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January 24, 2005
Future Projects
And Dad, I know I once laughed about your predilection for video-taping machinery… but even Mom can see how beautiful this antique thresher is! All those wheels and gears and original paint. I admit this is only a selection of the photos I took, and the compression for the web doesn't do them justice. This is one piece of machinery I don't mind lying about the yard. Yet. Richard had that look in his eye, had to remind him about the guest bedroom project before he trotted out the door like a boy with a toy plane. Note: this is Rob's thresher, not ours. We just happen to have this great big yard to store it in…. |
This entry is for the twins – here is what you missed not coming up here with Rob this weekend. Thought you might like to see his latest pet project.
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It doesn't look quite as charming from the front, the "business end", so I'm glad it's tucked over by the barn where I can't see it from the dining room doors. The neighbours had asked before Christmas if they could take away our chicken wire and some of the manure for their yards (yes!), so I'm hopeful that as soon as it warms up for good, we'll say goodbye to the ring of bird cages and make enough space to turn the thresher around to show off its good side. And a gravel drive back there (as well as out front!) will have to happen pretty soon. With this thaw everything is getting chewed up and muddy. Anyway, the guys got the beast off the trailer successfully and also had a bit of a drive up the mountain in Mechano. They were lucky it was such a warm day – when Rob picked up the trailer a few weeks ago, they had to dig it out of two feet of snow in the dark in a –22 degree chill. It's so warm right now in comparison, the plants are confused and the lilac bush has buds all over it. Great, yard work already! One more reason Richard doesn't get to start truck projects just yet… the renos go on. I'm going to have new renovation pictures to post tonight! |
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The guys were having some fun trying to get this thing off the trailer – gently – so I scooted around to capture these photos. Luckily most of the snow is gone from our yard after the last couple of +5 degree days, although the puddled front drive was all ice when Rob arrived with the thresher in tow late Saturday night. It still took Mechano a bit of tugging to pull the trailer out from under it. Rob doesn't know how much it weighs… let's just say, a lot. Richard was happy Mechano started up fine after three months sitting in the cold and wet.Posted by anita at January 24, 2005 12:40 PM
Comments
My curiosity is killing me - why does Rob own a thresher??
Posted by: Marja-Leena | 13:22 24 January 2005
He comes from a Manitoban farming family, and the price on this antique (that was too big for the previous owner to store) was too good to pass up. He intends to get it back in shape and working again, but I don't know if that's for his family's farm, or to re-sell. Mostly I think it's because he loves this kind of project!
Posted by: Anita | 14:49 24 January 2005
Well geeze now I'm really sorry I missed it!!!
unloading heavy things from trailers is a specialty of ours...
oh yeah the reason Rob owns a thresher is because Rob is secretly like Hamlet........ to BEE or not to BEE ( threshing ) that is the question....
looks like fun up there... nice to see Mechano lives again.....
Ben
Posted by: Ben | 02:41 25 January 2005
I have always wondered how such a thing worked. What makes it tick! As I understand it, it was a huge step in the mechanization of agriculture. This is a piece of history!
Posted by: Fred | 21:52 25 January 2005
Does Rob not remeber what Richard has done to anything with wheels in the past?
Posted by: Warren | 19:03 26 January 2005
Oh, Rob's well aware that Richard is ready and willing to help him with this project... There was some discussion already of a few lessons with a torch, and how to properly achieve that aged look on brand new galvanized sheet metal. But that won't happen for a while, and my love has lots to keep him busy in the meantime. If anything I should be wary of our friends Sharon and Pat, who've successfully addicted Richard and I to Season 1 of "24" on DVD. It's amazing we accomplished a thing this week! He hasn't visited the thresher once! So I'm not worried...
Posted by: Anita | 23:06 26 January 2005
You are only starting to watch now. Did you not know it's been a mainstay in the Miller household for the past three years every Tuesday night. Boy did you miss a lot of icecream!
Posted by: Warren | 22:36 27 January 2005
Ice cream! I didn't know that was part of the ritual. Richard's been downing Coke for that extra jittery feeling, and to keep him awake late enough to squeeze one more episode in. I was painting the last coat on the fireplace last night and then Jason called, so we only watched 2 episodes. And then I couldn't sleep all night, again. Glad we've only got 4 episodes left!
Posted by: Anita | 12:49 28 January 2005