All About Pocket Knives

Mike, that trailer looks like top shelf work. I'm sure it is.
It looks like the deck boards have been treated.
A brand new trailer.

Thanks guys.

I used pressure-treated lumber, and put on two coats of Behr waterproofing sealer before I installed them. I plan to re-coat the wood every year or so.

We finally had a nice rain last night, along with a cool front. They finally removed the burn ban we have been under for months. I had a ceremonial burning of the old wood off my trailer tonight! Nice night for it - I even had to put on a jacket after the sun went down.

Unk wrote: ↑Wed May 04, 2022 3:49 am We finally had a nice rain last night, along with a cool front. They finally removed the burn ban we have been under for months. I had a ceremonial burning of the old wood off my trailer tonight! Nice night for it - I even had to put on a jacket after the sun went down.

Comfy looking slip on shoes.

Cudgee, those are my knock-around-the-house shoes. I might have painted in them a time or two. They are very comfortable, though. Crocs brand, I think.

Our first sighting of Ratatouille this year. He lives in a hidey-hole under the patio slab. I walked around the short patio wall and almost stepped on him. After I got my shorts cleaned out, I took a couple of pics of him.

I'm glad no one was video-taping me at the time. When I saw him out of the corner of my eye, I jumped and made some sort of involuntary noise that I've never heard before.

Well, I was walking over to the shop a few minutes later, and saw this. I guess we're going to have baby Ratatouilles.

I hate snakes with a passion. I know there are some good ones, but let them go be good in the next county.

Unk wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 3:37 pm Our first sighting of Ratatouille this year. He lives in a hidey-hole under the patio slab. I walked around the short patio wall and almost stepped on him. After I got my shorts cleaned out, I took a couple of pics of him.

I'm glad no one was video-taping me at the time. When I saw him out of the corner of my eye, I jumped and made some sort of involuntary noise that I've never heard before.

Rat Snake????

Hi Jerry, yes, harmless rat snakes. I let them be, as they keep the rodents away.

The rattlesnakes and copperheads are not so lucky - they lose their heads - and sometimes their skins. That's a 4 foot rule at the bottom of the picture. My dogs that have been bitten by copperheads several times, and my wife works in the flower beds, so I don't tolerate the poisonous snakes.

Buck 124 surgical beheading strike.

KLJ77 wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 5:35 pm Buck 124 surgical beheading strike.

Talk about a classic right there.
buddy

Unk wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 4:27 pm Hi Jerry, yes, harmless rat snakes. I let them be, as they keep the rodents away.

The rattlesnakes and copperheads are not so lucky - they lose their heads - and sometimes their skins. That's a 4 foot rule at the bottom of the picture. My dogs that have been bitten by copperheads several times, and my wife works in the flower beds, so I don't tolerate the poisonous snakes.

According to statistics and records, the biggest killer of dogs over here every year is snake bites.

KLJ77 wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 5:35 pm Buck 124 surgical beheading strike.

Ken, this post reminded me of an incident many years ago.
I was still in high school and like most kids worked small jobs for spending money. A retired military family moved into our community. They had a young girl who wanted a horse. They needed a fence built so I got the job. If I remember their property already had fencing on two sides, they needed a cross fence behind the house and one across the back of the 5 acres. The actual property line was down in a creek, I suggested a fence paralleling the creek, the Colonel wanted the fence built in the swamp using trees for posts as close to the run of the creek as possible. He was the boss paying by the hour. I started at the south east corner, tied on to the existing fence and headed north from tree to tree as close to the creek as I could get. I used a crowbar to tighten the wire between trees, hook a barb with the claw, stretch it best I could, staple it to the tree trunk, then move on to the next tree, no way to use a comealong to pull the wire. As I was fighting with the partial roll of barbed wire, wading in the mud and trying to get to the next best tree, I was standing on the roots of a big tree and felt something slapping my leg above my foot. Looking down I had pinned a moccasin about 6 inches behind his head and he was trying to bite me! I had a machete and was able to “behead” the snake without cutting my foot and falling into the creek with a snake bite. Thank the Lord I was wearing my cowboy boots, the leather protected me from the fangs.
Treefarmer

Unk wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 3:37 pm Our first sighting of Ratatouille this year. He lives in a hidey-hole under the patio slab. I walked around the short patio wall and almost stepped on him. After I got my shorts cleaned out, I took a couple of pics of him.

I'm glad no one was video-taping me at the time. When I saw him out of the corner of my eye, I jumped and made some sort of involuntary noise that I've never heard before.

Probably scared him as bad.

Philip, you were watched over that day. Your story gave me the heebie-jeebies just reading about that. I don't like snakes...even the non-poisonous ones. If I see one, it's a dead one. Glad you were able to dispatch that one. I'll bet you were very cautious putting in the rest of that fencing.

When I was growing up in Nebraska at 14-18 years old, I would work with my uncles picking up baled hay (the round ones of 60lb per). We would load up a flat bed open trailer six to eight tier high. There would be one person on the bed (the stacker), and two walking either side picking them up and throwing them on the flat bed. We would be picking up a bale every 10-12 feet and tossing it on/up. We knew, at any given time, we could pick up a bale and a diamondback (or two, or more) could be resting underneath. I remember being 'cautious' and 'aware', but not fretting or anxious about it like I am now. Funny how age makes one feel more vulnerable without all the 'bravado' mindset. I never encountered one while picking up bales, but we sure killed a lot of em around the metal outbuilding we staged at. I carried a fixed blade knife back then all the time. Maybe that's why I had a false sense of security.

Anyway...thanks for the reminiscing.

Ken, you are certainly correct in saying I had someone watching over me that day! The Lord has brought me through a lot of difficult, dangerous situations, sometimes I just escaped by the "skin of my teeth" and sometimes I paid the price. But in all situations, I can look back and know I've been blessed.
Since you mentioned Diamondbacks in the hay field, here's one that didn't get away back in the early '60's: Treefarmer

Since today is Derby Day I thought I would reprise my photo of the 2015 winner, American Pharoah. I photographed him in his trailer just before boarding his flight to Churchill Downs and history.

Beautiful horse, QS.

We went riding in my buddies Can Am last night and came across the first copperhead of the season. Mr. Copperhead did not survive the encounter.

He is missing his head and tail in this pic. Intact, he went right at 3 feet, which is a good sized copperhead.

Love these snake posts....
Mind if I interupt with one of my scores from the flea yesterday?

Nice old UMCO tackle box.

Hope there’s something collectible in there TF.

jmh58 wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 8:08 pm 1893DB8E-1DB2-4528-9FC9-CA5215A5B725.jpeg5C3F46A5-E5CE-4414-9F7E-54FA0EA989A8.jpeg5F8B3EC1-EDF0-422A-8335-09608EC81892.jpegD34185BB-4DC0-40B0-A51C-0FBB1A7EBE32.jpeg5BB63885-CDA0-4223-A333-CF11DDF3B4AD.jpegF825C0B2-71EE-49F6-9DA8-2C05BF8AD5AA.jpeg

jmh58 wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 8:08 pm 1893DB8E-1DB2-4528-9FC9-CA5215A5B725.jpeg5C3F46A5-E5CE-4414-9F7E-54FA0EA989A8.jpeg5F8B3EC1-EDF0-422A-8335-09608EC81892.jpegD34185BB-4DC0-40B0-A51C-0FBB1A7EBE32.jpeg5BB63885-CDA0-4223-A333-CF11DDF3B4AD.jpegF825C0B2-71EE-49F6-9DA8-2C05BF8AD5AA.jpeg

Thanks for sharing.

John, I was in your neck of the woods last weekend for my great nieces wedding. If Case was back doing factory tours again (they stopped due to Covid and have not re-started them yet) I’d have stayed an extra couple of days and made the trip to Bradford. Been about 10 years since my last tour. Your pictures bring back good memories.

Weather was crappy there Friday and Saturday but we had a good time anyway.

Ken