Guardians of The Lambsfoot!

[birdsbeaks]

I hear that Cuban coffee is pretty powerful stuff!

Barrett, if you ever visit Miami, make no mistake - calling it rocket fuel is only barely hyperbole. Drink a little too much and feel all kinds of bad. The whole city runs on it. 24 hours a day, "cafecito" is being served out of walk-up windows along most thoroughfares - major or otherwise. A cafecito (an individual portion of the larger "Colada" - meant for sharing with groups) is a shockingly sugary shot of extremely potent over-toasted espresso. They are to be sipped rather than slammed - a mistake that, for the uninitiated, could have immediate consequences.

I live in Northern California, some of the most productive agricultural land on the planet, and I don't know anybody who is successful at casually growing avocados.

I live in South Florida on the Miami Rock Ridge, a geological formation that was once an ancient reef and which is composed primarily of calcium carbonate. Not very rich in nutrients.

Even still, I know many people with avocado trees and they each casually harvest over 100 pounds of avocados a season. They aren't the Hass variety - they're green, a bit watery, American football sized, and regularly exceed 8 pounds each in weight!

I'd say my dad's large tree produces about 200 lbs of avocados a season. Down here, during avocado season, you can't give them away. Same with Mangos. Everybody has way more of both than any sane person would ever want.

In both cases, I think they really like the extreme heat and humidity.

 

[Tyson A Wright]

Barrett, if you ever visit Miami, make no mistake - calling it rocket fuel is only barely hyperbole. Drink a little too much and feel all kinds of bad. The whole city runs on it. 24 hours a day, "cafecito" is being served out of walk-up windows along most thoroughfares - major or otherwise. A cafecito (an individual portion of the larger "Colada" - meant for sharing with groups) is a shockingly sugary shot of extremely potent over-toasted espresso. They are to be sipped rather than slammed - a mistake that, for the uninitiated, could have immediate consequences.



I live in South Florida on the Miami Rock Ridge, a geological formation that was once an ancient reef and which is composed primarily of calcium carbonate. Not very rich in nutrients.

Even still, I know many people with avocado trees and they each casually harvest over 100 pounds of avocados a season. They aren't the Hass variety - they're green, a bit watery, American football sized, and regularly exceed 8 pounds each in weight!

I'd say my dad's large tree produces about 200 lbs of avocados a season. Down here, during avocado season, you can't give them away. Same with Mangos. Everybody has way more of both than any sane person would ever want.

In both cases, I think they really like the extreme heat and humidity.

We have the extreme heat (plenty of 100°+ days, and at least a few 110°+ every year) but I'm happy to report we don't have your humidity.

That's a beautiful Albers lamb, by the way. Eric just doesn't make any ugly knives.

 

[5K Qs]

Good morning Guardian's

AC lamb today


View attachment 2661452...

Sumptuous stag on your AC, Steve!

...

By the time I arrived (4 minutes); I was sweaty, uninspired, and just wanted to go back home but I had three (3!) lambs in my pockets and a phone with a camera built in. "Aw hell" I thought, along with "Might as well."

I found the shadow Rodgers and stag A. Wright (I'm guessing - the only mark being "SHEFFIELD" over "ENGLAND" on the mark side tang) Senator (whoever said it was a stupid name is right in my book...) for a song. A short and not very good one even. Crowning the stack is the Taylor's Eyewitness Jack sent which accompanies me most places lately.

The Rodgers is poorly centered but lightweight and functional. Even if these were produced to cut costs, I feel like they stumbled onto something practical and maybe even elegant in a way. I'm incredibly interested in what it looks like under the covers but not enough to go prying around inside.

The Senator (groan) is much nicer than I expected. Perfect pull, usable and pocketable size, good heft - the only strikes against it are one of the most "meh" stag pile sides I've ever seen and the mirror-polished blade - I am opposed to mirror polishes, especially on what I consider to be "working" patterns. Not shown is some very fancy work on the spring and liners - a first for me. I thought the pile side was so "ick" that I decided to photograph it.

...

Congrats on your pair of new lambs, and thanks for sharing your reactions to them!
What is the senator sitting on in that last photo? Ball of string, worm community, coverless golf ball, coconut cookie???

Switching over to the HHB for this evening. Happy trails

View attachment 2661790

Splendid stag HHB! You must feel blessed, David, to have an HHB of each flavor!

A project for GT I think

Um, I'm kind of busy right now, and my last attempt at an estimation project (Bob's coffee bean guessing game) went horribly wrong!

Unforgettable covers, Dwight!

...

It's nice to see more of you here Gary There were no spares when it came to that Barlow, and Wright's took longer than they should have to replace it (rather typically, I'm afraid). I still reckon your original is an easy fix though, and I think it had a better edge than the one Wright's made subsequently

Thanks pal, I didn't think I'd ever be able to enjoy another!

Landshark is an odd one, I'm still not entirely convinced by the modern ones









picture uploader

I thought I had to go with a Candle-end for a traditional Barlow, and the ergonomics were better than I expected

Thanks for the replies, Jack.
The replacement HHB you sent me doesn't have an attractive edge, but it has always cut very well, and I can hone it with no difficulty.
Thanks for the interesting comparison photos of the Landshark's blade with a "standard" lambsfoot blade (although the "noses" of lambsfoot blades exhibit a lot of variability).

Nice one Gary !

Thanks, Steve.

It's pouring. The cat got fed. I toted two lambs for the duty. The Stagnator is really growing on me. Harvey's Taylor has no room to grow - she's already at the top.

That wood is quite an attention-grabber!

Good afternoon Guardians !
...

Vulcan Lamb today


View attachment 2662405

Live Long and Prosper, Steve!

Bobstag

...

I always admire the stag on your senator, Mitch!
Did you dye it, or did it come to you with that reddish color?

Cold and blustery after another frost we do not need.
View attachment 2662725

I like the wood covers on your lamb, Jack!
What is it sitting on? Rock, loaf of bread, ant hill, some kind of aged wood???

...

I had the pleasure of meeting up with @herder and @danno50 (who was on his way back north from Wisconsin) for lunch today. We had some good pizza and got to sit and talk knives for an hour or two, which is always great. All three of us had a Lambsfoot on us, and I did take one pic, but somehow it came out blurry, which is frustrating. Y’all will just have to trust me that the pizza and the knives both looked great! I had my Ringed Gidgee Albers in my pocket for the first time today.

Superb knife, Barrett!


- GT

 

[5K Qs]

Great pics Gary Those knives turned out to be a lot of trouble, but worth it in the end

Thanks, Jack. I don't have many knives with ebony handles, but the 2018 Guardians lambsfoot is an excellent example!

Cooler days are finding their way here.
No phone or camera, but wandered around Washington Crossing Park. I enjoy seeing the homes and atmosphere of the times.
View attachment 2662857

Bob, that ray of sun on your lambsfoot is like the stag being touched by an angel!

Good morning Guardians. Not posting much lately, just checking in and thought I’d throw in a photo of CB. Cool GAW Barrett @btb01!
I doubt acorns count as a condiment so I’ll have to jump in with a different photo a bit later

Sweet stag HHB, Todd! Great to see you here!

I would like to enter for Paul@Jakeywax31.
I'm out of Henderson's
Thanks Barrett.
View attachment 2663024

Classy lamb and classy entry, Bob!

Barrett gave me my first bottle of Secret Aardvark Habenero Sauce, and it's still my favourite hot sauce Just the thing on a sausage sammich

Is that still a Sunday tradition for you, Jack?

WOW, btb01 - I relish the opportunity to ketchup on this challenge after it's had some thyme to marinate in my mind! If I mayo, I'll submit a pic once I've mustard up something suitable. Humbling generosity and such a unique opportunity - thanks again, Barrett! You brought the hot sauce, my friend! WOW!

Admirable application of vocabulary!

@btb01 im in thanks for the awesome giveaway! I have hundreds of hot sauces but have been enjoying these condiments lately.View attachment 2663425

Really like the wood on your lambsfoot!

Goodnight gents...

Literally breathtaking!!

Nice stag

Thanks, David.

Couldn’t decide which I liked more so put them both in. My entry for the giveaway, thanks Barrett @btb01

Love the jigging on both of those knives Eric has outdone himself again.

View attachment 2663510

View attachment 2663511

I like these photos with the toy sheep and fence rails and fox!
I grew up on a dairy farm, and my brothers and I had numerous "farm sets" all mixed together in a bucket. We loved setting up various scenarios on a rainy day. (We also had a bunch of army guys, cowboys, and Indians, and the stories would sometimes get quite sophisticated.)

Nice variety there, GT. You’re in!

"Variety (of spices/condiments) is the spice of life." I think I've ascended to a kind of meta-level!

With the season still on the decline and this weeks much needed raining already vanishing I’ve had a couple of growers pull the pin on todays paddock inspections.
Called a mate and after work we’re heading out to the bush for a quick hunt. Maybe a fox, hopefully a deer.

GL-24 in the pocket today.

View attachment 2663573

Basil looks like he's ready to leave an hour ago!

Nice photo Gary

...

Great timing! Cool pic of your AC Gary
....

Thanks for your encouragement, Jack.
I didn't realize it when I posted it, but that photo showing my AC looks like it's a composition in which I had a beer photo (with maybe a different knife at the bottom of the shot) onto which I dropped a "backgroundless" version of my AC.

- GT

 

[birdsbeaks]

What is the senator sitting on in that last photo? Ball of string, worm community, coverless golf ball, coconut cookie???

Ah - that... thing! I have no earthly idea!!

I never saw it in the house until my dad's GF moved in, so I've got a pretty strong suspicion it's hers. From a biological taxonomy perspective, it would certainly be found in the Plantae kingdom. It looks to me like like a clump of new growth, that shriveled into a ball-like shape when it dried. The "scales," for lack of a more accurate term, remind me of structures I've seen on plants in the conifer class.

Next time I see her, I'll try to get a better answer!

 

[birdsbeaks]

That's a beautiful Albers lamb, by the way. Eric just doesn't make any ugly knives.

Thank you for saying so, Tyson. Ain't it the truth?

Admirable application of vocabulary!

Thank you, my friend. I'll be here all week...

 

[Rufus1949]

Bob, that ray of sun on your lambsfoot is like the stag being touched by an angel!

Classy lamb and classy entry, Bob!
- GT

Thanks Gary....angel, hmmm.

Just honoring the friendship of the porch.

Be well.

 

[sf fanatic]

Well this beats ketchup, hands down!

View attachment 2667019

You gentlemen haven’t lived until you’ve had my grandma’s catsup first made over 100 years ago in the hills of West Virginia! First pic is from about two weeks ago when I was at my brothers house and we were bottling a fresh batch. The second is one of the bottles I brought home .

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

I like the wood covers on your lamb, Jack!
What is it sitting on? Rock, loaf of bread, ant hill, some kind of aged wood???

Thanks mate, it’s a rock. Some of the areas I work are very rocky, not your typical cropping country.

 

[echoscout]

Splendid stag HHB! You must feel blessed, David, to have an HHB of each flavor!

Thanks Gary! Yes I do feel blessed to have both.

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Crisis averted, I carried my GL-24 yesterday and this morning after turning the house upside down couldn’t find it anywhere. I’d asked the kids if they’d touched it “no dad”.

Searched out side where Flynn and I kicked the footy yesterday, my car, everywhere.

As a last effort I offered the boys a reward if they could find it along with an amnesty for any wrongdoing. 30 seconds later they come back with it in hand “we hid it from you last night”

Han and I had a ham and egg sandwich for brekky. While the GL-24 was lost I picked up the Daniels.

Off to the zoo today with the kids.

 

[Fodderwing]

Haha, believe it or not, that giant bottle is at the regular grocery store here! That Stubb's sauce isn't all that hot but it does have a slight kick and is pretty tasty. I'll keep an eye out for Gates Extra Hot!

My wife grabbed 10 bottles of my favorite today. Most people are surprised at how hot this stuff is, but the flavor is probably the best, very low salt and doesn't have the vinegar flavor. Don't get me wrong, Tabasco has its place, but I generally prefer no vinegar.

Hope you don't mind I squeezed in a beverage too.... Will that count as a second entry?

Also went full nerd and had a couple of my WWI models in there too.... Been working on the one for far too long!



Have a great night, Guardians!

Great pic! I like those models.

Another pic pal.

Thanks mate.

As long as the rosellas don’t get them again I think it’ll be a good almond harvest.

Jack how old are those almond trees?

Good morning/evening lambsters, enjoy your weekend.
View attachment 2666627View attachment 2666628

Simply lovely.

Morning Guardians! Hope y'all are having a good day. Another hot one here. Have some clouds rolling through so it's bearable at the moment.

View attachment 2666850

A beautiful old piece David. Wonderful.

Barrett, if you ever visit Miami, make no mistake - calling it rocket fuel is only barely hyperbole. Drink a little too much and feel all kinds of bad. The whole city runs on it. 24 hours a day, "cafecito" is being served out of walk-up windows along most thoroughfares - major or otherwise. A cafecito (an individual portion of the larger "Colada" - meant for sharing with groups) is a shockingly sugary shot of extremely potent over-toasted espresso. They are to be sipped rather than slammed - a mistake that, for the uninitiated, could have immediate consequences.



I live in South Florida on the Miami Rock Ridge, a geological formation that was once an ancient reef and which is composed primarily of calcium carbonate. Not very rich in nutrients.

Even still, I know many people with avocado trees and they each casually harvest over 100 pounds of avocados a season. They aren't the Hass variety - they're green, a bit watery, American football sized, and regularly exceed 8 pounds each in weight!

I'd say my dad's large tree produces about 200 lbs of avocados a season. Down here, during avocado season, you can't give them away. Same with Mangos. Everybody has way more of both than any sane person would ever want.

In both cases, I think they really like the extreme heat and humidity.

Fantastic image!

Unforgettable covers, Dwight!

Literally breathtaking!!

Many thanks my friend!

 

[cudgee]

Crisis averted, I carried my GL-24 yesterday and this morning after turning the house upside down couldn’t find it anywhere. I’d asked the kids if they’d touched it “no dad”.

Searched out side where Flynn and I kicked the footy yesterday, my car, everywhere.

As a last effort I offered the boys a reward if they could find it along with an amnesty for any wrongdoing. 30 seconds later they come back with it in hand “we hid it from you last night”

Han and I had a ham and egg sandwich for brekky. While the GL-24 was lost I picked up the Daniels.

Off to the zoo today with the kids.

View attachment 2667166

Nice looking Sanga. Just out of curiosity, if you had been able to grow avocado's when would they be ripe for picking in your area. ?

 

[cudgee]

Crisis averted, I carried my GL-24 yesterday and this morning after turning the house upside down couldn’t find it anywhere.

How was the heart rate. ????

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

How was the heart rate. ????

Yeah no good at all!

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Nice looking Sanga. Just out of curiosity, if you had been able to grow avocado's when would they be ripe for picking in your area. ?

Well I never had them fruit but I’m pretty sure they’d be right to pick from Autumn. Avo’s are interesting in that I believe they won’t actually ripen on the tree but need to be picked and stored. They don’t stay on the tree indefinitely without rotting but you have a fair window.

I love figs, have about 12 or 13 varieties of them, along with your standard cherries, citrus, apples, plums, peaches and whatnot.
My pomegranate fruits in late autumn, they normally hold their leaves all year but in cold areas go dormant.
I’ve got a yellow cherry guava, which is about the only one that will handle life outside the tropics. That’s an autumn deal too typically.

I could just about live on figs and cherries, next to that I really love my jujube’s. They’re like a very small but sweet apple, without the juice, a slight honey flavour and a pit like a date.

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

Jack, games last about 2 1/2 hours now. They have instituted a time clock for pitchers to speed up game.

Beers range from $3 - $15

The last game I went to this year in Melbourne I think the alcohol ranged from about $12-18 it’s a joke.

I do believe we have one of the highest alcohol taxes in the world. We’re also one of the biggest drinking nations. Fortunately my doctor suggested cutting back for general health when I saw him this week. Maybe it’s a good time to do so.

 

[birdsbeaks]

Well I never had them fruit but I’m pretty sure they’d be right to pick from Autumn. Avo’s are interesting in that I believe they won’t actually ripen on the tree but need to be picked and stored. They don’t stay on the tree indefinitely without rotting but you have a fair window.

In my experience, not only will they not ripen on the tree but they'll keep growing larger for as long as they are attached! We try to harvest them before they either

a) Get eaten by squirrels.
b) Get so big they fall off on their own, smash on the ground, and get eaten by squirrels and opossums.
c) Get so big they fall off on their own, kill somebody walking underneath, and then get eaten by squirrels and opossums.

I'm aware that this sounds crazy - but the avocado season here extends from June to January with different species maturing at different times through that span. I know we've hit the peak when the majority of driveways have an elderly family member parked out by the road with big coolers full of them and signs that usually read "Aguacate (the correct Spanish spelling)," "Acovado," "Ovacado," "Aguacato," and even more inspired variations!

 

[cudgee]

along with your standard cherries,

I could just about live on

cherries,

Love 'em. My favourite fruit also.

apples, plums, peaches and whatnot.

When i was a kid growing up i was spoilt and didn't realise it. We also had apples, peaches, plums, apricots and passionfruit in our backyard. We hardly bought any fruit. I find it hard to eat fruit now, commercially grown is not a patch on what i was brought up on. When the peaches ripened there was a battle to get your fill, they were highly sought after by my siblings.

I really love my jujube’s. They’re like a very small but sweet apple, without the juice, a slight honey flavour

Never heard of them, but they sound interesting.

 

[Fodderwing]