He shot a gun for the first time in the summer of 2008. Never thought he's enjoy it. His pretty much hooked now. Nice clean shot. Dropped him in his tracks. 130 pounds. He's promised me we will have venison cooked in the shanty out on the lake while fishing this winter. Yum!
And there are both of my boys.
This is a cookie. Cookies are discs cut from tires. They come in sizes ranging from 1 1/8 inches to 36 inches in diameter. They are used to make frames or sweeps that weight the bottom edge of the nets opening,keeping it in contact with the ocean floor. These frames bounce of roll (depending ont he design) of the rough and rocky terrain under the north eastern waters, sustaining the correct tow helping to ensure the net will not become hung on the ledgey bottom.
The cookies are strung on cable between each larger cookie (called a hopper) are several smaller ones on either side of a piece of chain, in this particular application. Sweeps are designed differently depending on the net design. Net design is custom in most cases, a product of a number of considerations including: size of the vessel towing it, captains preferences, designers expert technical advice, and what species of fish are being chased. The one pictured here is going to be ~160 feet long.
Some sweep designs call for the hoppers to have an additional hole through them offset from center, through which another cable is run. The net will be attached to the cable rather than to chains like those used in the pictured sweep here in process.
Cookies at Libby Wire Works come from one of two places. New Bedford MA, or Poland. The company in Poland had offered a deal on the large hoppers with just the center hole. Dan bought them. An order came in for a sweep that required hoppers with offset holes. Dan called a company that had punched the holes for him in the past. At some point in the night he came up with a way to do it himself. Something about what the man on the phone had said about needing a couple of hours to set up the die for the hole cutting had triggered his why-not-do-that-myself switch.
Next day the wood splitter got a modification.
Dan went to an auction yesterday. he was hoping to get a particular 6 foot snow blower for the tractor. he did and he got it for 600.00 which he was happy with. he also decided to hang around and see what the bidding on the little Forester did. Not many bidding on it. He got it for 1,300. 1998, 146,000 miles, power windows locks, 5 speed, beer coffee holder. The old Nissan truck was scheduled to last till March. But this deal just happened. We won't spend over 2,000. on a vehicle till after the big house is built.
She wishes Bear was able to play more, and run faster, she would like it if we enjoyed dogie kisses, and she thinks 9 hours waiting for us to come home from work is way too long to not chew up stuff. But overall Merry seems pretty happy with her new home. We have sacrificed a shop vac attachment, one dust pan, and a couple of grand kid toys, several pieces of molding that were waiting for Dan to install them, a set of nice leather reins, couple pair of skivvies, Many many rolls of toilet paper. I try to remember to put them away in the cabinet every morning when I leave, but don't always remember, She has learned how to get them off the open sided hanger now (she used to take roll and hanger off the wall every day). Oh and, if you look carefully at Dan's Sebago Brewing Company Hat, you can see she took a small bite off the brim a bit to the left of center.
Every night we find her pile of stuff up on our bed that she has been gnawing on while bored from waiting for someone to come home and play with her. She got one of my new riding boots before I had a chance to wear them riding. I didn't let her keep that one! I got a big plastic box that closes for the rest of the shoes to hide in--since we don't have but two tiny closets in the cabin and they are stuffed already. I bought her a couple of dog toys, need to find a couple more that she will be happy chewing on. The ones I got seems to just be good for playing tug-of-war and fetch with (big piece of rope with knots and a kong squeak covered in cloth with tails). Does your dog have a favorite store bought chew toy? Let me know what brand and type, I'll try it for Merry.
She weighs 94.5 pounds now at 10 months. She was spayed couple weeks ago, had her dew claws removed and got an ID implant. Healed up nicely without having to spend 7 days on a leash. Phew! I figured she was smart enough to know, if hurts don't do it. I was right. Nothing hurt after the 5th day. What a good girl. She still doesn't like the herring,darn it, their free! They were Sparticus' favorite meal. She eats Turkey necks and chicken necks mostly, eggs and organ meats, sometimes chicken leg quarters when they are really cheep in the 40 pound blocks. She gets some veggies, though she doesn't love them like Bear does. She does love cow poop--especially the baby cow poops--the milk fed baby cow poops! She still wonders why we don't like dogie kisses!
Additional items lost to puppy teeth between sep 27 and Oct 10: brand new bra, roll of paper towel, 2 more rolls of t-paper, pair of Bass leather shoes (Dan left the cover of the box open last night after he got his new sneakers out to wear to dinner), her own collar (I leave it off during the day because it now has a mane of orange surveyors tape attached to it--so she looks less like a deer when leaping through the underbrush at the edge of the farm making her rounds), a dozen yards of orange surveyors tape, and 4 sticks of kindling when I left the bucket of kindling inside on wednesday--mess to clean up but mostly recoverable. I bought alarge rope toy with knots which she is playing with during the days while we're at work. I know because of the all the clean clothes she dragged around the house one day. I was horrified when I first saw the mess, But as I started picking them up I realized none of them were chewed up. It was a puzzle till next morning when I sat on the edge of the bed to put my socks on and saw Merry toss the rope toy across the room. It landed in one of the open top boxes that still serve as clothes drawers (dan will get to making the built in drawers when the shop landscaping and parking surface done) she rushed after it and dove her face into the box. She came up with the toy and two t-shirts dangling from her mouth, which she tossed again gleefully in the other direction pouncing after them all.
Did anyone see me make a mad dash for my truck this morning form the lobby of Hannaford in Buxton Maine, fling open the door to my rust bucket old Nissan truck, lob in my parcel, grab my camera bag and dash back into the lobby? I was so afraid someone was going to squash this little feller before I could immortalize her / his cute little mug in digital splendor.
I have one other shot that shows the pattern of black dots on its back. But for some reason this program doesn't want to display that photo!
I have a friend at USMs Cooperative Extension Services. I sent it to her and she sent it to the Orono office for identification. I wonder if it is an import that came in with a fruit shipment from Guatemala.
Here is the response from Orono:
Leigh,
Your ephoto of a spider was forwarded to me for response. Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. This impressive spider is one of the many orb weavers in the Araneus group that are so common and large this time of year. They spin large webs and trap insects in them. The nests are usually located near light sources. They are not as poisonous as the more notorious spiders such as the brown recluse and black widow.
Clay Kirby
Insect Diagnostician
A tractor isn't much use without attachments. It's just a big motor. But an important big motor none the less. And a must have for our project. In our custom budget plan I pay the tractor payment (backhoe included-both brand spankin new from New Holland) and Dan buys or makes the attachments. He made: rock bucket, thumb for the forks, roller, and stump grinder still in progress. He bought: forks, grader blade, box blade, york rake, sand spreader, bush hog, and the latest and what he just told me is his favorite:
The Harley Rake. Dan has been drooling over the videos of Harley rakes for months now. They are somewhere between 8 and 9 thousand dollars new. He just last week found one used not very many hours away for less than 3000, that needed some work. Needless to say it is here and working now. He also found in the same yard, another BIG generator on a trailer that was not working at all, for, I think he said less than 200 dollars. That is also running already.
It is a slick piece of machinery. It smooths the top soil and if it's set at an angle will wind row the rocks and debris. Very Sweet!
On my way to Kennebunk Conservation Trust to do a pre-project inspection I saw a young bull moose in a field. He would have disappeared before I got parked and got my camera out but something turned him around and he meandered between my truck and some apple trees before trotting off through an open field and into the woods. So I got a couple of shots off.
Yup, I could apply for a moose permit. Ker-powy, right between the eyes, or where ever it is you shoot to take down a moose. That's a lot of meat in the freezer, without 2 years of shoveling expensive hay into cows, and the work of shoveling up after them twice a day. I have to get my hunters safety course in this year, so I can actually hunt. I sometimes wonder: if I were working at a for-pay-job that I enjoyed would I be as likely to be able to pull that trigger. The struggle for food money for me is truly a struggle. And the grocery bill has always been in the "Leigh column" of how Dan and I divvy up the budget. Too bad I can't earn a living from inspecting trail projects!
Hayledge is, for those who don't know, hay baled into round bales at 40 - 60 % moisture and plastic wrapped. The plastic must be air-tight and the moisture content within limits in order to create the right conditions for fermentation without the development of mold. It is very rich in nutrients
As we face another wet summer in Maine and it becomes increasingly difficult to dry hay for horse feed, A local hay producer who makes hay for horses and hayledge for cows has been researching the fact that hayledge is fed to horses fairly commonly in UK , Ireland and other European countries. He is working with two area Vets to examine the pros and cons. While waiting for the developing story, I am wondering if anyone on this forum has any information and or experience to share regarding feeding hayledge to horses.
I asked the ECTRA chat list got several responses including what she called a mini lecture from Elaine Larson; published with permission:
"Haylage and silage are made with the moist plant matter, rather than dried like
hay. Because of the moisture they will support the growth of microbes - ie mold
etc. Left out in the air, these microbes would gradually consume all the
nutrients in the plants for themselves, leaving behind their waste products and
toxins which is not a good feed.
To make haylage or silage, the plant material is put a place that can be sealed
from the air (a silo, silage pit, or the white "marshmallow" wrappers). Once
sealed, the aerobic microbes run out of oxygen and stop growing. The anaerobic
microbes keep going for a while, and their metabolic byproducts are organic
acids such as acetic, proprionic and butyric acids, so the pH of the material
decreases. Eventually the pH falls to the point that the anaerobic microbes
can't grow either. So you now have a feed that is "stable" - it can be stored
in this condition for a long time without further microbial growth and
deterioration. Sort of like pickles.
The catch is that when the material is fed, it is exposed to air and oxygen
again. Since the material is still moist, the microbes are happy to start right
back up again. So, care must be used to store the material properly, minimize
exposure to air when taking out material to feed, and feeding only enough to be
consumed in a fairly short amount of time so that microbial growth is minimal.
If that can be done, it should be ok to feed for horses, although they will
probably have to become accustomed to it gradually as with any change in feed."
There is some concern over botulism in the moist environment of the hayledgebale I hear. Cows can process it when they encounter it, horses cannot, But I also learned that there is a botulism vaccine available for horses.
(Check out the comments for additional information)
She is Belgian Melinios / St. Bernard. She is 7 month old. She is 75 pounds of licky-face bouncy, playful, run like the wind, puppy.
She stayed on a leash for only 24 hours. That's how long it took for her to bond and decide we were her pack.
She gets covered in mud every time she goes out because of all of the construction and pasture building there is mud everywhere. She learned to be hosed off like the others. Although I still have to hold her pretty hard. Sparticus and Bear liked her right from the first second and have no problem sharing their space with her. I was worried about that because Sparticus needs his personal space. But he is much more tolerant of Merry than he is of Bear. He has fun with her on days when he is feeling well.
She came with copious diariah which was cured in 36 hours with rice and eggs. She went right onto the raw diet on the third day. She gets 3 -4 pounds of turkey necks 2 cups of rice and 3-4 eggs, and a cup of raw veggies every day. She still seems a little thin to me but she gained 6 pounds in the first week here.
We love her. She has a bigger bark even that Scooby which is hugely impressive and much neededfor keeping large predators away (2 legged and 4 legged). And she LIKES KIDS! It has been so hard to have the babies over as much as I want to with Sparticus not being allowed out of kennel for any reason while they are here.
She has taken an interest in mouse and chipmunk hunting and bear is busy showing her how it's done. We expect her to end up being the large offish dog who perches on a high vantage point and just watches for intruders, then makes the rounds at night.
When we bought the tractor we had them install a few extra hydrolic controls. Dan utilized another of them a few weeks ago when he fabricated this handy dandy thumb contraption for the forks.
It is the cats meow, the bees knees, for picking up the many piles of debris and freshly cut pine for the burn pile.
He even got a "WOW" from me on that one. I know he can do anything, but this was just too groovy. Isn't he the cutest thing?
OH AND, Because Alan Reminded Pam to tell me to for pete's sake get the blooming box blade photo on the blog already, he's been waiting for about a month!!
It's 6 feet wide. He got it at Tractor Supply. It works really well for everything but the fine sand, where it just wants to sink in deep.
Hay to Rescues
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