Giving the devil her due

An entertainer named Bili Eyelash (give or take a few letters) made a stir when she claimed that "nobody is illegal when we are living on stolen land".

Completely apart from her embrace of the bubbleheaded, thoughtless slogan, Mz Eyelash did donate about 20% of her net worth to fund food security in under-served areas. That degree of putting your own money behind your mouth impresses me, even though I realize that most of the benefit will be distorted and skimmed before it hits the people who need it unless there is very aggressive bird-dogging of the execution.

At another level, Mz Eyelash might be starting to get a grip on the fact that the zealots are driven by envy. No amount of slogan chanting or donations will be enough to satisfy them. They want to humiliate those who have done better than they did, whether by effort or talent or luck or avoidance of mind-altering substances (most likely at least three-of-the-four).

The zealots ALWAYS eat their own. 

Finally, the entire concept of "stolen" presupposes a modern understanding of "private property". My perception of Native Americans is that were largely nomadic and followed the resources as they clocked through the season. If another family or tribe got to the rapids where it was easiest to spear fish, then it was that family's for the duration. The family/tribe that was johnny-come-lately would then move to the second or third choice. 

Snow gets hard after being worked and then allowed to rest

What a difference one day makes.

Two days ago it took me more than 15 minutes for me to drag a single load of wood from the fence at the back of the pasture to the woodpile. That was just the one leg and did not include the deadhead leg outbound nor the time to load and unload the sled.

Yesterday it took me 12:36 for a round trip starting with an empty sled at the woodpile, dragging 300 yards to the back fence, filling it and dragging it back and unloading it. I even took about 20 seconds to take a picture of a juvenile Black Locust twig.

The difference is how snow reacts after it is stirred or compressed and then left to rest. Fluffy snow turns stiff. My mental image is that the lacy snowflakes that are resting tip-to-tip get crushed and the "flats" where they touch vapor-weld together overnight.

The same thing happens with the snow thrown up by snow plows. If you jump right on it and start shoveling, the snow might be dense but it is not hard. If you leave it overnight, it is hard AND heavy.

The point is that the musher of the sled (musher and dog, in my case) needs to run a fairly heavy load over the fluffy snow to start the process. That can be a chore. 

Palate cleanser #2

 

This video is also "Canadian" content.

I can state with +80% confidence that I have at least two, regular Canadian readers.

I can also state that over the years I have had at least 3 Cooey-like (Savage branded) firearms in the ERJ arsenal-of-democracy.

Should the zombie apocalypse happen tomorrow, I would feel better prepared with a "Cooey-like" .22 and .20 gauge shotgun than I would with two, $4000 Weatherby magnums. You, of course, are entitled to your own opinions.

A palate cleanser

 

The cynic in me is afraid that the "Education Industry" will destroy this charming, young (17 years-old) lady.

But, for now, she is a gem. Appreciate the moment. Appreciate the parenting and circumstances that brought her to where she is today. 

Teachable moments

 

For reasons known only to herself, Quicksilver wanted to know how to pick up her "snake". That would be the length of chrome-plated chain you see in the image.

So, today in home-school I taught Quicksilver the fundamentals of immobilizing the head of a snake using a broom or other weapon-of-convenience and securely clamping one's hand directly behind the snake's head before picking up the beast.

The kitchen tool we use to flip French Toast is now known as the dispatchula for reasons I do not plan to explain to either Southern Belle or Handsome Hombre. 

And no post about snakes and other creepy-crawly animals would be complete without a video of a girl playing "Teensie-weensie Spider..." 

 

Pictures from the wood-lot

The stump of the Black Locust I dropped yesterday

 

A cut-end of a round showing the high proportion of heartwood-to-sapwood in mature Black Locust

A picture of a Black Locust branch that is 3" in diameter showing two thorns. One immediately to the right of my hand and a second thorn about five inches to the right of that and just-barely in the image 

Thorns on a JUVENILE branch. From the standpoint of deer browsing, investing in thorns near ground-level is a good investment.

This was the condition of the job site at the start of my work-day

This is what it looked like after I humped all of the burnable-sized wood uphill and pitched it over the fence.

This is the other side of the fence. The "sticks" are 4' long and the rounds are about 10" in diameter. You can see my sled in the background. I have to move them about 300 yards to get them where they need to be.

Presented without comment

 

Inch by inch, row by row...

I did some wood cutting yesterday but it was in Eaton Rapids rather than at the property.

I was testing out and getting some experience with a new tool, a rope puller.

It looks like the cat's meow for pulling lodged trees down. So far, the best technique appears to be to connect +6' above ground and pull the crown toward an opening. Attaching to the bottom was not successful. The end spears into the ground and will not slide.

In retrospect, the 50' long rope would probably be enough for almost all of my cutting. However, if I need it once it will pay for the extra cost and hassle.

In a perfect world, it would be nice if the levers for actuating the ratchet dogs were large enough so it could be used while still wearing gloves.

I expect it to take three days to break-down and transport the tree I dropped yesterday. 

Priming little brass cups

I ran into a new headstamp, "IK" which is for Igman Zavod, Konjic, Yugoslavia. They have crimped pockets and do not like having new primers installed.

For the record, Republic has very inexpensive SP primers of the SA brand in stock. I have done business with Republic on a couple of different occasions and they shipped quickly.