With all the new house excitement, I never mentioned that we traded in our lovely 1946 Ford tractor for this new 1959 Massey Ferguson model. Adorable and smooth-running as the Ford was, its low gear was much too fast for our steep hillsides. It was great on level ground, but we built a house on the only patch of level ground we had. The new tractor also has a sweet sound, and it can go really, really slow.
After moaning yesterday that I had nothing to show for all my sewing, I decided it was time for some improvements around here. The clothesline, in particular needs adjustment. You never know what you'll need a tractor for. And here are three proof-of-concept knit tops. The green shirt on the left is made of wicking sports knit using Kwik-Sew 2900. The men's tee-shirt in the center is "Kwik-Sew 2334: Men's Boxers, Briefs, Tank Top and T-shirt," and the fuschia V-neck sweatshirt is from the Kwik-Sew Sweatshirts Unlimited book. These were test-pattern garments that turned out to be wearable.
When I lived in Our Nation's Capitol, I heard a lovely Irish air called "Easter Snow," sung with English lyrics. Today, we have Easter snow on Droop Mountain, which motivated me to look up the tune. I discovered this entry in The Fiddler's Companion: A Descriptive Index of North American and British Isles Music for the Folk Violin and Other Instruments. by Andrew Kuntz.
EASTER SNOW. Irish, Air (3/4 time). G Major. Standard. AAB. Caoimhin Mac Aoidh explains the title is an English version of the Gaelic name Diseart Nuadhain, a placename in north Roscommon which can today be found in the form of Estersnow, a Boyle rural district. Mac Aoidh states that Petrie appears to have literally translated the English back into Irish as "Sneachia Casga" as an alternate title. The same air is to be found in Brendan Rogers manuscript collection (in the Irish Traditional Music Archive) noted from the performances of attendees at the Feis Ceoil competitions held in Belfast in 1898 and 1900. The musical family the Dohertys of Donegal had a different air by the same title, and the great Donegal piper, Tarlach Mac Suibhne, played a different air than the Dohertys. Mac Suibhne's playing of "Easter Snow" was recorded by the Dublin Evening Telegraph in 1897, when he was one of seven pipers at the first Feis, held in that city (the title in the newspaper was "Sneachta na Casga"). Finally, regarding this tune, Mac Aoidh notes that fiddler John Doherty personified "Easter Snow" as a woman, Ester Snow, whom he maintained was over six feet tall, very beautiful, and had skin as white as snow (leading to her name). Source for notated version: the Irish collector P.W. Joyce, 1864. Ó Canainn (Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland), 1995; No. 105, pg. 89. Stanford/Petrie (Complete Collection), 1905, vol. III, No. 1123.
The Balladeers website provides these English lyrics, which may or may not go to the air described above. They are, however, related to the lyrics I heard sung a few years ago.
EASTER SNOW (Christy Moore) Chorus: Oh the Easter snow It has fade away It was so rare and so beautiful Now it's melted back into the clay Those days will be remembered Beyond out in the Naul Listening to the master's notes As gently they did fall Oh . . . the music As Seamus he did play But the thaw crept over the mantle white And turned it back to clay Chorus: Oh the Easter snow It has fade away It was so rare and so beautiful Now it's melted back into the clay He gazed at the embers in reflection, He called up lost verses again, He smiled with a roguish recollection, While his fingers gripped the glass to stem the pain When knocked on his door was always open With a welcome he'd bid the time of day Though we came when the last flakes were melted While it lay upon the ground we stayed away Chorus: Oh the Easter snow It has fade away It was so rare and so beautiful Now it's melted back into the clay
A discography is provided for Irish Traditional Music Tune Index Tune ID# 3444 (Easter Snow) in Irish Traditional Music Tune Index. Alan Ng's Tunography. Some of the recordings are still "in print."
Is this some sort of joke? We set out to improve our combination grill-smoker with a cold-smoke chamber, using an old propane canister (painted green, on the left) as a fire chamber. It works really well--a few cherry or hickory twigs burning in the little green chamber on the ground quickly give off enough smoke to flavor the meat delicately. Then we remove the dryer vent, and grill as usual. It's a marinade of smoke before cooking, much tastier than store bought mesquite chips burning on the grill.
As I was preparing to post the photo, I realized that this could also be documentation of our redneck credentials. In addition to our chainsaw and our 1946 Ford tractor (with chains), you can see our satellite dish on the left, our 1977 El Camino on the right, and the Cabelas insignia on the grill/smoker in the middle.
November seems to have been my month to write about classic vehicles. First Our New 1946 Ford Tractor, then the Hudson Super Wasp, and now this 1966 Jeep Gladiator, which came to visit us for Deer Season (the official holiday of West Virginia). This is in original condition, and had only 28,000 miles on it when our friend bought it from a little old lady who only took it to her hunting camp on Sundays. Isn't that color something?
Our sweet little tractor is not the only vintage vehicle we have acquired recently. Near the old road that runs through our new property, there are the remains of a Hudson Super Wasp. It must have been a deep gleaming red when it rolled off the assembly line. We can only imagine the sad series of events that left it abandoned by a road that was itself abandoned years ago.
If you'd like to see a Hudson Super Wasp in good condition, check out these links.
We recently got a tractor. I can't explain, but most Iowa farm girls my age love tractors. I learned to drive on a tractor (in elementary school), and my first tasks involved backing wagons full of oats into grain elevators. Driving forward came much later, and automobiles hold little charm for me. Nonetheless, this is the first tractor I've ever bought. It's a 1946 Ford N2, with a four-cylinder engine that sounds just like a Model A Ford (at least as well as I can remember--in my childhood, there were still a few in use). Our tractor has an electric starter, but you can also start it with a crank.
I can't contain myself. Isn't it just the cutest little thing? OK. That's out of my system. If you are interested in knowing more about these old Ford tractors (and there are many of them still in use in this part of the country), you can check out these links.
