here's the latest addition to the fleet. a much needed pick up truck to haul logs and firewood and miscellaneous junk...to go for a drive down to the river...to go to the dump. gotta have a farm truck. sure it's not anything fancy but you can't beat it for the price-
we got some new fat tires for it and it runs perfectly.
she'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes.....
she'll be ridin' her white pickup when she comes...
yahoo~
especially when you heat your entire house all winter with it. i love love love the wood stoves, for lots of reasons. to manage the woods on the land, the way the air smells, the cost efficiency, but mostly because it makes you have to pay attention; or else the whole house is cold! so there is a connectedness that happens too. so when someone calls you up and asks you if you need firewood and then comes over with an entire trailer filled with logs- this is a happy occassion. 
there is no such thing as having too much wood in your woodpile. no sireee. it becomes an even more splendoriferrous event because we get to bust out the crane! hooray! fun for the whole family! happiness is a whole pile of free firewood, delivered. sigh.
this morning we all lounged around and read books and snuggled and plan to spend the rest of the day in the shop welding up some father's day sculptures... lots of yummy food and some key lime pie... dig in the dirt a bit...
whatever you do, enjoy your family!
i did not make anything today.
the better part of the day was spent running around so that we could be the proud owners of a national crane truck. series 4. this is one big bad truck. it turned out to be a lot more complicated and at some point in the day, i did think, "self, this is the part where people do things that are seemingly out of control". the only glitch in the picture is that it is not yellow, it is white. 
the deal got sticky when two guys: one wearing glasses like the doctor on the love boat and the other wearing those sporty ambervision shades showed up to buy it when we did. i thought...hmmmmm, this could get weird. i think the guys' helper tipped them off that 'joe' was meeting us because they knew each other and he was trying to get the guy to sell it to them. this was the part where if it were still the wild west i would have gotten my rifle and told him to crawl back under his rock. but the dude had no idea what he was dealing with...flat out good karma. lucky for us too, the guy was a stand up man, and knew we called and were there first.
the bad news is that they upped the ante quite a bit so we had to match it....bastards...and that is where the beg, borrow and steal part of the soap opera comes in. BUT (and that's a big but....)the really really good news is that crane trucks get $125/hr with a 3 hour minimum. it is almost like a weeks pay in a day. we already have a job for it and "joe" said there is tons of work. especially since he is leaving town and sold us the truck. he took our cards to hand out. i liked him more and more as the deal went on.
it's a win-win. my son is in heaven, he is walking around saying, "hey, mom...we're crane guys...yeah...". my man (also perfecting his levitation technique at this time) now has incredible work opportunities and we get to build enormous sculptures where and whenever we like. not sure what to name her yet....something to do with 'national'-a heroine perhaps...overall i see it as a wise investment.
and you girls thought i was crazy.
i mean it when i say there is an awful lot of dirt here.
now, we do actually have a small collection of heavy yellow metal. after all, who needs new furniture or a new kitchen when you can have a trackhoe? i say small collection because there are only two (large) pieces of heavy equipment- so far. i think it is addicting; like tattoos. from what i understand the guy up the road started out with only one dozer and you should see his proud fleet today.
Allow me to introduce them: Suki, a versatile komatsu trackhoe with zero tail swing and offset boom. that baby can glide over the muckiest muck as gracefully as, well, something graceful, move stuff, grade land, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig: it's what she likes to do. at this very moment she is sitting out there picturesquely perched perfectly on a pile of dirt; like a conquerer about to stake a flag. not everyday a girl's got that to look at out back... sigh. imagine my son's sheer joy. and he is not the only one- he didn't put it there.
Gretchen, a newholland skid steer better known to some as a "bobcat" type machine is a tough old broad and can go from forks to a bucket in >1 minute. also a very handy dandy piece of equipment- never move anything heavy again. dig up anything you want in seconds. move entire loads of lumber for the woodpile haul it out of the woods, dig up shrubs and all their dirt in one fell swoop with virtually no shock to the plant. not to mention a myriad of other uses.
it starts very very young....the attraction to yellow metal, that is. maybe not for every boy; i hate to generalize, but let's look at my son for example. take a look at this fine collection: some vintage from dear friends, thrift store finds, and new ones from grandma. he could care less about anything else. the boy is a little wizard: he can distinguish subtle differences between every machine out there.... driving down the road he will happily point out in his sweet little voice of newly found words MOM!!! there's a backhoe! MOM!!! it's a digger goes round and round. MOM!!! look at that dump truck. WOW, MOM! look at that! see that crane? it has even begun to flow into the tool department, as he corrected a friend at a recent birthday party..."no, steve- that is a handtruck." he's 3. may i also add how adorable it is that he walks around saying, "you got it?" in a make believe deep man's voice. hilarious. he's been a guy's guy since he arrived on the planet. if anyone with an ounce of testosterone walks in the room...they have his full attention. he's a really nice kid. but anyhoooo... 
he is my third baby, and the first boy after two girls. thus, i can personally confirm that yes, virginia, there is a difference between the two and it is in their dna. my daughters never even noticed any construction equipment-even if it was on the block, and my son well, he would leave an entire plate of birthday cake to investigate the sound if he thought he heard a diesel engine roar.
i suspect this is only the beginning of my love affair with yellow metal. 
at present there is a crane truck in my very very near future. i think there are plans of converting a school bus into a guest house up on the hill. renovations? i love 70's wood paneling. it's very cozy.
