What's Everyone Doing?

[RedOneFive]

Took a county road maintenance job. Not what I had, but looks to be a good solid job and good benefits. Hopefully a great work environment and a new skill to add to my book. Looks like my wife will be a substitute teacher/para at the kids school.. New chapter in our story!

[KDubs]

Well write a good'un.
 Good for you and the family, glad you found some work , right or not at least it's income.
Kevin

[Winter Hawk]

Now that is good news!   

I have found that, if I want to stay in a part of the country I like, I had better take work that is available, and maybe learn a new skill.  If none of the jobs interest me, I had better be ready to move.  Staying and being with folks you know who will help out, and who you can help out, is always a good decision!

~Kees~

[LongWalker]

Congrats on the new job!  Maybe not what you wanted--or had--but you are going to get to meet every land owner in the county, and get a pretty good idea of game populations and movement in the area. 

[Bigsmoke]

Great package in the mail today:
I received a package from Powder Horns and More today.  Well, actually it was two packages.
It looks like I will have something to do for the next little while.
I bought one of Gerry's Quarter Boxes, ie, 25 horns.  They are a mix of colors, sizes and carry sides.
I couldn't be happier.


And the rest of the shipment.


It will be interesting to see what I can conjure out of all those beautiful horns.
Thanks Gerry, that was a great selection.

Can't help but recollect when I used to bring in a ton (literally) of horns.  It was always high excitement to open a fresh bag and see what was hiding in there.  Somehow or another, I was always able to restrain myself from opening bag after bag.  It was just one at a time.  Well, two at a time.  One bag of 30 cm+ and the other bag of 20-29 cm.  I kept the rest of the shipment in a locked shed.
John

[KDubs]

I'd keep them locked up too.
 I've always gotten great Horns from them, great quality!
 Looking forward to what is to come.
Kevin

[doggoner]

Looks like you'll be busy for a few days to come. Nice horns!

doggoner

[Hanshi]

Well, on July 7th I had a knee replacement and returned home on the same day.  Some 3 days or so of my surgery my wife fell and BROKE HER PELVIS IN TWO PLACES!  She was in the hospital over two weeks.  Imagine me trying to do everything to care for myself!  Yes, I tend to be a bit...oh, wrongly coordinated. 

Three pelvis breaks and they HAVE to do surgery, two and, with help and care, it heals normally.  She does have an electric wheelchair and we have a rollator.  My bedroom is upstairs so I had to sleep on the couch for weeks.  Just recently got the go-ahead to return, with much care, to my own bed.  My wife has been sleeping in her recliner not far from the couch. 

Still doing my exercises & icing but still very limited.  Doctor told me it would take about a year for full healing.  I think life is trying to tell me I should be a farmer.  Otherwise why do I keep getting these loads of fertilizer? 

[doggoner]

Hanshi Hang in there old cuss. Life can be rough but the alternative is a bit grim. You can only stare at grass roots so long before it could get boring. I'll have a long talk with the BIG boss upstairs for you and your better half tonight. Stay strong ol' hoss. Mommy needs you to help her. It'll just take a little longer is all.

doggoner

[Winter Hawk]

We put a stairlift in our house years ago, for the day when one of us could not negotiate the stairs anymore.  It sat unused for several years, then Carolyn started using it to get upstairs, and now she rides both ways.  I'm very glad we made the investment back then!  Something to consider.

https://www.ncoa.org/product-resources/mobility/best-stair-lifts/  Ours is the Harmar.  Only problem we've had is that a couple of weeks ago the batteries died.  With the price of the service call, plus the batteries themselves, it cost over $500 to get us going again.  However, the service tech drove over 100 miles from Columbus to our little village so it's not totally outrageous.  I watched what he did so next time I can maybe get the batteries and replace them myself!

~Kees~

[BEAVERMAN]

It's been real quiet here lately and I'm as to blame as everybody else, now that summer has settled down, garden is cleaned up and tilled under, the grandkids are back to school and soccer is over with, Rondy's are over and it's 3 weeks till deer and elk here on the wet side of the state I've actually had a couple hours to dig out some started projects and ponder finishing them, started with this 65 grain elk time measure, turned out ok, have 4 horns to get at and finish starting tomorrow, what have ya'll been doing?

[RobD]

Been a busy Summer for me, and now Fall as well.  The new Cav pup addition to the family zoo has taken its toll on free time but I did manage to join a Rev War NJ 3rd Regiment, get reasonably outfitted and complete a reenactment at the end of August.  Then there's been the muzzleloader kit assembling/finishing for a Kibler fowler, a Pedi Bess, another Kibler fowler, a Pedi Charleville, and another Kibler fowler kit on the way ... and Hopefully the Kibler Bess kit will get offered by early next year as I'll need it for a bunch of AWI 250th events next year.  God is good, so life is good, too.

This third Kibler fowler is a 16ga (.66" bore) and it'll be used primarily for Rev War militia reenactments.  Smoothbores of many types were used by the the bulk of Washington's troops, where the preponderance was dominated by farmers/militia.  They brought their fowlers to the Continental camps, where most of these guns didn't have bayonet lugs, so some used plug bayonets - not as good as an add-on bayonet that still allow the gun to be loaded/shot, but a bit better than a tomahawk.

[Bigsmoke]

Went car shopping today.
It's really nerve wracking to think that a new Subaru costs more than my first two houses put together.  And that's just for an Outback or a Forester.
We've been trying to sell our travel trailer for a month or so.  Plan now is to take it back to the original dealer and consign it then trade our pickup in against the Subaru.  Gotta get rid of those payments.
I have been picking up a few already started powder horns that I have and trying to talk myself into finishing them, but have not make a lot of progress on that.
A month and a half ago, I did get to go on an Honor Flight back to Washington, DC.  That was awesome!!!  If you are a vet and have not done so - apply to your local chapter of Honor Flight and do it.  It's great.
John
PS:  Jim, that's a pretty nice measure, my friend.  I never did like to work with antler.  Glad someone does.  Of course, not  being particularly HC or PC, I go more for an adjustable brass measure rather than a fixed one of antler or wood or bone or   I did used to make adjustable brass measures but after I sold my metal lathe, that stopped.  I don't really miss that, either.

[BEAVERMAN]

Hers another project finished that has been in a box for 10 or more years, have 5 of them to finish before I finally start the Kibler!

Bison priming horn

[Bigsmoke]

Interesting, Jim.  I had never thought of using a sheet of yellow legal paper for a background before.
FWIW, in years gone by when I used to make a lot of those valved priming horns, I kept one valve tip as a guide. 
I would install a good one in the tip and after the epoxy had set up, I would take the working parts out and then screw in the  old tip.  Then I would sand down to that, producing a tapered horn tip that followed the exact size of the screw in end.
I also had a set of numbered drill bits and I would open the hole in the screw in tip one drill size larger and I would polish the plunger and make sure the vent at the bottom was free of any burrs.
It was a PITA, but it made the horn work so much more smoothly.
I also kept a supply of replacement parts (especially springs) in case something got lost in the manufacturing process.
John