Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The Woodchuck

There have been woodchucks living under my shed for quite some time.  I never did much about it, thinking that any problems would be minimal or unnoticed.

It seems that they have been gnawing away at some of my shed. At first, I thought that the wood was just rotting away.  This may be true, but the damage seems to be in the vicinity of the active borrow entrances rather than throughout the entire area causing me to blame the woodchucks.

I don't want to harm the woodchucks but simply want them to go away.  A friend was kind enough to give me four bags of gravel.  I used it to fill the holes knowing that they can dig through it, but hoping that constantly refilling the hole will aggravate them enough to look for a new home away from me that will require less work on their part to maintain.  Been doing this for a while now, and it's down to just a single active tunnel.

Getting home today, I was surprised to see a visitor near my door:

Woodchuck - YD00173

I'm not sure if street noises were frightening it but it stayed backed into a corner.  Two and a half hours passed and it still remained.  I saw a fly whizzing around it and landing from time to time and then the thought occurred that the woodchuck could be a danger to any people that might stop by to visit.

How to get it to leave without hurting it?  I threw some water at it.  It ran and took cover under my car.  I noisily approached the car, and to my surprise  it stayed under there.  I hit the horn with still no result.  I started and moved the car to finally see him run for cover into some of the back yard brush.

I felt a bit of compassion for the critter, not knowing what it was feeling.  It may have an additionally trying time as before I saw him near my door, I had just refilled the tunnel entrance.




Thursday, May 05, 2016

Skillet - Part Two

Continuing my exploration of cast iron skillets

An errand last weekend brought me close to a fairly large flea market.  The though occurred to me to try and find a larger frying pan than the one that I currently have. 

There were a several pans available from a few vendors.  Some had a smooth cooking surface, but it felt to me as if they were modern pans that were sanded down.  The others also looked modern and suffered from quite a bit of rust.  The prices ran from $18 to $49.

Later on, I bumped into someone who I knew (through a family member) who was running a booth there for a friend.  We chatted for awhile and I told him of my fry pan quest.  He said he thought he know just the person to see and led me to the far end of the flea market where there was a vendor with several pans to chose from. I selected the pan shown below for $25.



MI00197-Griswold Pan
Griswold Pan

The pan is a Griswold #6 pan.  There is a "6" on top of the handle and the bottom reads "NO 6, GRISWOLD, EIRE PA, 699"

MI00196 - Griswold Pan
another view

The cooking surface is fairy smooth, but there is a small bit of coarseness (if that the right word?) that can be felt though I wonder if it is from old build up rather than part of the pan.  It is suggested that I rub it down with salt and a damp cloth.  I don't see any signs of rust.

- Griswold Pan
pan bottom

I will most likely try to rub it all down with a damp cloth and salt and then season the pan again and then try to use it.