A Model T Axle

Rear axle for 1923 Model T Ford

We have found many things here during the house and stream restoration, but this was big. Upstream of the brook that runs through the back yard, during the continuing clearing and restoration of the stream bed, John found this rear axle to a 1923 Model T Ford. A tire remained draped around it, and a tire rim was also in the brook. I know folks back then dumped most everything in the woods, but this axle surprised me. In all the years I have lived and explored here, I never saw evidence of this axle in the brook. It was buried under blowdowns and leaf litter. (Photo from PlanetSpring.com)

I know nothing about cars, but I found this interesting description of the design and construction of the Model T rear axle at The Frontenac Motor Company site:

The rear axle uses a "3-point drive" system, unique to Ford. This type of construction necessitates the use of only a single universal joint and permits of the housing of the entire driving mechanism in a dust proof, oil tight case. If plenty of oil is supplied to these parts there should be no trouble during the natural life of the gears, made as they are of the best special alloy steel obtainable, carefully cut and case hardened. The rear axle runs on Hyatt roller bearings. End thrust tendencies of the large bevel gear are taken by fiber discs between hardened and ground steel discs—the best possible construction for this service. The propeller shaft runs in babbitt bearings at both ends. The entire axle is lubricated by a copper tube which leads from the oiler and enters at the ball joint. The oil flows down through the tubular torsion tube to the gears and finally to the Hyatt roller axle-bearings. These bearings are spiral rollers and each alternate spiral is reversed so that they distribute the oilautomatically over all parts of the bearing surface. Dope cups are installed on each drive shaft bearing and the four rear axle bearings to assist lubrication, as dope will be retained longer and therefore gives better results than oil. Note: The rear hub brakes are intended to perform the function of emergency brakes as their name implies and consequently they take hold severely. Used only in emergency they should outlive the rest of the car. Many theories to the contrary notwithstanding, the transmission brake is not injurious to the driving gears if used judiciously, as every other part of the car should be used. And inasmuch as this brake equalizes the forces between the two rear wheels uniformly, is more easily lubricated, inspected and adjusted, it is better practice to use it for service than the hub brakes.

Rim from the Model T

I’m wondering what else we will discover around here.

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A New Backyard

Wall built from old barn foundation.

The backdoor yard had to be graded to stop water flooding the basement. There is a small hill not far from the house in back and it sloped right into the house. So John drove the backhoe back there and began excavating . . . and found another household dump and the stone foundation of a very old barn. Nothing here is very simply, is it? He hauled boulders out of the dirt and used them to build a stone wall at the bottom of the hill. He spend many hours excavating the dump, and even I was able to work at it one day. There were hundreds of antique bottles, piles of broken glass and crockery, farm implements, leather harnesses, the harrow, metal fence posts, old dry cell batteries, and other debris.

Looking to the backdoor and flat yard from the top of ungraded stone wall.

After the excavating and grading, John planted grass seed and put in tomatoes, peppers, and three kinds of squash. He transplanted a good-sized lilac shoot from the big lilac on that hill. From friends, I planted more rhubarb,horseradish, chives, marigolds and small pansies which I put over the brook (which flows under this hill through a culvert that was installed long, long ago and comes out on the right of the photo, unseen here.) I also planted one pumpkin plant that the children and I started at Sunday School. Finally, when Zorro died, we moved a snowball bush from the day lily garden to the left of the big lilac here on the hill.

A June 1 hailstorm did not damage the little tomato plants.

This wouldn't be Vermont without dramatic weather, and on June 1 we had a violent storm with large hail. In the photo above you can see the rock pile from rocks pulled from the leach field and the back yard. That is where the mink lived this past winter, and from the way the cats behave around the pile, still lives today. You can see some of my many tamarack trees on both sides of the rock pile. Where there was bare dirt on June 1, we now have squash vines growing and blooming all over. Years ago, John had saved Hubbard squash seeds. He planted them this year but figured they were too old to germinate. They germinated. Come fall, I will be selling many Hubbard squash at the Barton Village Market. This property is lush with these new gardens.

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Thirsty Buddy

Buddy and I were walking around the back inspecting the new gardens and the revived brook. It was very hot and Buddy was thirsty. I expected him to just lean over and drink from the brook, but he walked in. At times his ears went back in distaste of the cold water, but he didn't stop walking through it. In fact, Buddy walked down the brook to the bridge that John built over it and then explored under the bridge. In these photographs, I like the looks of his little white feet in the water.

Today we went to a Labour of Love Gardens in Glover and found Siberian Irises to plant on the banks of the brook to complete the restoration. Next summer the brook will be more beautiful than ever. When you are in Glover, you have to stop by the gardens. She has plants that are difficult to find and her prices are reasonable. She also has the largest collection in Vermont of sempervivum (plants like hens and chicks).

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A Harrow Underground

A tine from a spring tooth horse-drawn harrow

After last year's flash flood, when we suffered damage, John has been grading the land around the house and digging out the original stream beds for the brooks. As part of this project, he had to grade the back dooryard, which slopped right into the basement from the brooks. He has excavated the area so that it is flat and level with the brook in the back yard. While digging, he found dozens of antique bottles and horse paraphernalia. Obviously, there used to be a barn on this site. Up the road at the culvert close to Stevens Mill, there are many rose bushes. We think the original farm house was there. There are also huge maples there that people usually kept about their house.

John also uncovered a stone foundation for a barn in the back yard. He has taken out the most dangerous of these boulders and built a stone wall at the bottom of the rise out back. I apologize for not having photographs of this project. The blackflies have been ferocious this year. I don't know how John works out there with those things, but I can't tolerate them and have not shot his work. The back bathroom and hall are usually muddy now because of the work, so I sweep and vacuum almost every day. We are planting on top of the stone walls — rhubarb, chives, horseradish, daffodils, lilacs, cucumbers and even tomatoes. There are also plans for sunflowers, sedum and a fern garden. There will be photos soon. Promise.

Anyhow. During the excavation of this barn foundation, John found this tine of an old spring tooth harrow. Click here to see a photograph and description of a complete harrow. John is positive that the entire harrow is underground, but it is not threatening to be pushed to the surface by frost, so he didn't search for it. This harrow was a one-horse harrow and had a wood frame, some of which we have. Harrows were used after fields were plowed. The harrow prepared the land for seeding.

Besides photos of the project, I will be photographing all of the artifacts that were dug up. This project was more of an archeological project than a grading project. We now have three known household dump sites on this land.

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Quicksand

Underground spring bubbles up through quicksand

There is a large underground spring in the orchard that comes up out of sand and flows down to the bog. Quicksand. The sand looks like any other sand but it will suck you down in. How far? Probably to China. So it’s probably a good spot to rid oneself of big, heavy evidence . . .

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New Found Daffodil (It's Finally May!)

April 22, 2011

When he was clearing the infernal willows from the brook near the house, John found this small bunch of daffodils growing in the brush on the other side of the brook. From other clues discovered there, we figure there used to be a flower garden over there. It must have been pretty with the brook bubbling and dropping beside the flowers. We are going to restore the area with other bulbs and roses. I can imagine what it will look like in coming years when I look out the window, across the brook, in the spring. I went over yesterday to photograph the daffodil that bloomed about three days ago. It is a frilly flower and reminds me, somehow, of lions.

April 30, 2011

Happy May!

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VIDEO: The Brook

Yesterday, I walked up the brook out back, the one directly behind the house that comes down into the back yard, and video taped it because I wanted to capture the music of it. The result — seven minutes and forty seconds of beautiful brook music that will totally bore you. For the video, I felt that we needed to name the brook. John wouldn't participate in that, so I named it Boulder Brook. Now in the morning I think that is such a lame name. But you will see a bit of the glacial erratics that inspired the name. The boulders house and shelter animals. You won't see much of them, though, because I failed to capture their enormous size. I'll do that next time. I ended the video at a flume (not Stone Flume, which I also taped yesterday, across the road, but another one behind the house), which is not where the brook begins, but it is as far as I felt like going after I fell into a hole that some critter dug under a humongous boulder, scraping and badly bruising my foot and ankle. Lesson to learn: never step close to the boulders. Somebody has dug a front or back door under the boulder and you will fall in.

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How To Make It All Go Away

The woodpile on April 9, 2011

The weather on Saturday, April 9, was beautiful and warm. But we still had a deep snowpack on all but a few southern facing slopes. John, who truly dislikes snow, had had enough. I found him in the back dooryard silently dragging the hose out to the brook (in addition to the brooks in the field and orchard out back, there is another brook in the backyard). An electric wire came out of the brook and was running into the house. I asked him what was up. He said he was getting rid of the snow. I told him not to electrocute himself and went for my camera.

The hose coming out and the wires going into the brook.

The electric cord ran to a big aquarium pump. John had taped the electrical connections to make sure he wouldn’t be electrocuted, and dumped the pump into the brook. The pump sucked up the water and spat it out of the hose and onto the snow in the yard.

John had also spent a lot of time this winter tossing wood ash onto the snowpack. The dark colored ash would absorb sunlight and melt the snow. That’s why these snow photos look the way they do. We had the dirtiest snow in the county. The ash was effective in reducing snow but not in getting rid of it.

John's snow reduction was very successful. By the end of the afternoon, half of the entire dooryard was free of snow. John’s tension was relieved and peace was restored to our home. The dooryard was very wet.

PS: It was another two weeks before all the snow  (except a two foot deep pile behind the woodpile and lots still in the woods) was clear. It  had melted naturally. I think.

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A Watering Hole

One of the brooks comes down the mountain and flows through the apple orchard. John and I went out four days after the first day of spring when the snow was three feet deep and so crusted that we did not need snowshoes to move around. It was fun being taller for a few hours! I saw that the orchard brook was open in this one spot and there were tracks down to the water. Foxes are using this spot for their water. If you look carefully on the left end of the open brook, you may see the faint tracks. Below, I have a closer shot of the tracks. They are faint and difficult to see.

I don't really like foxes. They have been known to eat kitties.

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The First Day of Spring?

The annual "back of the house" shot showing how snow melt is progressing.
The semicircular tracks near the back door are from deer.

It was the annual Vermont Maple Open House weekend. We found no open sugar houses to visit. But it was also the first day of spring so we took a walk in the back by the road that John plowed (to ease his angst at there being snow). It wasn't a long walk but it was as long as we could make it. In the photograph above, you see the deer tracks around the back door. To the right of the door is a big shadow cast by the house and on the right border of that, near the garage, you can see a pile of snow. That pile, only one week ago, covered the entire living room window behind it. We're making progress! I love the snow half on and half off of the metal garage roof.

A deer run down the mountain.
That's a tamarack tree on the left.

There are deer trails all over out back. Here, above, is a photograph of one coming down off the mountain. See the tamarack tree in the foreground? It looks dead. It isn't.

American Pussywillow (Salix discolor)

Nearly all the pussywillows are in bloom! Now that is a sign of spring!

The snowpack has been cut in half this past week!

The brooks are all running and gurgling happily. Love that sound of running water! And the depth of the snow is half of what it was last week! Happy days are coming . . .  but wait . . .

Winter Storm Warning
Hazardous Weather Outlook

I’m going to bed now.

(Hopefully, if you click the link, they will have cancelled tomorrow’s storm and the link will be dead)

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Restoring Stream Beds

The backhoe, above, is vital to restoring the buried stream beds that are flooding the hillside, barn, yard and even the road. I'm fascinated by all of the hoses on the back that make the backhoe work.

There are at least two brooks here that come off of Barton Mountain. Decades ago, as the land here was developed for farming and building the house and barn, the brooks were simply buried or diverted without thought to the action that water has over time. If the water action is not considered, the brooks go underground and seep out everywhere. The land adjoining our acres was slowly becoming flooded so that you have to put on waders to pick apples from the trees. Willows and alders grew abundantly in the wet ground and created a fine mesh of roots that further buried the brooks.

The first step in restoring the brooks is to brush hog the willows and alders. You have seen this in previous posts. As the land was cleared and began to dry, it was easier to see how the water flowed as it appeared and disappeared here and there in its travel down the mountain. Culverts that were installed long ago had become full of mud and forest litter. Once the culverts were cleared, the water drained better, but still was not flowing in its original stream bed.

In the photograph above, John has finally reached the gravel of the stream bed. There are huge rocks there. When the brook is restored, there will most likely be a nice pool here. The water is running clear.

Above, you see the brook as it comes out from underground. There are blackberry and raspberry canes growing over the brook.

Above: another brook. Up in the woods, this brook flows over and under glacial erratic boulders that animals use for shelter. The pools and the gurgling water have been one of the things I love about this land. Buddy and I have gone up for years to enjoy the water. But down below near the house, the willows and alders have buried the brook. John has been clearing it away so that the water can flow the way it was meant to flow.

Below: behind the backhoe you can see a mass of brown roots growing over the brook. Willows grow roots like this. They cover the brook, submerging it. But the roots are always dangling in water. This is a very effective survival technique for the willows but not for the brook.

And finally, below, you can see that the water can now flow more freely. The volume of water increased greatly after the willows were cleared. It makes one wonder where the water was going underground.

Obviously, there is a lot more work to be done. But it has begun and the changes in the land are tremendous.
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January Thaw In The Woods

I have three brooks on my property behind the house and up the hills in the woods. I had to overexpose this photo in order for you to see the clear cold water in this brook. You can hear the beautiful melody of rushing water everywhere. I was in snow up to my waist (in my school clothes: I couldn't wait to change and get out there) and came into the house soaking wet. I could not get to the glacial boulders or caves to show you the brook there as it tumbles downhill over glacial erratics. But everywhere there were snowshoe hare, rabbit and red squirrel tracks. No deer or moose trails, which was a disappointment. This will be the last time I will be able to go out there until the spring (unless I buy snowshoes). The snow will only get deeper. See more at my photo blog. And please click on this photo to view it full size. This is part of the area where Buddy and I played last spring. Amy had tossed Buddy and Charlie outside today and Buddy tried to follow me up the hill. I saw, by his tracks, that he was stepping in my tracks. Kitties don't like snow that is too deep, so he turned around halfway to the base of the hill and waited for me in the garage.

Technorati Tags: January thaw
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