Bonneville Salt Flats - Burt Munro

In 1967 Burt Munro came to the US from New Zealand to ride his 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle in timed speed runs at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. Burt set a land speed record there in the under 1000cc class. A movie was made in recent years documenting the journey in which Anthony Hopkins stars as Burt Munro. An awesome look into one man's endeavor to fulfill his vision of riding his bike at Speed Week. "The World's Fastest Indian", if you're into speed and want to go to Bonneville then you will enjoy this story. Download it from iTunes or hunt it down on Netflix or where ever you get your flix...

Hot Wrought Iron

Watch Field Gate Hinges on PBS. See more from pbs.

If you enjoy blacksmith work then maybe this episode of The Woodwright's Shop from PBS will educate and inspire you as it has me. Roy has recently framed a heavy oak field gate and needs some hinges to swing it on. In this episode Roy visits Peter Ross at his blacksmith shop to have a lesson in wrought iron hinge making. Who doesn't want to hammer some hot iron? 

   This video does require Flashplayer or a plug-in. (Boo-I know) Q!!!

Model A Car Show

Each year, as part of the Autumn Trails fall festival in Winnsboro Tx, one hundred or so Model A Fords gather for a parade down Main St. After parading through town, these fine autos sit on display right there in the middle of Main for about an hour allowing spectators time to visit with car owners and view the vehicles.

This year they gathered on Saturday, October 22, 2011 under a sunny blue sky which makes for a great display.

Cannas

Some late season canna blooms are showing up and they sure are a beautiful addition to our dry brown landscape. Because these particular plants receive run off from the washing machine drain they are still nice and green. The rain falling today will help evey plant and tree and even grow some grass for the livestock before frost.

Winnsboro, Tx Tractor Show

Our annual trek to the Winnsboro Tractor Show and Pull Event.
Found a 1950's Mack B61 rig pulling a gooseneck trailer hauling their tractors to the show. Also found a prime example of the Cub Farmall rigged up to the trailing two disc turning plow which we happen to have for our Cub.
About an hour later on the road into Mineola we drove alongside the Mack and got an ear full of old diesel power as he towed his Oliver Super99 home!!!

Solar Power

Solar power has drawn my attention for many years and it seems finally I am ready to set up a simple solar power system. Being a do it youself kind of fellow I am looking into building the solar panels myself from individual cells available on eBay at a fraction of the cost of completed panels. I already have a small inverter rated at 300watts and one strong 12volt battery or a couple of small 12volt batteries to store the energy generated by the panels. If for no other use this will at least keep my cordless tool batteries charged and ready for use. In the future we will fry a larger arrangment of solar panels and batteries, but for now this will certainly get us in the game. More on this later ...

Test photos

1949 Ford at Winnsboro Autumn Trails car show

Uneeda a Biscuit building in downton Shreveport, La

Old Strand Theater in downtown Shreveport, La

Texas Bluebonnets East of Ennis, Tx

Just uploaded these pics to test iPad on our wi-fi at home, will leave them here for now, simple things we find interesting.

Space Shuttle

Today, the space shuttle Atlantis was launched on its last scheduled voyage into space carrying enough supplies for a year to the International Space Station. After watching thirty years of shuttle launches, this one seemed as special as the very first one back on April 12, 1981. The shuttle program has endured much, including the loss of two shuttles, one in launching process and the other upon re-entering the earth's atmosphere. For myself, this sets the basis for an in-depth study and research topic and perhaps future posts will include knowledge gained on this subject.

Snow covered tractors

Could there be anything more peaceful in appearance than a snow covered Farmall tractor? The picture shows one of our Farmall B series which is used for dragging manure and distributing fertilizer from a small mounted hopper.

Snow is rare in our neck of the woods, so we take a few photos to help document the seasons as they pass. Every ten to twelve years a snow such as this will come along and bring an enchanting view of the farm and it's various equipment. We must enjoy it right away though, for it does not stay long, two or three days pass and only trace amounts will be left in a shady spot.



1952 Austin-Wester motor grader with IH UD16 power plant



Jacobson G10 golf course tractor

Testing blogger plus app

Farmall

1952 Farmall Super A with dozer/grader blade attatched, looking to stir some dirt. Farmall tractors are my favorite, "crops are green, tractors are red!".