so waht ya doin today?

Tomme boy

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
Well I tried to go shooting today. First I got almost to my range and realized I left all my ammo at home. Turned around and went back to get it. Then got out to the range and ended up stuck! About an hour latter my buddy with his jeep came and we winched it out of the ditch. Never got to shoot.

Not in the photo is the tower we have about 40 feet in the air for our 3 electric clay throwers. It looked like the front window. A 4x8 sheet of ply framed to make a door was blown off and there were 2 eagles on top of the tower. In the window it looked like a bunch of sticks were sticking out. I think the eagles are building a nest inside it. I hope not. That will shut us down the whole summer..

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L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Spent a couple of hours helping a friend load up a commercial grade John Deere mower/snow blower that a neighbor had that was not running but for sale. First I had to use the bucket on the Kubota to dig it out, then swapped out to the forks to load the 6' mower deck and the 4' snow blower. Lastly, I lifted and pushed the power unit onto a trailer. Of course fittings were rusted, and the release valves for the Hydro-Static drive wouldn't stay released without someone walking alongside the unit and holding the buttons down. But no one got hurt and nothing got broke. My friend successfully drove the 225 mile trip home without incident.

It was absolutely beautiful out, sunny, little or no wind , unlike Tuesday. So I quick drove the tractor home and hooked the truck up to the Hover Craft and took my wife ice fishing for likely the last trip of the season. There is plenty of ice and fishing will likely last another two weeks in some spots. However, we have trees tapped for maple syrup and we have to move forward with that. Also the forecast for next week shows over night lows well above freezing and that will really cut back on how much sap we get. We caught and released a few nice crappies and a bunch of bluegills. We saw many Eagles, some Trumpeter Swans, a few Mallards and Hooded Mergansers, and Canada Geese any where there was open water.

So today's agenda will be to finish installing the stove pipe in the syrup shack, leveling the arch/pan system, gathering the sap from the 25 taps we have out and add a few more taps to trees that are now accessible as the snow pack is declining.

Waiting for word on when my new Ranger is in and the old one repaired. We can get by using an ATV and a trailer to collect the sap so we aren't too handicapped. The weather will be the biggest wild card as usual.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Oldest son called yesterday afternoon. He was in "The Big City" (Watertown NY) and was convinced he was going to be able to pick up all sorts of ammo or at least brass. Pfffft! He got skunked! I'd told him all last summer while he was working all over NY/VT and elsewhere to buy up ammo, but noooo. I guess the old man isn't as dumb as he looks.

Gordy tapped 40 trees for syrup with his FFA teacher yesterday. FFA has taken a horrible hit with this plague and the draconian response to it. Good program, but not something you can do on a computer.

Put a tractor through the ice in a ditch trying to get hay for the critters. Barely got it out without having to grab the crawler. Spring may actually be coming!
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
We are having a warm spell, snow is melting. As I was driving by the city compost site, I see the brush pile is larger...which can mean there could be some tree trunks out there. I drive through some mud to get out there, and sure enough, several 4 foot ash logs and maple logs...and some quite large diameter 8 foot long ones that I thought were pine, because there was some pine branches on top of them. BUT...The Pine logs weren't pine, they had different bark and red core, but not cedar. I cut a few slices to bring home, and they were heavy as heck. I suppose I should go out there and get the rest of them today? Maybe?

Funny thing, I use to leave all the mystery logs and also leave some crotch logs too. Obviously, I took all the Ash logs for firewood, But now with the Lathe, I find myself looking for crotch logs of mystery wood, to cut up for turning, LOL. and I ALWAYS leave soft maple, but the soft maple logs looked real nice (no rot), so I cut a few of the crotch portions to drag home, LOL.

Anyway, two loads of firewood came home yesterday, and probably more to come home today? maybe? If so, I should be doing so now, before things get melty and muddy in the afternoon.
 
BBerguson

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
I drove to my shooting spot yesterday but, just as I expected, the driveway was plowed in with 2+ feet of snow and the driveway itself had over a foot of heavy wet snow. So, I drove back up the road to the well pad drive where the farmer that takes the hay had plowed enough to get off the road. I wanted to sight in my 22 after we mounted a new scope. Well, that didn’t last long! I put a Bushnell AR scope on it that has an attachment on the power adjust ring to make it easier to move. Never thought that this would be in the way of the bolt when it’s on 18 power but it is and I don’t like it. So, I packed things back up and drove home. Found a Bushnell Trophy 6x18x50 that I liked and ordered it last night. Yeah, I know, it’s a cheap scope but it will be on a 22rf so it doesn’t get abused and I’m not depending on it for a trophy anything. Parallax adjusts from 10yds to infinity which is why I bought it, 10 yards will handle the 50ft indoor shooting I sometimes do in the winter. I’ll put the other scope on my son’s CVA Hunter if he wants it.

Today I’m taking my daughter to the ski slopes. I’ll be watching from inside the lodge eating a nice hot lunch! No skiing for me until next season. After that she goes to her Jui Jitsu class. She’s too young for concealed carry so she’s learning how to defend herself without weapons. Probably good for boyfriends too... First one that try’s to do something she don’t want is going to get a surprise when she chokes the chit out of him. Good for me too, it will keep me out of prison because, well, you dads with little girls know what I mean. :)
 
L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
Put out 22 more taps this morning, every year I get carried away a little more. We had 42 out last year at the peak and we have 47 out already. Drill a hole and the tree starts peeing immediately, and it's only 38 degrees out. I think we will throw some more out this afternoon. If we really get lows next week as warm as the 40's the sap will stop running so we had better hurry now with ideal conditions.

We made 43 pints of syrup last year and that doesn't sound like much but it is over 5 gallons of syrup. Our goal when we started out in 2018 was to make a gallon for personal use. We ended up with 35 pints in both 2018 and 2019. Well we end up giving quite a bit away to friends now.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Ho! A couple of memorable turns of phrase here- "I’m not depending on it for a trophy anything." Love it! And- "Jui Jitsu is the art of folding clothes while someone is still in them." HAR!

L Ross, I was talking with someone a while back, a city-ish type and they were bemoaning the cost of 100% pure, Light Amber, local Maple Syrup at about $60.00 per gallon. I outlined the labor, fuel, time and overhead in a sugaring operation to the best of my ability and they seemed to appreciate what I was saying. We have a decent sized sugar bush here and Gordy would love to be running a line, but there's a 6 foot deep, 10 foot wide chasm in what used to be a roadway to get there where a culvert washed out. Actually, I'm pretty sure I'd get roped into helping, so maybe that's not such a bad thing!
 
BBerguson

BBerguson

Official Pennsyltuckian
John G said:
BB, that's why I'm glad We only had boys. I'm sure I would have been a difficult dad. Any daughters would have hated me while being proud at the same time.

I heard the other day that Jui Jitsu is the art of folding clothes while someone is still in them.
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Yeah, I get that. She adds a little more worry but I wouldn’t trade her for anything. I laugh when I hear people talk about how dangerous momma bears are... I’d dare say a papa bear with a daughter is even more dangerous! She’ll always be Daddy’s girl, the boys and men in her life had better treat her right but at least I know she’s not helpless when I’m not around.

I told my wife about the Jui Jitsu saying and she said they found a shirt with that saying on that my daughter wants to get. I love it! It’s funny because she looks like a skinny little girl and, yes, she is petite and that’s what the boys think in class. Until they have to grapple with her and realize she’s quite ripped and hard as a rock! She gets some time in on this and learns the moves, she’s going to really surprise them!

Skiing was really cold, so I’m told! ( I stayed inside! ) But she had a blast with four friends and got about 3.5 hours in on the slopes.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Daughters turn your hair gray, sons give you ulcers. Daughters tend to be less expensive IME, but require a whole lot more work and many, many, many times more emotional foolishness to put up with. Boys tend to cost a lot more after they get that drivers license! Love them all with everything I've got, but it's an ordeal!
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
Six daughters. I adore them all, but I didn't get into reloading just to save money on ammo. The garage is known as The Bear Cave, and that has been so for 40 years.

"Where's Dad?"

"Check the cave."

Always a good bet. And The Bear Cave provides a MUCH-NEEDED home field advantage when financial matters come to the fore, which is frequent with girls. Daughters less expensive? THAT'S HILARIOUS! British cars and boats are a pittance compared to outfitting the fair sex.

The rib pain has changed character a bit, the constant ache has stopped but movement--just about any significant movement--comes with a price attached. Coughing and sneezing are real days at the beach, for sure. I tried some sizing/lubing of Lyman #452460s a few minutes ago......NOT HAPPENING.
 
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L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
What a day. Sue and I are tapped out, (pun intended), we added 31 more taps and collected 38 gallons of sap. Lugging five gallon jugs of sap on our hills with thawing surfaces, roots, rocks, and more damned thorny shrubs was daunting and it's only gonna get worse for the next several days.

Then we leveled the gravel pad where we were going to put the arch. Next we attached a few sections of 6" stove pipe together and it was frustratingly difficult. Hooked all the stove pipe together and ran it through the roof. We have about 6" of pipe above the ridge. Washed out the pan, poured 33 gallons of sap into it and at 4:45 pm Sue lit the 2021 syrup cooking fire. I ran the draft and the damper wide open for about 45 minutes and created a deep bed of red oak coals. Then fired again, dropped the draft to about 1/3 and closed the damper most of the way.

We were both just toast by then so we drove to town and went to Los Amigos for supper. When we got home I fired again and poured the last 5 gallons of sap into the pan. Now we are home rockin' a few Ibuprofen and I have a couple of fingers of Duke Bourbon in front of the wood stove. Sue has dark chocolate and 10 year old Port. We'll hit it again tomorrow.
 
RBHarter

RBHarter

West Central AR
I got most of the limbs cut out of the shooting lane cut a couple more saplings out so it's all clear until the berries and grass start coming back in .

Cut most of a cord out of blow down oaks that have been down about 3 years . Saved the stuff over 12" for the mill I have one that may well get me 1×12×100 @ 30+ pieces , 200 linier feet .
 
fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
someone want to fill me in on how this works?
Littlegirl come paid me back for the cat surgery plus another 200$ for the cabin rental/expenses here in a couple months.
somehow I got roped into taking her and the oldest girl to the store to go through the case lot sale.

we don't need anything after last months trip to pokey and the large food purchase I made back then.
I got pretty much nothing, and no cases of anything, and I even told the oldest to get anything we needed, which she seemed to ignore.
so how the hell did I spend 300$?
I got some water at 2$ a case, but I surely didn't buy no 150 cases of water.
 
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