Cutting Torch

Our new sign has been working good, but not the mailbox. It is too close to the driveway. I didn't want to put it on the other side because you'd have to walk through the snow to get to it. After awhile, though, it really looked like the other side was the place to be. So with the help of a cutting torch, we got it changed.

It's not worth waiting until the mailbox slides down the side of someone's pickup before we move it. 

A cutting torch was my tool of choice. The oxygen/acetylene combination is a primitive form of metal fabrication that can't be replaced.  

Grandpa drilled into us kids' head, only turn the acetylene valve on one turn! I've heard this elsewhere and the idea is because if you ever have a fire, the acetylene valve is the one that needs turned off quickly. This is also because you don't need a lot of volume of this gas when cutting like you do the oxygen. Open wide the oxygen tank. The norm is to run the oxygen pressure around 40 psi and the acetylene at about 15 psi. I've got to be careful working around Dad because I'll barely get a cut done and he'll have my bottles shut back off. No sense in leaving them on if you're not using them, though. Most torch set ups have a leak somewhere and there's no need wasting gas. 

Give the acetylene valve on the torch body a crack and strike the flame. Run it open until the flame parts from the tip about a 1/4 inch. 

Then slowly open the oxygen valve until the blue flame cones settle nicely on the tip. Pull your cutting lever to ensure that they don't change when it is triggered. 

When cutting, you have to keep the heat localized before you are able to cut. When cutting off something like this, and you are wanting to preserve the integrity of both pieces of metal, you have to focus the flame on the weld only. This takes a little finesse and it also takes longer to heat up a weld than the edge of a piece of strap iron. 

If you take your time you can make a clean cut that doesn't need a lot of clean up. 

Looks good on the other end too. 

Like my cousin always said, Bryce is a good grinder. 

Not bad. A little nick in the pipe from the torch. 

When cleaning up this angel iron, I just make sure all the cutting slag is gone. If there is some old weld left, that is fine. You're gonna reweld it anyway. 

Getting the welder out to the sign was my hold up. Thankfully, Dick Bradshaw came through once again. This time with a heavy 220 extension cord. 

I just held it in place, with the box still attached, and gave it a tack. 

Then pulled the box and welded it up. 

Shot it with a little paint, turned the box around, and we're back in business. 

I like cutting torches. Grandpa said that they were the first breakthrough in allowing metal works to be done on the farm rather than at the blacksmith. Change the tip, and you can use them to weld as well. Gas welding was the first way I learned to weld. A oxy acetylene set up is about the most versital tool in the shop. As long as you're not out of gas, you can be ready for about any project that comes your way. 

Fish Tale

If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts. Even if He says to say nothing! 

           https://youtu.be/9vXEusgIYe4         

Horse Care

I bet it in the last two months I have visited these horses twice. That's the beauty horses, if their pasture conditions are right, they can fend for themselves.  

It's been an open winter, which allows the water to stay open and grass exposed. A couple honks of the horn at Jack's place, and the kids come running. 

A bucket they'll dive right into. Out of the hand, they need to test first. 

Oats don't take too much convincing. 

Chief is weathering well. Still got to look into his limp. I hope to have a vet take a look soon. 

Buck's pretty happy. 

Mollie always enjoys a good treat. 

Happy campers. 

We've got a good set up at Jack's. There are cows still in the country or I'd supplement them with a lick tub. Hopefully we can soon. My wheels are already turning about spring. We'll see what kind of fun we can find out here in the months to come. Ranch on. 

Attractiveness

Our Lord's authority is attractive.

           https://youtu.be/T28LET1VZc4         

Authority

Jesus speaks with true authority.

           https://youtu.be/5Sz9_Oqgsdw         

Pilgrimage Sunday

Every good Catholic vacation needs to have some sort of pilgrimage attached to it. That really isn't hard to do, beings the Church is everywhere in the world and saints come from all corners of the earth. For us, this took place in downtown Edinburgh. Oh yeah, we picked up a straggler too. 

Spain really isn't that far away. So, Gerry jumped the pond and joined us for a couple days of Catholic Cowboy fun. 

Our first stop on Sunday morning was at St. Mary's Cathedral. I had made arrangements beforehand to concelebrate at their 9am Mass. 

Beautiful church. Built in the late 19th century. There are different areas where Christianity, and Catholicism is particular, are alive and well. There are also other places where it is barely hanging on. It remains pretty lively in downtown Edinburgh. Our Mass was fairly full. 

Why this cathedral is entrusted to Our Lady...? Why not? Can't go wrong with Mary. She always leads us to Jesus. Every pilgrimage I take, I like to renew my entrustment to Mary. Just following in the footsteps of Jesus. 

Tradition holds that Scotland was evangelized by the Apostle Andrew. He, like most of the Apostles, died a martyr's death. Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross. You often see him figured holding this cross and you see it in different symbols around the country. Particularly on the Scottish flag, which is blue with a white shaped X across it. 

Fr. Jeremy and Dcn. Peter were quite friendly and accommodating. 

After Mass we took a stroll downtown. 

There's a bagpiper on every corner around here. 

Our destination was the Edinburgh Castle. 

Back in its day, this place was a force to be reckoned with. Hard to describe the magnitude of this fortress and its purpose to protect and defend. There's a lot of history in these stone walls. 

The highlight of our Pilgrimage Sunday was St. Margaret's Chapel. Queen Margaret of Scotland was not from Scotland, but married the king after her family was forced to flee England. After that, she bore eight children and lived a holy life dedicated to God and neighbor.

This chapel was built in the 12th century and was a common place for the royal family to pray and have Mass celebrated. It remains the oldest standing building on the castle premises. 

Beautiful, noble simplicity. Here, we prayed for ourselves and for others just like St. Margaret would've done. 

Bring it. 

Fun stuff. Vacations are always funner when God is the source and summit. Our Lord was the leading force on this trip. And it was Him, who was our great culmination. Just like life. When Jesus is our alpha and omega, everything in between falls nicely into place. This trip to Scotland has been a good gig. Wonder what awaits us next? Only one way to find out... Let's ranch. 

Day Four

The adventure continues. Next on our dock was two schools to see, one south and one north. The Barony campus near Dumfries and the campus in Aberdeen. 

The kid and I seem to still be getting along. 

Before we started our Thursday morning we had our standard two link sausage breakfast. A staple in Scotland is Haggis, the ground meal at the top of the plate. Haggis is comprised of a lot, mainly sheep organs and oatmeal. Not bad, but not terribly tasty either. 

The drive down to Dumfries was spectacular, snow, sunshine, and rolling rural farm ground. The Barony campus is comprised with old and new buildings; all well kept and ready for action. 

Heather showed us around. 

The school's main agricultural focus is on dairy and the feed that goes with it. 

Dairy cows are a different duck. Often you have to bring them in and tend to their hooves. This is one way of doing it!

They also teach a bit of forestry, including sawmilling. 

We had lunch on campus. Irn Bru is the Pepsi of Scotland. 

Then we took a field trip with the students to a local farm. 

Here, they focus mainly on fattening cattle. 

Down south, the main crop they use for high protien feed is silaged maize. 

Around here, any big truck is called a lorry. They use this guy to haul fat cattle to the slaughterhouse. 

That afternoon we jumped on a train and headed north to Aberdeen. About a five hour venture. 

Friday morning we met up with Phil who gave us a grand tour of the school and the area. 

Less dairy up here and mainly beef cattle. 

Similar systems for working cattle as us. They call a squeeze chute a crush, however. Also, almost all their paneling is galvanized. 

90% of all the cattle getting fattened live under a shed. The UK in general is not a big fan of feedlots. Keeps them out of the rain, I guess. But the air is stale and damp in here. One thing you see on almost all the cattle being fattened are shaved backs. The main reason for doing so is to keep them cool. Interesting. 

Up north, no maize is grown. But a lot of barley is. This is mainly for malting at whiskey distilleries. But if it doesn't make malt, they feed it to cattle. 

After a tour around the SRUC Aberdeen farm, we went to the local sale barn. No small matter. 

The barn in Aberdeen is grand central station for all things farm. It's also where producers come to socialize, just like in the States. 

This is probably the biggest sales ring in the Scotland and likely the UK.

They grow their cattle big. These Charolais average 682 kilograms, which is 1500 pounds. That's a big T-bone. They didn't go for cheap either. As far as I can figure, about $3300 a critter! The locals said that was incredibly high. Just like in the US, the biggest driving factor in the market is the low cattle numbers. 

Giddy up. 

Fun stuff. We're pretty much done with our college tours. I think Dante likes what he sees. We'll see which school best suits his fancy. Now we'll head back to Edinburgh and see some history. Let's ranch.