We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2007 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:22:47 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2008 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Major Arkay - this one's for you. There *are* signs of progress at the new Castle. Evidence of occupancy are beginning to pop up, but this *is* the Castle... While we may have minimalist taste in furnishings... ...there *is* a stack of firearms in the family room! And yesterday, while out checking the hilltop hayfield, I *did* find Werekitty's Pole. We are now officially farmers. In a technical sense, anyway, I wouldn't make that claim to my neighbors, just the taxing authorities. Our neighbors would just look at us and go, "Yeah, right." Our sea of grass (brome) has been... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html Wed, 18 Jul 2007 06:54:26 -0600 Reading this blog keeps getting more interesting. As I passed the phrase "fencing supplies", there was a momentary tilt while I considered the possibilities; foils, epees, sabres, or barbed-wire. Back in college, a girl I knew complained that her parents wanted her to take a fencing class. When I asked if she thought it would take her a full semester to learn how to get the wire tight, she hit me. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62333 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62333 Thu, 19 Jul 2007 06:38:23 -0600 WHHOOO HOOOOO! I've got a POLE! And a very nice one too, with plenty of swingin' branches. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62328 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62328 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:56:06 -0600 Heartless - yes, it is, and danged fun to shoot, too! Not quite as good as the grease gun I schlepped on active duty, but fun nonetheless. Brad - the rifles, from left to right are: Brit .22 trainer, Yugo SKS, SMLE converted to a .22 trainer, a ROMAK, and the M3-clone, as already noted. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62319 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62319 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:59:16 -0600 The gun on the far right is a suppressed M3 'greasegun,' or at least a mockup of one. Is that one of the Valkyrie Arms (made right here in Thurston County, WA) jobs with the mocked up suppressor/barrel extension (so as not to be an SBR) John? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62318 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62318 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:54:51 -0600 increase in corn production. Of course the Gov't being what it is I'm sure they'll get singled out in the funding race - to make sure they don't get any.]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62316 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62316 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 13:04:19 -0600 So that looks like a Mauser or Ariska, an SKS, an AK Variant, but whats the one on the far right that sorta looks like a Sten? http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62315 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62315 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:59:39 -0600 Thanks. Great photos. Y'all have a truly beautiful farm there. One minor point: "biofuel" isn't just ethanol. It also refers to all kinds of fats and stuff which diesel engines can burn. For instance, some folks go down to Micky D's, dip out the french fry oil from the grease dump, take it home and filter it, then put it in their diesel engines (some work without added diesel, some need diesel) and do their thing. 'Course, when they drive by, everyone gets hungry... All kinds of technological possibilities there, without interfering with the animal and human food chains. Unfortunately, our guvmint has chosen the one really stupid one -- ethanol. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62314 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62314 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:25:29 -0600 LOL. Yep. I don't go to many fiber festivals, but I do have spindles and a spinning wheel and love to prep the fleece and spin it. I knit socks and sweaters and well, after you have worn a pair of socks hand made for your tootsies with all natural fiber, you will never go back to mass produced. It reduces the price, but there is something intensely satisfying to me to be able to carry on a tradition as well as knowing the nuts and bolts of how textiles used to be made. Sort of like John knowing how the barrels of guns are rifled and the metal content and all the fiddly bits in the Whatsis challenge. And the trade off is that she most likely knits on long flights as well as gives up other things to do this. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62313 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62313 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:56:57 -0600 John - your idea for a combined shooting/hay hauling party sounds like fun. Just make sure to schedule the hauling before the shooting, etc. :-) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62312 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62312 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:46:07 -0600 flooring work! LOL]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62311 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62311 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:45:42 -0600 Cricket, We have a fiber person in our Lions Club. She is "hair" brained. An aging hippie (her own description of herself) she not only raises the goats and shears them she processes the wool, dyes it, spins it then knits afghans, wool socks and the like from it. Gee, I just wander down the aisle at Wal-Mart and pick me up a pair of socks whenever my toes start showing through my old ones. The thing that gets me is how she gets time to do all this. She takes frequent trips. Last year alone she went to Thailand, Germany and a cruise to Alaska, not to mention the many trips to fiber festivals all over the lower 48. I get jet lag just thinking about it. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62307 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62307 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:36:32 -0600 Well, there are lawyers that are snakes, and lawyers that are land sharks that walk upright. *gathers up tomatoes to compost and uses the good ones for marinara* I prefer the land sharks. Snakes are bottom feeders. That said, congratulations on the digs. The wool of angora goats? If she makes contact with a local spinner's or weaver's guild, she will never have to worry about keeping the cash flow steady. Feed em right to keep the hair soft and lustrous and you will command a good price. Don't get into the intensity of processing them beyond shearing or combing. Let the 'end user' do that. They will skirt the fleece or pick through the combings...helk, you might even get a few to comb your property for the hair they shed in the spring! Fiber people are...interesting. Of course, I should know...I have been buying Spin Off magazine for over ten years now... http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62305 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62305 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:20:02 -0600 Heh, I dunno. SWWBO, the brewer's daughter, bought the beer. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62304 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62304 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:15:00 -0600 I think the green empty beer bottle makes the weapons picture. Guns and alcohol together woo-hoo. BTW, green beer bottles means your an upscale or have upscale pretensions family. Green being the color of money, at least it was, beer companies going for the well heeled aim their advertising at the upscale discrimating drinker and use green bottles to attract them. At least that's the theory I heard. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62303 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62303 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:02:11 -0600 I forget how the joke goes precisely but someone once told me that snakes are non-political. The difference being the snake warns you before biting, the politician not. And they never bite lawyers, citing professional courtesy. That being said, Hay prices down here have skyrocketed. Some of the locals are importing hay from s far as Texas. Fortunately our tax system doesn't work like ya'll's or I'd be in a world of hurt. But if you need a hand mending fences, you know who to call ;) http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62301 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62301 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:56:57 -0600 Could be, Jim - but if they're that lefty-oriented, they'll prolly avoid us like the plague! http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62300 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62300 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:46:31 -0600 Well just remember the Western Diamondback Rattlers are a protected species. In addition I believe you have to invite them to dinner once a month and provide medical care for them. They will probably want to set up a commune and elect officials to provide you with future health and comfort demands. And lastly always underinflate the tires incase you do run over one so that it won't hurt the lovable little critter. http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62299 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2007/07/we_are_now_offi.html#comment-62299 Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:42:58 -0600