What are y'all working on today?

That stuff used to set me off, no more. I've got my son and his family here now. I could care less about the tools. He earns his living using tools. . I hardly every use them and have many duplicates. He can have them all if it helps.

 

I'm waiting on that speech....

 

Washing clothes for the week ahead.

 

Making this puppy feel at home. Introducing Crash...

 

Replaced the traction belt for the hydrostatic drive on my mower. They should last a very long time, but I managed to get a stick wedged in there and ruin it. Still, it lasted 10 years so no complaints. Changed the oil and filter while I was at it and then mowed some grass that hasn't been mown since I broke the mower about 6 weeks ago. Pretty satisfying day.

 

Got the MS180 going that I picked up Monday.

 

Crash is going to be a handful for the next few months. Good luck with that. Its not very exciting but my 13 years old bitch is a comfort without the new puppy issues.

 

I suspect so, I have 2 other dogs here to keep him company. The biggest issue will be the chewing, the last 2 times we got dogs we got a pair so they would chew on each other.

 

Baled brome. Should have stopped at 700.

 

Good looking pup!

 

I see the auto function here replaced my word for my female dog with the word "rant". Hey folks, that is a well defined word in the English language that I used properly in context. Rant makes no sense in this sentence

 

At work and yes it is a text book Monday...... Anything that could go wrong is......

 

Gotta love Mondays.

 

Started my Monday off with a call from the boss on the drive in about a chit storm brewing. Turned out to be nothing.

 

I love outcomes like that.

 

I cleaned up my log cutting crib (6 t posts and a pile of branches, nothing fancy). It had a bunch of grass growing up through the old log remnants, so I pulled the posts and picked up the log remnants.

I had just about finished when I discovered a good-sized copperhead under the log. Man, they have excellent camo. I barely saw her until I nearly had my hand on her. I have always let them be in the past, but after talking it over with my wife we decided to kill this one. I didn't feel good about it, but I had just pretty much destroyed her home and she was going to be needing a new place to live. She was near the house and I have a lot of other nearby areas that would have been attractive to her. I thought about catch and relocation, but I couldn't come up with a plan that didn't involve a trip to the hospital.

They really are docile and don't cause harm unless you molest them, but we decided this particular one had to go. So, I told her "sorry buddy" and blew her head clean off with a 12 gauge. Measured over 36 inches without the head.

I know that nothing in nature goes to waste and I could have just left her there and the scavengers would have cleaned up by morning, but ever since I saw my first one in the yard, I've thought a copperhead leather belt would be cool, so I skinned her and ordered up some tanning chemicals.

 

That will be pretty cool, and a good story. I'd need a little longer rattler for a belt.

 

As we were about half way through the skinning process, my wife informed me (I've got a very understanding wife) that copperheads bear live young. I asked her why she was telling me that and she pointed to the belly:
damm thing was full of babies. Since the heart was still beating despite having no head for over an hour, we decided even though the babies weren't moving better safe than sorry as far as gutting it out for meat and popped the skinned body in the freezer. We'll pull out the backstraps (if that is what you call it in a snake) later. I've never had copperhead, but it is safe to eat. I don't like everything I've ever eaten but I make an effort to try as many things as I can.

 

I broke the skin at the thin part of the tail, somewhere past the vent, so even though I'm a skinny guy, I will probably go with something like this: