RIP

Click the image to visit my new blog, HICKWILLY.

I woke up this morning and the first thought in my head was to kill Crazy Bastard.

Ma Pocock was happy to hear the news for obvious reasons.

I'm neither crazy nor a bastard - so it's false advertising.

For those femme-types who think I'm crazy, well, that's just because lily soft minds will never understand rough and ready country ways.

Chow!

Book Burners Unite!

It was good to read in London's Metro paper about UK seniors, poor, and unemployed burning books in order to stay warm this winter. Good because now I don't feel so all alone.


Here's an excerpt from the article....

"Workers at one charity shop in Swansea, in south Wales, described how the most vulnerable shoppers were seeking out thick books such as encyclopaedias for a few pence because they were cheaper than coal."

Morning Fox Tracks

Another perfect morning in Deerwood Forest.

Human tracks to the left, ski tracks to the right,
and fox tracks in the middle.

Skiddin' Back

After about a week on the sore back list, I jumped on the sled and zoomed over to ground zero. My simple back to work plan today was to attempt to skid the SunBurn dugout canoe to Ma Pocock's big house to do some more top secret canoe-making ancient temple super secret carving.

The SunBurn dugout skid chained to the back of the sled hitch.
This photo taken at the base of ground zero.

It worked! This first test of the sled's skidding ability is a resounding
success. It was great to see the stern of the canoe plow back
powder in its wake on the way to the big house. The canoe did
slip the chain once, but I was able to carry the lost canoe about
25 metres on my shoulder, back to chain with no problems.
Should've taken a picture of that!

Later I returned to the FMO for some ancient temple secret back stretching activities.

Here I am slowly sliding my major back muscles over a sapling rail.
Does the sledsuit make me look fat?

Onto loose torso twisting from side to side. Not as glamourous
as it looks, I find.

This is my mime routine 'inside the box'. Y'know what?
My back didn't hurt so much when I took the clogs off to stretch.
Sometimes, I just forget they're on.

Meanwhile, damp snow gear dries over the wood stove.

Brought the skis in and wondered what to do about my
'sticking snow' issue.

Then I composed haiku poetry for a while as I
meditated on the condition of my skis.

The ritual sacrifice of saplings to appease the sun, canoe,
lake, river, rapids, wind, and sky gods. Alas, I can
reveal to you no more of the ceremonial rites - whatever
those will turn out to be.

Sock 'N Clog

Looks so wrong, feels so right.

The Lumberjack Bill Show: Chainsaw Loading

Hi, I'm Lumberjack Bill.

In today's segment, I'm gonna show you how I put the bar and chain on a chainsaw. Remember, everybody, don't handle a chainsaw unless you've been trained by an expert.

The chainsaw engine must be shut off when doing any adjustments.

The disassembled parts of a Stihl MS 260 chainsaw.

The first thing I do is place the chain into the track slot
of the bar with the chain teeth in the proper orientation.
The chain teeth travel from motor over the top of the bar,
and return to the motor on the underside of the bar.

This is the tricky part: While holding the chain tight to the bar
horizontally with one hand, the other hand sets the chain around
the motor's sprocket wheel. This wheel pulls the chain around the bar.

As I set the chain around the motor sprockets, the bar must
also be set into the chain tensioning post which is located
just to the left of the screwdriver on the MS 260.

While I still hold the loose chain and bar in position, I slowly
tighten the bar adjustment bolt with the flathead screwdriver.
This adjustment bolt is set between the two larger mounting
bolts on the MS 260, but the location may vary on different models.

With the chain tightened, but with still some play in it, I place
the chain cover into position and finger tighten the nuts to hold the
cover well in place.

Now I do a final adjustment on the bar tension bolt with the
screw driver.

I like to have about 1/4" of gap on the chain when pulled away from the
bar. I'll click off the chain break and slide the chain along the
bar track to make sure it slides back and forth easily.

Once the chain tension is set, I use my chainsaw socket tool to
firmly tighten the bolts on the chain cover.

Now the mystery chainsaw is ready to operate. I'll check the
tension on the chain (with engine off) after running it for five minutes.
The motion and heat of the chainsaw may require me to adjust
the chain tension on the bar from time to time. I pay close attention
to this. Caution and respect and for the chainsaw helps prevent injury.

That's all for now.

Just remember: a chainsaw is a potentially dangerous tool. Handle only with expert training and supervision.

This is Lumberjack Bill saying, "Good Luck and Be Ready!"

Coyote Tracks?

These running prints in sets of four were blurred by
the deep snow. This makes positive identification difficult.
At least for me it does.

For the last three weeks or so, I've seen some unfamiliar tracks along the Deerwood Trails. I think they might be coyote tracks. Here's the coyote wiki.

They seem bigger than fox and smaller than wolf. It would be a loner, whatever it is. Not deer. I know that.

Right now, for me it's a toss up between a coyote and a fox. Dog? The neighbour's dog passed away a month ago. There are no dogs nearby. These are fresh tracks.

Here's a description of tracks (source)...

Coyote Tracks - The coyote track closely resembles that of a dog or fox although the coyote tends to follow a straight path across open areas where the others will wander or follow aspects of the landscape. The print is a rough oval shape with four toes bearing claw prints. The larger front foot has a much larger pad than the smaller rear foot.

Straddle: 10.5 - 15 cm (4.2 - 6 in)
Stride: 30 - 40 cm (12 - 16 in)
Track: 6.5 cm (2.6 in) long / 5.5 cm (2.2 in) wide

Red Fox Tracks - The trail of the red fox generally follows fencelines and the edges of forests and fields in a straight line but this line may vary depending on the animals speed and gait. The print is usually smaller, longer and narrower than that of a dogs. The front print is wider and larger than the pointed hind print. The heel pad is an inverted V-shape with a unique calloused ridge across the center of the pad.

Straddle: 8 - 10.5 cm (3.2 - 4.2 in)
Stride: 30 - 40 cm (12 - 16 in)
Track: 5.5 cm (2.2 in) long / 5 cm (2 in) wide

Casual Friday

'Happy Birthday, baby' (BP100101-093961) by Bill Pocock