Tools of the trade

Rusty tin snips found in the field

I have found yet another tool in the field, I was closing the gate from one pasture to the other when I looked down and there it was lying partially buried in the dirt, a completely rusted out and frozen into place forever set of tin snips.

It is becoming a habit of mine to find things out in the field, I'm not nearly as consistent in finding things of value as my blogging buddy Val over at Unbagging the Cats  is with her pennies from heaven, and I shudder to think of tools falling from the sky, I am very happy for Val's pennies to continue coming from heaven, I just pray no tools are thrown my way when I am out standing in my field.

You remember Steve the tape measure?

You all remember my last find,  I wrote about the little tape measure I found while mowing the field in Where is Steve, and reaching back a ways The Forgotten Tool even though this one was under the house and not in the field at all, it was on the same property so that counts...Right?

Daisy Mfg Company Red Ryder medallion

Just the other day I found a medallion with Red Ryder of the Daisy BB gun fame, and a little Indian boy on the front with the dates 1938 and 1988 lying in the dirt at the edge of the field when I was opening the gate from the blacktop to the side pasture, although it is not a tool I thought it was nice anyways.

What are the tools of your trade?

There is a tool for most anything that we do. Before I retired from the water company I had a lot of tools that I depended on. Probably the most used tool was my meter key, this tool was used to open the water meter boxes, this simple tool was custom made, it was simply a railroad spike shaped piece of metal (sometimes we used an actual railroad spike, I can hear the gasps from the railroad as I write this) that had been cut and filed down to make a handle, this was welded to a rod to attain the length that you wanted, then the key was welded to the other end, "Voila" a custom made meter key like no one elses, a one of a kind tool.

The handle was then wrapped in electrical tape, isn't it amazing the different things you can use electrical tape for? Duct tape this is a whole story in itself, but no duct tape was used here. I completely wrapped the handle with electrical tape for comfort in the days I was a meter reader, this kind of padded the handle and also made it easier to use repeatedly opening meter boxes all day long to record the readings.

My custom water meter key I kept when I retired

It also made it easy to hold onto when that rogue dog snuck up on me when I was bent over reading a meter, and forced me into playing Zorro with the attacking dog, no dogs were ever hurt but a lot of swashbuckling and Zees were swished through the air until either the dog or I decided to run, most times we either ran from each other in opposite directions or the dog became my friend and followed me for the rest of the day.

This was just one simple tool from my days at the water company, I could bore you with many more from my meter shop or the tools in back of my truck, but no matter which job I did at the water company this simple meter key was always one of the tools I needed the most.

No matter what you do there are tools to help you along, even things you use for healthcare, for me a glucometer is a tool that I use several times a day, it tests my blood sugar to help me adjust my insulin dose, and without this tool my insulin doses would be just a guess, and anyone who is Diabetic knows that this doesn't work, so with this said healthcare items and anything used in the house is an important tool, yes guys I'm afraid that broom and mop are not just items the ladies torture us into using, they are actually tools of the trade called housework.

Now for an update on a tool I wrote about when I asked Will Cubby Survive  last week,  I want you to know Cubby Survived, I took a suggestion from our good buddy Arkansas Patti over at The New Sixty and skipped hauling Cubby all the way down to the Cub Cadet Service Center.

I took Cubby to "the vague guy who may or may not fix mowers" and found out he definitely fixes mowers. Daniel is a nice young man who has opened his own shop within the last six months, and is only about four miles from us, he gave me a very reasonable estimate, ordered the parts and stuck to the price he quoted, he only had my tractor one day and it runs and works better than it has in a long time, needless to say Daniel is my go to lawnmower guy now.

Cubby sporting his blade ready to move mountains

As soon as I got the tractor home there were mountains to be moved courtesy of the horse, so Cubby grabbed his blade and we moved mountains, now instead of mountains we have a nicely scraped area for Flash to fill back in and some well needed fertilizer for a few areas that I pushed it to.

Cubby ready to get back to cutting the mustard

The next day the deck was installed and the field opposite of the homestead was mowed, I tell you what the minute I pulled that PTO switch I thought a jet engine had fired, it is so nice when the equipment works like it is supposed to.

So I suppose Cubby just may be a tool of the trade of me being retired, because it is up to he and I to keep this place in shape.

Doctors and nurses have stethoscopes, surgeons have scaples, artists have brushes, and painters do too ( just bigger and broader), carpenters have their hammers, and I better stop right there because I know that I am likely to miss a whole lot of trades and tools. So I will just ask.

Whats in your...toolbox?