Christmas

Good as always, spent with friends and family. The weather mostly co-operated although the temp dropped way down to a little below normal. -22F here tonight. We have been spoiled by above normal for the past few weeks so this is a sudden shock. No wind, lots of hoar frost for fantastic scenery. The huge full moon tonight that looked so impressive that I stopped in the -22F cold to take a photo on the way home. Unfortunately the old Canon failed miserably at capturing the image.

It did a lot better the day before in the brilliant sunlight and hoar frost when I shot a few around the old homestead.

Managed to get a shot of this coyote earlier that morning as I was feeding cattle. Obviously they never heard me coming or they'd have been gone. In the struggle to get the faulty zipper of my jacket undone and the camera out of my pocket I took a few pictures and video of the ground as well as this fair pic of one of the coyotes before it saw me.

Over 20,000 Views

I was surprised to see my 2013 hay cutting video has over 20,000 views as of today. Maybe I should monetize the videos and live off the proceeds of the ads on youtube?
It is interesting watching it now and seeing places I cut hay through in 2013 that are now under water deep enough to pretty much submerge the haybine. Wonder if we will ever get back to normal water levels here in Sask. ?

Christmas Tunes

I blame Coca Cola's latest commercial for the fact that this tune has been rattling around my brain all day. It has that good old Phil Spector "wall of sound" about it and for good reason. First performed by Darlene Love in 1963. Mariah Carey does a nice job of it too.

Of course one thing leads to another .....

The Mercury in Winter

No doubt inquiring minds are wondering just how the rusty old 52 Merc is coming along. So I did a walk around video of it yesterday when I had it out for a winter drive. Just a short run up and down the driveway in the morning before the temperatures got high enough to make the ground wet. Those big old well worn Michelins on the back don't have much traction on the little bit of snow we have.
I cheat a little at starting and use 12 volts to the solenoid by passing the rest of the electrical system. The old six volt system is a little weak on a cold morning after it has sat for a week and the carburetor has drained. I need to work on that but am reluctant to start on it and maybe make it worse.
Anyway, it is light years ahead of where it was this time last year. Sitting out in the snow with a trash filled interior and a non running engine. It starts and drives and that straight piped flathead V8 exhaust sound is music to my ears.

Most Unusual

Any time I can sit on an open tractor and cut grass, bulrushes, willows, etc. on the last day of November without freezing, it qualifies as an unusual day. The weather has been amazingly warm and what little snow we had is gradually disappearing. I figured it was a good chance to cut those pesky willows that are trying to re-establish themselves.
The ground was frozen solid to support the weight of the tractor, most of the time, and I never got stuck. Although it was a bit surprising when once in a while the tractor  wheel would suddenly drop as it hit a patch where the ground was  little less frozen.

And that is ice in the background. The sloughs are frozen with a thick enough layer of ice to support "light traffic". Fun place to do some sliding around on the trike. Kids, wear your helmets if you try this! Check the thickness of the ice too.