Well after a full week of severe ice and snow guess what happened....did we dry out? Oh no, we didn't dry out....we started getting hit with rain. And when I say rain, I am talking full on thunderstorms with lightning strikes! We are sitting here with several houses that need to be moved, however, heavy loads and mud just doesn't go together very well....HI...HI... So this week's forecast is rain, rain, rain and more rain...... Grandma always said there will be a silver lining no matter what, sometimes you just have to look a little bit harder for it..... So with that being said, I choose to be grateful I am alive and get up every morning.
Remember Ricky? The young man that won the "go to supper with Donna auction"? I decided to go ahead and send him his birthday present, even though it was early. Well he received it.......
Such a sweet young man......Hoping to introduce him to Amateur Radio soon......
Recently on the radio, I had people asking me what is a "capstan"? Sometimes explaining things is not as good as a picture. So, I guess a picture is worth a 1,000 words..... Back many, many years ago, my Daddy, H. D. Snow, started The House Moving Museum.....as him and Mother and us kids went on trips, traveling across the United States and Canada, he would always stop and meet fellow house movers. I'm about to tell my age, so pay attention...... Back when he did all this traveling was usually when he would take us kids on a summer vacation. We always had to go in a home made camper, because that is all we could afford. We didn't care, we were getting to go and that was all that mattered to us. This time period was before cell phones or internet. We would come into a town, stop at a "phone booth" and Daddy would look up "House Mover" and sometimes it was called "Building Mover" in the Yellow Pages.....Yep, I'm that old......as Pastor Leo puts it, older than dirt....HI...HI....
Daddy quickly realized a lot of people in the house moving business (and it is hard, hard manual labor) was so proud of their heritage....just like he was. So this gave Daddy the idea to help preserve our history, those in the house moving field. With that he created the worlds only House Moving Museum, located in Fort Worth, Texas.....Inside this museum is many house moving artifacts, that have been donated down through the years.....one of them is a Capstan......
This picture was taken around 1924 - 1927. You can see there is two horses working two Capstans, moving a two story building. A horse is harnessed up, much like being harnessed to a buggy, and is driven around and around. The Capstan, through a series of pulleys and rope, can move massive amounts of weight as you can see in the photo.
This is a close up of a Capstan
About three years ago, we hosted a House Movers Convention in Fort Worth, TX out at our house moving yard. We took this Capstan out of the museum, got a friend to bring over a buggy horse and moved a 24' x 64' building. And just like in the picture from so many years ago, we made it happen. Just to show you how easy a Capstan can make a move, let me show you some "People Power"......
Meet Tucker......Best buggy horse around.....by the way, he is blind. Was a rescue horse......
Big people power....and yes we moved the building. This was supposed to be "YL" power, but you see the man on the end of the pole with the Cowboy hat on? That is Fabio, he is a fan from the TV show that flew in from France with friends to come meet us and ended up attending the House Movers Convention!
Then you have little people power! And yes, the house still moved forward! Daddy Snow in charge!
Another convention we used the Capstan demonstration at....horse is my rope horse, Sonny.... This is a better picture of seeing the system moving the building.
To begin this next part of my post, I first need to give a disclaimer.......Yes, I have been talking about "old" things....so "old" they belong in a museum. With that being said, I wanted to share a family birthday party. My Aunt JuJu (she got that name because as a child I could not say "Aunt Judy".......celebrated her 80th birthday. So no, I am not saying she is so old that she belongs in a museum....it's a coincidence I promise. And on the off change she reads this QRZ page.....Aunt JuJu, I love you.....HI....HI
Hope I look this good and active at 80!
She's had a lot to do with getting me interested in horses.....her Daddy loved horses, her brother (my Daddy) calf roped, her event of choice was Barrel Racing and Cutting.....
I remember this horse, his name was "Mixer"....made her a lot of money years ago.....
My Aunt JuJu posting the colors of this great Nation at a Rodeo!!!!
Let's fast forward to today please. Yesterday we all gathered up at the arena to take our team pictures. This group of kids have stolen my heart, so proud of them... Love each and everyone of them. This is the group of kids I have gotten into Amateur Radio, not only them but their parents as well.....
The NTRF (North Texas Rodeo Foundation) Rodeo Team
Yep, this was actually the first picture.....Everyone giving Benjamin a hard time. These kids love each other so much.....friends for life......
Amateur Radio will allow them to stay in contact with each other for the rest of their lives....no matter where they live.....
The NTRF Rodeo Team and Adult Sponsors.......the adults have secured their Techinician License and working on their General!!!!!
Trivial trivia.....Did you know that Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar? HI...HI...
In the week ahead
Washington on the Brazos, March 2, 1836, Texas declares Independence.....
God Bless Texas!
The Defenders of the Alamo never received word that Texas had declared its independence as they all perished on March 6, 1836 at the hands of Santa Anna.....
God rest their souls......
Good night and God bless......