Friday, May 30, 2014

Friday Night Steam

All aboard  - we're off to Australia!  Lots of steam, and a beautiful countryside!







Victorian Railways R class
Victorian Railways R 701.jpg
Victorian Railways publicity photograph of R 701, 1951
Specifications
Power type steam
Builder North British Locomotive Company, Glasgow
Configuration 4-6-4
Gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) Irish gauge
Driver diameter 73 in (1,854 mm)
Length 77 ft 3 14 in (23.55 m)
Axle load 19 tons 10 cwt (43,700 lb or 19.8 t)
Weight on drivers 50 tons 10 cwt (113,100 lb or 51.3 t)
Locomotive weight 107 tons 12 cwt (241,000 lb or 109.3 t)
Tender weight 79 tons 16 cwt (178,800 lb or 81.1 t)
Locomotive and tender
combined weight
187 tons 8 cwt (419,800 lb or 190.4 t)
Tender capacity 6 tons 0 cwt (13,400 lb or 6.1 t) coal
9,000 imp gal (40,915 L; 10,809 US gal) water
Boiler pressure 210 psi (1.45 MPa)
Firegrate area 42 sq ft (3.9 m2)
Heating surface:
– Total
2,705 sq ft (251.3 m2)
Cylinders 2
Cylinder size 21.5 in × 28 in (546 mm × 711 mm)
Tractive effort 32,080 lbf (142.7 kN) at 85% boiler pressure
Career
Number in class 70
The R class was an express passenger steam locomotive that ran on Australia's Victorian Railways from 1951 to 1974. A long overdue replacement for the 1907-era A2 class 4-6-0, their development and construction was repeatedly delayed due to financial constraints caused by the Great Depression and later the manpower and materials shortages of World War II and the immediate postwar period.
Orders eventually totalling 70 locomotives were placed with the North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow. Once initial teething problems were overcome, R class locomotives proved to be a success and their power and speed enabled faster timetabled services. However, they were almost immediately superseded by mainline diesel-electric and electric locomotives on the VR from 1952 onwards. With successive orders of diesel-electric locomotives through the 1950s and 1960s gradually displacing them, all but seven of the class were withdrawn and cut up for scrap.
Four of the remaining locomotives were later restored to operating condition between 1984 and 1998. These have seen use ranging from hauling special heritage train services through to substituting for modern diesel-electric locomotives on regular intercity rail services run by V/Line and West Coast Railway. Another surviving example, number R 704, was originally displayed at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and is now on permanent display at the Australian Railway Historical Society museum in North Williamstown, Victoria.

HistoryEdit

Within a few years of the introduction of the A2 class 4-6-0 in 1907, it was clear that increasingly heavy train loads would require a more powerful locomotive on principal main lines. From as early as 1918, a series of drawings for potential 4-6-2 'Pacific' type locomotives began to emerge from the VR's Locomotive Design Section, some of which were ultimately developed into the 3 cylinder S class heavy Pacific of 1928.[1] However, plans for a smaller 2 cylinder Pacific, with an axle load below 20 tons to allow operation across the VR mainline network, were put on hold during the 1930s. This was partly due to the decline in traffic and revenue due to the Great Depression, and partly due to the improved power outputs and efficiency from the A2 locomotives after the application of a series of smokebox design and draughting changes referred to as 'Modified Front End' in the mid-1930s.
By 1943 however, the situation had changed. There was a massive increase in traffic brought by the advent of World War II, and the A2s were by this point well past their prime. The VR Locomotive Design Section once again turned their attention to the proposed Pacific replacement. The addition of a mechanical stoker, the enlarging of the grate from 37 to 42 square feet (3.4 to 3.9 m2) for increased performance and the use of heavy bar-frame construction for increased durability significantly increased the projected weight of the locomotive. To keep the axle load to 19.5 tons, the design by 1944 had changed from a 4-6-2 'Pacific' to a 4-6-4 'Hudson' wheel arrangement.[2]

Design Features


SCOA-P coupled wheels and Witte smoke deflectors, R 766, 1993
The R class reflected an ongoing evolution of VR locomotive design and a response to the changing operational environment of the VR in the postwar era.
The R class adopted the bar frame construction of the H and S class express passenger locomotives, which had proven to be far more robust in coping with the VR's varying track quality than the fracture-prone plate frames of the A2.
The decision to install MB Type 1 mechanical stoker equipment (capable of feeding up to 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) of coal per hour)[3] on a locomotive with only a 42-square-foot (3.9 m2) grate reflected improved postwar working conditions for locomotive firemen, the varying quality of postwar coal and the expectation of sustained high speed operation of the locomotive. The manually fired prewar VR S class Pacific, although capable of 2,300 drawbar horsepower (1,700 kW), was limited by the physical ability of the fireman to feed its 50-square-foot (4.6 m2) grate and as such was reliant on coal with a high calorific value.[4]
Online locomotive database steamlocomotive.com notes: "They showed an interesting blend of European, British, American, and Australian practice. The slotted pilot is Australian, the long sand dome American, the Belpaire firebox and cab British, and the mid-line smoke lifters ('elephant ears') European."[5]
Other modern features included SKF roller bearings on all axles and the innovative, lightweight SCOA-P type driving wheels, which were specially developed for the R class by the Steel Company of Australia.[6]

Production

An order for 20 locomotives was placed with the VR's Newport Workshops in 1946, but remained unfulfilled for years as shortages of steel and manpower saw other projects (such as the overhaul of badly run-down infrastructure and the building of extra X class goods locomotives) given precedence.[7]
By the late 1940s, the A2 class was at the end of its life, and new motive power was desperately required. Australian Federal Government restrictions on the availability of US dollars (designed to favour trade within the British Empire) precluded the VR from purchasing American diesel-electric locomotives.[8] The VR broke with a long standing policy of in-house steam locomotive construction and called for tenders to construct an additional 50 R class. The contract was awarded to North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow, Scotland on 21 September 1949. The order was increased to 70 on 12 January 1950 with the cancellation of the original order of 20 locomotives from VR's Newport shops. Parts manufactured for the Newport order were used to complete the NBL-built locomotives.
Further delays were experienced once the locomotives finally arrived from May 1951 onwards. Corrosion had already set in during their sea voyage as deck cargo from Scotland to Australia, and there were numerous manufacturing defects requiring rectification. R 703 was the first of the class in service, on 27 June 1951, and the last of the fleet R 769 did not enter service until 23 September 1953.[7]

Service life


R 730, hauling a Melbourne-Dimboola passenger service, at Parwan railway station, Victoria, 1953. This locomotive was the last of the class to be scrapped, on 13th October 1969.[9]
Once the manufacturing defects and corrosion damage were corrected, the R class proved to be a fine locomotive in its intended role of express passenger service. Dynamometer car testing showed they were capable of producing a maximum 1840 drawbar horsepower (1,372 kW) at 37.5 mph (60.4 km/h),[10] a significant improvement over the A2's 1,230 hp (920 kW) at 32 mph (51 km/h).[11] They quickly took over virtually all mainline passenger services previously operated by the A2 and passenger timetables were revised to take advantage of their higher performance, with cuts to journey times as high as 60 minutes.[12] Individual R class locomotives were soon running upwards of 950 to 1,250 miles (1,530 to 2,010 km) each per week.[13]
Their mechanical stoker, smooth riding characteristics and large, comfortable cab also made them popular with crews.
The R's impressive debut was cut short by the introduction of the B class (EMD ML2) diesel electric locomotives from July 1952, a locomotive type based on the latest GM EMD designs and built in Australia under licence by Clyde Engineering. By the end of 1953, the success of the B class saw the R class withdrawn from The Overland service to Adelaide and also VR's passenger service to Mildura. The Gippsland line, which was electrified to Traralgon by 1955, was the first line to see the complete withdrawal of the R class from service. On 18 May 1964, R 703 worked the last regular steam-hauled passenger train out of Melbourne, the 6.05pm Geelong service.[14]
The Rs were pressed into secondary passenger and goods service, roles which for which a Hudson with large diameter driving wheels was sometimes a less than ideal choice. There was little opportunity to exploit their high speed capability. Furthermore, their relatively low factor of adhesion (4.08) and lack of fully compensated springing, coupled with the tendency of locomotives to transfer weight to the rearmost wheels under high drawbar pull conditions (which in the case of the R meant a weight transfer from the driving wheels to the unpowered trailing truck) caused them to slip when starting heavy goods trains.[15]
The R class is remembered by many for its role as power for the seasonal grain harvest. In times of a good harvest, virtually every available locomotive would be marshalled into service to shift wheat trains of over 1,000 tons from Victoria's Western district through to the ports for export. Double-headed R class locomotives, sometimes aided by a third R acting as banking engine at the rear, could be seen battling the 3 mile, 1 in 52 (1.92%) Warrenheip Bank out of Ballarat.
In the 1960s, as the railway preservation movement began to gather momentum, a small number of R class locomotives found a new role as power for excursion train services. In this role they were able to fulfill their intended role of high speed passenger travel, with speeds of over 80 mph (129 km/h) being recorded.[16]

PBC and oil firing


Preserved locomotive R 707 at the Geelong locomotive depot in 2007
R 707, which due to various defects had still not been put into service by 1954, was selected for modification for pulverised brown coal (PBC) operation, in conjunction with trials of this fuel being undertaken with X class 'Mikado' X 32. While the PBC locomotives performed well, the expense of installing storage and handling facilities became increasingly uneconomic with falling prices for fuel oil and the success of diesel-electric traction. The conversion had also reduced the water capacity of R 707's tender such that there was insufficient margin for delays or bad weather running on many routes, confining the locomotive to the shorter Melbourne - Geelong and Melbourne - Seymour lines.[17] The experiments were discontinued and R 707 was converted back to black coal operation in 1957.[18]
R 719 and 748 were converted to oil-firing during the mid-1950s.[19] They performed very well and were favourites among crews for their clean, cinder-free running.[17] The reduced maintenance associated with their oil-fired operation meant they also had the highest availability of any of the R class and as such recorded the highest mileages of any of the class.[20] However, rising fuel oil costs and the ongoing dieselisation program on the VR precluded any further locomotives from being converted.

Demise

Because they were superseded so early in their lives by more modern forms of traction, and because they spent so much of their remaining lives stored for seasonal grain traffic and/or in poor condition, the R class achieved one of the lowest average mileages of any VR locomotive. The lowest was that of R 716, which recorded just 88,909 miles (143,085 km) in just four years of service before being withdrawn in 1956 and scrapped in 1962.[20]
As the VR focussed its attention on diesel electric traction, steam locomotive depots were gradually closed down and the remaining steam fleet became a much lower maintenance priority. A particular problem was the lack of feedwater treatment, which saw many R class locomotive boilers condemned for severe corrosion well before the end of their design life.[7]
1967 marked the final year of the R class in general service with the withdrawal of the final three operating in this capacity: R 742 on 23 June, R 735 on 24 July and oil-burning R 748 on 10 August 1967. After this date, the remaining R class locomotives on the register were used for special enthusiast workings. R 706, R 769 and R 749 continued in this role until boiler and mechanical conditions made them too costly to maintain and they too were withdrawn, leaving only R 707 and R 761 in operable condition.[7]
Scrappings had commenced with R 755 in 1960, which had been involved in a serious rear-end collision with a freight train earlier that year, and continued through the decade. By 1970, only seven of the class remained intact. R 707 and R 761 continued to haul various special trains until both were withdrawn in 1974 as their boiler certificates expired, and with their withdrawal came the end of over a century of mainline steam locomotive operation on Victorian Railways.

21st century steam: West Coast Railway's R 711 and R 766


R 711, equipped with dual Lempor exhausts, resting at Warrnambool, Victoria after hauling a West Coast Railway passenger service, 2001.
R class locomotives saw a relatively brief but notable return to operation of regularly scheduled mainline passenger rail services when in the late 1990s, two of the remaining locomotives were extensively modified and returned to service. Private rail operator West Coast Railway, which had successfully tendered for operation of the Warrnambool railway line in the privatisation of the Victorian passenger rail network, modified the locomotives as part of an ambitious plan to operate steam-powered express passenger services running to the same timetable as those operated by modern diesel electric locomotives.[21]
In order to ensure the locomotive's ability to reliably keep to the timetable, a number of notable design changes were made. These included the replacement of the original single blastpipe with dual Lempor ejectors, conversion to oil firing, fitting of power reverse, and the addition of a diesel control stand to allow for multiple unit operation with diesel electric locomotives where required.[22] R 711 entered service on regular trains on 21 November 1998,[23] and design refinements based on its performance in service were made to the subsequent conversion of R 766.[24]
For a number of years, the modified R class locomotives could be seen in regular operation between Melbourne and Warrnambool, keeping a fast 3 hour 13 minute schedule which included six stops along the 267 km (166 mi) route.[21] In 2004, West Coast Railway ceased operations after a number of operational problems made the business unviable.[25] The two R class locomotives made a final trip back to Newport Workshops, where they passed into the care of Steamrail Victoria.

Preservation

References

External links





Today's funny :0)



https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7alFTx3IpxN4aD9uVK2i-M8qn-UUWUhxekYK6SjobHnATPa08Nju4mniCWGb3s5H4yn2ngG9SCDJSQjKKOKu4tPPZbOJmMN2Sj-c9YAU6qu9vf4I_RMtIkixpCEI9H9d7XP71gOrUsLN/s1600/The+Wheel+of+Life+Cycle+Funny+Cartoon.jpg





Coopville

Good Morning!

Had a good rest and thought really hard about continuing with the blog. I missed it, but realized that it was just taking up too much time to do three posts seven days a week. Sooooo -  I've decided to take the weekends off for a while. The format will stay the same: life here in Coopville, a 'Today's Funny', stuff that I find interesting and of course Friday Night Steam. If you want to see something different, please drop me a line.. I want the ole blog to be interesting.

I know seeing pictures of Charlie, the girls, Hubby and the silly things I post will never be earth shattering. But I hope that taking a break from all the garbage in the news will perhaps, give you a chance to smile at some nonsense.

Hubby is pleased that my camera is broken (but a new one should arrive tomorrow from the wonderful folks at Amazon). It's supposed to be super easy to use and have great video capabilities, too. Be prepared for more chicken pics!

Just in case you missed them:





 And once again, thank you for all your kind comments and E-mails!


My Photo
Chickenmom
:o)

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Get 'yer clippers ready!




'Boring' hedge turned into dragon in East Rudham

The dragon-style topiary John Brooker originally sculpted a few arches into the hedge before turning it into a dragon
A 75-year-old man said he spent 13 years crafting a "boring" hedge into a 150ft-long (45.7m) giant dragon.
John Brooker sculpted the mystical creature out of the 10ft-high (3m) privet alongside his rented farm cottage in East Rudham, Norfolk.
The topiary features bulging eyes, flaring nostrils and a crested back.
Mr Brooker said: "I was standing at my kitchen sink one day and thought the hedge was boring so decided to do something with it."

John Brooker standing with hedge clippers on a stepladder The design could have been inspired by his time in the Far East, where John Brooker met his wife
He spends up to three days every two to three weeks trimming the fairytale design back into shape and compared the task to painting the Forth Bridge.
The retired fan maker has got through four electric hedge trimmers and has to climb a pair of 6ft-high (1.8m) stepladders to sculpt the top.
"The farmer here is horrified when he sees me perched on top of the ladders," said Mr Brooker.
'Army days' The hedge is by a public footpath and has attracted attention from walkers but Mr Brooker is modest about his eye-catching creation.
"My wife is the gardener, I just cut the lawn and do the hedge," he said.
John Brooker clipping the dragon-style topiary 
 The hedge is trimmed back every two to three weeks as it grows at a "prolific" rate
"She was pleased though as she has something interesting to look at.
"I think the dragon came from my days in the Army. I did two tours in Malaysia so the dragon must have been in my subconscious."
His wife Pippa, a former graphic designer, helps to guide the design, which is constantly refined.
"I've added wings and the top was quite plain but every year I add another couple of lines for definition," he said.
"I was always told by my maths teacher that I had a good eye for drawing a curve.
"There is a sense of what is right when your hand moves. Very rarely have I cut out something I wanted to keep."


Saturday, May 24, 2014

Dear Readers

Good morning!

I am going to stop blogging for a wee bit. I have had so much fun doing Chicken Feathers and met many wonderful people along the way, but I find it's getting more and more difficult to post anything interesting. It has been said that when you have to struggle, it's time to take a break.

Charlie and the girls are getting older (and me, too) and they are not really doing anything that average chickens aren't doing, although I think they are pretty special!

In the meantime, I want to thank all my fellow bloggers out there for linking my blog and stories on their sites. Without you, I wouldn't have had almost 58,000 viewers dropping in on Coopville! I can never thank you enough for all your help and encouragement. And to all the marvelous people that took the time to post comments, "Thank You!" - you have no idea on how much I enjoy them!

So, for a while, I am going to catch up on reading YOUR blogs, do some woodworking, get my reading pile down to a reasonable level, gardening and maybe even get some fishing in!

Again, THANK YOU!


Shirley, Laverne, Lucy and Charlie

and

My Photo
Chickenmom

Me! 
:o)

Friday, May 23, 2014

New Meteor Shower Tonight!!!!!


From: Space.com:

The predicted visibility zone of the May Camelopardalid meteor shower Comet 209P/LINEAR at 06:00 UTC on May 24, 2014.



New Meteor Shower Friday Night: How to See It

Editor's Update (May 23): The live webcasts on Space.com for the new meteor shower from Comet 209P/LINEAR can be found here: Watch Live: Camelopardalid Meteor Shower Webcasts
Meteor observation doesn't have to be rocket science: All you have to do is lie back in a comfortable place and look up at the sky with the naked eye. Every so often, a meteor will flit across the stars. You simply make a note on a clipboard or speak into a tape recorder.
On Friday night and early Saturday morning (May 23-24), Earth will plow through debris shed over the years by Comet 209P/LINEAR. The result likely will be a new meteor shower, and possibly a spectacular meteor storm of 1,000 or so shooting stars per hour, experts say.

Even if you can't watch the meteor shower in person, you can catch the celestial showcase live online via a few webcasts. The Slooh community is hosting live views of the shower beginning at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 May 24 GMT), and they will also stream a webcast about Comet 209P/LINEAR before that at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT). Watch the webcasts directly through Slooh.com, or catch the Slooh meteor shower feed on Space.com. The Virtual Telescope Project will also host a meteor shower webcast. [See maps and pictures about the new meteor shower]
Diagrams show the Camelopardalids meteor shower.
A rare meteor storm, or especially intense meteor shower, could happen if a particular comet was active hundreds of years ago. See how meteor storms work in this Space.com infographic.
Credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist
How to prepare
No two observers prepare for a meteor vigil the same way. It will help if you can take a late-afternoon nap and a shower, and wear all fresh clothing. The ground can get cold, so heavy blankets, sleeping bags, cushions and even pillows are all essential. Sleeping bags provide some mosquito protection, but don't forget the insect repellent!
A long, reclining lawn chair makes a good observation platform because it's comfortable, portable and, in most cases, relatively inexpensive. It also allows you to move your head toward any section of the sky. A Thermos of hot coffee, tea or juice is a welcome comfort. Avoid alcohol; it impairs night vision.
A new meteor shower, the Camelopardalids, will make their first night sky appearance on May 23 and 24, 2014. Created by the Comet 209P/LINEAR, the meteors will appear to radiate out from the constellation Camelopardalis (Camel Leopard, or Giraffe).
A new meteor shower, the Camelopardalids, will make their first night sky appearance on May 23 and 24, 2014. Created by the Comet 209P/LINEAR, the meteors will appear to radiate out from the constellation Camelopardalis (Camel Leopard, or Giraffe).
Credit: Science@NASA
The darker, the better
Find a safe observing site that provides a wide-open view of the sky. Once you arrive, allow 20 minutes for your eyes to become fully adapted to the dark. You can use a flashlight, but only after you make some key modifications: Cover the lens with a sheet of dark-red cellophane, since dim red light affects your eyes far less than lamplight.
Complete darkness is best for observing meteors. With light pollution so widespread, it's getting harder to find a truly dark sky. Use the bowl of the Little Dipper to help determine how dark the sky in your area is.  The brightest star in the Little Dipper is Kochab, a second-magnitude star. The next brightest is Pherkad, at third magnitude. The next brightest star is fourth-magnitude, and the next brightest is fifth-magnitude. So, if you can see all four stars in the bowl, you're in a pretty dark observing site. Keep in mind that for an increasing number of locations, only Kochab and Pherkad are visible, meaning you're likely to miss many of the fainter streaks.
It really doesn't make much of a difference in which direction you face. You just don't want trees, buildings or sky glow blocking your field of view. Gazing directly overhead (at the zenith) might be best. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees; some groups recommend looking about 60 degrees up in the direction of the radiant; the radiant for the Comet 209P/LINEAR meteors is in the dim constellation of Camelopardalis, which will be located about one-third up in the sky from the north-northwest horizon.
Use a portable radio to stay updated on the weather. Before changing to what might be a better site, however, note whether the cloudiness is spotty. Sometimes, there are lengthy intervals when few meteors can be seen. Of course, hourly counts mean little if your sky is not entirely clear. [How to Pronounce the Camelopardalids (Video)]

Friday Night Steam

Take a look at a modern steam engine!




How many uses for it can you think of? Lawn mower? Trike? Washing machine?

Today's funny :0)

Woman returns to work after 30 years.....








Clouds

We were supposed to get heavy rain and thunderstorms yesterday - we didn't except about 1 a.m.


Most of afternoon was clear and warm. I even hung a load of wash out on the line.

But the clouds did roll in:




Just got a spritz of rain - most of the storm was south of us.


Then these showed up:








Will probably get a sprinkle or two before it ends.....

More of the same forecasted through Saturday.


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Happy Birthday...

                                                                    .........  Charlie!!!!


Charlie - May 22, 2011



Charlie - now





Today's funny :0)


Don't think he'll make the soccer team....


http://justkiddingbutseriously.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/2vmwx0i2.gif?w=450

Chicken facts & trivia

From: www.jonespoultry.com:




  • A chicken can have 4-5 toes on each foot.

  • A chicken can travel up to 9 miles per hour.

  • A chicken takes 21 days to hatch.

  • A chicken will lay bigger and stronger eggs if you change the lighting in such a way as to make them think a day is 28 hours long.

  • A chicken's body temperature normally runs at 102-103 degrees F.

  • A chicken’s heart beats 280-315 times a minute.

  • A hen lives an average of 5-7 years but can live up to 20 years. The hen will lay eggs her entire life with production decreasing every year from year one.

  • A rooster takes about 18-20 breaths a minute, a hen takes 30-35.

  • A rooster will attack anything that he thinks will harm the hens.

  • Alektrophobia- fear of chickens.

  • Americans consume 8 BILLION chickens a year!

  • An egg starts growing into a chick when it reaches a temperature of 86 degrees F.

  • Chicken drumsticks have lower ratio of meat to bone and skin than other parts of a chicken.

  • Chicken sperm can survive in a hen up to 32 days.

  • Chickens can be cannibalistic.
    Debeaking- removing the end of beaks helps prevent cannibalism.

  • Chickens come in an infinite variety of colors and patterns.

  • Chickens lay different colors of eggs: white, brown, green, pink, and blue.

  • Chickens were domesticated about 8000 years ago.

  • Clutch- number of eggs laid in consecutive days.

  • Eating makes a chicken get hot.

  • Female chickens less than one year old are usually called pullets.

  • Heat does not kill chickens, humidity does. Chickens function fine in higher temperatures, however humidity has been know to lower a chicken’s performance and render them dead.

  • If a rooster is not present in a flock of hens, a hen will often take the role, stop laying, and begin to crow.

  • In the Middle Ages, chicken soup was believed to be an aphrodisiac.

  • It takes a hen 24-26 hours to lay an egg.

  • Laying hens average 245 eggs per year.

  • Leading poultry states are Georgia, Alabama, and North Carolina.

  • McDonald’s in India does not serve beef—only chicken, mutton and fish.

  • Molting- annual loss of feathers and growth of new ones.

  • The USA is the leading chicken producer.

  • The chicken was once a sacred animal symbolizing the sun.

  • The greatest number of yolks in one chicken egg is nine.

  • The largest chicken egg ever recorded was nearly 12 oz., measuring 12 1/4" around.

  • The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.

  • The record for laying the most eggs in one day is seven.

  • The waste product by one chicken in its lifetime can supply enough electricity to run a 100-watt light bulb for five hours.

  • There are four places in the US that have the word "chicken" in their name. Chicken Alaska, Chicken Bristle in both Illinois and Kentucky, and Chicken town Pennsylvania.

  • There are more chickens in the world than any other domesticated bird. More than one chicken for every human on the face of the earth.

  • There are some 200 varieties of chickens.
These are some petty interesting facts - glad I stopped over at his website!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

How to make millions



This picture is what made it happen!

Icanhascheezburger.com



Ridiculously Wealthy People Behind It: Eric Nakagawa (aka Cheezburger) and Kari Unebasami (aka Tofu burger)

Estimated Profit: $2MM

The concept of creating ridiculous captions for absurd animal photos began with a photo of one very fat cat and ended with Eric and Kari becoming millionaires.

 Their original goal? To share the chubby tubby image pictured here (which jolted the pair into an alleged 73 minute laughing fit) with as many people who cared to see.  The domain name came from the caption they wrote for the feline, “I can has cheezburger?”

  A series of follow up photos about the fat cat obtaining a cheezburger followed, and soon fans began submitting their own creations.

The site now receives more than 35MM hits per month and 8,000 daily submissions.  In 2007, Tofu burger and Cheezburger sold the site for $2MM to now CEO, Ben Huh.

 Ben has created six sister sites, landed a book deal that was a New York Times Best Seller, and the company makes an estimated half a million from book sales alone.


Now why didn't I think of that???


For CW ....

Think we have enough to get us through next winter?  :0)





Tuesday, May 20, 2014

How to make a rifle.....


                                     ...... The automata way!

This is a lot of fun to watch! I only wish they would have shown the gear mechanism ...



Can't imagine how long this must have taken to build!

Today's funny :0)




Grass

Have been busy trying to spruce the place up a bit since the nicer weather is finally  here!

The dogwood trees in the front

Lucy and Shirley looking for goodies

The azalea bushes starting to flower

Our little pine tree that was damaged this past winter

A green lawn!

Charlie and the girls by the front rock wall.

This place was a disaster when we bought it. There was only a little bit of grass in the front yard and
there were trees and stumps everywhere. Hubby has worked hard and it shows!




Monday, May 19, 2014

Today's funny :o)

Second Opinion


Lenny tells the psychiatrist, “Every time I get into bed, I think there’s somebody under it.”

“Come to me three times a week for two years, and I’ll cure your fears,” says the shrink. “And I’ll only charge you  $200 a visit.”

Lenny says he’ll think about it.

Six months later, he runs into the doctor, who asks why he never came back.

“For $200 a visit?” says Lenny. “A bartender cured me for only $10.”

“Is that so! How?”

“He told me to cut the legs off the bed.”

free public domain image uncle sam takes his cut of the money taxes bar tender drinks alcohol supports the government pen ink drawing

Pretty bird!

Just some more boids from the Poultry show....













I wish I could have found something that I liked. Charlie needs more hens to keep him occupied. Plus, they would give poor Laverne and Shirley a much needed break!

Oh well, in the meantime we can try to figure out how to fix the roof on the pen. Little birds have made a nest between the tarp and the plywood roof. I'll have to wait until they move out though.



Sunday, May 18, 2014

Keep Out!


             http://www.musicgraphicsgalore.net/music/aninotes16.gif     I hear 'ya knockin, but 'ya can't come in! http://www.musicgraphicsgalore.net/music/aninotes16.gif



Barking Dog with Beware Sign - free high resolution photo

Sorry, someone took this picture down:
By: artistdaily.com

Windows with Bars - Free High Resolution Photo


and this one, too

By: George Hodan











Old Lock



File:Kathmandu-05.JPG







File:Chinese lock.JPG