ray...
The happy Nada Farmer, doing fair for a cripple. Still checking the BWC site weekly for updates on my 5 year old claims that are as yet unsettled. What a mess that operation is.
Keep coming back , page Eighteen follows......soon .
Spring is just around the corner at
The Briar Patch!
Well, maybe not just around the corner, but the usability of the Briar Patch is enhanced, in some ways, by the effects of cold weather. Much more than the city was at any rate. So I have been wandering the property, trying to decide what I can get done while the snow has things opened up, the lack of greenery makes some things appear to be doable. And with the storm that is dumping on us today proves there is no "sure end" to seasonal weather in Ohio. But then it is still the beginning of March. But on to more informative matters. 
The "Mares Tails" in the picture above, were the warning we had for the last big snow storm, turned out to be a "Catagory 3" situation in Columbus, some family members went to the theatre, I just stayed home and watched the snow drift. I have a neat panorama of the snow, showing my stuck truck, and the buried Escort, but the program crashes whenever I try to put it in, so next time you're over, ask and I'll show it to you.
But this shows the lack of a road, normally found down near the corn crib...
So I had a little extra time on my hands and after searching for 13 months, I finally found "the" clip for my 22 rifle, yes there is only one.
As the rifle is circa 1944 and was used as a training rifle for the users of the M1 Garrand it is heavy and bull barreled and as accurate as anything ever made, it's weight is no problem, I just use it to play around with anyway. So I finally got it sighted in, took ten rounds to get it where I'm confident I can hit what I aim at. First two went somewhere else, the next three got me close to the center, the next 4 went around the inner circle, and the last, right where I wanted it. Well it was off about a 1/16th of an inch, and I couldn't tell until I got up close and saw the hole in the center had become oblong. Guess if it had been perfect, I would have thought I missed the darn thing completely! SO ground hogs beware, your days are numbered.
I never had anything I could have a fire in, except buildings, and then everyone was in such a hurry to get it put it out, I didn't get to play with it very much. So having a wood burner to deal with has been an experience. I have been working on trying to keep a constant fire in the wood burner, but the wood I have gathered has all been pretty wet,
(for some reason drying it on top while there is a fire to help by generating heat, has been ruled out as an alternative at this time due to the little fire incident in November). Don't know why everybody is so concerned about that, it didn't really burn the place down. Just checking to see if the neighborhood fire service is on his toes. Glad he was! One of the advantages of the winter weather is the downed trees and large branches are easier to spot and the quantity gives me hope that collecting and drying will provide plenty of heat next winter. But I really think I'll be kept pretty busy with wood issues before I have enough to last the entire winter.
I have been using things around the place, and things I brought down, to complete a lot of projects, and I expect the area in the garage available for projects to continue expanding. I have been able to get the cars and truck in when necessary to work on them, and that has been nice. I still have to empty out the trailer from the last trip, make a couple more, and get the VW from the garage in town and then it can be sold, the garage I mean. I sure won't miss that connection to Akron.
I did get a small job for a neighbor, he needed a new bushing for a tongue on a hay wagon, so I did a little lathe work on it, and dropped it off at his house. He stopped over later and told me it worked well for him, and thanks.
Tonight I finished closing up and insulating the back of the garage, Friday I'll try to get the steel sheeting on it, but there is a lot of metal mangling to do because of the doorway. And the door will have to be covered and a latch assembly added, but that can wait a while, busy busy busy. Well that didn't happen Friday, It was so long ago that I don't even know what Friday I was aiming for. Though I did get it closed in, I didn't get steel on it before the snows set in. I found myself fighting a great deal of moisture due to weather changes, much more than I had in the Lake Street garage, and I suspect it's due to the occasional heavy fog I get from the stream area when the weather changes. Of course the seal around the door
and the "see through eaves" don't help at this point.
But I am not likely to get "gassed" with carbon monoxide either!
I have been consolidating my junk so It's mostly sorted, but generally all in the roll-arounds where I can find it. Seems like everything I move, has a can of small parts, or screws, or nuts, or special washers, or weird fittings, and I have no idea where they are when I need them. Well that's got to change, so for now they are getting consolidated, and later they will be separated, into smaller bins by size, type and material, rather than by type alone as they are now. But that's just the current excuse to hide out in the Garage all day. I need to get something built! Just because that's why I'm here! To make the things I want, and couldn't have in the city. In a way I've lost another year, and in other ways I've gained much more than I've lost, it is so great to live out here, where I'm the weird music and noise. And as near as I can tell, nobody else even notices.
Actually one neighbor did mention my "torturing the little engines" when I was mowing with the gravely.I guess it needs more of a muffler than the "screw on" I stuck on it to get it running. Though I think it was a direct replacement for the one that came on it . I know the older models had an actual small car type muffler. But I think the biggest difference will be getting the governor set right, to keep it from over revving, when it "dumps the load" on the engine by disengaging the blades. I think a spring is missing somewhere, but I needed to get things cut down before winter really set in so I let it go for now, fortunately I didn't pop the piston out the side of the engine, even if it sounded likely a couple times.
As you can see below we haven't handled the flooded area behind the house yet, it is still ripe to become a rice paddy. In fact the Propane tank has begun to tilt a little, and will have to be leveled next time it is nearer empty, and the ground is a little more solid.
Man, are we happy out here!
