1930 Chrysler

Its not often that you see a 1930 Chrysler this nice... let alone get a chance to drive it. I was surprised to see that it had a six cylinder and wood spoke wheels. Got to take it around Little Mountain a few times 😁

Berry's Pond

I'm going to put serious effort into posting more often here... I got a new drone that I've managed to get past the first few flights without any unfortunate incidents... hope it stays that way. I recently posted this pic on the Friends of the Tygerberry Landing which is on Berry's Pond. I grew up on the banks of the Middle Tyger River in Turkeypaw... actually Tucapau aka Startex. A little mill town that no longer has a mill. Back in the day it had its own hydro electric generator and there was also one at Berry's pond. I have a page about the old power plant at Berry's Pond.

Berry's Pond is on the South Tyger River and Tygerberry Landing is a site that is open to the public and if you are into canoeing or kayaking you can paddle upstream there and quickly enter into a window back in time as there is very little development on the river. There are a couple of access points in Duncan as well though I'm told there is a log jam just below the access point at Beech Springs in Duncan. I hope to help in a project to clear the log jam there so you can put in there and take out at Berry's Pond.

120 Year Old Shotgun

It's not often you get to work on something that's over 100 years old... but this Remington Arms 12 gauge double barrel shotgun with the home defense barrel is close to 120 years old and has an added customization of 1928 and 1941 Mercury dimes inset into the stock.

This one belongs to a good friend of mine who routinely has me working on very old things that are in his collection. He has had it for quite some time but recently decided to try to shoot it and found that it was very difficult to move the safety to off... it didn't help that the serrations that are supposed to give it grip are very worn. I reduced the tension on the spring on the right as that was what was making the safety so hard to move.

,

Another Road Trip

 I made another road trip shortly after the one to Bath to buy this beauty. It also serves to remind me just how old I'm getting. Stitch and glue type boats like this one used to be kind of new... 30 or more years ago... I've always been of bit of a boat nut and followed Phil Bolger and Dynamite Payson and a bunch of other folks that were designing boats made using this technique. One that I always admired was the Whisp by Steve Redmond. I found one last fall that was again on the NC Coast near Wilmington, NC.  It was late in the season when I bought it and just put it in the water for the first time this year.

wages

You dont always find what you are looking for when you search online... this started as a search for ship building in Columbus times. I did find that a lot of the ships used in war in those days were privately owned. I also found this info about wages of the day.

And so you open your purse, which hangs from the cords attached to your belt and find five shillings. Except that there is no shilling coin in the late 14th century. The smallest gold coins are the half-noble (3s 4d) and the quarter-noble (1s 8d), so if you have one each of these, you can make up the sum. Alternatively you will have to make it up from the silver coins: groats (4d), half-groats, pennies, halfpence and farthings (¼d).

How much did medieval shopping items cost?

Prices in the 1390s*

Ale, ordinary: ¾d–1d per gallon
Wine from Bordeaux: 3d–4d per gallon
Bacon: 15d per side
Chicken: 2d each
Cod, fresh: 20d each
Sugar, loaf of: 18d per lb
Apples: 7d per hundred
Eggs: 33d for 425
A furred gown: 5s 4d

* Prices from the account books of Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Derby.

Wages/salaries in the 1390s

The king’s physician: £40 per year
Officers in the royal household: £20 per year
Mason: £8 per year (6d per day)
Carpenter: 4¼d per day
Thatcher: 4¼d per day
Labourer: 3¼d per day
Valets in a lord’s household: £1 10s per year
Manservant in a yeoman’s household: £1 per year
Maidservant in a yeoman’s household: 10s per year
In old money, there were 12 pence (d) to the shilling (s) and 20 shillings to the pound (£).

Road Trip to the Home of Blackbeard

I have always been a little crazy about boats and boating. My folks had a place on the lake when I was growing up and helped my dad build two boats. The destination for this trip was to Bath NC which was the home of Blackbeard. It is a very small town on the Pamlico River which is part of the Pamlico sound... a huge area protected by the outer banks. Lots of farmland once you get away from the coast. There was one plant in abundance that was in bloom that I did not recognize. Turns out it was cotton. The Upstate of SC was once dominated by cotton mills and yet I had never seen a cotton plant.

The ghost of Blackbeard is reported to wonder about the area in search of his long lost head. I went to look at the boat below which is a crab skiff built on Harkers Island. you could sail it, row it, or use the motor. It is well suited to the area and sorry to say that I was not able to complete a deal on this boat. 

But I am planning a return trip to the area.

Another reason for the trip was to visit the River Rat Yacht club over on the Pungo River side of the peninsula that is also the home of Bath. 

I had connected with a guy who lives aboard a sailboat there and has quite an extensive cruising background... was lucky enough to get a few hours out on the water in one of his boats. 

The famed River Rat Yacht Club... It's in the sticks for sure.

2020... One for the record books

I went to Myrtle Beach... Ocean Lakes to be exact... thanks to a freebie place to stay for a few days. My first time there and the first time to Myrtle Beach this century. I really don't remember the last time I was there but most of my coastal adventures in recent years have been to the NC Coast. Beaufort, Oriental, New Bern and a few others. There is a huge procession of golf carts of all kinds each evening. Here are a few pics from this trip that I call

 Ocean Lakes After Dark.

2020

2020 has a bit of a futuristic tone to it and I'm a little surprised I have made it this far... it's no longer a futuristic dream but now a reality. I've been watching some of Ken Burns Country Music episodes... and one that particularly resonates with me covers the 68 to 72 time frame. It covers my high school days and just after and is now over 50 years ago. It covers part of the Vietnam era... it covers Kris Kristofferson's early days, Bob Dylan in Nashville playing with Johnny Cash. Early days of  Willie Nelson when he wore suits and had funny hair. It winds up with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Will the Circle be Unbroken. It seems so long ago and it seems like only yesterday. A time when I knew it all and thought I would live forever.... and now when I realize how little I know and wonder where the time went and just how much longer I'll be around.

Horse Power Plow Day

Went up to Warren Wilson  college a few days ago to check out Plow Day. It was a little on the toasty side and the ground was a bit too hard for a lot of the teams including the team owned by the school. It was supposed to be their last event but they stayed in the barn I reckon. There were a few teams that did a little clod busting for the folks who showed up.

Its Alive

Just needed a new spark plug to get this engine running... with no load on them... they are coasting most of the time until it slows down enough to release the latch holding the exhaust valve open and allowing it to fire after which it goes back to coasting. Thats why they call them hit and miss engines.