Hello

[wellington03]

Just like to say hello to all, my name is Mick, 46 years old, a farm labourer, living and working in a very beautiful part of England.

Very fond of history, churches, houses, social, industrial etc anything old.

I'm a collector interested in all types of English cutlery, especially older pen and pocket knives.

I have browsed through many posts in the various forums of AAPK and have found all to be interesting and entertaining, hope I can contribute, in some small way, in the near future.

Mick

[Classic Case]

to the site.

[MrBlister]

Mick. . .. . . .
welcome to AAPK............from Texas

regards.. Blister

[philco]

Hello Mick. to AAPK.

Glad to have you join us here.

What sort of farming do you engage in?

Phil

[orvet]

Hi Mick,
to AAPK!
The friendliest knife site on the web.
I hope you enjoy it.

I live in Oregon.

Dale

[wellington03]

Hello Mick. to AAPK.

Glad to have you join us here.

What sort of farming do you engage in?

Phil

Thanks for the VERY warm welcome guys !

What sort of farming do I engage in ??, well, living as I do in a fairly high (1200ft) part of Derbys, hilly, limestone, small fields, great all round views, all my farming work is with livestock, spent 35 years working on various dairy farms, and I also have my own small holding, I have a small herd of about a 100 1/4BB X 3/4 LIM X spring calving cows, I 'try' to breed and rear the BEST, not easy though.

Thanks again Mick

[philco]

Got lots of hills and limestone here in Kentucky as well. I had a small herd of Charolais cattle up until two years ago.
What is the 1/4 BB? I assume the 3/4 Lim is Limousine.
Angus and Angus crosses are the dominant choice in my area.

Phil

[wellington03]

Got lots of hills and limestone here in Kentucky as well. I had a small herd of Charolais cattle up until two years ago.
What is the 1/4 BB? I assume the 3/4 Lim is Limousine.
Angus and Angus crosses are the dominant choice in my area.

Phil

Hi Phil,

Nice to hear from another farmer, ex farmer ? your Charolais cattle, large strong sorts, are the type of animal, that are popular over here in the UK. I know both Hereford and A Angus are popular in the US, I guess you guys have the size and scope, huge amounts of suitable land, that favour those breeds ?. I imagine Kentucky as being green, rolling hills, very well farmed and fertile.

My cattle are hybrid, the Belgian Blue cross just gives the Limousin that bit of extra, a bit more muscle, nice things, but they are "soft" and have to be continually mollycoddled.

Mick

[useem]

[Hukk]

Welcome to AAPK Mick!

[wellington03]

Hi Guys, I would just like to thank you all for the VERY friendly welcome

I like collecting and trading all kinds of knives, plain pruners to pearl scaled premium custom knives, but I suppose, coming from the UK, I tend to favour Sheffield and London made stuff, and have a handy collection and good ref/books/catalogues, over the coming weeks and months I hope to become a useful and worthy member.

Thanks again Mick

[MITCH RAPP]

CHEERS MATE! ABOARD!

[smiling-knife]

Warm Mick. Great to see you on board. s-k

[wellington03]

A sincere thank-you to Chris, Blister, Phil, Dale, unseem, Hukk, Mitch and my old mate Steve, for a really great welcome

What sort of knives do I collect ?, not sure really, old but not rusty if pos.

Perhaps my favourite knife, Nicholson Manchester (Sheffield made) 5" C 1860, bought unseen, thought it was 3" closed, it turned up 5" !! and heavy, fabulous condition too !



My EDC, used all the time HOLTZAPFFEL & CO, 64 CHARING CROSS (Sheffield made) 4 3/4" the locking master blade and minor articles original, the gaitor hook, can opener and pen blade replacements. The blade steel is awsome, always razor sharp



Cheers

Mick

[Owd Wullie]

I wouldn't call a hundred head a "small" herd. I was raised on Texas ranches and by some standards it might be considered small, but it is a LOT of work in anybody's book.

The last ranch I worked for had holdings in 4 states, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Wyoming. Over a million acres combined. One ranch in Wyoming was up around 7K ft in altitude It was a privately held "stocker/feeder" operation. Steers were the name of the game. I drove a cattle truck between Texas and wherever. I fixed lots of windmills, bailed lots of hay, cut many a calf and rode horseback WAY too many miles in that rough Wyoming country. Nothing quite a fun as saddling up to ride the pastures when it is -5°F and the wind is blowing 30mph.

I sure admire your taste in cutlery.

[orvet]

Personally I never found a lot to like about riding the open range even in the summer.
Every Fall when I went back to school I was so bow legged that my knees would not touch until after New Years!
Being a bow legged cowboy was not cool in the 60s.

Dale

[Hukk]

Personally I never found a lot to like about riding the open range even in the summer.
Every Fall when I went back to school I was so bow legged that my knees would not touch until after New Years!
Being a bow legged cowboy was not cool in the 60s.
Dale

A guy I worked for had some really great cattle dogs - whistle and point - back come the dogs with the cattle. I believe they were McNabbs - constant motion! They would run around like crazy unless you kept them working - they would not even ride in the truck. They would run around and UNDER my truck - so, I kept my Toyota (4x4) at a constant speed. I wish I never sold that 83 Toyota, straight axle front end was great off road - not so smooth on pavement though. Those dogs sure made my life easy - like having 2 extra hands per dog.

[Owd Wullie]

I got a dog story for ya. Friend of mine hired on as the foreman for a neighboring ranch when I lived up in the wilds of Jack County, TX. Pretty scruffy country. The old rancher had a bunch of good mama cows. There were LOTS of coyotes in that country. The mama cows got to be very protective and anything with 4 legs that was shorter than they were was fresh meat for those girls.

My pard's name was Guy and he had a good blue heeler we called Sooper Dog Roy. Guy kept ol Roy penned up for a few weeks and one cold morning he decided to take Roy for a ride. It was feeding time and the girls knew the truck. Guy told ol Roy to go get 'em. Roy took off like a bullet. I started laughing and told Guy maybe that wasn't such a smart move.

The girls saw Roy and they launched his direction like they had rockets in their butts. The first one hooked ol Roy with a set of antlers that were about 4 feet across and knocked him about 20 feet. Guy looked at me wide eyed and said "Did you see that?"

I allowed as I did and then Roy decided he'd had enough. Those girlies went playin fair. He lit the rocket in his rear end and headed back to the truck with 40 head of mad bitches hot on his tail. Guy and I were laughing so hard we weren't thinkin too good. Roy went under the truck and Guy and I went on top! To say the ladies were pissed off would be an understatement.

There we were. Standing on top of hay bales stacked halfway to the moon, surrounded by mad mama cows doing their dead level best to get under the truck and take another chunk of poor ol Roy's rear end. Guy shinnied down the driver's side and got hooked twice gettin the truck so he could start it and move it. I was tossing whole bales on the girls trying to get their mind off killin' Roy or turnin' the truck over tryin'. The hay trick got them derailed a little bit enough for guy to get Roy in the cab and drive off far enough for the girls to go back to doin' what they normally did.

Sooper Dog Roy's days of workin' cattle for Pappy Lewis on V bar ranch were over before they got started good. He stayed on the porch from then on.

[philco]

Great story Wullie. There aren't too many sights more alarming than looking up to see a moma cow bearing down on you with fire in her eyes. Been there too many times!!

I had an old Charolais cow whose nickname was "Old Hatefull". She raised excellent calves. Whenever she had a newborn calf, you'd better stay out of the field for at least a week. She would track you down on a seek and destroy mission. After about a week or two, she was reasonalbly sane, but for the first week, she'd try to kill anyone or anything she thought might pose a threat to her baby. As far as she was concerned, if she could see you, you posed a threat. I missed her when she went to market, but it was a GOOD miss.

Phil

[Owd Wullie]

Knowed several like that in my "cowboy daze". Probably could write a book about 130MPH cattle trucks, hammerhead horses and man killer cows. LOL

I enjoy the memories. Close as I want to get to a cow nowadays is the meat counter at the grocery store. I will saddle up about once a year at my sister's ranch, but only if her son is ridin' with me. Otherwise, I'll take the 4 wheeler.

[wellington03]

Guys I don't know whether to laugh or cry !! Owd Wullie's dog story is just so funny , poor old sooper dog Roy !.

Million acre farms !! , horned cattle !!, bow legged cowboys !! , Mc Nabbs running along under moving trucks !!

Over here in the wet and cold, we have to house the cows 7m of the year, everything calves indoors, nothing with horns, one or two of the old Limmo cows are savage when they have just calved, and we have to be careful, we have it pretty easy though compared to you guys.

Cheers Mick

[Owd Wullie]

No horns? What's the fun in that? As one of my old bosses used to say, "What's a party without danger?"

Don't envy ya havin' to keep 'em housed for 7 months out of the year.

We had some calvies get behind some big round bales one spring to get out of that rough Wyoming wind that was blowing razorblades at 'em. The poor kids stood there and the snow drifted over 'em. Found 'em a few days later frozen solid and still standing. Only reason they were standing is because the ice and snow around 'em was holding 'em upright. Sure looked strange though. It was hard on those kids.

We'd load 'em in Texas ( 400 to 500 lb calves ) and the weather here would be in the 70'sF. Keep 'em on a truck for 18-22 hours and kick 'em out in a snow bank with temps in the teens. First few days was rough. Had to keep LOTS of grub out in front of 'em so they could do their best to stay warm.

Savage? Someday. I'll get wound up and tell ya the about the 5 year old Brahma crossbred steers my idiot boss bought in Florida. Those SOBS had crosshairs mounted on their noses, about a 50mph top end and sets of horns that those African cattle would have been envious of.

[wellington03]

Really enjoyed reading those "wild west" farming anecdotes Dale, Phil, Hukk and Owd Wullie, I was weaned on Bonanza and the High Chaperral as a lad, and always wanted to be a cow boy, not so sure now ??? .

My dog Tessie, she can work sheep and some cattle, quick, but she's kept away from cows with calves.


Mick

[Sauconian]

Guys I don't know whether to laugh or cry !! Owd Wullie's dog story is just so funny , poor old sooper dog Roy !.

Just remember Mick, Dorothy ain't in Kansas, and you aren't in Derbyshire here.

When you hear a tale from a Texan, sprinkle a little salt on it before swallowing.






Fran

[Owd Wullie]

Guys I don't know whether to laugh or cry !! Owd Wullie's dog story is just so funny , poor old sooper dog Roy !.

Just remember Mick, Dorothy ain't in Kansas, and you aren't in Derbyshire here.

When you hear a tale from a Texan, sprinkle a little salt on it before swallowing.






Fran

ONLY if the story starts out with the phrase "LOOKY HERE, THIS AIN'T NO BULLS**T!!" Then you know it's baloney.

You will note, with respect to the aforementioned narration of the ill fated exploits of Sooper Dog Roy, there was no such beginning. Therefore, my friend from the cold and frozen Northern lands of our Eastern US, you should deduce that the story is completely factual in its' entirety and totally without embellishment other than references to rockets and stuff.

Harumph,

Mick, your dog is a pretty lady. What's all the green stuff she's surrounded by?

Here's a pic of me in my younger days after a hard day at the office. Ol pinche Jorge` standin next to lost his sombrero somewhere that day and his razor about a week earlier.