What Do You Want For Christmas?

Redial Marquis de Montesquiou Armagnac to ≤ US$25/bottle.

Don't really want anything...the recent move in the market is a nice Christmas present for me....

Have you noticed the fake news internet crap that is predicting an 80% nosedive soon?

Bah Humbug....The Trend is your friend....

Sunshine and not too hot, still a job but nothing to do over the holidays. Time for the stuff that I do not get to do otherwise.

Decree Nisi.

Decree absolute would be far better.

Nisi would do, thanks.

That's me to a T.

I'd be happy with whirled peas.

I want to know what those white squares are at ground level on the left side of your barn. I have often wondered about them and they don't look like any barn door I have ever seen.

I know this isn't the response you were looking for but it is the only request that you are likely to give me.

Since you've been good this year, I'll explain them to you.

They are indeed barn doors that open in the middle and are hinged on either side. The borders and the X's are simply reinforcement added to the outside as decorative trim.

The original barn, built before the advent of the automobile, stopped about where the upside down U is on the left side so that the barn was originally symmetric in shape and the right door allowed access for the farmer to drive the cows inside to be fed and milked, and sheltered in the winter. Horses may have been housed there also.

With the coming of the automobile, additional room was needed, so they built the addition that is on the left for the car.

As you may have guessed, the second level was used to store hay for the winter. The door on the right side and one on the back allowed loading from outside the barn.

I bought the barn with the express intention of preserving it in its present (somewhat original) condition.

I can find no definitive written history on it and all I've written here was gleaned from the oldest locals when I bought it 10 years ago.

There is also an ice house on the property, supposedly built by the same man who built the barn.

And that, boys and girls, is about all I have been able to learn about the barn.

Ultimately, I will move the flag (added this July) to directly under the window near the top.

Merry Christmas.

Since we're on to barns, here's one I built back in the late '70s. Cut all the 6x6 upright poles and much of the lumber with a chainsaw lumber mill. Still standing although the little shed attachment has been removed. It was temporary when we acquired an extra horse one year.

We have a barn on the farm in Arkansas that looks a lot like that! Rustic.

I'd also like to have the health and energy back to build that barn by myself again!

Thanks for the info.

Part of what was confusing was the way the smaller image pixelated down to what looked like eight round items instead of eight white "X"s. I was trying to come up with something like fans to keep the critters cool but somehow that just didn't compute.

Build these doors for it and wow your neighbours. This is open-frame of course but you can panel it. Would be pretty cool barn doors actually. Something to wish for next Christmas. Maybe get tcmtech to weld them for you?

1 - 4ft rotary cutter

2 - 5ft belly mower

3 - set of turf tires for the tractor that can use those implements!

Merry Holidays!

Health for the whole family and fewer problems for my eldest daughter and her family.

Her eldest son had his tonsils removed last Friday at 5 years old.

His younger brother 11 months has been running a really bad cold for a week or so, building up his antibodies!

My daughter and SIL had a leak in a wall of their main bathroom, the companies sent by the insurance company to repair the damage could not find their own Dicks in the bath!!

The leak was discovered in July, the bathroom is finally finished last week, but with some stupid errors.

Its sad that my SIL, who wants to "control" everything, does not have a clue really, but a really nice guy.

His father can do tiling, was not asked, I can do water, walls, heating (all types), insulation and electrics, not asked.....

So 5 months with no main bathroom and two small children!!! Germans usually do a good job, but take awful lengths of time to achieve it!! I would have had it all finished in max 4 weeks, but its not my house....I have no say in the matter!

My wife wanted a new flatscreen TV for her hobbies room, she got it from me 2 months ago...She wanted a new bottle of a certain perfume, she got that from me last week....

Things I want, I buy for myself when I need them, I don't wait for christmas....I just like seeing everybody and having a drink or two!!

I'd love to find a kid in trade school that could use some tools, that would be great and able to pass on stuff for another tradesman. For the budding engineer, a bunch of reference books that can inspire him or her.

And a dumpster for stuff too worn out to give out.

Stuff I'd like: a decent truck and camper on it. There is a lot of world out there to visit.

Hmmmmm, so many decisions...

A new IWI Tavor SAR Bullpup rifle, chambered in 5.55 x 45 NATO; a new Heckler & Koch HK416, with same chambered round; and a pallet of 10,000 rounds of 5.56 x 45 NATO.

The 2nd Amendment guarantees my God given right to own firearms.

Fine, Santa Claus will need a completed ATF Form 4473 (5300.9 Part 1- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent to the attention of a duly licensed FFL Dealer at the North Pole, at least 120 days prior to shipment.

The right is NOT God given! God didn't write the constitution.

(Maybe next year)

Sorry to inform you that I don't need an BATFE form on any type to buy any semi-automatic rifle. All I need to do in NYS is go through the FBI background check, like what is required in the majority of the states.

BTW, I can buy parts for any semiautomatic rifle to build one, including a partially milled lower receiver, all off the radar, and no need to go through a FBI check. The BATFE doesn't classify a partially milled lower receiver as part of a semiautomatic rifle, therefore it isn't a firearm.

Give it up 'Oh clueless one...

If you have ever read the Federalist Papers, then you will know that the Framers of the Constitution were God fearing men and said that the 2nd Amendment was a God Given right, just like the rest of the Amendments. Placing the 2nd Amendment second after the 1st Amendment signifies how important it really is. The Framers knew that a civilian population must be armed to counter an Authoritarian government....the Colonies had just fought an Authoritarian government, the British Empire, that was hell bent on confiscation of the Colonist's firearms. What do you think the Battles of Lexington and Concord were all about? The Redcoats were trying mainly to capture the American Colonist's firearms and black power stored there.

The 2nd Amendment issue is non-negotiable, just like the remainder of the Amendments. Are you willing to forego your 1st Amendment Rights? Somehow, I don't think so.

Merry Christmas.

Do you have a list of 10,000 persons/animals/things you propose to shoot?

--Continue to be able to sit up and take nourishment.

--A COLA that represents the actual cost-of-living.

--A bunch of dollars to apply to home maintenance projects.