Tuesday, May 31, 2016

I'll take half....

Spanish Galleon:
A key and lock set



An apple:
 


 A baseball:



 Aircraft engine:


 Toothpaste:


 A nautilus shell:


 An undersea cable:


A can of chicken noodle soup:


:o)



Today's funny :o)

H/T to BW!  :o)



:o)



Poor Laverne!



Laverne had been acting under the weather since Friday. She was not eating, not even her favorite treats. She would only sip some water throughout the day and would be the first one in the coop at night. When she was out in the yard the only spot she stayed was under the deck.


 It was very hot for a few days last week and I thought the heat must have gotten to her.  Maude and Charlie were fine.

On Saturday she hardly moved and just stood in one spot and kept swinging her head back and forth.
NOW  I realized what was wrong with her! Duh... An impacted crop!

Source: The Chicken Chick @
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com


That's the little pouch where all the food goes until it's digested and comes out the other end as poop. Well, the old girl's sure was blocked - big time. Even though she is old, (and me, too) it was hard catching her. Bought her back to the pen, sat down and felt her crop. It was huge and squishy like a water filled balloon. Locked her in and went back to the house to get some water, a bit of olive oil and an eye dropper. In the meantime Charlie is going berserk in the yard because one of his girls is missing. Now Maude is squawking, too.

When I picked Laverne up again and squirted some olive oil and water down her throat, she threw up a most disgusting, smelly liquid all over me. She was fussing, so as I held her snugly and started to massage her crop. More gunk came up. I must have sat in the pen for at least an hour just doing that. I guess she felt better as she fell asleep for a while. When I put her back down, she had a long drink of water.

She seems fine now, was the first one out of the coop yesterday morning. She has a little bit of the runs (because of the olive oil) but is eating and drinking normally. I hope that was the end of her problem. Don't know what she picked up to eat, maybe one of those peeper frogs that are all over the place.

She's a nice old gal and I would hate to lose her - even though she doesn't lay eggs anymore.

Sometimes life around Coopville really isn't boring.....


Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day




Memorial Day


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

War or Conflict Date Total U.S. Deaths Wounded Total U.S. Casualties Missing
Combat Other Total
American Revolutionary War 1775–1783 8,000 17,000 25,000 25,000 50,000

Northwest Indian War 1785–1796 1,056+
1,056+ 825+ 1,881+

Quasi-War 1798–1800 20 494 514 42 556

First Barbary War 1801–1805 35 39 74 64 138

Other actions against pirates 1800–1900 36 158+:42 194+ 100+ 294+

Chesapeake–Leopard Affair 1807 3 0 3 18 21

War of 1812 1812–1815 2,260 12,740~ 15,000~ 4,505 20,000~

Nuka Hiva Campaign 1813–1814 5 0 5 11 16

Creek War 1813-1814

575



Second Barbary War 1815 4 134
10 148

First Seminole War 1817–1818 47 0 47 36 83

First Sumatran Expedition 1832 2
2 11 13

Black Hawk War 1832 47 258 305 85 390

Second Seminole War 1835–1842 328 1,207 1,535



Mexican–American War 1846–1848 1,733 11,550 13,283 4,152 17,435

Cayuse War 1847-1856 40 1 41 74 115

Rogue River Wars 1851-1856 190 6 196 293 489

Yakima War 1855-1856 32 2 34 92 126

Third Seminole War 1855–1858 26
26 27 53

Second Opium War 1856-1860 12
12 39 51

Coeur d'Alene War 1858 36
36 60 96

Civil War: total 1861–1865 214,938 400K-500K 750,000~ 



Union
140,414 224,097 364,511 281,881 646,392

Confederate
74,524-94,000 225,000~ 299,524~



Dakota War of 1862
(Little Crow's War)
1862 70–113
70–113 150 220–263

Shimonoseki Straits 1863 4–5 0 4–5 6 10

Snake Indian War 1864–1868 30
30 128 158

Indian Wars 1865–1898 919

1,025


Red Cloud's War 1866–1868 126
126 100 226

Korea (Shinmiyangyo) 1871 3
3 9 12

Modoc War 1872–1873 56
56 88 144

Great Sioux War 1875–1877 314
314 211 525

Nez Perce War 1877 134
134 157 291

Bannock War 1878 12 0 12 22 34

Ute War 1879 15 0 15 52 67

Sheepeater Indian War 1879 1
1 10 11

Samoan crisis 1887-1889 0 62 62
62

Ghost Dance War 1890–1891 35
35 64 99

Sugar Point
Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians
1898 7 0 7 16 23 0
Spanish–American War 1898 385 2,061 2,446 1,622 4,068

Philippine–American War 1898–1913 1,020 3,176 4,196 2,930 7,126

Boxer Rebellion 1900–1901 68 63 131 204 335 0
Santo Domingo Affair 1904 1 0 1 2 3

United States occupation of Nicaragua 1910, 1912-1925, 1927-1933 90 69 159 290 449

Mexican Revolution 1914–1919 120 61 181 319 500

Occupation of Haiti 1915–1934 10 138 148 26+ 184+

World War I 1917–1918 53,402 63,114 116,516 204,002 320,518 3,350
North Russia Campaign 1918–1920

424



American Expeditionary Force Siberia 1918–1920 160 168 328 52+ 380+

China 1918; 1921; 1926–1927; 1930; 1937 5

78 83

World War II 1941–1945 291,557 113,842 405,399 670,846 1,076,245 30,314
Greek Civil War 1944-1949 1 5 6
6

Chinese Civil War 1945–1950 14 150 164 51 215

Berlin Blockade 1948–1949
31




Korean War 1950–1953 33,686 2,830 36,516 92,134 128,650 4,759
U.S.S.R. Cold War 1947–1991 32

12 44

China Cold War 1950–1972 16


16

Vietnam War 1955–1975 47,424 10,785 58,209 153,303 211,454 2,489
1958 Lebanon crisis 1958 1 5 6 1+ 7+

Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961 4
4
4

Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 1 19 20
20

Dominican Republic 1965–1966 27 20 47 283 330

USS Liberty incident 1967 34

171


Iran 1980 0 8 8 4 12 0
El Salvador Civil War 1980–1992 22 15 37 35


Beirut deployment 1982–1984 256
266 169


Persian Gulf escorts 1987–1988 39 0 39 31


Invasion of Grenada 1983 18 1 19 119


1986 Bombing of Libya 1986 2 0 2 0 2

Invasion of Panama 1989 23
40 324


Gulf War 1990–1991 149 145 294 849 1,143 0
Operation Provide Comfort 1991-1996 1 18 19 4 23

Somalia 1992–1993 29 14 43 153


Haiti 1994–1995 1
4 3


Colombia 1994–present 0 8 8



Bosnia-Herzegovina 1995–2004 1 11 12



Kosovo War 1999–Present 4 14 18 N/A 18+ 2
Afghanistan War 2001–present 1,742 471 2,229 18,675 20,904 0
Iraq War 2003–2011 3,527 961 4,488 32,222 36,710 2
Operation Inherent Resolve 2014- 2 7 3 1 4 1
Total 1775–present 664,440+ 673,929+ 1,354,664+ 1,498,237+ 2,852,901+ 40,917+



Honor and Remember





Saturday, May 28, 2016

At the Hop

Johnny Horton




Battle of New Orleans


In 1814 we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip.
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.

[Chorus:]
We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.

We looked down the river and we see'd the British come.
And there must have been a hundred of'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made the bugles ring.
We stood by our cotton bales and didn't say a thing.

[Chorus]

Old Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise
If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eye
We held our fire 'til we see'd their faces well.
Then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave 'em ... well

[Chorus]

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

[Chorus]

Yeah, they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go.
They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.**




Friday, May 27, 2016

Friday Night Steam






Climax locomotive

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
 
Fruit Growers Number 3 on display at Fairplex in Pomona, California.
 
A Climax locomotive is a type of geared steam locomotive in which the two steam cylinders are attached to a transmission located under the center of the boiler. This transmits power to driveshafts running to the front and rear trucks.

Rush S. Battles patented the basic design in 1891. Battles' design had horizontal cylinders connected to the drive shaft through a 2-speed transmission. The drive shaft passed just above the axle centers, requiring the use of hypoid bevel gears to transfer power to each axle. Unlike the later and somewhat similar Heisler design, there were no side rods on the trucks and all gearing was open, exposed to the elements. Battles' patent describes the core design that became the Class B Climax, and his patent illustrations show the name Climax emblazoned on the locomotive cab.

Charles D. Scott, an inventor who had previously proposed a less successful geared steam locomotive, patented improved versions of Battles' trucks in 1892 and 1893. Scott's 1892 patent was the basis of the Class A Climax. His 1892 patent included gear-case enclosures.

All Climax locomotives were built by the Climax Manufacturing Company (later renamed to the Climax Locomotive Works), of Corry, Pennsylvania. In addition, an agency and service facility was established in Seattle, Washington to sell and maintain locomotives for west coast buyers. Production began in 1888 and the last Climax locomotive was produced in 1928. Between 1000 and 1100 were built.
Many loggers considered the Climax superior to the Shay in hauling capability and stability, particularly in a smaller locomotive, although the ride was characteristically rough for the crew.

Climaxes were built in three distinct classes:

Class A

These featured a steam engine unit with two vertical cylinders mounted in the center of the locomotive. Class A Climaxes had a frame similar to a flatcar with wooden boxcar-like bodywork built up above it to protect the crew and fuel from the elements—this could be more or less covering between locomotive to locomotive. The front half of the locomotive, in front of the engine unit, contained the boiler. In smaller examples this may have been a vertical boiler, while in larger ones a tee boiler was employed. Class A Climaxes were small locomotives, generally under seventeen tons. Class A Climaxes, unlike Heisler and Shay locomotives, had two-speed gearboxes.

Class B

Looking more like a regular locomotive, the Class B Climax had the cylinders either side of the boiler, permitting it to be longer and larger than possible with the Class A arrangement. The two cylinders drove a transverse shaft that was geared to the longitudinal driveshaft in the middle; on early Class B climaxes, the cylinders were horizontal and pointing forwards, while later ones had the cylinders angled upwards at about 30 degrees from horizontal. Class B Climaxes weighed approximately 17 tons at minimum to a maximum of approximately 60 tons.

Class C

As in the Shay locomotive, a class C was a three-truck design, the additional powered truck being beneath a fuel-carrying tender articulated to the locomotive. All Class C locomotives had inclined cylinders. A fictional character from Thomas & Friends, named Ferdinand, is a Climax class C.

Survivors

Approximately 20 Climax locomotives survive in North America, of which about five are operational. Two survive in Australia: No. 1694, restored and operational since 8 September 2013, at the Puffing Billy Railway, in Belgrave, and No. 1653, on display at Hobart, Tasmania.

The New Zealand Climaxes are: No. 522, stored at Tokomaru, No. 1203, stored in Shantytown near Greymouth, No. 1317, under static restoration at Te Awamutu, and No. 1650, as of 2013 under restoration at Pukemiro. Hence four of the seven B-class Climax locos delivered to New Zealand have survived

The Climax locomotive at the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park in West Virginia is currently being restored by the Mountain State Railroad & Logging Historical Association.

The White Mountain Central Railroad runs a Climax as their primary locomotive.

The "Durbin Rocket", of the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad in Durbin, West Virginia, is hauled by a Climax on its regular excursions.
Hillcrest Lumber Co. No. 9, preserved at the BC Forest Discovery Centre, Duncan, British Columbia
 
The Corry Historical Museum in Corry, Pennsylvania has a Climax on display in its own exhibit room inside the museum, with the locomotive sitting on a section of track. The museum is open from 14:00 to 16:00 on weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and admission is free.

Two Climax locomotives are preserved in Canada, both at the BC Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan, British Columbia. Shawnigan Lake Lumber Co. No. 2 is a 25-ton Class B locomotive, and was built in 1910 as shop number 1057. Hillcrest Lumber Co. No. 9 was built to a larger, 50-ton Class B design in 1915, and is Climax shop number 1359.

A number of Climaxes, especially Class A, were later converted to diesel or gasoline power, and some still exist in this form, using the original frame and drive mechanism.



Today's funny :o)








This 'N That

Still too tired to do anything useful.... So just some pics:


 Storm clouds:



 One lone vulture:


 More clouds:



 This is a "peeper". The gang loves to find them! Yummy!


 What's this? Another hen?


 Hubby spray painting the glider. It took 3 cans of paint to finish it.


The first coat of paint: 


Hopefully EVERYTHING will get done by the weekend....if it doesn't rain!

:o)


Thursday, May 26, 2016

Fun time!

O.K.  - hints on these!

A summertime visitor!


 Found in the woods


 This one is for Barb!


 Might find him in the woods, too!


 We all need some more!


 It is huge!


'Hope you had fun. I just KNOW you got 'em all!

:o)





Today's funny :o)








:o)



Busy, busy, busy!

Yesterday was HOT! Hubby got the filthy deck power washed.

It was so yucky and dirty!
 

 It hasn't been painted in three years and oh, does it ever need it!


 He was on a roll, so he did the whole house too!

Lucky me - I got to do the coop, pen and run!

 Raked and swept out the coop....

 ...and the pen. There were mushrooms growing under all the hay!


 Power washed the entire coop with disinfectant.


 Power washed layers and layers of rock hard poop:


 It took a couple of hours for everything to dry well enough to sprinkle this down everywhere.


 Fresh shavings in the pen


 and the coop:

(Even the coop windows and screens got washed) 

 Some precious straw was scattered about. The nest boxes and the coop got most of it.


 Then lots and lots of nice, sweet smelling hay!


More hay:


 A late afternoon meal in a clean pen!


Today we paint the deck. If I have any energy left I'll do the coop.
If not, I don't mind at all waiting to do it another day!

:o)




Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Who was Walter E. Diemer?

dsf







Walter E. Diemer (January 8, 1904 – January 9, 1998) was an accountant and inventor of bubble gum.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Diemer was working as an accountant at Fleer in 1926 when the company president sought to cut costs by making their own gum base. The company's founder, Frank Henry Fleer, had previously made a batch of bubble gum in 1906 which he called "Blibber Blubber", but it was too sticky and easily broke.

Although an accountant by trade, Diemer liked to experiment with gum recipes in his spare time. In doing so, he accidentally stumbled upon a unique recipe. The gum was pink because it was the only food coloring in the factory, which is the reason most bubble gum today is pink.

Compared to standard chewing gum, the gum was less sticky, would not stick to the face, and yet stretched more easily. Diemer saw the possibilities, and using a salt water taffy wrapping machine, wrapped one hundred pieces of his creation to test market in a local mom-and-pop candy store. Priced at one penny a piece, the gum sold out in one day.

Fleer began marketing the new gum as "Dubble Bubble" and Diemer himself taught salesmen how to blow bubbles as a selling point for the gum, helping them to demonstrate how Dubble Bubble differed from all other chewing gums. Sold at the price a penny a piece, sales of Dubble Bubble surpassed US$1.5 million in the first year. However, Diemer did not patent his invention and competition soon arose as bubble gum became a popular and inexpensive treat during the Great Depression.

According to his second wife, Florence, Walter Diemer never received royalties for his invention but he did not mind. She also said he oversaw construction of bubble gum plants in Philadelphia and Barcelona, Spain, and traveled around the world marketing the gum. He stayed with Fleer for decades, eventually reaching the position of senior vice president as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Fleer Corporation. He retired in 1970, and remained on the board for 15 more years thereafter. Following the death of his first wife, Adelaide, in 1990, Diemer rode around his Pennsylvania retirement village in a big tricycle, distributing bubble gum to children.

Diemer died of congestive heart failure in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, a day after his 94th birthday. Saturday Night Live joked that his body was found stuck under a movie theatre seat.




Now you know! 
 :o)

Today's funny :o)






Let's go for a ride!


Getting mighty low on hay, so we headed out to pick up a bale or two.


An old farm truck:


 I like this old tree:


 Traffic was horrible:



 Through town:


A big, big pond:

 There was no hay to be bought. The farmer was too busy showing off his new tractor to find time to fill up the hay barn.


 Oh well,  we'll check back later in the week.


 Lots of  empty spaces around here:







Sunlight filtering through the trees:


 Getting ready to plant corn:


This was the only cloud in the sky!


 The family that lives here sells eggs for $3.00 a dozen. That rooster is taller than I am!


Not very exciting, but at least we got away for an hour!

:o)