Hand Pump
I found this in the milkhouse of a former little farm we owned, and I just couldn't leave it behind. It was not hooked up to anything, it was just standing in a corner behind some old boards. I would love to get it working. Does anyone have a working hand pump? How difficult is it to get this thing operational. I know I can call the local well company and they would gladly drill a new well for several thousand dollars, but is there an easier (cheaper) way?
Log Jack
I found this simple, yet useful tool out in the meadow here at our farm. It was near a pile of wood someone had cut many years ago. Maybe it started raining, or the woodsman (woman) was called in for lunch and got distracted. Who knows, but I feel fortunate to have found it and use it whenever I cut logs with my chainsaw. It would make a great gift for that special woodcutter!
The Cutter
This old wind vane is an action figure. When the wind blows, he saws the log. It needs a little TLC, but it still works! I found this in an old corn crib underneath a fence at the same previous farm. The stick he is attached to is a hand-made handle from one of Ruth's father's rakes. I have the rake part hanging in the tool shed. Gwen could make these. (She probably already has!)
What's he looking at?
Wheelbarrow
This old wheelbarrow was next to the green barn underneath a tangle of blackberries, (it also had three old, metal wagon rims lying around it). Ruth has put it to good use with flowers.
Look at the way the wheelbarrow was assembled. It makes me think it was homemade. I think the tire needs some air or something.
Watering Trough
This was in the basement of the green barn. I used it as a brooder for the quail this spring and it did a great job. I would like to find a use for it. Anyone have any ideas? The bottom is not in great shape and has a large rusted hole in it. It is 2' x 4' and about 17" deep.
I have other found stuff: old doors, windows, wooden sled, etc.
What have you found that you treasure?
34 comments:
I love old farm stuff!!!
The house we're renting has TWO (!!!) hand pumps. One works and one doesn't. We were using water from the wells to water the garden, but then we got lazy and started using the hose.
We had an old hog watering trough like the one you have and we used to collect turtles and frogs in it during the summer. The only thing I could think of to do with yours is to fill it with dirt and put flowers in it... but that's my solution to everything!
Great post! Now all you need is an old horse-drawn wagon to put out!
Hey Don!
That old trough looks perfect for holding kindling.
We found some old heavy iron discs that I used to make a funky hanging light that's on our balcony.
How are the quail? Are they still content to be held?
Cool stuff Don! I remember my uncle's pump up north at the cottage. That was the coldest, best tasting water! Of couse there was the outhouse I wasn't fond of!
I really love the whirligig. I bet it's worth some money. Great folk art piece!
Okay, this was cool. I have a suggestion for the water trough...
fill it with zebras...
Loved the post and looking at your found objects. I'll have to photograph a few of mine that come to mind in the next few days....
one in particular (okay I never partook)..but I was on a hike, and I found this huge ...what would I call it....like a water pipe type of thing, long snake looking pipe hose with a python head ...nah..you gotta see it, to know what I'm talking about...but somebody must have ditched it out where I was hiking one day...reminiscent of the 60's drug phase (hashish) days...I'm assuming..
nice post Don...now, I'm wondering if you can spill the goods on Ruth's most embarrasing moments, because she was a tad bit worried...hahaha.
Oh, Sandy is sneaky. If you tell her about the Canned Heat incident I'll have to kill you both.
I'm not normally this murderous.
Sandy, are you talking real zebras? Or is there a plant by that name?
Some of my favourite things.... Tools that had a prominent function and now no longer thought about... and it wasn't that long ago that we used all of these simple tools... never needed electricity for them either.. All my grandmothers and aunts used to have them on their farms and even at their kitchen sinks.. I miss those days.. I think I was born 100 years too late!!
Glad you featured them Don... but I have never made a Whirl-a-gig, to my great sadness. we did have plans to do one before we found this land but that is still on the drawing board!
Your homeplace looks so charming. You guys must love it!
Ruth, real zebras of course!!!
And ...canned heat incident...I really wanna hear that one...
Hi, I just happen to stumble upon your blog. I love old water pumps. We have a cabin in the mountains, and I found one there and I painted it bright red (I have a pic of it posted on my blog about my cabin in the mountains) Its not hooked up, I just have it sitting there like it was. I am looking for a old watering bucket to put below it. I can see that watering trough with flowers in it. I have a old metal clothes washing tub and wringer filled with flowers and it looks really nice! I enjoyed looking at all your chicken pictures. I want chickens so bad, but I can't seem to talk my dear husband into agreeing with me!
Ann
It's pretty funny, we're actually going through my great-great-grandmother's old house, and I've found some really cool stuff.
There's a oval-shaped tin that has two chicks on either side of an eggshell. Only a chicken-person would notice this, but they both have feathered feet!
I've found some other cool stuff, too. Check out my Coop Scoop blog to see some; I'll try to post pictures.
Don, I love your found things too cool. Not much to find here in town and people look at me strange when I rifel though the mall's garbage bins, mind you I have found,...... I... mean... there's a guy I know found some cool movie posters in one of those bins,lol.
Oh - I have THE BEST THING to show you!
I think it will have to make an appearance on Freefalling in the very near future.
I like your log jack - that is a very excellent and sensible tool.
I wish I had a need for one!
If garage-sale items were included, I could do a long photo gallery on Carol's many finds - so many she stacks extra items on the pool table!
The Bavarian chalet we live in was built by a master carpenter in 1974, but the previous owner didn't leave much besides stories. He was a former Air Force bomber pilot and attache for the shah of Iran, so the downstairs family room had a gargantuan walnut armoir with a huge picture of the shah. He and his wife both died since we bought the house, and I wonder what ever happened to the shah and his walnut display.
Don,here in NorthWest Florida where I live,one can rent a hand bailer to dig one's own well.
Of course there are no such things as rocks or boulders right here,and the water table is just a few feet down.(15-30 ft.)
but if you have water close you may be able to use this technique.
Good Luck,and I would love to have a pump like yours,I think you should be able to recondition it easily enough.Probably just new bushings.
Hi Don,
we don't have anythng really that we've found at the new place - or anywhere else lol!
I managed to take out the old cast iron fireplace that was there - plus of course, we have that 1930s chicken coop that I'm going to restore.
Oh and an old horse shoe I found whilst rotorvating the veggy plot.
:D
Oh, I love the wheelbarrow, Don! AND the hand pump...
Hubby has his grandfather's hay rake (which is my blog header) and a lot of other horse drawn equipment that is so neat. I hope to have some pictures of one of them soon- we are going to pull the old mowing machine out of his grandfather's barn before they tear it down. (It's about to fall in... so sad....)
Jen: I think the value of a hand pump varies. I can imagine that using it to water a garden, etc., would get tedious.
I thought of flowers for the trough, but am trying to expand my creativity as I already put flowers into the wheelbarrow!
A wagon would be very cool...
Sharon: Kindling is an interesting thought. I will kick that one around.
The iron discs sound interesting. What were they originally for?
The quail are still laying every day and they don't mind being held. They sometimes gett spazzy and start flying out of their pen, but they don't go far.
anet: My G'pa had a hand pump up north too, at Houghton Lake and that water was ice cold. Our well water at the farm is ice cold too. The whirlygig is a nice old piece. Our German friend said they saw one in Europe that was exactly like ours!
Sandy: Zebras!? I wonder how many could fit in there? I am thinking they would not be very happy in there and would be out harassing the neighborhood in no time.
What did I miss with Ruth and embarassing moments?
Ruth: I think I'll let you post something about the Canned Heat incident. ;)
Gwen: I too am drawn to those old tools. I'm sure my grandparents and great-grandparents just used them without thinking about them but would love the many conveniences of today's life. My grandma was a quilter and made hundreds of quilts and once said that she would not have hand-stitched any of them if she had one of these modern sewing machines.
We love our country place and keep chipping away at it. Thanks for the comment!
Sandy: See a future Ruth post for Canned Heat story.
Ann: Your mountain cabin sounds wonderful. I like taking old found things and preserving them. Chickens are not that difficult to keep! You only need a secure place to spend the night, and three or four hens to lay enough eggs for you and to generate enough heat to keep each other cozy in the winter!
Thanks for stopping by!
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Chickengirl: That would be fun to look through my great-grandma's house. She died long before I was born...
I'm glad you are getting to see this and maybe even keep some nice heirlooms! THe chicken tin sounds awesome.
Bob: Rifling through the mall dumpsters actually would be fun for me, as long as it isn't the one the food court dumps their stuff into! Your friend must like the cool posters, where did she hang them? ;)
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Freefalling: I am looking forward to seeing what you post. Which blog will you use?
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Loring: I think garage sale items can count. I have an old kitchen chair that has 10 different colors of paint in varying stages of peeling and I paid $1.00 for it. I think that qualifies. That Shah of Iran shrine sounds intriguing. Where did that go? It is interesting to think about what different people value and display and others would toss.
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Carl: Thanks for the idea of the hand bailer, I hadn't heard of the term before. It did remind me of a Lowe's ad I saw this summer for a shallow well digging system and I think it is exactly what you are referring to. We have a little pond on our property. so that makes me think the water table is pretty high. I just may look into that! Thank you...
stiggy: the cast iron fireplace sound nice. Is it heavy? Are you going to install it in your renovation? Rotorvating is an interesting term, we say rotor tilling here.
Are you going to hang the horseshoe on the old coop?
Paula: You might want to do a thorough walk-through in that old barn. You never know what you will find hanging here and there and sitting on ledges, etc.
That old hay rake has lots of stories to tell.
I just LOVE this, Don...finding out about all the things you have found and where you found them. Chris is a whirligig, of course. And that tub would make another great place for Ruth's flowers, don't you think?
Love all the old farm stuff. The trough I'd use for flowers or a bed of herbs?? I wish this place would have had some old goodies to go along with it. Have a nice weekend, Kim
ginnie: I have heard several suggestions for flowers, maybe you can figure something out when you get here!
Kim: Thanks for your ideas. We have had a glorious weekend so far! Your zuchinni relish looks really good. I think I'll come for a visit!
Bobbing for apples on Farm Day?
Hi Rachel: Bobbing for apples would be a lot of fun to watch! Are you still planning to come?
Funny thing they, some got hung in my den,lol
You could probably hand dig a well, but it generally isn't recommended as you can't make it deep enough to get below the unsafe surface water. Maybe you could just keep your treasure safe until you have a couple thousand dollars laying around that you absolutely have to get rid of :)
Robinson, I have friends in Samos who hand dug a well, could only get to 25 feet, and now it is dry. I wonder if it was ever safe.
Bob: and I'll bet those posters look great! Any of them astronomically oriented?
robinson: if I had the hand pump hooked up to water, I would definitely want it to be drinkable. So, with that said, I wait. Thanks for the info.
ruth: I'll bet most of the world drinks water we wouldn't give to our cat!
That is so true, Don! It makes me crazy when I hear about people giving their dogs bottled water. My dogs drink out of the kitchen faucet, just like the rest of us.
Something else occurred to me about those hand pumps. I don't think that they are strong enough to pump water up from a really deep well, like one you would have for your house. Probably a quick call to a well digger would answer everything.
oops... I'm also "laura."
laura/robinson: I agree with you on the water thing. Some people treat their animals better than they do their own children!
I may try "drilling" a shallow well for watering purposes only. Lowe's has a system they sell that uses "sledge hammer technology." I better be careful tho, or I'll be back to the shoulder doc.
Hey, i saw all the chicken that you have, and I have a question... I live in the city and am wanting to get a chicken or maybe two. Do you have any suggestions? I would love one that is kinda interesting looking and friendly... I would really appreciate your help. Can you post you comment on my blog as that I will probably not go back and view the comments on this particular post! Thanks
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