Horses And Stone

  Haven't written for a while since I've been stuck in something of a rut.  School was out for the boys twice last week due to snow and it kind of put a crimp in my work around the house.  Things are back to normal now and I'm moving forward on my projects (in between playing with *E*).
  The big thing that happened today is that I was confirmed for a horse driving/farming class in March.  I've wanted to do this for years and I finally have the time and opportunity.  Ultimately, I'd like to use work horses on our farmstead since they should dovetail nicely with our old tractors.  I'm looking into volunteering at Carriage Hill farm up in Dayton as well.  It recreates Ohio farm life from the 1880's and should give me even more opportunity to build time with work horses and old equipment.  I've been looking for a dapple gray Percheron and feel like I'm close to making the leap if the right deal comes along.  I bought a cart this fall in Maryland but have to get new main leaves in the spring packs fabricated.  The people I bought it from had two inch extensions welded in to raise the height.  Welding leaf springs isn't exactly the safest move and of course one broke when we were strapping it down to the back of my truck.



  I also received a set of old stone masonry tools today that I bought from Ebay.  I have a couple of others that I've collected over the years but this group included some stone drills, which is what really caught my eye.  I like the stone architecture that I saw during my visits to Europe and would like to try my hand at it, maybe on a small shed or fireplace.

I'm in the homestretch on the stationary motor cart.  It's coming out much better than I had hoped and I can't wait to see the whole thing come together!