waltz Across Texas, Ernest Tubb

Valentine Countdown: Stardust, Hoagy Carmichael

Valentine Countdown Bonus: By The Light Of The Silvery Moon, Brassman Bart

 I might be prejudiced, but I think this is the Brassman's best yet!

Valentine Countdown: Betcha By Golly Wow, The Stylistics

Valentine Countdown: Good Times With Bobby Bare!

 Marie Leveau; Tequila Sheila; Numbers; Down To My Last, Come And Get Me; Alimony; Love Is Just A Cloudy Sky

Valentine Countdown: Somebody To Love, Jefferson Airplane

Valentine Countdown: Everybody Loves Me Baby, Don McLean

Valentine Countdown: Your Song, Elton John

Valentine Countdown: God Only Knows, The Beach Boys

Valentine Countdown: True Love Ways, Buddy Holly

Valentine Countdown: Dedicated To The One I Love, The Mamas and the Papas

Valentine Countdown: Brand New Key, Melanie

Valentine Countdown: Lulu's Back In Town, Leon Redbone

Valentine Countdown: Moonbeam, Kiss Her For Me, Nick Lucas

Valentine Countdown: Misty, Johny Mathis

Valentine Countdown: I Can't Help Falling In Love With You, Arlo Guthrie

Valentine Countdown: Pretty Woman, Roy Orbison