[mitchmaine]

hey george, i haven’t tried all the tedders made but have used quite a few. still, i haven’t tried them all, and the one i have isn’t the best one i ever tried, but it works pretty good.

don’t know how three horses would do over on some of them vermont hills. that might be a good challenge. let me know how it turns out. i’d be interested in finding out how they’d do on a good hill in good hay. mitch

[mitchmaine]

hi john, hard worked, hard grained horses run the risk of blackwater in a tie stall. some called it monday morning sickness, cause they came down with it after spending sunday off tied in their stall. just a walk down the barn floor wasn’t a cure but a good precaution, and a box stall gives them plenty of motion to help. horses don’t get worked like that in most cases, but i try and turn out our horses every day in some pretty mean weather for at least an hour. ounce of prevention, right?

[mitchmaine]

that reminds me of mucking out for this old guy (neighbor) when i was a kid. he had a line of tie stalls with one old horse, and all his animals, cattle and horses, ate off the floor. he said it was natural for a grazing animal to pull grass and when they did, they shut off their windpipe to dust and dirt, and he thought it kept them from heaving. any thing they didn’t eat (he thought) was by choice and got dragged back for bedding. hadn’t thought of him in a long time. thanks for jogging the memory. mitch

[mitchmaine]

the amish barns all seem to have a hay rack head high, usually made of lumber, built to hold a couple flakes of hay that they can pull down a mouthfull at a time with a box underneath for grain and fallen hay. i always admired them and thought they were great and always wanted to make some, but it never appeared too high on the list at any time, enough to get done.

[mitchmaine]

hey george, one thing i’d try and avoid in building your barn, is to have the run in under the eaves of the building. snow and rain runoff will turn into the worst mess you ever saw. they can make a mess coming in the gable end too, but nothing like coming in under an overhang. best of luck, mitch

[mitchmaine]

just wind today. thought i’d hunt the woods this morning. holy cow. looks like mother nature has taken over the job of felling around here. she’s been at it a few years now. knocks down more wood than i can clean up. nice to have the help, and i know she’s experienced, but she can’t line up a hitch to save her soul. looks like my winter work has started.

[mitchmaine]

hey scott, the fairgrounds and woodlot up to unity aren’t famous for being too friendly to horses and woodchoppers in the rain, but the company is good and we always find something to do with the animals, and you’ve probably heard about the food. be good to see ya.
hi boulami, sounds like we are neighbors and i don’t have to say nothing about easterlies in the maritimes. hope you come through it ok. they had something on tonights news about flooding up there. us too. best of luck, mitch

[mitchmaine]

almost three inches of rain this month after 6 1/2 last month. haven’t seen the sun in a week, and wind is no’theast around 25 knots. gusted to 60 easy last night judging by the wood down in the neighborhood. wish it would freeze up, but its staying unusually warm. any snow out there? i’d rather push snow than muck around in this stuff. don’t see any silver linings up there. hows the weather in your neck of the woods???

mitch

[mitchmaine]

my pitman was laying handy on the bench. a good double check is 41 1/2″ from center of bearing to center of ball cap.

[mitchmaine]

hey carl, we used to have a bunch of wedges kicking around meant to slip in behind a crosscut saw to keep it from binding. that and kerosine to keep the pitch from binding the blade. they were only about 3/8 inch thick. not enough to lift or tip a tree. you got me wondering if the axehead was made or meant to drive those wedges and notch and limb with too. an all purpose ax, like the jack of all trades, a master of none. possibility….thanks for the help. see ya in unity? mitch

[mitchmaine]

There was this glouscester fisherman named howard blackburn fishing the grand banks way back. He and his dorymate were handlining cod and got lost in the fog and rowed around for two days looking for their schooner and finally gave up and decided the best plan was to row for Newfoundland. No short distance, they rowed for days until his partner decided to die. Howard wrapped him up in a tarpaulin and continued rowing. Worried about losing his oars, he took off his wool mittens and dipped his hands in seawater and froze them to the oars. He headed west, rowing until he finally made it to land. He still had to row south along the shoreline until he came to a village that pried his hands from his oars, put him up for the winter, and shipped him back home the next spring. All his friends were delighted to see him, chipped in and bought him a bar, and he served drinks to old fisherman for many years to come and became the local celebrity. When man fights nature, it’s an honorable fight win or lose, nature is quite honest and the rules are clear, you get your hay in or you don’t, you live or you die. The artificial world we live in is less distinct. We shoot the arrow into the barn wall and draw the bullseye around it later to determine success.

Carl, if mark’s right and your painting was the homer I’m thinking about, I love that painting. Even if its different, I know how you feel about it.

Rod, your quote speaks for itself. Wow.

mitch

[mitchmaine]

hey farrier, its sharp both sides and flares on the on side to make the hammer head.
whatever purpose it was originaly made for, it didn’t catch on , it seems. i’ve never struck anything with it. i may just hang a handle on it and give it a try, i might even figure out what it might be good for. thanks all for the great suggestions and interest.
your friend, mitch

[mitchmaine]

hey jim, i just never could get the wrist for a pick. but i hear you about the 8′ and small logs. see you at unity, right? mitch

[mitchmaine]

hey geoff, is there so much straw out there that there is no value in baling it up for sale? we make alot of straw up in aroostook and new brunswick, but not enough to be able to buy it cheap. new growers are creating an even stronger demand for it bedding over winter crops and strawberries. its worth a fortune here. mitch

[mitchmaine]

hey john, a boom was a bunch of floating logs strung together meant to hold logs and pulp and keep it from floating away. they moved logs in booms across the lakes or used them at the mills for sorting. i think 1976 was the last of that around here. the boom chain looked like a big version of a cattle head chain. you passed it through holes bored in the ends of the boom logs and used it to fasten the logs together. one end was a t-swivel that passed through a chain link and open up and couldn’t free itself.

oldkat, how are ya doin’? every time anybody ever saw that axe head, and i leave it out alot, they’d say “hey, what’s that thing for?”. i’m still waiting for “hey, i got one of those, it’s a…” good to hear ya.

mitch

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