Shadow Country

History of Aripeka, Florida
The picture on the left is where I'm heading with my wife for a few months.Yes months.
Hopefully the fish aren't driven away by any cold weather .I'm leaving all tow vehicles and boats behind .
Where I'm staying is just out of the left of the picture
I'm packing my copy of Shadow Country along with 5 fishing poles .I don't know whats going to be available to me but you will probabley find me on one of the fishing bridges that lead to the island most any morning

Christmas Bird Count

Christmas Bird Count
Tomorrow is the Orient bird count, Dawn till dust .I've missed the last few years .I have been doing it since 1971 .I used to do 3 /yr .This years trip to Gardiners Island was canceled because of the gale warning and the ensuing gale.
I'll be the guy driving around the neighborhood with the windows opened in the truck blasting owl calls from the tape player in the truck @5 in the morning

Merry christmas

 
And a happy new year to all my friends old and new .Let's hope that 2009 is going to be a good year for every one .My resolution is to finish one project,completely
Crowldawg aka Tom Crowley ,Orient ,NY

The down side of staying warm

I think the pictures speak for themselves .Don't clog your oil burner on the coldest weekend of the season so far .
Trying to find a knowledgeable mechanic is difficult .The guy who took care of my burner for years dissappeared a few years ago .I have had a number of incompetants since then so this year its me and the internet
I keep clogging my filter with the sludge in the bottom of the tank .My fuel man just started adding some additive to disolve it but I always add my own and now I have doubled it
I also found that the electric motor had a dead spot in it and changed that out as well .If the motor lasts as long as the first one chances are I won't need another one.lol

Danny's

Every couple of years I sit down and make a batch of fishing lures Mainly for my favorite pass time surfcasting .I think I made enough poppers to last me a life time a few years ago. Besides that I always buy a few lures everytime I'm a at the tackle shop.
These new ones are all swimmers .I can cast them from the beach or boat or use them for trolling winter always seems to be a good time to do this but even with heat in the shop it takes forever to dry .So what should take a day or two drags on to a week or two
These are through wired on stainless wire which prevent the hooks from pulling out .I have found a few over the years where some one just uses threaded eyes to attach the hooks when I find Them the hooks are gone
The white one with the wire through it was an old lure that I found on the beach that I drilled out and through wired .The others are ones that I turned on the lathe ,I usually use cut offs of doug fir or red cedar

Old school

I was able to save and refurbish all the appliances except the water heater in the Globetrotter. I did that because they all worked on pilot lights .I wonder what would still be working after the coach was hit buy lightning this summer.
For the past few days I have been trying to get the heater working .It worked last year but a year is a long time .Today I sprayed some chlorinated hydrocarbon into the inspection hole .The pilot was clean as a whistle .It still was clogged .Out came the air hose and with a few blasts with some low preesure air and I finally remove the obstruction.It lit and is still running now the only problem is that the control knob doesn't appear to be working
I'm going to ask a question.Does the control knob control the height of the flame or does it control the length of the burn? These are the only two controls .There is no thermostat. The wires that may be visible control a manual 12 volt blower fan.TIA for any advice

Tomorrows the Big Day

Nothing much to say .I'm going to be told I'm AOK or on hold for another month
I don't think I'll mention that I have been feeding and shaking down my coal stove for a week.I haven't tried to split any wood though.lol