1-31-2012- oh those crazy heads

       i will feature heads that i have done that are similar to the heads done by the ancient people of easter island ,in chile south america-http://traveloffice.co.in/moai-statues-rano-raraku-easter-island-chile-. a  click on this link will lead you to pics of their statues. i didn't copy per se. and there are noticeable differences as i didn't even look at the pics or even study them as to form . i have seen them previously and enjoyed how they looked but when carving i  put my own slant on how they should look. 

      on another note that huge hunk of log in the background was the tin man before i started in carving on him. ( this is located in the very top picture)

     the carving in the next pic a friend of mine requested i carve for him . he wanted something in same idea as moai carvings but with a mohawk and long facial features. he actually felt when it was finished that it had a similar appearance to his natural being. hmmmmmmmm. i'm capable of seeing a lot of things but even good drugs couldn't get me to go there. the indian carving is still a work in progress as it was black walnut and i am waiting for the exterior of the log to bleach out before painting . it is more a totem. not quite sure where that bear walked off to but i sure hope he made someone happy . all of the smaller pics can be enlarged by just clicking on the face of the pic to view in a larger form. 

      the next pic is a kind of surreal shot i took standing inside my shop looking out at the carving. actually didn't use any of the tools pictured in the shadows but i felt the pic looked kinda neat as again it shows another head in moai form or easter island style. i love carving these heads as they are a lot of fun but invariably come back to bears. when i was carving,the bears always sold . these sold also but i had to sell for more as they are usually larger carvings to the five foot size. at 100 dollars/foot, they were a bargain at 200 dollars , but people still drug their feet. all these carvings are nice but i envision them in a woods setting or something special that will enhance your property's value. they do require routine maintenance to keep them in good condition. 

     and at last i came across another butterfly pic that i had in my files that i thought was of above average quality. and i will put this in at full size so you can appreciate the beauty of the monarch. as he was in side of porch on screen , i did take him outside and release him so he could go on do what butterflies do. 

 1- 30-2012 finding the good and ignoring the bad in everything we do

         well to live in ohio requires a certain sense of optimism .to know that it is perfectly normal to have the weather change 60 degrees in a matter of hours. and that if you don't like it it will change in 5 minutes .that an orange barrel signifies the beginning of spring as they begin to blossom along the road in spring signifying the beginning of construction season. it is hard to be optimistic when faced with day after day of gray skies punctuated spits of snow and ice. and if we are real lucky we can get some sunshine once in awhile as we did yesterday. mom and i took a trip to wellsville ohio , over by the west virginia ohio line alongside the ohio river. 

        originally we had started out to get something to eat but instead grabbed a cup of coffee and headed east through minerva and then more east to hanoverton. the brown scrub would dominate the landscape intermittently interrupted by dilapidated structure's in various stages of decay and abandonment. it was like this until we reached hanoverton , ohio.then we took a different route and went straight onto rt. 644 out of hanoverton . it was quite a visual trip at this point as it was bleak and depressed looking but then the terrain opened up into flat fields and open neat winter- brown grass and manicured fields . and well kept houses. then we dropped into salineville, ohio. it has the look of an old coal mining town and is located in a river valley. then we headed up onto a plains area and would go along looking at interesting houses neat looking then happened on this one property that can best be described as if a tornado threw up on the place. i have seen humans do some pretty mean things to mother nature but his guy had the prize by all means. hunks of metal thrusting up out the earth , large metal tanks parts and pieces of past automobiles barely recognizable, from apparent loss of parts. rusted and deteriorating into mounds of rotten red iron staining the ground with by gone oil residue mixed with trash paper wood, insulation , and who knows what surrounding a building of who knows what it contains. rats would have a hard time maneuvering the mazes of trash of unknown origins and tires no longer capable of doing much more than breed malignant hordes of pestulence about the neighbors surrounding.  

        to say the least i could not imagine one man or a family of of people or hoarders could allow themselves to purposely treat a hunk of earth this way. they must be planning purposely to screw this all up so no one person should ever dare set foot upon this place. there has to be bodies buried there. it left an image on the back of my brain . and now i understand the need for zoning even though i understand regulation isn't always the answer.i was driving and unable to take pictures but would have to give this place the most screwed up place in ohio. a visual wonder. that is still burning a hole in my brain a day later. but at same time providing me comfort as i have traveled this part of ohio extensively  and have seen some messes but we have nothing on this place that would compare. take st. rt 164out of salineville  to st. rt 518 , and then 45 south into wellsville, ohio.  and brace yourself for around the next corner will be this lovely piece of real estate . it would be hard to find good there but there might be a fortune in junk alone. 

     coming into wellsville on 45 was quite an experience as it drops off quick down the side of a steep hill , with nothing but a river far below you and at that time snow covered roads. grabbing a quick bite and heading out of town on st rt. 39 we encountered some heavy snow but soon drove out of it but not before seeing a brilliant sunset as in picture above. the snow was bad but the trip ended good . 

1-29-2012- tin man tries to go on a trip

     well in continuation with part 2 of the tin man saga, i will relate to you how the tin man escaped an uncertain future to the hands of thieves. i will not reveal the identity of the kids involved , but only to say that i in some ways still feel they have not learned their lesson yet and time will only tell. behind the tin man and up the lane is our place which is no way close to where the tin man is and chances of me catching someone actually trying to steal him would be one in a million and was purely by chance. 

     i was coerced into going for doughnuts that rainy morning and i had just drove by the tin man on the way out drive and didn't notice anything  wrong. several people had warned me i risked losing him by placing him at the end the lane . i wanted to place him there in an effort to give back to the area i had grew up in , an example of what i took pride in. i didn't really think the statue was very easy to sell ,and it did have a particular interest to me and i really just didn't want to sell it . i already have several statues on the farm and decided to just give this on to the public in general, to view when driving down the local road. so i placed it at the end of our half mile long drive way away from our view and anyone elses view as he is on an isolated stretch of roadway.

           the doughnuts are great in mineral city at steinecks bakery at the second light in town heading south. a belly full of sugar was necessary for the ordeal i was getting into. i came up our side street towards the end of our lane and noticed a truck backed into the ditch beside our mailbox, and 4 youths were trying to load the tin man into the back of a pickup , my friend looked at me and asked what was happening and i told her to hang on as i sped up and slammed on the brakes in front of their truck and stopped, blocking their exit out of the ditch. the rain was pouring down and these kids just looked at me in amazement as they struggled to get the statue onto the back of the truck. i started calling the sheriff and was explaining to them what was going on as kids decided that maybe this wasn't a good idea. i told my friend to grab her camera and get ready to start taking pics as i finally exited pickup when one of the kids come over and asked me to move my pickup so they could leave. i said hell no. 

    he then asked me to use my phone i said no way. i said you are stealing my statue , and you will probably steal my phone also.  then 3 of the kids just booked on foot , leaving the driver. at this time the driver gets excited and jumps back in truck and tries to pull truck out of ditch but i didn't leave him room and also he had the statue on the back of his pickup tailgate and it weighed about 600 pounds keeping him where he was. he rocked it in the ditch gunning the engine but wasn't going any where. i had left about 2 foot between him and the side of my pickup. i told him to cool his heels as the sheriff was coming and he could explain why he was stealing my statue. my friend walked all the way around the truck taking pictures. as well a couple of neighbors came by and were stopped by the confusion as i had the road blocked , preventing him from coming out . well the kid manages to get the truck into four wheel drive and after that runs to back of truck and tries to pull the statue off turning him and using the ax handle to help pull him off when he busts the ax handle. at this point i tell him now you did it you asshole , now you bought it. as it pissed me off that he broke the statue. well at this point he went into overdrive getting crazier as he was trying to escape more than ever but my truck still prevented him from exiting and he kept wallowing it around until he smacked the side of my pickup and dented it. and then he was able to back into ditch and managed to get around the corner of my pickup and was able to get out  of ditch. at this point i let him go . he was totally unstable and i wasn't quite sure what he was capable of. i had to worry about my friend , and we just moved my pickup to side of the road and i called the sheriff again as it was over 30 minutes and they still had not shown up. also they had his license number, so i figured they could catch up with them later. i had done more than enough. so we pulled over into drive and waited for the sheriff. and i called the sheriff to tell them it wasn't an emergency that it wasn't necessary to hurry and that we would wait and file a report. 

      well as quickly as the little snot disappears him and his dad reappears in another vehicle and his dad , my neighbor, jumps out and starts yelling at me cause i called his son a thief. i told him i call them like i see them and start dialing the sheriff again as he starts yelling at me saying his son is not a thief. i said lets wait for the sheriff to decide that. we have pictures. at one point he threatens me with physical violence and i tell him to go ahead as i am standing on my own property , and i will own his place before it is over. the sheriff steps up their effort as they hear my neighbor threatening me over the phone and sheriff finally shows up 45 minutes later and starts their investigation. asking me questions as to why i threatened these boys and making me feel uncomfortable for protecting what is mine and i worked for and wasn't letting a bunch of young punks have  for nothing.i told the sheriff there was witnesses and we had pics other than these showing the truck in the ditch and backed up to the carving. the neighbor explained that his son was a bad driver and that he was turning around and accidentally backed into the ditch and the carving fell into his bed with the tailgate down and that he was trying to get it out when i showed up. what a laugh. i wont go into what all i was feeling or wanting to say about all this and will try to stay to the fact. the second photo is where he was backed into the ditch and this is where he missed my drive. good lord it was a good thing i tried to block him in if he was that bad a driver as he missed a forty foot wide drive backing up and ended up ten foot off drive. this kid was a bad driver and a worse liar. so now he is a thief and a liar. but the sheriff was able to check out witnesses' testimony and the pics we took and were able to realize i was telling the truth . and that indeed they were trying to steal the statue. eventually the father came and apologized for the son and rumors were that they were stealing it to try and make a bong for smoking pot out of as his hat was shaped in a cone. 

     at first i wanted compensated for damages to my truck and also to the statue. but in the end decided to leave it up to the prosecutor to dispense the justice in the form of public work. i had put the statue in that place for the public to view , not to steal and still feel that the majority of people are good . it is just your neighbors you have to worry about . it is necessary they pay their dues to the respect of the public. and i did see them out doing work on a local road gang and felt good that justice was done. i don't feel all the kids were treated equally . some claiming they didn't participate but that is up to sheriff to decide as they were juveniles and records are sealed even to those they do harm to. this is the second sculpture i had stolen from this location and was driving down the road going to look at another carving job and noticed a bear on the porch of a house that was local and i knew i carved the bear , but for the life of me couldn't figure out why it was there. i took a picture and was considering calling the sheriff as it looked a lot like the one that was stolen from the end of the lane  before. 

       you can see the bear buried behind the stuff on the porch. well it is actually the bear i traded for the log to carve the tin man out of and i realized it before i called the sheriff. but at first i was instantly inflamed that someone would so boldly display a stolen carving. i also had a carving stolen from along side a road that weighed about 600 lbs also. and will show you a picture. stealing statues is a insincere compliment of your work . and really risky way to end up in jail . they are unique and i do take pictures and can recognize my own work from a distance. although i appreciate the fact they would chance a felony for a hunk of firewood, i hope they don't think i wouldn't for at second stop at prosecuting. they would have a second thought coming, as i will. a picture of that carving is above and was heavy enough to have to use tractor to move around. this was the second carving i had done in my life. 

1-28-2012- this is the tin man from the wizard of oz carving i did on about jan. 2010 for the fun of it. this is the largest carving i have done to date, standing over 6 foot tall  even with the tin man seated and weighs over 600 lbs. . visions of the tin man sitting in the forest along the yellow brick road flooded my memory for years as i once played the tin man in the wizard of oz  when i was in the 4 th grade. can remember going  down into the basement at school where the boilers were , and spray painting cardboard silver to make my costume. now thoughts of painting in closed in area with natural gas flames glowing in the fireboxes as they heated the hot water circulating at school scare the daylights out of me. but school was different in those days and  naive best describes.  it was warm down there and the janitor treated it as his own special place as he showed me around the underbelly of the old school building seldom seen by most students and i felt glad to be allowed  there. well the night of the play , they made up my face in silver makeup and with lasting words of encouragement from the teacher to dorothy and myself. saying to us.
     " now brenda (dorothy ) and kevin (myself the tin man ) , i want you to really kiss when you say goodbye at the end of the play. you will never see each other again , lay one on here , donrt be shy".
     now talk about stage fright , i was shivering under the lights at the thought of kissing dorothy, or fiery red haired  brenda under the lights in front of mom and the rest of the packed crowd . well the play went off fairly smooth and we were having some laughs and though i couldn't really see anyone out there i knew my family was there and the big moment was coming. and then it was there and i never had a chance to be timid as dorothy just grabbed me and planted a big one right on my lips hard and long.

    wow no wonder i want to relive that moment time and again the rest of my life. a kiss i would never forget. dont really know what happened to brenda, but my memories are still intact and after watching the wizard of oz a hundred and thirty six times in my life . i feel qualified in at least giving a good try at carving the tin man.

      i had been wanting to carve the tin man for quite awhile , but finding a piece of wood suitable was hard. i happened to be going by a neighbors house and saw this huge log out there and so i made some deals and acquired the log and brought it home in several pieces on the front of the tractor and it was all it could handle to lift it up. the wood had been laying awhile since and before i got it and i knew it was dry.  the prior pictures are as i started carving it. he was totally carved out of one log , including the axe handle.

      i had tried to simulate the tin look when painting him. the white pine makes a good contrast to the colors i used . after painting i sealed him with spar urethane in a matte finish and it kind of gave him a darker more real finish. i had decided that i wanted place him at the end of the lane where we live for the neighbors and friends to enjoy , hoping the size of him would keep would be thieves from attempting to steal him. this wasn't the case, and will wait till tomorrow night to tell that story as it is a long one. neighbors and friends offered many compliments as to the sculpture and in round the bout ways word got back to me it was a good thing i had done. i could have tried to sell it and was offered considerable money for it but it is hard to fix a fair price and so many people that i would have to explain to about where it went, that i just decided to leave for now and if i do move it will donate to a wilderness center or something such as that. i truly believe he needs to be sitting in a woods somewhere. as he was in the wizard of oz as dorothy had found him.
     well for now he sits at the end of the lane as he looks like he did in last picture. tomorrow i will recount how i came home to find four youths trying to steal my statue.

1-27-2012-those darn ducks

            don't know if you have ever raised ducks, but there really isn't much you can do with them. they seem to be on natures autopilot , or at least these 6 are. i have 2 mallards of natural look, males, and 2 female drakes i believe they are called, and 2 domestic hybrid pita's(pain in the asses) . they are source of amusement and wonder of  how they can survive. they just do.\

            it has rained for 2 days here on the farm and everything is soaked  to say the least . and i really wasn't in no big hurry to go feed the ducks. i let my responsibilities go and they ran off my back like water on a ducks feathers as they say. and the irony is that it just about got me into trouble. nothing major but would have required rebuilding the top dike of our two tiered farm pond. you are looking at the ducks on the lower pond after i released the water. yes i said released the water. 

         i thought these ducks were not smart but for some reason the pond has had that same pipe plugged 3 times with debris . before the ducks came i never had one problem with it. there is a connections as i believe they are shoving stuff down the 4 inch pipe that is more than sufficiently sized for the pond. again i never had a problem with pond before they showed up. i could just imagine them running around pond gathering up flotsam and jetsam and shoving it down the pipe. whatever the water builds up to the point it runs over the dike and could erode the front of the small dam. the second pond would contain it and slow it down so no worry.

         well as i was getting ready to feed them and they cruised around overflowing upper pond amazed at how much bigger and nicer the newly formed lake was i looked at them and asked them . 

        "who did this? " 

        and of course i get same response and rampant quacking seemingly accusing one another, and i think i made out something about it could have been the muskrat that also shares a lair in the pond. a lot of wing pointing  and waddling away as i was speaking. 

        i grabbed a pitchfork and went to the lower end of the pond and started fishing out sticks , duck food, a little of this and a lot of that followed by a huge rush of water cascading down the rocks and ducks waddling for all their worth to avoid the deluge. in a way i kind felt bad for them as i think they kinda liked their misguided achievement. the pond was functioning again . as i walked away i could hear quacks of discontent. 

        the truck cap was an attempt to give them shelter. they instead choose to spend the winter in the open in the upper spring where the water temperature rarely drops below 50 degrees. and i bring them food and when it is cold they huddle together as they feel safe in their cove.they have never been caught in that truck cap once since it was placed there. i will remove it this spring when weather is better. so much for my misguided attempt to help an animal out. seem they know best what works for them. in fact i have seen other birds , geese doing the same thing , foraging food in winter conditions with out much ill effect around here . and we think we have it tough. 

         the second pic is the local creek that at this time had not peaked its flooded conditions. a couple of days of rain on top of a winter thaw, leaves little rain being absorbed and mostly ending in runoff and flooding creeks. when this creek floods it can still cause folks to head to higher ground. as development increases this will happen more often. most new developments have to prepare storm water runoff plans to slow the amount of ground water to an amount that would naturally occur had this been open ground. but at same time there are a lot of existing areas that were grandfathered in and should have some kind of runoff control and don't. 

           the carving is from norman rockwells sons collection out of stockbridge mass.. click on image to enlarge. 

1-26-2011-wildflower field

    this is an extenuation of yesterday's blog about oardc(ohio agricultural research and development center), part of ohio state university , wooster research station ,wooster , oh.. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center - Home- . takes awhile to get their plug in. went over in june and was driving around the campus next to agricultural technical institute , and came upon this field of wildflowers they had planted. it was overwhelming in person to see all those lovely flowers in one place.

    there was a field about 2 acres in size and it was completely covered with poppies , bachelor buttons, field daisies, and i dont know what else . i felt like i was in oz and i was headed to the emerald palace. last year i went back to see again but the planting was thin if there was one. last year was after the tornado went through and planting wildflowers may have been low on their list of things to do. i sure hope they pursue this as it was breathtaking. maybe some sunflower research too. would be glad to help them. i have planted sunflowers in large quantities for last 5 years. it started when a friend brought down some sunflowers to compost . i saved the seed as it grew a sunflower at least 16 inches across. this was supposedly from hybrid sunflower seed that was  picked exclusively for large heads. i planted the sunflower seed the next year and had a tremendous yield and numerous record size heads . stalks in the 3 inch size range. almost big enough to use a chainsaw to cut down. according to what i had learned hybrid yields should go down if you reuse the seed. this leads me to believe that a lot of seed they claim to be hybrid is in effect pure seed and not a hybrid cross. the seed companies claim it is hybrid to encourage you to buy their so called hybrid seed again next year. now they are claiming to genetically modify the seed to make it more resistant to herbicides  and pesticides. monsanto received a patent and have teams of inspectors out in the field scouring farmers corn to make sure there are no copyright infringements. seems the aztecs should have the patent on that as corn originally was cultivated in latin america. it was called maize and some variations still exist today. putting a patent label on our food is the next step. and who knows how they are altering. altering for production no doubt will create a plant that may have bad taste effects but will increase production or a variety of other ill effects may occur. feeding it to cattle and then to us is no better. nature has a way of genetically modifying all living things and this is called evolution. does this mean monsanto has a patent on evolution. 

     plant pure seeds and save the seeds from produce to the next year. this are called heritage seeds. you should always have a jar sealed tightly with heritage seeds to use in case of an emergency. and what emergency you may ask? none i have experienced in my lifetime but you never know. having a jar full of hybrid seeds is good  also. but i think if you were faced with longtime food shortages being able to yearly produce your own food for yourself and your family is always a good thing.and heritage seeds will allow this.

    this is an opossum that was along the lane one day while i was headed to the mailbox. he was a little camera shy but i finally got a good pic. those little feet looked cold . he could thank nature for that as evolution should have gave him some furry ones. but for some reason the opossum doesnt have fur on their feet. not quite sure if they hibernate in winter and  the weather at the time this was taken , had been an especially long cold snap and he was foraging for food. 

1-25-2012-just a darn pretty pic. 

     

       i believe it to be ohio agricultural research and development center(oardc) , osu. wooster, ohio. kind of a friendly looking place where you might find a smiling bear inviting you to walk through the woods.well this bear was donated to the local historical society and can be seen along st.rt. 800 in east sparta, ohio. we all think those darn bears are so cute and i feel that is why so many idiots when actually confronted by a real bear , stnd there in awe as the bear lunges and just plain eats them. no wonder they are smiling. us humans are just twinkies to them. 

        this bear is carved out of a recycled pine log. had to do some fancy trading to get these logs as they are huge, and actually stood in a neighbors front yard . i traded him a carved bear for the log and it was about 50 foot long and this piece was midway through the log. the log had been laying awhile , before i saw it and inquired as to getting it. i took the tractor and forks and picked up the logs and carried them back to the farm in about 10 foot chunks. it was all my large saw could do to cut through the log. i have carved some large carvings out of these logs and have a couple of pieces left. 

     in regards ot the oardc campus where the trees are , a severe tornado came through the area and caused major damage to the arboretum and campus buildings and greenhouses. this happened over a year ago and the damage  and the effects of  the trees lost were devastating. i dont think anyone was hurt there but damage to the buildings as i write this still has not been fixed. one old well kept barn completely lost its roof and doubt that it will be fixed as time and exposure to the elements will be its demise after a year. it could have been worse but im sure workers there could not imagine how. if you live in notheast ohio , this place is a must see in the springtime as it comes alive with blossoms. the latter 2 pictures are present storm damage after 1 year. 

     mom and i was in medina to the north of wooster when the storms started hitting and as we were driving to wooster it hit medina area and caused some damage . at that time we were heading home but took time to stop in the arboretum and drive through and look probably for the last time of any the trees. as soon as we left the storm hit the area and the tornado rolled through the arboretum devastating vast swaths of trees while leaving others alone. we revisited the area several times since then and both of us are still astonished of how it looked before and after.time will heal.  they are fortunate no one was hurt or killed in that touchdown. Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center - Home

1-24- 2012 - freaky accidents occur on every farm and at times you least expect. dad is in pic at the right side of the screen with my sister charlie and this was taken after he had an accident one day on the farm. we were working down at the other farm , and was helping grandpa move some cattle or  something . cant really remember why we had his truck down in the field but do remember making several attempts to try and bring the truck up through the pasture field. grandpa wasn't always the best driver as evidenced by the back of his tailgate, as numerous dents and scratches indicate he wasnt so good at backing , it was stopping he had a problem with. we learned early not to leave our legs over the end of tailgate as it was like an alligator waiting for him to back up and eat your legs.
     so me and my brother were sitting on the wheel wells holding on for dear life as try after try grandpa would attempt to drive truck out of the field . dad was on side of road holding the gate open, so that when we finally did make it we wouldn't have to chase cattle. the reason me and my brother jim was in the truck was to add traction over the wheels as if we really mattered .  it was a good thought and safe place to be as we soon found out. grandpa had tried and didn't seem to have enough momentum and then backing down. well this one time he was giving it hell as we rounded in front of the barn , the old chevy pickup swinging wide as it climbed through the gate and then it slid closer to dad , and next thing we knew we saw a steel fence post coming out from under the pickup and heading straight for dads chest and hit him square right in middle of his chest and hard enough to knock him down and take the wind out of him.
      grandpa slams on the brakes as we yelled for him to stop and we all ran back to make sure he was ok.

he was having trouble breathing and we rushed him to the hospital. he had sustained a punctured lung and broke 3 ribs. it was so surreal seeing that fence post shoot through the air like a javelin and spear him in the chest. it could have killed him. many times we have been hung up on the farm and have been in same or similar circumstances but never had anything like this happen.
         the wheels were spinning as fast as grandpa was  ran over the top of the fence post just right and it shot straight out from under that tire like a slingshot would.
   i borrowed this pic of a dog that very much resembles my dog babe and don't know if this pic is photoshopped but is a really cool pic. thank you whoever.

    1-23-2012-the man in this pic is my grandpa , cecil yockey. to me , he was my mentor, a stoic individual who i can only aspire to do half the good this man did over his lifetime. but i know im partial to him. he was my dad for awhile filling in for a lack of an old man. he only swatted me once and one time when i had done bad i remember him chasing me under the porch of our house and just simply sitting down on the same porch and saying" well kevin you might as well come out. you have no where to go and neither do i but to wait on you."
     i spent time working with him at his job and he became the dad i never had before or after. he was one of a kind man. a pretty happy ma and content in his life as such. his life was taken early and i lost a friend , a father , and a grandparent. i still have a lot of his stuff. stop watches no doubt that hung on those walls in picture. they were measuring the amount of rainwater that would runoff a forest floor when artificially irrigated. he would be measuring the amount of water collected in a minute period and then over an hour. pumps would pump water through a network of hoses to the top of the hill and onto stringers running through the trees creating an unnatural shower in the sun streming through the dense foliage. dinner would be taken at the picnic table except when bad weather forced the men inside their trucks. later on a building was built to house the workers. grandpa ran the crews pumping water cutting trails , and what ever labor intensive job they might have. even back then it was necessary to reduce your footprint to achieve the scientific purpose of study.  so roads and trails were kept to  minimum.
    grandpa also worked on the farm . he had 165 acres of land above dover dam we still own today. in fact he was becoming a little bit of a land baron at the time , as he owned another 40acres he and his wife ines , my grandma , had already bought and paid for in stark county about 20 miles north of the tuscarwas farm. grandpa had just started the new job with the forestry department and was in the process of trying to make hay after working all day in the woods. i was constantly following him all over the farm and the woods at that time. i walked up the hill and watched him grease the baler and the tractor and check things out on the baler. he handed me the grease gun and sent me back to the house.
     the day was hot and humid and i remember as well as yesterday . i was playing with my sister sherry and  looked up the hill toward the barn and saw my grandpa limping down from the barn and he yelled for me to run and get mom . i did and he collapsed onto the grass of the lawn breathing heavily. mom and i returned and then i learned he had been run over by the tractor.
     after i left him on the hill field and went down to the barn and then the house, he had baled maybe 50 feet and had a problem  with the baler . stopping the tractor and setting the brakes he gets off to walk back past the end of the ac rotobaler 60, and was working on unlocking the dogs holding the bales in, when he felt the baler move as he was on a hill;.he ran around the end of the baler and headed for the old 8n ford and started to climb on tractor to apply the brakes , and slipped with his foot and it propelled him under the bottom of the tractor and still holding on , the tractor tire just misses his head and rolls across his chest cross-ways, breaking thirteen ribs in the process. the tractor and the baler roll another ten feet and rolls to a stop on its own and before the baler ran over him again. hurting real bad he manages to get to his feet and has to walk almost a half mile to get help in the way of me. if i had just stayed. and if i did it may never have happened.
   after getting double pneumonia and battling the pain he recovers and one day we were taking a shower in bottom of his house and i looked at his bare chest after he was out of the hospital , i knew this was one lucky man who had something else he had to do first . if it was me i would have been dead. the tractor tread was visible as the tire left black and blue marks diagonally from the left side of his neck to his right waist, indicating the pressure pushing on his chest as the tire just rolled by his head. just wasn't his time.

   well need something to share with you on humorous side . farming is a dangerous busieness. and its mainly because of  farmers. stuff happens . anyhow saw this little joke about manufacturing process evolves. how you enjoy. 

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    1-22-2012 - here is a look at my current saws. and a t a look at them individually. my first is a 370 echo i believe . my smallest is a 346 cc, and this is a 370 cc. it has a roller tip sprocket nose. it is a powerful chainsaw and quick cutting with an aggressive chain. i use this chainsaw for blocking out carvings being careful where that tip is pointed at least away from me. with our type of cutting it can come up out of the wood and back at you in a heartbeat , especially with that power. just bought a new chain for it and it seems like it is running great.                  
         second in line is my stihl farm boss ms -290 i believe is the model number. very reliable easy starting wood hog. it has a 20 inch bar capable of doing major cuts to large trees , and is all i want to handle would rather cut huge blocks out of any larger wood. just bought a new bar and chain and that set me back 90 dollars. might have found it cheaper on line , but lately the cost of shipping is prohibitive and cheaper to go to dealers to purchase smaller quantities of supplies you need. this is a saw that i can stand a log on end and rip it lengthwise straight as an arrow if everything is cutting well. with the new bar and chain all is well.
       the third in line is the husqvarna .i think it is about 370 cc also or somewhere around there. it is also a blocking saw. after i first bought it , i wasn't that impressed with it. it starts different than an echo or a stihl , but it does start good, and now i am getting a feel for it . it  seems to have potential as a carving saw. it has a high tinny sound to the engine. making you want to check the fuel -oil ratio and make sure it is ok. it is a high rpm / high speed engine liking the high revving work load better. at lower rpms where most of my carving occurs , dont think it would do as well. in fact i know it doesn't. but then it is not set up to carve with a carving bar. think i would take the other echo over the husky for carving. blocking would be good for this saw. light easy to handle capable of small blocking jobs easily.
      my last chain saw is the 346 echo and this is my second carving saw exactly like this. it is a good light size and is outfitted  with a dime tip carving bar, 12 inches long. this allows me to cut in tighter radius' and allow more detail in my carvings. it is a hard nose bar and this is an added safety factor when using regularly. it is easy starting and runs a little rough when cold . cold blooded is another term for how it acts when started. you have to feather the throttle going on and off till it warms. this and the 370 is similar when starting. to get this saw set up you will need to invest at least 500 to get something similar. buying a used one and swapping sprockets will get you one cheaper. you still need 1/4 in. chain to carve with.
      if you have this much involved you also need a chain shapener and will show you a pic of that tomorrow, to keep your chains sharp. they run so much better when chains are sharp. you can sharpen by hand but every once in awhile you need to dress up your chains on a regular grinder to keep them even and prevent jumping when bar comes in contact with the log. also you need to file the rakes . now if all of this sounds strange . then step back from the saw and dont touch it till you read and understand more. you need to know your saws inside and out. and a lot of information is available online just for the taking. and i learn something new all the time about chainsaws . i have been cutting wood since i was 18 years old. my first saw was a mcullock 10-10-a , a mccullock 10 with an oiler . i grabbed it and headed down an old lane on the farm cutting trees for firewood. going to make a fortune. still working on that one. young and dumb but fortunately i learn quick and never have been hurt. a couple of nicks but that was about it. falling trees is something else .
     if you dont know how to fell trees as they say , dont . dont even try. you can die. what may not seem like a big tree represents a lot of energy if cut wrong and splits up the trunk wrong and hits you. or is cut off and seems to fall ok till it hits something and is suddenly chasing you out of the woods. make sure you have a clear path and look overhead for widow makers. hopefully you will just find a tree expert and buy logs off him and all this information will be useless to you. i understand that sometimes you have to get your wood where you can to carve but planning goes a long way when it comes to your safety. try not to be impulsive anytime with a chainsaw. never hurry and always be safe. look around up sideways and behind if you have to . but be safe.

      and if you sit your chainsaw down on a stump so you dont have to pick it up so far, as you are tired , and you leave it running because another ten minutes of cutting will allow you to finish that carving you have been working hard on. and if it just so happens to vibrate towards the edge of the stump and want to drop onto the ground while running. let it. dont be like me and grab for it and end up with a handful of almost running chain. i dropped the chainsaw anyhow . stupid me forgot to shut it off, and then instead of letting it fall tried to grab it. sliced me good but not enough for stitches. but enough to make me remember next time.

1-21-2012-we just po folks

    this is Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens Visit- click on link to visit. and no they are not po folk, we all are in comparison to the seiberlings at their time. stan hywet hall is a nice place to visit on a one tank trip loaded with history. needless to say i think we all secretly wish to have grown up here. in stead  we lived in an old farmhouse along rt.800 as it is called now and rt.8 then. it was my grandpas and grandmas house and they lived in a house trailer beside us. he was a farmer and worked in the woods as we called it. he worked for the forestry service as a supervisor . grandma worked for u.s. ceramic tile corporation and when she retired she had 28 years in at the tile plant as she called it.

     mom was milking six cows by hand , and we had a mean ass bull also. one old cow called sally was especially nice. i was able to start milking her at 5 years old , and would milk straight into the glass from the cow's teat , shooting a stream of milk into a pile of nestles quik in the bottom of a tim glass i would keep in the barn for this purpose alone. i would grab a one legged stool and sit down and grab those big old faucets, and squeeze . a frothy chocolate warm milk was really good when you were able to do it yourself. old sally was a great old Guernsey cow . something you hardly see any more. great butter and cream cows. 

      it wasn't probably the safest way to drink milk from a cow but then again how many times is milk handled before you see it on your table. i am 6 ft. 4 inches and i attribute at least 2 inches to healthy farm food. we didn't have a lo0t but always had something to eat. 

     my first dad had left and this left mom struggling to make ends meet. my brother was gave a shirt that had patchwork print and was nowhere close to being patched , but none the less was representative of one, and some kids  said he was poor and refused to wear it, so he gave it to me. he wasn't going to have anything to do with being poor. this was a term that was new to me and i hardly understood the meaning of it then. when i was old enough to go to school i wore it and proudly i would say, suffering no real percussion's of being poor as my brother was. and one day i was in the hall with my first grade teacher miss armstrong and she introduced me to the second grade teacher, miss dolly, and she said,"this is jims younger brother kevin, you remember Jim don't you miss dolly? his daddy ran off." 

    she says" oh my you poor boy!"and i knew right then i was poor , never knew for sure before, but when miss dolly said it i knew it was true. and i didnt even have the shirt on. what she said in comfort i had taken wrong. not knowing what poor was , as we had lots but not money. i ate a lot of vegetables and plenty of cream of tomato soup , and potato also as well as all kinds of milk . helped churn butter,and bread was always baking in the kitchen. mom made us toys for christmas. we didnt really want for anything. but we were poor. poor in comparison to some peoples standards. when she said i was poor i just jumped to the conclusion that it was so, whatever it was.  

    and we not nearly as poor as a friend of mine who once described her childhood in the bayou in louisiana as a child . she would play on a bicycle that was up on blocks and daydream of visiting people and places she knew. i will include a drawing of that remembrance she had. they lived in a shack and her mom would always dress her neat but it was a hard life , and she had scars. not visible but more of the heart kind. 

1-20-2012

    these are photos of the monticello 3 in coshocton , ohio on what remains of the ohio erie canal. the monticello3 is a replica of the canal boats that used to traverse the canals of ohio between portsmouth, ohio, and cleveland ohio. this happened in the early 1800's  and was the major form of transportation till the trains become more popular and a faster way to move freight and passengers in bulk. this is a great one tank trip loaded with tons of history and historic roscoe village nearby. 

   
           well onto to tonight's story i had planned . and it is my dads last fishing trip. in his later years he was having a harder time getting around , and requiring us as family planning events out for him . he was wanting to go fishing , and that posed some problems. his health was failing as he was getting old and not able to walk well. needed some place with near level access, and under some shade, as he couldn't take heat to well. my friend peggy of rocks and stuff had some riverfront property behind her business allowed me to bring dad down there as she had an area where we had cleaned along the banks in preparation for bringing him down.
        the act of actually getting him there though tedious was well planned including cooler,worms,  fishing poles,  walker , and a cell phone in case i needed to call 911. first i escorted him down to the riverside , and i sat him down in a lawn chair while i assembled the rest of what we needed. i grabbed a cooler and got him something to drink and almost immediately he was taken by my friend and started in a lengthy conversation completely oblivious to me as i continued stringing and baiting poles to get into water. occasionally i would interject in to their conversation inquiring if he needed anything, and the day was warm and the river lazy with good clean water floating lazily by.as they were talking almost immediately dad got a bite on his pole and i said something to him but he had missed it because he was jabber-jawing. so he had a moment if intense watching till he got back onto the conversation and i was really glad that peg was there. she definitely kept him busy. and again he had a bit and again he was to slow to do anything but reel the line in. and then i  baited the hook and cast it out again , all the time watching my line that was beside his and both reels were similar in appearance,and then it came to me that if anybody catches a fish ,dad will. as i will just give him my pole and he would never know the difference. he wasn't paying any attention to fishing anyhow. so no sooner had i decided to do that my pole bent over and i grabbed it real quick and yanked up on the tip not real hard but firmly, set that hook,

        i  yelled at dad , i said 'here dad you better grab your pole , i think you have a bite on there'. and the fight was on. dad grabbed the pole as he never thought once and shut his mouth as he was going to show me how to land that bad boy. the fish broke water and i could see he was a carp about 2 foot long and a good fight as he belly flopped back into the water. dad looked at me with a big smile on his face. he kept working him  in and finally had him close to the bank but still the fish was not just belly flopping onto the shore with him. so i needed to help him get it up on shore. not having a dip net i grabbed the line and carefully worked him closer to shore and was just reaching down to grab the big boy and he lunged away and snapped the line i was holding , leaving me nothing but air as he flipped and  flopped into the water and swam away hook and all.
       i looked at dad and dad  had this god awful pissed off look on his face as he scolded me .
"now what did you do that for?'
      i looked at him in disbelief knowing it was my pole and my effort that got us this far and still it was never enough for dad. then i laughed and just that quick as old age blesses us he forgot what he was mad about and went back to talking to peg. i was never enough for that guy, but i am alright with that now. because even i have let myself down at times. but this wasnt one. i was content knowing i was taking him home and not the other way around. i have plenty of time to make life right.just have to do it one day at a time.

     1-19-2012- snow visited us again , but we are still under last years amount for same time last year. and below average i would say for sure for this winter. have hardly had any. the cold does do some good as it reduces the amount of insect pests we will have in the coming year. to warm a spring allows for early breeding , and as such will extend the season for the next year.  the heaving due to frost damage is also a beneficial use of cold temperatures to loosen soil structure from repeated freeze thaw cycles. this also reduces the compaction of the soil allowing for air and in particular water to move more freely. 


      second pic is a big old snapping turtle that decided that my fresh plowed field was as good a place as any to lay her eggs. was close to the pond where she came from. i went back to where she was laying eggs but didnt find any . guess i either scared her, or it wasnt the right place. 
    dad once asked me to go along with him over to check the turtle traps. well we are over there in this little green jon boat on this pond next to our farm and and daad has these traps on the pond tied to plastic gallon milk jugs. actually the trap was more a heavy fishing line attached to a steel leader and a huge hook , and usually on this hook he hung a stanky piece of dead meat and then would toss in the water and it would bob around the bottom of the pond till a turtle would latch on to it. that turtle above was big and to put it in perspective its shell from fron to back is probably about 16 inches long. well the one dad and myself were about to get was 24 inches long to almost 30, and its head compared to this one was twice the size and a huge mouth. 

       not knowing how big it was dad starts hauling the line up and pulling down the side of the boat till the water was about to rush over the side swamping us and then i had to scoot over to compensate for the weight to keep the boat from going under . we knew we had a big one. when i saw its head come up thought no way is that thing coming the boat with us. we had him up along side of the boat and i asked dad how he was going to do it . he grabs the dip net and proceeds to wrangle its head and about half its body into the net. he says reach over and grab a hind leg and drag him into the boat. these are old moldy green turtles and i really didn't want to grab him and should have ran when dad said he needed help. anyhow i reached down and was able to grab the shell and flopped him into center of the boat and he was pissed. snapping at the net encircling his head dad says get to shore quick. and it wasn't quick enough for me. from then on if dad went anywhere close to the side of the house where the pond was i made myself scarce.