Good to hear from to you, George.  I hope you are not washing away with the rain on the West coast.  

I went back to one year ago to see what was going on then.  Gene had so much rain that his road was under water and all of Ralph's ground was frozen hard enough so it would be impossible to get anything stuck.  All things considered, we are probably not that bad off this year.  We got our first accumulation of snow Friday night and into Saturday morning.  It amounted to just 1/2 inch and by later Saturday when temperature rose, the  snow gradually disappeared.  It will be fine if that takes care of this winters snowfall.  No snow saves work and gasoline.  

It is not currently raining, but is heavily overcast with temp. in the middle 40's.  Not all that bad for December.  Other than this, not a whole lot going on.

Charlie V.

It's been pretty wet here but at least it isn't cold.
Suppose I ought to take the tiller off the Ford 4000 as I'm sure I won't be using it for awhile.

On another note..... I turned 65 this past Monday.  Got my first "senior rate" haircut yesterday which saved me a whole dollar!

A belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU,  George.  May you have many more.


65 and a whole dollar, George.  I am convinced I would gladly pay the extra buck to be 10 years younger, but that ain't gonna happen.  It is really a moog point for me as I have not been to a barber since my guy passed away in his late 80's probably 10 years ago.  In 1962 when my son was newly born I spotted a nice barber kit in the local Western Auto store.  Knowing I would not need it for a year or two, I bought it anyway. Family members sort  of laughed at that. You guessed it.  I still use those same clippers to cut my hair.  Works out well except for the back of my neck.  I draft my wife to finish that up and shape the hairline back there.  Saving the $$$ for haircuts is good, but the real deal is that if I had to go to a barber shop, it would not happen even once a year.  I never really did care for doing that and now most of the shops are unisex, so that is a bigger incentive to stay away.

Charlie V.

Haven't checked in for a while and I see I have missed a little activity. Congratulations George. Hope that senior discount is worth it. I've still got a few years to reach that point (if I live that long) but I'm sure the time will pass all too quickly. Even this cold winter weather seems to pass pretty quickly now.
Charlie, I don't think I have spent a cent on haircuts in my life. My dad learned barbering skills in the army and he kept on with it for the rest of his life for family members. Then my brother married an excellent hairdresser so I get free haircuts there. Lucky or what?

I still have to get my hair cut in town. Have a lady barber who is reasonable and does a good job. Don't get a senior discount and don't even ask for it. I usually ask for the discount when I go out to a restaurant. I will be 71 next month, so have had discounts for a few years.

When I was a youngster of maybe 7 years old, my dad came home from an auction with a pair of hair clippers. I amd my 2 younger brothers were the first ginnea pigs for the clip job. Dad must have thought he was shearing sheep as he cut anything the clippers would cut. Our newly exposed, unprotected skin was severely sunburned. Probably the worst we ever had.

Spent the day Monday at Ohio State Hospital. Had a couple spots, one on my neck and another on my right lung that had showed up on a CT scan. Had a call on my answering machine that it was good news, so have to wait till Tuesday to get the full details. Looks very encouraging though.

Ohio weather has been very agreeable for this time of year. Only a couple of light snow flurries so far. Couple rain showers for about 1 inch total. Nice clear days and frosty nights. Pretty nice for outdoor work.

George, good to see you on here and hope to hear more from you. Ralph, Charlie and I have been feeeling lonely here.

Gene

Good to hear from you Gene. Been wondering how you were doing. Winter has been hitting us pretty good here with well above normal snowfall for November and some below normal temperatures too although today was warm at 20F. Took this picture out in the woods near the house where I was trimming some trees with the old hand powered saw.

Thanks for the reminder of what may come. Not today for sure. I have a bow saw that I use often. It is easy to carry on the tractor and will cut some pretty goo0d size limbs.

Sunday afternoon and is 60 degrees. Had a light sprinkle early this morning but not enough to register in the rain gauge. Wheat is coming on real nice. Green everywhere. Fall tillage around the area has been going well and winding down. Been seeing more moldboard plowing than I have seen in several years. Resistant weeds and hard packed soil has brought out some full tillage.

Cut a little firewood this morning. Still have to pace myself. Seems I tire a little quicker than I should. Brought some of the elm to the house to see how it burns. Been dead for a few years so is well seasoned. The warm weather hasn't taken a lot of heat so have been burning some on the poorer wood and saving the ash and oak for colder weather.

Corn hauling for the Amish has slowed down. Hauled 5 wagon loads this week and have one more neighbor who may have 2 wagon loads. Should have that all done before the weather changes.

Gene

Gene, the elm we have here (Chinese ) is some of the hardest, toughest cutting wood I have seen. I am not sure if it is good firewood or not as I don't burn wood anymore. I'm trimming off some of the long branches that grow low and horizontally out into the field. I shot a little video today of the forest that I live in. The hoar frost was really impressive even for us. I was trying out a new idea for camera angles.
[video=youtube_share;hdwPtM_hUDI]http://youtu.be/hdwPtM_hUDI[/video]

Ralph, you are quite the talent.  You are the producer, director, camera man, and star of that movie.  It seems the only assistant you had was Mother Nature as the prop person.  Interesting to see these clips of your part of the world.  I noticed the 15-30 sitting patiently as you passed by.

Charlie V.

Nice video there Ralph. Thanks for showing us what we are missing?? Wonder how Charlie H. would react to all the crunching boots?? Charlie V and I are sharing the same weather. Still above freezing with light rain showers. May see some light snow showers tonight. Is 37 degrees here now. Had very light rain early this morning

Got good news from doctor's office this morning. Took tests last Monday to do biopsies on a couple suspicious lymph nodes. One under my jaw and another on my right lung. Reports on both show them to be benign, so a good early Christmas present.

The elm trees here were all killed off by the Dutch elm disease in the 50's and 60's. Most of them are still standing and bare as the bark fell off after they died. They are very well preserved and are decent firewood for this warmer weather. It burns well with very little ashes. Heat output is only mediocre and needs frequent reloading. Good for keeping a fire going when not needing much heat. There were some Chinese elms planted after the big killoff of the Dutch elms. They were resistant to the disease and were fairly fast growing for the area, but never caught on enough to make a sizeable stand. The emerald ash borer has now killed all the ash trees in the area, so will now be seeing then as we see the elms now. They are good firewood too. I probably have 4 cords from the ash trees I cut along my driveway this summer and fall. That will be my main supply for the winter and only have to carry it across the drive to the house.

Gene

Great news form the Dr. Gene.  I am sure it is a great relief.  Not knowing in those situations is never easy.  

We had some significant rain this week.  The talking heads keep saying it is dry and we need the rain. I was out before the last all day rainfall starting some tractors .  Every place I walked or drove went "squish, squish" from standing water in the grass and I left muddy looking tracks.  Hard for me to figure what planet these TV folks live on.  

I remember Elm wood from my youth.  When splitting with a sledge hammer and wedges, it can be quite easy to bury six wedges in one log and still not have it opened up.  Very though and gnarly.

Charlie V.

That is the same as our elm. Seems that if it grows in the woods with competition from other trees that it grows straight and not too hard to split. Grown out in open areas it gets pretty gnarly. I have heard it is because it tends to follow the light and light comes from all directions out in the open and only from above in the mature woods. The tree I cut up Tuesday grew very straight and I split all but 2 of the blocks with a mall. Bottom of tree was about 12 inches. After I got those blocks all split, I looked in the barn and discovered the neighbor had brought the splitter back here. Too late to get it out.

Been raining here all day. Have over an inch so far. Can't tell for sure as I left the rain gauge out and it froze and cracked. Had been fairly dry all week and the ground was getting dry enough to cut wood comfortably. Started to cut up some big hickory trees that blew down but still on the stump at about 15 feet. Have to be very careful working around these.

Finished my Christmas shopping today, so plan to just hibernate with the warm fire. Still 48 degrees here with strong southeast winds and light rain. Perfect makings for a lazy afternoon.

Gene

Gene, good news alright. I guess you can hibernate today but I couldn't . After a week of dull cloudy weather the sun came out today and I had to get busy taking a few pictures and video as the scenery was pretty spectacular when the sun hits all that hoar frost. I think I prefer our weather over your rainy conditions. Although it was -10F here this morning it felt comfortable enough since there was no wind blowing. Heres a photo from this morning.

Winter has just been waiting on the calendar. Rain and high winds yesterday changed to snow early this morning . Winds of 28 MPH and gusts to 46 MPH all day with light snow. Maybe 3 or 4 inches but drifting pretty bad. Driveway at the top of the hill looks to be drifted full where cut through the hill. Been a nasty day, but good for hibernating. Taking a lot of wood to keep the fire going to keep the house warm. Don't like being out in this kind of weather. My dog feels the same way, only going out when necessary. I did spend a little time in the shop working on one of my chainsaws. The kill wire had broken off at the terminal end had no way to shut it off but to run it till it was out of fuel.

Had planned to haul some sheep for the Amish this morning but they called and cancelled out on that till tomorrow. That was a welcome idea. Roads are probably pretty bad with the blowing snow.

Gene

Quiet Sunday morning here on the East side of town.  Gene sent his weather from the above post, much as described.  It did it's work here through Friday night and Saturday.  Lucky the outdoor cat was waiting at the door every time it was opened to let the dog out.  He likes to come in for food and a short visit but does not want to stay in.  We made him a cozy little house against the East foundation wall, not far from the side door for protection from the weather.  That was his hideout during the storm.  The Chihuahua on the other hand normally only needs a trip outside about twice a day, until there is snow.  With snow in the yard her mechanisms go into overtime and and she wants a trip about every 15 minutes.  Hard to believe that some say Chihuahuas do not like snow.  This one would do well with a small "V" plow on her front.

I got out last week and started the 560 and M and made sure the batteries were charged.  The 560 is still having some problem with gas starvation due to some congestion at the tank outlet.  They just need more run time.

I went to the skin Dr. on Friday and had some suspicious skin frozen off by the "Clarabelle the Clown" CO 2 bottle, so our appointments are current for a while.

Aside from that it is winter hibernation time here.

Charlie V