stubborn1VT

I see the logic. Your time is either worthless or priceless, depending on your perspective. I grew up farming, so my time/labor is free. I get free wood from my land, family land, and jobs I do. I figure having saws etc are just a part of owning land. Everyone is different. Blocking and splitting a truckload of logs wouldn't take me weeks, and I enjoy it. Your coal set up sounds efficient though. I always thought it was cool when the Kilchers would pick up coal right off the beach and burn it.

I'm leaning toward bench grafting. It isn't supposed to be any warmer than mid 30's here, 20's at night. I will have to get on it though. Thanks.

I'm considering buying some root stock and grafting some old apple trees to them. I experimented with air layering last year, and it was pretty much a bust. Any tips or advice? Anyone use a grafting tool to make the cuts? Is it too late to collect scion wood? (I don't think so, but what do I know?) Anyone have a good source of root stock? If anyone has any tales of success/failure I'd like to hear them. I guess I'm trying to decide if it's worth the time and effort. Thanks

I elevated a small shooting shack on a stack of tractor tires. I bolted them together, then bolted the shack's frame to the top tire. My brother called it the "bouncy house". I added 4 posts on the corners of the frame, and that stabilized the whole thing. Never shot anything out of it, but it was a fun project.

The cell phones and DVR all changed over on their own, so that makes it pretty easy. Even for this knucklehead! I changed the clock on the stove and microwave in about 20 seconds. Besides, the sun came up on time, so not that big a deal.

I would prefer to be overgunned instead of undergunned. With that said, I know a bunch of people with .223s as their barn/porch guns, and they have killed a bunch of deer out to 150-200 yards. These are bolt guns or single shots, shooting "heavy" soft point bullets. They argue that they shoot more because the ammo is cheap, and that makes them confident and accurate. To each his own. I shoot a 7 Rem Mag.

I'm familiar with the term, but nobody around here uses it. They are just as likely to call a face cord a "run" of wood. I was talking to some guys from Ontario, and when they say a cord, they mean a face cord.. They call a full cord (4x4x8) a "bush cord". Language interests me.

We have oil baseboard, but I primarily heat the house with wood. The oil mostly just heats our hot water. I've burned 1.5 cords, which is pretty normal. We'll see how much more I need to get through. I have also sold about 30 cord. Face cords must be a NY thing. You don't hear the term very often around here. Last winter I had a hard time selling all my firewood. This year I could have sold another 10 cord pretty easily. I split about 80% of my wood with an 8 lb maul. I have a 25 ton splitter, but it's faster to split most stuff by hand. I have about 12 cord split, stacked and covered for next year.

I did not expect a Tom T Hall reference. That's some smooth old skool country there!

Picked my Browning cam up 2 days ago. I put it out in September, and moved it Dec 1st. It had 500+ pictures since December, and read 68% battery with the same set of Duracells I put in it sometime in September. No headgear. The local does spent a couple weeks devouring the brassicas, even digging through 8" of snow to get them. Then they left. Not much action since then.

I think you should get over it. Really. Stuff happens. You are one of the thousands of people without power in New York. I know you think the power company should build a bomb proof power grid to YOUR house, all without raising rates, but in the real world, life goes on.

Still trucks driving on trout lakes in the Northeast Kingdom. I will get out again, although it may not be on Champlain.

I think it's great when Nature reminds some people that the world doesn't actually revolve around them. As Henry Rollins used to say "It's good for you to get pissed off once in a while. Get the blood pumping. Get a little color in your cheeks!"

Brown trout are awesome. Nice fish! I heard a rumor that guys are still ice fishing my favorite bay. I guess they got on yesterday with just a 4' pallet. It's not over!

Happy birthday, you eloquent bow hunter!

First bird/first hunt. It was the first year it was legal to hunt turkeys in my part of Vermont. ( I never saw a wild turkey until I was 13.) I sat up on a 19 acre hayfield away from the road. Kicked out a tresspasser. Watched a flock of 6 hens fly down into the field. 3 toms walked out of the woods and followed them out into the middle of the field. I tom fought off the other two and cozied up to the hens. I squawked away on my box call and made them gobble, but they stayed out in the middle. The more I called, the more the less dominant toms gobbled. The more they gobbled, the madder the boss tom got. At one point he chased them about 200 yards down the field. While the hens were hidden in a low spot in the field, I belly crawled 50 yards out into the field and hid behind a maple branch that got left there from some logging. I managed to call in the flock of hens to 10-12 feet, with the boss tom behind them. I waited for the hens to move out of the line of fire and just kind of rolled onto one side, not even on my elbows, and shot the tom. The borrowed shotgun wasn't on my shoulder and I got a bruise from laying my face against the barrel to get some kind of sight picture. He was 21.25lbs. My grandparents heard me hooting and hollering from their house almost half a mile away.

Moonshine? Not on Long Island I guess.

We lucked out. Only a couple inches of snow. The red-wing blackbirds that came back early are unhappy. There is a bunch of them at my feeder this morning. Headed out in a bit to visit friends and family, look at a tree job, prune a couple apple trees, and pick up a camera that has been out all winter.

Also watched Wind River. It was okay. Sad, mostly. Pretty country out there.

Good deal Moog! Price is right too. I don't think you would care for the bill on seed, fertilizer, diesel and spraying for 80 acres. Yikes.

I go by the redwing blackbirds. Some of our robins and bluebirds show up in early February now. My phone has started ringing for brush removal, chipping, and pruning. I'm hoping the ground freezes up around here so I can do some of my work without playing in the MUD.

Sounds good Bionic! I tried it, and also like it. Especially in the summer.

...says the guy with the pink bunny suit!

Well done, sir! Hunters are true conservationists. Congrats on a successful team effort.

Confiscation would lead to civil war. Just my opinion, but that's totally ridiculous. Like we said as kids "You and what army?"