Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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I'm sure he'll be fine in the long run. Truthfully if we could swing it, my wife would stay home and home school the kids. We talked about it a lot before we had kids, decided to see how we were making out after we had kids. Discussed it again when my daughter was getting school age. Just can't afford her not working. I kinda figured if we got rid of all the bills we could, we could possibly swing it, but in the end it would be a true miserable existence.
We home schooled for 4 years as I recall. The public school was not a good environment. It was the ESL school for the district and so many kids were out of class for English lessons that they often left the remaining kids in Center (study hall) instead of under instruction. Moved the boys into the Catholic school where they did great… 9-12 was the public HS which was a problem… damned gang bangers. College, putting tools in their hands while they were in diapers, 1,500 mile bicycle trips… in their late 20s they are doing fine.
 
My boy didn't even start reading well until he was 12/13, now he knows a lot of Latin, writes large essays every week, and his comprehension is very high when reading. Homeschooling doesn't focus as much on the instant results or having a child hit all the same markers another child hits, but rather on raising a child to be a productive part of society. Once my boy understood the actual structure of words/sentences/ paragraphs/ chapters, he started to thrive. What's funny is had I got the same instruction he did(through the curriculum we used), I would have done much better too, as most of what was being taught in English classes just went innocent ear and out the other, part of that was the teachers sucked too.

I took a lot of shop classes, small engines, wood, metals, then went to a skills center off site for sheet metal fab and ARC(air conditioning, refrigeration, cooling), just getting out of my school helped me a lot. Doing sheet metal fab helped me to excel in geometry as I was actually applying it.

Didn't graduate with my class because I failed Government twice back to back with the same instructor, couldn't stand him and he felt the same for me, still don't like the government lol.
Took the GED and went to diesel college in TN, but rarely use that although i did manage a muffler and brake shop for a time. Have had multiple successful businesses and still do side work with the tractors and the tree work.
As you said about teaching him how his boy learns is key, unfortunately most public schools/teachers don't as they have their curriculum and they teach how they were taught. I'm sure his boy will do just fine in this world just having good people skill/character, common sense, and mechanical aptitude.
Oh, I did go back and get my diploma, just because, but its never helped me in any way...

Was there anything in the traps 🤔.

Pick me 😃
Usually. I was pretty dedicated to my trapline until I was around 17, and I realized there was other fur to chase.

You were a flatbedder, I bet you've got plenty of old rusty chains stashed away somewhere.
 
I just noticed we have 4 pictures yesterday (on the same trail camera - 2 different times) with a Grouse in it.

This is the clearest one! If I did not flip from picture to picture and notice minor changes, I would not have seen the others!

He is in the lower right, with a dirt background. When he is in the leaves, he is almost impossible to see!
 

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Usually. I was pretty dedicated to my trapline until I was around 17, and I realized there was other fur to chase.

You were a flatbedder, I bet you've got plenty of old rusty chains stashed away somewhere.
So does that mean there was nothing in the trap lol.

Wasn't my truck, or my chains. I do have lots of straps though, but not from the companies I worked for.
 
Can't remember if I put this up last night or not. First fire. Actually heated the shop really well. It's at the back and in about an hour I had 72*f at the front of the shop. Need to get some temp gauges in it. Almost feel like I'm burning blind vs the temp probes i have in the furnace in the house. Took readings with my ir gun. Let it get up to temp real slow over about a 2 hour period. Then added a bit more wood and kept it around 500* outlet temp for another 2 hours and let it burn out.
 

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Good morning guys. It was supposed to be a crummy day today so I planned to start work late and work late into the evening. Of course it’s beautiful now and the rain isn’t supposed to start until about 8 PM. Sometimes a guy can’t win lol
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If I farmed by the weather forecast here in the uk, I would have been bust years ago!
 
I'm sure he'll be fine in the long run. Truthfully if we could swing it, my wife would stay home and home school the kids. We talked about it a lot before we had kids, decided to see how we were making out after we had kids. Discussed it again when my daughter was getting school age. Just can't afford her not working. I kinda figured if we got rid of all the bills we could, we could possibly swing it, but in the end it would be a true miserable existence.
As a long time home schooler, I can say it is not for everyone but there are huge benefits if it's possible.
Much closer relationships with the kids.

Can flex schedule as needed if things come up without bug daddy goobermint thugs threatening you with " educational neglect"

Kids not corrupted by heathen, feral students or worse, liberal teachers.

I could go on.....
 
So does that mean there was nothing in the trap lol.

Wasn't my truck, or my chains. I do have lots of straps though, but not from the companies I worked for.

Honestly, I trapped from my pre-teens til my mid 30's and I was quite successful at it. I've thought about getting back into it now that my daughter's raised and I have a steady work schedule.
 
My dad had his trapline well into his 90's...

Anyway, it was "split wood day" today, we would cut a while on this pile,

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There's a BIG advantage having the splits falling off the end of the table grate, you can really get going not having to handle them just to get them on the ground or on a pile.

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and then split what we had cut, we cut and split a pretty good amount today,

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We still have this pile to do,

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and these too,

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but that's for another day!

SR
 
I was inspired by one of the posts on the WTF thread and thought I'd try my hand at smoking a bacon-wrapped venison roast.
My wife will absolutely not eat rare steak/venison/burger so I felt I had to cook it fully through. I went slowly on the Weber & got it to 195° hoping to break down the collagen.
Taste was spot-on/awesome and texture was good (cutting across the grain, natch). But it is kinda dry.
I had wrapped the tinfoil on after the roast got to 150° to try and keep the moisture in but. 🤷‍♂️
 

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Yes, supposed to compete with the RS PRO , but it’s not NK like PRO , it looks fast will try it against the PRO to get comparison soon .Looks like a .325 version of C83 ,
20241030_205843.jpgLooks to me if it's sharpened with a round file this profile will be changed to "normal" cutter. Looks like the only way to maintain that profile would be a grinder.
 
As a long time home schooler, I can say it is not for everyone but there are huge benefits if it's possible.
Much closer relationships with the kids.

Can flex schedule as needed if things come up without bug daddy goobermint thugs threatening you with " educational neglect"

Kids not corrupted by heathen, feral students or worse, liberal teachers.

I could go on.....
I give lots of credit to those who homeschool their kids. It seems like a lot of sacrifice but from the homeschooled kids I've met to what you describe it seems worthwhile.

We do the next best thing and send our kids to our church's Lutheran grade school and they will be going to the same Lutheran high school we graduated from. Nice to know the teachers are aligned with us and are teaching the kids because they love teaching. Every day starts with chapel and the Pledge of Allegiance and ends with a prayer.

Obviously, there are problems sometimes but overall it's been a great experience.
 
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