Pygmy

I never DID like cake ! I like it a lot LESS now... Now maybe if she made a cake that looked like Halle Berry's....er....um...Never mind....

Congrats ! Did you shoot him or drown him ?

Lots of tobacco barns. Tobacco ( for cigars, mostly) was a big cash crop around here in the early 1900s. Or so I am told... Even I wasn't around back in those days . You'd have to ask Doc or Fasteddie about that....<< GRIN>>....

Y'all done GOOD !! And as I have said before, your lovely bride sure is PURTY !! Also, it is cool seeing the tobacco barn.. There was one on the property I used to hunt in KY. Not all that many years ago, we had lots of them here in Steuben County, but most of them are gone now.

I hunted in Colorado in 2014 and the outfitters ran Toyotas.. Those things take a lickin' and keep on tickin'... You would not believe the abuse they put those trucks through, and they keep on running.. We drove those trucks in places I wouldn't dare take a MULE !

Thanks for the memories, Paulie..The first picture is a fall picture taken in the driveway of my place on County Rte 2, which now belongs to my ex-wife..LOL...

Saturday morning I'll be heading the truck north for the Ontario gobbler season, which opens the 25th of April. I'll arrive at my buddy Gator's house In Prince Edward County Saturday afternoon, and have the balance of the weekend to scout and set up blinds. My destination is only 125 miles away as the crow flies, but since I have to drive around Lake Ontario, it's about a 300 mile trip. I plan to hunt Monday through Friday and then drive home for the NY opener May 1st. It's my annual "chill out" vacation..No agenda or responsibilities . Nothing to do but hunt turkeys and kick back and relax with the Canucks. Life is GOOD !

You're going to shame me into learning how to do that, aren't you ? I still miss my dial telephone!

The Mermaid's Dad kicked the bucket around 1980, so the rifle has been in Sister Gracie's upstairs bedroom for perhaps 35 + years with no attention whatsoever. Fortunately it was a relatively dry environment. No other goodies found at this time, but who knows WHAT else might be buried in Gracie's house..

I checked some auctions and similar M92s in that condition are going for upward of $1500, maybe more if you find a collector who's looking for one. I may shoot it a few times, Grampy.It wouldn't hurt the value. Cool little carbine . If it had the oversized lever loop it would look just like the one John Wayne carried in many of his movies. And ya can take that to the bank, PILGRIM !

Since The Mermaid and and I have been together, she has talked about a gun that belonged to her father that was supposedly buried SOMEWHERE in her sister's cluttered upstairs, but hadn't been seen in years. Well, Sister Gracie called yesterday and said she had found the gun(s)..It turned out that there two of them. I hurried over to identify the long lost treasures. She brought them down the stairs wrapped in old pillowcases. The first one was an old Stevens M94 16 gauge single shot marked Wards Western Field. It has seen lots of use, and the bluing and case hardening are mostly gone.It has a plastic stock and forend, and the buttplate is missing. It seems mechanically sound and functional, but hardly rates as a valuable heirloom. It looks like the gun that kept in the milkhouse for years and years to deal with varmints around the barn. The OTHER one, however, was a jewel... It is a Winchester M1892 saddle ring carbine in 32-20. Despite years of neglect, it is still in at least NRA "Good" condition. The stock is sound , with a few dents and digs but no cracks. The barrel bluing is pretty good, with some surface rust and minor pitting. The receiver has more bluing wear, mostly from handling and carrying, I suspect. The screw heads are not buggered..It doesn't appear to have been taken apart by an amateur gunsmith. As far as I can tell the bore and rifling are in good shape, albeit in need of a good cleaning. The action is tight and crisp. All parts appear original. It was made in 1912. I am looking forward to giving a good (gentle) cleaning. I don't intend to shoot it. Perhaps we can find a nice place to display it and someday one of The Mermaid's sons or Grandsons will inherit it.

I voted for Pat Paulson again.

I've been collecting used toilet paper rolls since I was 17. You never KNOW what may have value some day. I keep them in the attic right next to my belly button lint collection. I'm starting to run out of storage space, but I'd hate to sell them for less than they might be worth a few years from now.

A friend of mine is a parapeligic ( sp ?) and hunts out of one of those..He kills birds.

The only binds I have experience with are Ameristep Doghouse blinds. I currently have two and I think I paid about $50 for one and $60 for the other on sale. I have used them a lot in the last 6 or 8 years, and they have served me well..I have had a pole or two break and usually have to repair or replace a stake loop every year or two, but I have kept them functional with a little parachute cord and duct tape here and there. They are probably not top quality, but for the price I think they are a good blind. Setup is quick and easy. They conceal you well and keep you reasonably dry in anything but a torrential downpour. The hardest part, as Wooly said, is getting the blind back into a compact round shape to put it back in it's carrying bag. That takes a little practice.

A man after my own heart, TF..All I had to do was shrink ONE of her favorite blouses and I no longer had to worry about laundry duty..

A friend of mine and I fished a local farm pond earlier this week..Caught only 3 bullheads and half a dozen miniature perch..We fished at mid day, which is often the slowest time. We plan to try it again this week in the evening..

I always try to help out the ladies too. I once asked Miranda Lambert if she'd like to hunt turkeys with me, and she said she'd love to but she had to wash her hair that day. Then I asked her if she'd like to go out to dinner and she said she'd love to but she never dates guys who are shorter than she is.

I've hunted in several states ( plus 1 Canadian Province) that allow all day hunting, and I haven't witnessed any negative affects. I also haven't had much luck getting birds to come to the call in the afternoon, but maybe that's just me. I'm hunting Ontario next week and shooting hours are half an hour before sunrise to 7:00 PM. Generally by 1:00 or 2:00 PM I am ready to call it quits for the day.

Holy LIMBHANGER , Batman !!

My preference for blued finishes is purely cosmetic. I don't care for the looks of stainless. I have done several hunting trips in remote areas when my blued rifles got literally soaked day after day. They did rust some, but I cleaned them up as soon as possible, and they are no worse for the wear today. Hunting around home it is not an issue, as I wipe down and dry my firearms daily. If I were doing a lot of wilderness hunts with limited opportunity for gun care, ESPECIALLY in a salt water environment, I might bite the bullet and buy a stainless firearm. BUT for the present, there are no stainless long guns at my place, although I do have a couple of stainless revolvers.

Hey !! We should all meet at Atlanta for the Chicken N Bisquits sometime !

Not a bad looking trio, but the PRETTIEST one was holding the camera !

It DOES beat shoveling, Wooly, but this winter spoiled me..I never fired up my snowblower once and cleaned the walks/concrete SNOWPLOW style with a shovel perhaps 4 or 5 times.. I took your advice, however..I normally don't drink on Sundays, but I just cracked open a Blue Light and drizzled a little skull varnish in an old dried beef glass...

I knew you'd show up.. I nearly PM'd you, but I figured you'd sniff it out.