Thistleblooms Rambles

[Bruce]

Regarding the winch, Mr. @Bruce, sir, I am leaning toward getting an electric winch for the Gator. I considered getting a PTO powered winch, like the ones on Outdoors with the Morgans and GP Outdoors, but I liked the idea of having an electric winch on the Gator, as I could use it to help get the Gator out of mud holes if I needed to as well as pull logs out of the woods. Red Tool House put one on his Honda side-by-side and it worked great.

I believe there are 2 functional differences between a frame mounted winch and a logging winch.

1. Length of cable.
2. The logging winch sits on, and digs into, the ground; kind of acts like an anchor, plus it is pretty heavy.

I suspect there is the possibility of pulling the Gator to a heavy log rather than the other way around. Maybe you could chain the other end of the Gator to a big standing tree.

On the other hand, a frame mounted winch is a WHOLE LOT cheaper!

edit: I read the entire article and it said that mint could be substituted (may not be as effective) so I will try that.

Be aware that mint is an invasive PITA, spreads through root runners. Plant it outside a pot and you'll find it taking over the area. It also doesn't seem to mind sub zero F temperature, comes back every year.

 

[thistlebloom]

I believe there are 2 functional differences between a frame mounted winch and a logging winch.

1. Length of cable.
2. The logging winch sits on, and digs into, the ground; kind of acts like an anchor, plus it is pretty heavy.

I suspect there is the possibility of pulling the Gator to a heavy log rather than the other way around. Maybe you could chain the other end of the Gator to a big standing tree.

On the other hand, a frame mounted winch is a WHOLE LOT cheaper!


Be aware that mint is an invasive PITA, spreads through root runners. Plant it outside a pot and you'll find it taking over the area. It also doesn't seem to mind sub zero F temperature, comes back every year.

Oh, I am familiar with mints subversive ways, LOL. I have a lot of it. Apple mint, pineapple mint, spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint (not very hardy) and my very, very, favorite, orange mint. It's not terribly invasive and most of it is planted by the front walkway in a bed surrounded by concrete sidewalks. But if it gets out of hand I just rip it out, Ain't skeered! Haha.

You know what I do have that I find obnoxiously invasive is Lamium maculatum. I went a little crazy when I first met it and bought five different varieties of leaf and bloom color. Aarrrgh. It is everywhere I don't want it, and that I do rip out by the wheelbarrow full.

 

[rachels.haven]

Google images tells me what that is.
It's the mystery plant out back behind our barn. Well, what do you know. Have you been planting stuff behind my barn?

 

[thistlebloom]

Google images tells me what that is.
It's the mystery plant out back behind our barn. Well, what do you know. Have you been planting stuff behind my barn?

Bwahahaha! Yes! Ninja gardening!

 

[Baymule]

Lamium maculatum - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Pretty plant, but you keep it, I don't want any. I research stuff to death before I plant anything that I might be sorry for later. It's so darn hard to get something that I actually want, to grow in my sand, that I don't need some "easy to care for" obnoxious pretty plant taking off and taking over the world!

 

[thistlebloom]

It's survivabiity and spreading habit seems to be variable. I have a friend who can't seem to grow it, and I've given her starts of mine.

 

[thistlebloom]

Yesterday was a snow relocation day .My husband was working a long day, till dark, so I spent 3 hours behind the snowblower, clearing the driveway and parking area then making my animal tending paths better. I widened the driveway on each side, and the blower did good even though the berm was higher than the auger housing- cowl doodad. It has been cold enough that the most recent snow was nice and powdery.

I made an Autobahn expressway out in back for my stall cleaning path. Dragging the Otter sled full of manure out to my dump site is work enough without having to scrape the sides of a narrow trail with the sled. That was a lot of work because the snow was higher than the snowblower and had no previous trail through it. But it's kind of fun using the blower. Mostly because I'm not using a shovel.
Dh does good keeping up with the snowblowing when he has the time, but he's a little stingy on my backyard paths, only making one pass through. I like them two blower widths at least so leading a horse is easier and dragging the sled is smoother.

I messed up big time on Tuesday. Having killed my phone on Saturday, and three days of rice treatment could not resurrect it, I missed the notification that my farrier was coming. I also missed his texts and phone call letting me know he was on the way.
He is an excellent barefoot trimmer who has done wonders with Syringas feet. When I got her she had old scars of former abscesses in them and her hooves had grown out deformed, probably from the pain of not being able to walk on them properly. Anyway, my trimmer has a day job and does his horse trimming at night after work. The doorbell rang Tuesday night (dark out) and I opened the door to Jim standing there with a perplexed look. Yikes. Felt like an idiot.
So he came again last night (got a new phone Wed.) and we got everybody taken care of. I gave him extra for his wasted time and gas on Tuesday, and promised to write the next appointment with a PEN on a PAPER calendar to remind myself.

The real reason for this windy post is how pleased I was with Syringa last night. I brought her home from Montana in July 2018, and she got the first trim of her life in October 2018. That one went reasonably well considering her defensive nature.

First ever trim

She wasn't okay with having Jim do her feet each successive time after by a long shot. And when trimming days rolled around I was anxious over the tussle I knew was coming. Jim is a real patient guy fortunately, and he was willing to work with her and give her time. Fast forward to last night- and keep in mind that we do this in the winter dark, in the driveway, and the shadows from the lights are disorienting to her probably. I have desensitized her some with being handled in the dark with headlamp and flashlight, but there are still unseen boogeymen out there in the dark that concern her.

But she was outstanding, and only tried to pull her foot away a few times, Jim hung on and went with her and she stopped after a few steps.
She was tense, the muscles in her neck were tight and she had that inward look in her eye, but she complied nicely and that is huge! Thank the Good Lord.
When I took her back to her corral and took her halter off, she heaved a deep breathy sigh and leaned her head into me. I felt the same and gave her a hug and a kiss.

Last nights trim.

 

[Bruce]

I guess it will get easier every time from here on out since she now seems to trust Jim.

 

[Baymule]

I know how HUGE that is! WHOOP!!! Good girl Syringa!

 

[thistlebloom]

Yes, this has been a long time coming. She's getting more familiar with Jim, and I'm just happy that he's willing to work with her. A lot of farriers wouldn't be willing to put the extra time in, and I don't blame them. They aren't getting paid to train your horse.