Black And White Nostalgia

Enjoying old style shows.  Popcorn too!

Years ago, as a young teen, I can remember my fondness for those old time black and white television movies where there was always some mysterious creature looming about.  A "Creature Double Feature" would put two movies back to back. Vampires, werewolves, giant insects, and outer space aliens abounded. This and more. 

I often enjoyed popcorn as a movie time snack.  A corn popping machine made for kids ran off an electric light bulb to heat the corn and make it pop.  Back then light bulbs used more electricity than today.  Those incandescent lights through off a fair amount of heat.  After popping, a bit of melted butter and salt on top, and I was good to go.

Well today, I no longer have the light bulb driven corn popper.  I have a hot air popper, but it always seems to result in too many unpopped kernels.  I would often use a small covered metal sauce pan, a splash of vegetable oil, and move the pan by hand in circular motions as it heats.  Today I tried canola oil rather than vegetable oil.  It could be this oil was fresher, but I must say I enjoyed the flavor of the popcorn much more with the canola oil.

I decided to pop this pop corn during an episode of Star Trek Voyager titled "Bride of Chaotica!" much of this episode had black and white scenes in a setting that reminded me somewhat of the Flash Gordon television series.

Good Show. Good Snack. Good times.

Chisel

 A new chisel for use in mineral collecting

The old chisel that had was just that, an old chisel. Bare steel, hexagonal shape, and no branding.  The end not mushroomed, as it did not have extra width at the tip.  The end however did have it share of wear.  My father gave it to me before a was even a teen.  I returned from a rock collecting trip several years ago and forgot to remove my hammer and chisel from the plastic bucket.  This might not have been a problem, but the weather had turned to rain that day and I left everything in the closed bucket for months. The geologist pick had a large amount of rust on it, but I felt it was worth recovery.  The amount of rust on the chisel called for its retirement.

I decided it was time to get a new chisel to replace the old one.  I reached out to a mineral collectors looked on line a bit as I was not aware if there were any advances in better material or styles in chisels for use in rock collecting.

Most of the recommendations that I got where to get a well known name brand.  The most mentioned were Estwing, Mayhew, and Irwin.  I was told that cheaper imports were prone to wear quickly.

The size of the chisel can vary with the user's need.  My thought is for breaking rock in the field it is best to avoid a chisel with too wide of a blade. A smaller width can help concentrate the force of the impact.

Some chisels have options that sound interesting such as carbide tips.  I don't field collect all that often so things like don't appeal to me.  The price difference is too excessive for my taste.  If I was out more often, though, I'd likely consider it. 

A few friends offered me their used items that they said were in good shape.  I imagine they would sell to me at a very good price, or perhaps even give it to me. I did not inquire further since having the old chisel for so many years, I opted to go for a change with a new one.  Then again, sometimes a chisel is just a chisel.

I found an Irwin chisel at a Lowe's store.  The size is 7/8 on an inch (22mm). At the time of this posting, I've yet to go out with it, but you can be sure on my return that I will not leave it in a bucket.

The Apple Tree

 An update on the apple tree and its hardships

Some time ago, I wrote about the apple tree.  One of the things mentioned was the apple scab it had, a kind of fungus.  A few years have gone by and several events regarding the tree have passed, some quite a while ago.  Here is a bit of that story.

There was a great deal of tall vegetation south west of the tree that was blocking some sunlight.  The growths were thick enough that it likely slowed the air  circulation enough to contribute to the apple scab.  I took down all the growth freeing up that area and exposing an addition issue.  There was also a "crab apple" tree nearby.  It's branches projected towards the apple tree, entwining branches in places in a suffocating fashion.

I cut the branches on the invasive tree, leaving only a tall stump on the off chance that the stump or new offshoots could some how be of some use.
The apple tree at this point looked very beat up.  But it was alive, growing and had more open space than ever before.

Then came the invasion.  Insects? No. I will explain.  The neighbors next door (who I did not know) decided to have a kids party.  It featured a giant inflatable slide that took up a great portion of their yard. There were dozens of children playing and running around.  A good number of them migrated over to my back yard doing the same.  Really?  I can't believe that the adults would allow this without seeking my permission first.  The children might have just seen it as part of their play area with a parent's guidance. 

I was a bit angry about all the commotion that was occurring in yard, and was just trying to shrug it off.  I later noticed one of the children climbing the apple tree.  This particular tree is not one that has branches that hold weight well.  The bark was stripped off in many spots, cracked in others, along with several broken branches.

I spoke up about the tree climbing immediately, and had all the children sent off the the appropriate yard.  Another point of contention was a stake with a bright ribbon was previously left by surveyors, marking the boundary between the two yards.  The stake was now gone and nowhere to be found.

Now for more recent times.  A few winter storms had passed.  There was some snow, a lot of heavy rain, and a lot of wind.  I know a lot of trees in the area had damage due to these storms.  The other week brought some mild weather, and I went to take a better look at the back yard.  The apple tree took quite a bit of damage.  Several branches came down, a few were rather large.  Some of the branches that were stripped of bark before look like they might now be totally life less.  The tree does not look good.  It will likely look horrible this year, a mix of both covered and bare areas.  I was just starting to enjoy an occasional scab-less apple.  They are quite good.  I hope the tree revives.  Time will tell.

The Hole

 A discovered hole needs to be closed
 

 Years back, I saw signs of mice inside a small closet when I first moved in here.  Never gave it a thought. When you have a cat that a good mouser you tend not to think about such matters.  I never gave it a thought again until recently.  I had some unrelated work done inside that closet.  After the work was completed, I happened to notice an electrical wire passing through a hole in the floor.  The electrical wire looked like an older style of wire with a width one way of about 3/8 of an inch and a width the other way of about 1/4 of an inch. The hole that the wire passes through has a diameter of one inch.  I can imagine this excess of space could be an open invitation for mice traffic, although I see no indication of it I think it's best to block this possible entry way.

My first thought was to cut a round cylinder from a dowel, cut a thinner disk from a wider dowel and fasten it onto the cylinder as a cap to keep the work from falling into the hole.  A groove would also need to be cut along one side to allow the wire to pass.

The second idea was to design the above shape as a 3D computer image and create a plastic model with a 3D printer

I went with a lazy man plan #3.  I got a small jar filled with sand for extra weight and placed it over the hole.

The open gaps are likely two small for mice to pass without moving the jar.  If I see any moving of the jar, I will likely implement plan 1 or 2. I might not have any mice there anyway.  It is of course possible that there could be sometime in the future so I don't want to leave the ho;e total uncovered as it has been.

I had also rejected the easiest (of course) idea of placing steel wool as I feared long term, it could short the wires. Or this expanding foam stuff due to issues I've heard about it.

If anyone has suggestions on this, I would love to hear them.

Shed Based Wildlife

 A few small creatures made themselves seen today

Working on a few small household duty related projects brought me to the shed this morning.  On opening the door, I hear a distinct noise, a snap. I suddenly notice something gray on the floor.  At first glance, I thought it was some odd type of insect.  A closer look and I could see it was a frog.  My guess is that this was a small tree frog.  I had never seen a frog or toad of this color before.  I took a garden tool and gently whisked it outside to freedom. Oddly, I had not seen it move. I should have watched to see what happened after that, but was engrossed with my project and did not.

Waking out of the shed, I spot several snails all with no shell in the lawn in front of the shed.  The lawn was then shaded at this time.  I had never seen snails there before, so must admit that I wonder what that is all about.

I know little about frogs, and less about snails, but must admit that I am now a bit curious.

First Base

An experiment to make a data base for my mineral collection 

I have started a new project. Right now it is more of an experiment as I'm not sure what the finished product will look like or if I will keep it or not. The idea is to make a data base for my mineral collection. 

I currently keep all the detailed information on paper, specifically 3x5 inch file cards. Much of that information is typed unto a spreadsheet, and general info goes onto a word processor. Too much work already? Maybe. But the thought of having it all in a database, with easy to view pictures too maybe seems somewhat alluring. 

I am using Libreoffice Base. So far I am just playing around with a few partial entries so that I can alter them and see the results. I've been able to create a table of mineral names that works with the collection info. I've already forgotten how I've created this, but sure with a bit a work, I can recreate a similar table again. 

Something I hope to add soon is some type of query that will calculate the collections total estimated value. It's likely easy to do, but my database experience is lacking. 

Well, as stated, this is just an experiment for now. If any one willing to contact me with helpful tips, it is much appreciated!

iPod Nano

 All about my iPod Nano, and how I still enjoy it

Wikipedia states that the iPod Nano was a portable media player marketed by Apple, Inc.  The first model was introduced September 7, 2005 and was discontinued July 27, 2017.

My particular iPod Nano, was given to me as a gift from a member of the family. I did not use it much at first, but it soon became something I used almost daily.  It was the second generation from September, 25, 2006. It has a memory capacity of 4 GB and is blue in color. It played audio files, but not video files.  I had imported some of my favorite music from CDs onto it.  I also purchased some music and downloaded from the iTunes store.  Most of my downloads, though, were podcasts. Most of them were deleted after listening to them. 

The iPod (I tend to call it that) was great to take in the car for travel.  At one time I used a gadget that would allow iPod to transmit to the car's FM radio.  Another car had a stereo jack where I could plug in the iPod directly.  The iPod's internal battery would easily run more than several hours without needing a charge.  I would use the ear buds and take it with me on short local walks, though would prefer not to take the on the longer hikes away from home, where I would want to explore and enjoy the sounds of nature.

Then one day, it happened.  I had forgotten the ipod in a pocket.  It unknowingly went through the washing machine and the clothes dryer.  From that point, the screen was no longer clear. The music was still on the iPod, but the machine would immediately die if not plugged in.  What did I do? I went on Ebay and bought the same model, used, same color.  The only down side is the battery life tends to be erratic and usually only a few hours. It will sometimes shut down at that point with no notice.

Still I value this gadget.  I still use it almost daily. I value that I can play music that I own.  Streaming services can be nice convenience, but they control not you the content available, the cost, the required software, any personal information they require. 

Disposable

 Opinions on throw away and non-repairable goods

When I was young, I started hearing the term "throw away society"  It seems to relate to how a multiple of goods were being produced cheaply, though often being less than high quality.  And plastics, plastics.  How things were made of plastic.  Most people had now idea back then how it would affect our future landfills and oceans.

It seems to make sense to have a durable product that is longer lasting, than its cheaper made equivalent, if that cheaper item is likely to falter quickly.  I like the idea of getting a full use out of a product, and that being for a fair amount of time.

There is also the issue of repairability.  It seems logical that larger or more complex items in particular should be designed so that repairs can be done more easily.  Manufacturerers supplying detailed repair instructions would be a big plus. Sadly some want to control the repair process, or want a new sale (back to the throw away issue) to be made instead. For example, many electronic devices can not even be opened without specialized tools, or without damaging the casing.

Some of my friends have called me a minimalist.  This could be true in some ways.  Some describe where I live as rustic or dated. I'll at least agree with rustic.

Blogging...Who, Me?

 My current mindset about my personal blog

I run a blog.  Well, I used to blog more frequently in days gone by.  My blogging has had a dry spell for quite sometime now. Several years. 

Previously, I had posted using free blogging services. I had run a few simultaneously and stopped using all but one as time progressed.  A potential issue with these services is the lack of control.  They can do things such as place advertisements that could annoy readers (though in their defense, if the service is free, they need to pay for it somehow) Sometimes the blogger can be happy with the posting service at first, and then later the posting company gets bought out by a less friendly company.  Or worse, the company folds and the blog is lost.

I plan an experiment.  I will post this blog both on my personal website and through my free service for awhile and see how it goes.  If I decide to keep using my own website for the blog, I will start to carry over older posts so that everything is easy to find from there.

Another point to bring up is that I'm really unsure about my future postings.  After this long dry spell, I now need to see how often people might enjoy the posts and I need to decide how often I really want to write them.  I am also torn between if this blog should only be interest specific on a particular interest set, or if it should cover various subjects.  For now I will aim for the later.

Let's see where it goes.

Mineral Motivation

What motivated me in regard to my start in mineral collecting

People sometimes ask what got me started collecting minerals. One day my sister found a garnet in our back yard.  The garnets in this stone were very glassy/gemmy looking and reflect nicely in the sunlight.  The entire piece is about 2inches (6cm) long. 


Garnet from Northeastern Connecticut

My sister kept it for a few years.  Getting to view this motivated my interest in minerals.  First trying to find similar in the back yard, and my interest expanded over time.  My sister was kind enough to give me this stone, a few years after her discovery of it.  I've kept it as a keepsake ever since.

Masonry

Cementing my relationship with some yellow jackets.

Several weeks ago I had a problem with yellow jackets. They are a type of wasp that are somewhat common to where I live. There was a hole in the concrete where my porch met the foundation of the house. I presumed that there was an underlying brick that some how fell out. The yellow jackets would go to and fro through the hole as they went back and forth from their nest somewhere in the interior.

The number of wasps got to a point where I felt I needed to intervene. I sprayed a portion of a spray can with no real effect. They danced around in the wetness left by the spray as if taunting me. Two brands later and I still had the same problem 9and one of the brands suggested by a very knowledgeable friend). I spoke to a family member who was described as an “expert” and he said he always uses the entire can no matter what. So there I was with a few cans so I had at it and sprayed until I had nothing left.

Finally results. The wasps returning would not enter. I’d see some exit and not return. None seem to fall to the ground. I thought my problem was over. It was not.

A hour or so passed. I look out on my porch. A few yellow jackets were out there. A few moments later there was a small swarm. I had to kill the wasps. I won’t go into the awkwardness of the details, but will say there were approximately 60 to 70. Apparently they must have had a narrow path of escape elsewhere in the nest leading there. Since then, I’ve seen only a small amount of activity, mostly on warmer days.

What all this got to do with masonry? Well, today being a cool sunny morning, I decided to patch the known entry way with mortar. I put on old shorts and then decided on some old jeans instead, and an old t-shirt that bears a few splatters of paint. It took a while to round up my materials. Closer examination showed that there was no hole from a missing brick, but rather some pronounced cracks. They were difficult to reach . The little bit of mortar that I could get in there mostly just uselessly dribbled down off the trowel to the ground. I was frustrated and stopped, thinking of a trip to the hardware stop to find some kind of caulking with a tube to reach in there. How I hate to use caulking.

I got over my frustration and thought a bit more. Here’s my take about mortar: It’s all about the texture. It needs to have the texture of damp sand, thoroughly moist, no dry spots, but only just enough moisture for it to be sticky. It can not have more than that much water, or it will become too runny, as I encountered.

I had that going right now, but could not get the mortar in there with the trowel. The mortar would just fall to the ground. My solution: I used a plastic spoon and fork. One to dab a portion of mortar on, and one to push it in and spread it.

Mission accomplished, I think! It may look outright patchy. I imagine some old European homes might have layer upon layer of construction material. Maybe I’m going subconsciously going for that look.

I took the remaining mixed mortar and patched a crack that I saw a snake go through last summer (that could be another story onto itself), and to a few other cracks. Rinsed the towel and container off, and they will be good to go for any future projects.

Caturday

A cat up post, I mean catch up post about a cat.

This cat's age is unknown, but the guess is that she is about sixteen years of age.  She loves people and is gentle in her mannerisms.  She was in need of a home, and belonged to my father, so we were already fairly well acquainted.  So here is the story of Caturday, well, it was Saturday June 17th (2017), and then more after that.



Baby - Relaxing a bit

I tried that day to get the eighteen inch cat (numbers are for example and may not be accurate) into the twenty inch carrier.  She was not going into that box if she could help it!  After a few tries I gave up on that.  She didn't seem overtly bothered at least, as she still stayed near me and calm after the failed attempts.

I decided on Plan B, which was simply taking her in the car with me, and letting her ride on my lap.  Getting in, I could see that she was a bit nervous, but seemed to be handling things fairly well.  Then, about halfway through the ride, without any apparent cause, she started getting very nervous.  She climbed up and over and settled onto the back seat.  She started to cry continuously.  Seeing how frightened she was, I talked to her all the way home, trying to calm her.  When we got home and got out of the car, I was afraid that she would make a mad dash to run away, so I scooped her up right away and carried her into the house.

She loves attention, and will sometimes meow to let you know when she is in need of it.  Her general behavior is fairly good, as she stays off the tables and counters. Just once earlier on, she went to climb up unto the kitchen table.  I gave a stern "no" and she stopped and reversed her direction.  I can say more often than not that if I sit down she loves to jump up and lay on my lap and will stay there for long spans of time. We have somewhat of a ritual as we tend to this on a regular basis.  If I miss the appointed time, she will often come up to me and give me a loud meow.  If I go towards the recliner she will run to join me.

Her given name is Baby.  I say given name, as I don't care for it. I could come up with something else, but never seem to.  She's seems to be in excellent health.  She has gray fur with a small touch of white up front.  Coincidentally, the last cat I had was gray. There is a bit of similarity, but to me they are far from identical.  Their personalities are also very different from each other.

Baby has been with me for almost a bit over year now.  Glad to finally share a pic and the story.

What Do YOU Do?

Raising a question of privacy on a seeming trivial thing at my local bank

The story, best as I can retell it:

I had a check that I needed to cash so headed off to my local bank to cash it. The bank was bought out (is that the right term?) by another bank a short while ago. I’ve had account with both banks for a long time.

The teller took my check, and then said that she needed to ask me a few questions to update their system. She may have asked my phone number. I don’t recall.

She asked my address. About my address. I answered with my Post Office box, saying it was the same as always.

She asked me my place of employment. I asked why that was needed. She said to make sure that there was no funny stuff going on with direct deposit.

She asked what my occupation there was.

She said that she had to do this for everyone, and does her best to be polite about it.

She gave me my funds and I left.

Getting home, I felt I should speak to someone about the bank’s policy. I called the toll free number on my statement rather than the local number, as I wanted to reach the headquarter branch. When the person answered I asked for customer service or the bank manager. I gave more detail and she told me that I had not reached a bank branch, but a call center. It disappoints me that the bank uses a call center during business hours. She asked me which branch I wanted and connected me.

The person listened to my concerns and then asked if she could put me on hold to connect to the branch I was at. After a few minutes, the same teller who waited on me spoke to me on the phone. In the conversation most of the same was just repeated. She did also state that the reason that they ask for my occupation, was to be able to tell if everything is all right with the debit card use. Her example was a truck driver would use the debt card much more than an office worker, as they are on the road a lot.

My take on all this:

My address: I receive monthly statements from them. I think that should be enough for them, but I don’t see harm in occasionally double checking the accuracy just in case. Though one would think if I’m a responsible person, I would contact them if I stopped receiving statements after a while.

My Place of Employment: No I don’t feel that I should have to give this out. If I chose direct deposit from my employer then they receive paperwork with the detail for their records so they already have what they need. I could work and not use direct deposit, and I feel it is none of their business where I work, unless I have a loan from the bank, which I do not. If I wanted to give work contact info for urgent banking issues (such as an odd withdrawal on my account that they want to question), then that should be my choice.



My Occupation: No. Only if I have a loan with them, again, I do not. The reason I was given for the request is not adequate to me. I could be a trucker who rarely uses the debit card, or an office person who chooses to use the card frequently. My occupation is a required input on their screen. The teller said that if I opened a new account, the bank would ask the same question. I feel that this is unneeded. The biggest use I can see it serving if some company buys out my personal information, it is now more valuable as ads can be sent my way reflection my line of work.

..am I wrong on all this?

It seems like my phone call rather than discussing if bank policy is proper, was just turned into an attempt to justify their policy to me, and no attempt to consider changes is allowed.

Sugar Cookies

I've baked cookies before, but these were cut out into festive shapes,
well, into the shape of snowmen.

I made these in advance of the season, as I wanted to test it out.  Here is
the recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2.In a small bowl, stir together:
   2-3/4 cups flour
   1 tsp baking soda
   1/2 tsp baking powder
3. In a large bowl cream together until smooth:
   1 cup softened butter
   1-1/2 cups sugar
4. Beat into large bowl mixture:
   1 egg
   1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
5. Slowly take ingredients from the small bowl and blend them into the larger
6. Roll out dough to about 1/4 inch thick and cut out shapes as desired (or just
roll into rounded teaspoon size balls) and then place on ungreased cookie
sheets.
7. Place in oven 8 to 10 minutes
8.Remove from oven and let them cool in cookie sheets for a couple minutes
9. Remove cookie and let them cool on wire racks

Icing or colored sugar could be added for decoration

info from:  hammerron.com/recipes.htm

Here are my results:



Sugar Cookies

Meatballs

My first attempt ever to make meatballs


Here are the directions:

Preheat oven to 400
Chop small onion (around 1/4 cup volume) into tiny pieces and sauté

Combine the following ingredients in a large mixing bowl:
1 Pound Ground Beef
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
Dash of Basil
Dash of Oregano
Onion that was previous sautéed

Mix well and roll into 2 inch balls.  Place in pan that is coated with non stick spray. 
Place in Oven for 20 minutes. You want all the pink color to be gone. If not, bake a bit longer.



The pan pictured above was originally full, but I decided to sample before snapping the picture.  It wasn't bad for a first try.  I will probably fine tune things on future attempts.

Windows 10 Search Bar Issue Solved

A computer at work has had Windows 10 for a couple or weeks now and seemed to function fine until Thursday. The search bar located along the bottom of the screen to the right of the "window-start" button no longer worked.  Nothing could be typed into the search box..

Online searches offered several suggested that all failed for me.  I found an easy solution that happened to work for me.  I can't say that this will be the solution for you, but share what I did in case the information is helpful.  Apparently I had 'Background Apps' running by default.  Turning this option off got my search box operational again.  Here's how I did it:

1. Hit Window/start button in left bottom corner of screen
2. Select "settings"
3. Select "privacy"
4. Select "background apps"
5. Slide the sliders to "off" position

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:



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.

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.




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"


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.


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.

Skillet

An exploration of cast iron skillets

I remember how my grandmother used to spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen.   She was quite a cook! Perhaps some time I may go further and elaborate on all of the things that she would make, but for now I bring up the point of whenever she would fry up some eggs, or make crepes, or toast dore', she would use this big old cast iron fry pan.

My own fry pan experience started, best I can recall, was with just a stainless steel fry pan.  I later moved on to a Teflon coated pan as it was easier to clean up afterwards.  Over the past few months I have thought of trying out a cast iron fry pan to see how it goes for me.  I had only used them a few times in the past and don't really recall any good experiences, but my kitchen skills are somewhat improved now.

The first thing I wanted to do was to get an older pan.  The older pans seem to have a smoother cooking surface than the newer ones so it makes sense to me.  The older pans can be found on-line, but I am apprehensive as I worry about potential problems that I might not see until the delivery of the product.  Things like excessive rust, warping, or even cracking.  My goal is to keep watch at local thrift stores. Time passed with only the appearance of a few modern pans.

I recently had the good fortune to finally find a pan! The pan's underside faintly read Wagner Ware 105.    I wonder if the pan was once rusted and sanded down to cause the faintness.  I presume the date  of manufacture to be between 1914 and 1959. 



Wagner Pan

The pan has a diameter of about six inches.  Ideally I would prefer ten to twelve, so I will keep my eyes open for a larger one in the future.

I've seasoned the pan, and the cooking surface feels fairly smooth, but visually has some resinous looking globs.  A friend told me that I did a good job and that it would look better with use.

I will make a mention that I have two other larger pans, but they are modern.  One says Wagner 1891 on the underside.  I believe it was commemorating their one hundredth anniversary, but it is a modern pan.  The other says Lodge USA SK8. The two newer pans have a coarser feel to the cooking surface.  Some of
the deeper areas have a faint rust-brown color. Hopefully, the color  visible in the photo below.  Clicking on it should bring you to a more detailed photo.


 Modern Lodge Pan

I haven't begun any cooking with these pans yet.  I'm only holding off to get a bit more information before I start. I really would like to use a larger pan my question is: Until I buy an older style pan, are my large pans with the bit of rust color safe to use?  Will I be happy enough using them, or should I hold off until I can find older pans?

Raking

A recap of raking the lawn

My yard is one that requires minimal raking to maintain the look it's had.  Typically, I don't rake at all.  The plants seemed to be different this year in a lot of ways.  Of course, now that I bring it up, I doubt that I can recall most of these ways, but do recall the gay feather seemed dormant just to have one shoot come up and it did not develop much this year.  Then there was the 'wild apple tree' that fell down.  There were several large tree branches that also came down on separate occasions.  The apple tree just did not look right this year.  It seemed overwhelmed by its fruit, the branches reminding me of a weeping willow.

This year, there were more leaves than ever.  Granted it did not rival any of the neighbors, but it was far more than I've been accustomed to.  The front yard looks much the same as any year, but the density of fallen leaves increased as you went further back.  "Smokey's stone" was totally covered.

The breeze was fragrant, and carried the scent of leaves and apples while I passed the rake.  Exposure of a small patch of grass yielded a bit  of a surprise.  There were some dainty looking mushrooms: 


 
 View from the grass
 






View of the tops, looking down on them
 
 
One on left is upside down

I filled two trash with compacted down leaves.  The yard is far from clear, but since more leaves will fall, the rest will wait for now.