Not blogging much lately.

As my loyal followers have probably noticed I haven't been around much.

It's been a busy summer.

Our church started a community garden and I signed up for a plot. Then rather than let weeds take over the unclaimed plot next door, I took a second plot.

Before that our computer picked up a virus I couldn't get off of it. So we bought a laptop and cell phones. Then dumped the phone company.

Right now we're stuck with a library wireless connection. It's free, but, the libraries summer hours and my work hours don't leave me alot of opportunities to get online.

I tried a wireless broadband card from Cricket as it would be the cheapest route without having to have a contract. Well it stank to say the least. Monday, I'm returning it. It made my virus ridden desk top on DSL seem quick. I'd guess the wireless card was somewhere around half as fast as a dial up connection. On top of that we couldn't get the wireless router to work as long as it was on the computer. The whole idea was portable, and the wireless for when we were out of thier service area.

Maybe around the time the snow flies I can get Pelenaka to lighten up on her hatred of the cable company. If I can maybe there will be road runner in my future. Until then I'll have to sneak around the libraries hours.

Woods

Cutlery for the budget minded backwoodsman

Not long ago Scoutinlife posted about his idea for the perfect knife. Well here is mine. It wasn't easy to find. Took about 20 years of looking as a matter of fact. A thick, stiff 4" plain carbon steel blade in almost the shape advocated by the great outdoorsman Nessmuck. Stacked leather washer handle that fits the hand perfect. It was aquired as part of the great tool caper last summer. I almost missed it in the bottom of a box of junk. Covered in rust from the basement flood it survived. One afternoon last fall I took to cleaning it up. At the time I was skeptical. I proceeded on faith just because it felt soo good in my hand. Well the rust cleaned up leaving a brown/blue patina behind. It quickly took an edge that would shave the hair off my arm. At this point all it has dressed out is a homestead raised bunny and a steak dinner. Not a makers mark on it anywhere, however the sheath is marked "Made in England".

The poor mans tomahawk is a gun show find. Having aquired my flintlock, I felt the need to have a hawk to go with it. At the same gunshow I found this carpenter's hatchet head in a box of junky knives. Priced at $3.00 I saw potential in it. A trip to work got me a handle meant for a big 24oz framing hammer for another $3.00. Less than an hour to fit them together and I had a poor mans hawk. Soon I will grind off the remains of the claws from it's backside. It's already seen plenty of use sharpening home made tomato stakes and splitting kindling. It too took a fine edge and has become a favorite. $6.00 sure beats the cost of a replica. They usually start around $25.00 for cruddy ones and go quite high in price.

Lets see your favorites!

The sad state of the American male!

Time for a rant. I warned you way back in the beginning of this blog I wouldn't always be Mr nice guy.

Sorry if some are offended, but, I need to say it!

Keep in mind this is partially tongue in cheek.

Several days ago I had the opportunity to over hear a conversation between three men. Well two talked and the third just sat there and nodded. It seems guy #1 (using the term guy loosely here) was tired of hearing his wife complain about the cost of their lawn service. Which was just over $100 a month and included snow plowing in winter. Guy #2 said the cost of a mower was too much to justify doing it yourself. The cost of a tractor alone was over $1500. Guy #1 replied that their fathers mowed the same size lots with push mowers and they cost about what one months of the service does. The problem for guy #1 was he couldn't figure out how to mow along the fence. Guy 2 mentioned a string trimmer. Guy 1 replied that string trimmer scared him and just mowing his city lot was getting too complicated. It all scared guy 2, that's why he pays a service.

Yes people, scared and complicated were their words, not mine. We wonder why our country is failing. Yet, how can we manufacture products and have a strong economy when most of our population is afraid of basic objects. A task as simple as cutting grass is viewed as complicated? If the crap ever does really hit the fan bad, we are in deep doo doo. I don't have time to be changing these guys diapers for them.

My advice for those guys!

Turn off the TV idiot box. Get away from your computer. Make your wife do her own pedicure.
Get a mower and mow your lawn. Let the grass grow a little next to the fence, the guy next door is too busy giving his wife a pedicure to care. Break the mower, get grease and oil under your pretty nails and fix it. Next you'll want to change the oil in the car, do it! Before you know it, you'll know what those thing hanging there are, reach down and grab them.

The only thing I think you're really afraid of is something called testosterone. Stop eating so much soy, go get yourself a proper piece of meat for dinner and you might have some more of it! It's really not that scary of a thing.

Sign this one.
Woods, the unreformed male!

Thinking and eating outside the box

Here's a post about one of my favorite things, Eating! Like every red blooded American male I love cooking on the barbeque. Well we just gave away our grill. We found a better way. Actually I should give Pelenaka her due and tell you it was her discovery. Several years ago my darling wife decided the frugal thing to do was to can our food on a wood stove. So, we went shopping and found an old laundry stove in the weeds out behind a antique shop. Spent a bit over $100.00 to get it. We (well mostly she) have used it for three years now for food preservation and it does an excellent job. It also runs for almost free, something that can't be said for our vintage electric stove. A trip around the nieghborhood with a wagon after a wind storm yields plenty of free firewood. Maple mostly, with the occasional piece of walnut, oak or cherry thrown in.

Well here is the big discovery. Maple and cherry twigs and sticks beat briquets or lump charcoal all day long. For one thing they are free rather than costing $5.00 for a 10 pound bag. Second they don't require expensive starter either. A strip of brown paper bag or news paper is all it takes. One of those square black grills with the round holes meant for veggies or seafood replaces the wire grill. Pictured above is yours truly roasting hot dogs and goat chops. The goat was the last of a young buck purchased from a friend last spring for $40.00. It lasted so long because I'm the only one that will eat it. The girls had hots and burgers. The jar in the background with the red lid is my home made hot/barbeque sauce. The sauce might just become a source of income. I took a bottle to work and stuck it in the fridge. I had it once. Today one of my coworkers asked when I was bringing in more. The bottle was in the fridge almost empty. The store bought equivilent cost almost four bucks for a ten ounce bottle. It costs me three to make half a gallon of it. Maybe I'll start charging my coworkers for hot sauce.

You may recognize that bit of white to my right under the tarp in the picture, as a old fashioned claw foot tub. Yup! You guessed it. In the summer when the girls go to Texas to visit dad, we turn off the hot water heater and bathe behind a screen in the back yard. We just use the old stove for what it was designed to do, heating water. Sure beats having a gas bill!

Last month our expensive new fangled front load washing machine broke. I have a strange feeling one of these days, I'm going to come home and find my wife boiling the clothes on top of this stove. Imagine that!

Woods

I'm a rocklock man!

It's now official. A rock makes my gun go bang. Last weeks gun show turned up this Traditions flintlock PA rifle. This wasn't my first choice. I really wanted a .45 caliber to save on lead and powder expenses. This .50 caliber gun came along at a price I couldn't refuse. Actually I missed a 20 yr old unfired Navy Arms KY rifle for half the money by minutes. It was a .45 too. That seller was parting out his brothers estate at bargain basement prices. By the time I got there though all his flintlocks were gone. I am happy with what I have though. I've found a complete set of spare lock parts for less than $30.00. That includes two mainsprings and two frizzens. This gun isn't likely to end up out of action in my lifetime. There is only one problem. This gun is 5 inches longer than my gunsafe is tall! That's OK, I've been looking for an excuse to go safe shopping! If I like this gun at the range, I may just have to scrounge up the smallbore version too.

It was pointed out to me today, that I'm not posting often enough for one of my fans. Be patient my friends, a couple minor health issues have been keeping me off line. I should be back in a few weeks.

A tribute to the "hell box"

Everyone needs a "Hell Box". What's a "Hell Box" you ask? It's the workshop equivilent to the kitchen junk drawer. No, I didn't come up with the name. I got the name from a writer named Granville King. Not sure if that's his real name or a pen name. Ol Granville wrote for a magazine called "pickup, Van, & Four Wheel Drive back in the 70's. GK was a desert rat living in the Mojave and wrote of his travels in his WWII vintage Jeep. Today I was reminded of ol GK and his story about "Hell Boxes".We've got a local gun show tomorrow and I have a pair of CVA percussion rifles I'm taking to trade toward a flintlock if I can find one. I disassembled one of these rifles at one point intending to refinish it. Never got around to that project. I went to put this gun back together last night only to find the screw that holds the tang missing. Taking the screw from the other rifle (above left), I headed out hardware shopping. The place I currently work doesn't have it, so I headed to the place I used to work. All I could find long enough in an M5 thread was a socket head screw(center). I figured if I had to I could grind the proper head onto it, so I bought it and a nut. When I got home I remembered the "Hell Box", and found the flathead M5(above right). Pictured below are my "Hell Boxes" or HB's.Those readers that are mechanicaly inclined already know about HB's. For the rest of you let me explain the HB concept. HB's are a very delecate and magical things. They must be properly fed, housed and treated. Feeding them is easy. Most projects has a few parts left over when you are done. Parts you will probably never need again. When this happens a few of those parts speak magically to you and say "Don't throw me out you'll regret it". These are the parts that give a HB it's magic. Find a suitable container and place it in a dark place. Under a workbench is best. That is where a HB's magic is strongest. Treatment is easy. An occassional stir is all that's required, a tap of your toe is sufficient most of the time. Do all these things and the HB rewards you with it's magic. You see all those magic talking parts have the ability to breed. If you are lucky and follow the magic formula they will breed those odd and unusual parts that you need every now and then. When pulling out your HB to look for that item of your quest, be sure to talk to it in a calm gentle voice, telling it what you need. But, be careful, don't get greedy and push your luck. Your HB might bite if you do. Today after finding my M5 flat head screw, I made the mistake of not showing my gratitude, and continued to dig for a more suitable subject. As I stirred I nearly cut myself on a double edge razor blade. This blade was in like new condition as if schick made it yesterday. Obviously something my HB bred on the spot to tell me it's displeasure for my lack of gratitude. I took the razor blade and put it in the drawer with the others. I then profusely thanked the Hell Box for it's generosity, promissed to feed it soon, and returned it to it's home beneath the workbench.

That my friends is how a Hell Box works. Good luck on starting yours. I couldn't imagine not having mine. Just remember to always express your gratitude when your HB pays you back.

Woods

Remembering Norris

Yes remembering Norris. A man I never knew. It all started about ten years ago at a Place called Creekside Gun Shop. I was out for a saturday afternoon with buddies. Creekside had a shooting range and it was free to use. After our shooting session we would always head inside to spend whatever was left after buying ammunition. In the used book section was a copy of "Guns and Gunning" by Captain Curtis. Not a book I was exactly interested in. But, next to it was a copy of Ed McGivern's "Fast and Fancy Shooting". That was a book I wanted, but, being a first edition it wasn't in my price range after buying 30/40 Krag ammo and 44 specials for the S&W TripleLock I was playing with that day. When I returned Fast and Fancy to the shelf, I by accident knocked "Guns and Gunning" off the shelf. It was then that I was introduced to Norris. You see a hand written christmas note and ten pictures fell out of that book. The note said "Norris; Merry christmas, the eleventh one. Hoping there will be eleven more such happy ones. Pet" At that point in my life I hadn't met a woman I considered spending more than a christmas or two with. So, there may have been a little sentiment there, on my part.

The first picture really stirred something up in me. In my deepest memories I could remember boat houses just like those. And between the ages of six and fourteen I spent more than a few hours in a wooden skiff just like that one with my grandpa.

Or maybe it was the guy in me that deer hunts with obsolete weapons. I don't know if that'a a Marlin or a Winchester. I do know it's not the usual carbine, that's a full length rifle barrel. Or maybe the vintage car nut in me was spoken to by the 37 ford sedan. Maybe, my first car back in high school was a 38 ford pick up truck.

Maybe it was the picture taken beside the lake. I wouldn't mind having that cooler to add to my vintage gear collection

Nice bass Norris! I can taste that one rolled in my grand aunts blend of spices, cornmeal, and milk now!

I hope Norris had the means to hang this musky on the wall! The one my grand uncle Gerald caught in the 1970's was only half that size. I wonder if that is "Pet's" shadow taking the picture, it does look like a females outline.


Another picture of what appears to be the same fish. The only photo in the pile with any information on it. Written on the back is "Crowe Lake July 48".

Well it's obvious, I spent four bucks and bought the book I didn't want. It went home and sat on a desk corner for a month. Then one day I was looking at an old road map of Ontario, that was in my granpa's stuff. Like I said, I spent alot of time with grandpa in an environment that looked an awful lot like these pictures. I spent two weeks every summer at "Harrolds Camp" at Gores Landing, Rice Lake, Ontario. Right next door was the boat works where those cedar skiffs were made. And that day looking at grandpa's old map I saw something I never knew about until that day. Just a few miles over the hills north and east of Rice lake, there is another lake, It's name is Crowe Lake. So, you might say Norris and I shared summer playgrounds. We were just a few miles and a few decades apart from each other.

And you know, for a few years I really envied Norris. I mean a woman that loved him enough to by him a book for christmas. A book about something he really loved to do.

Then Pelenaka and the girls came into my life. I no longer felt envy towards Norris. I felt an even deeper kinship, to this man I never knew.

Woods