Sheilajeanne

Thank you so much, Nate! Awesome! And by just glancing at the manual, I can see not all the 28's were hand cranked! The second machine shown is the exact machine she inherited! So, that answers my original question.

I apologize in advance because I know this is a domestic machine, but some of you people are so knowledgeable about old Singer machines, I hope you can help. A lady of my acquaintance found an old Singer on a treadle table, and would like to try restoring it, as it belonged to a family member. The serial is D1411055, and the Singer site says it was manufactured in January of 1908. However, the model number for that particular serial number is 28-3. The 28's were supposedly hand-cranked machines, not treadle. So, I'm scratching my head here... It even still has the treadle drive belt, though it's no longer attached. Pictures of the machine: Also, if you can point her in the right direction for finding a manual and people who can advise her with the restoration, I'm sure she'd be very grateful! Thanks!

Fred, please clarify - are these torches (we'd say flashlights) that were provided to owners of BMW cars, for emergency use? Or were they actually part of the car's regular lighting system? Cool little sideline for you!

Wow! What a story! How did you find out about the shipping history?

Canada Post may be better, but not by much. My niece, who lives in Southern Ontario, sent a Christmas parcel to her sister, who lives in Manitoba (first province west of Ontario.) It first got sent to New Brunswick, which is over 3,000 km. away from its intended destination!

Fred, shipping ANYTHING to/from the U.S. is CRAZY, especially if it has to go to another country! It took well over a month for a couple of creasers I sent to reach people in the Eastern U.S.A. And then there was this bit of craziness... The item took from Nov. 18 to Dec. 25 just to get out of the country! So, IOW, I wouldn't give up hope just yet! The folks at USPS badly need to take geography lessons....

Thanks, Bob! Going to bookmark this page! Love the little flowers!

No thanks, the older I get, the harder it is for me to tolerate hot weather.

What's the temperature there, Fred? We're having a heat wave here - it's currently -5 C

In case you can't read it, the front of the statue says 'freeze indicator'!

Rub it in, Fred, rub it in! Last night was the coldest night of the years so far - minus 18 C ( 0 F.) And that's nothing compared to temps in the west, where it's been -40 ! Woke to light snow, which has now stopped, and we're actually getting some weak, watery sunlight shining through the gloom.

When I had rural delivery, they wouldn't deliver my mail unless the mailbox was completely dug out so the postie could pull up right next to it. But if you've had rural delivery for any length of time, I'm sure you know this already... And 4 to 6 inches of snow isn't that much for Wyoming and Ontario. Oh wait, you're in Tennessee...everything's probably at a standstill! The snowplow took out my mailbox once. I had to pick my mail up at the post office until I could figure out how to make it snowplow-proof! You could probably do the same until things thaw out a bit.

Very nice! I am getting a new guitar soon, so will have to make a strap. How do you contour it at the shoulder? Do cut a curve into the leather where it rests next to your neck?

For future reference: stay the heck away from Al Stohlman knives, unless they are really really old. The modern ones are made from poor low carbon steel!

If you're a woodworker, you could make one of these for the yarn ball instead: Screen grab from https://www.temu.com/ Very pretty!

A man travels to Spain and goes to a restaurant near the bull arena for a late dinner. He orders the house special and he is brought a plate with potatoes, corn, and two large meaty objects. "What's this?" he asks? "The Matador Special, Senor," the waiter replies. "What meat is it?" the man asks. "Cojones," the waiter explains, "They, are the testicles of the bull who lost at the arena this afternoon." At first the man is disgusted; but being the adventurous type, he decides to try this local delicacy. To his amazement, it is quite delicious. In fact, it is so good that he decides to come back again the next night and order it again. This time, the waiter brings out the plate, but the meaty objects are much smaller. "What's this?" he asks the waiter. "The Matador Special, senor," the waiter replies. "No, no," the man objects, "I had the Matador Special yesterday and it was much bigger than this." "Senor," the waiter explains, "the bull does not always lose." The worst pub I've ever been to was the Fiddle. It was a vile inn...

LOL! Another sewing machine joke:

LOL! My parents slept in separate beds because my dad was such a horribly restless sleeper. Generally, by morning, one or both of his pillows would be on the floor, along with half the blankets! I once walked into the room while he was having a nap, and saw him kick out in his sleep and launch the poor cat two feet in the air! The cat very quickly learned it was safer to sleep on Mom's bed! But despite the separate beds, he definitely knew how to say "Yes, dear!" Their marriage lasted nearly 60 years, until he died at the age of 89.

Another gem from Pearls Before Swine:

Hi, insect expert here - used to teach kids about moths and butterflies, and also raised monarch butterflies at home! If you compare your carving with the pattern, you will see you should have left a little space between the abdomen and the hind wings. Also, I'd make the line between the front wings and the hind wings more obvious. The segments of the abdomen should be slightly curved, to make it look rounder. And the body of the butterfly should have 3 well defined sections: head, thorax and abdomen. The pattern you're using is very good, it's very realistic. If you follow it more closely, your butterfly will look much more realistic! Still very good for your first efforts at carving... Maybe this picture of a monarch butterfly will help, as it shows some of the things I mentioned. One thing to note is the pattern of the veins in the butterfly's wings are never random. They always follow almost exactly the same pattern, and the pattern is different for each species. They are actual veins, and fluid flows along them when the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, to expand the wings to their full size.

Dogs bred for specific things - this is amazing! (And Sup, I know you're okay with it, but some people think we should just let all the dogs become mutts. Yeah, no more bird dogs, no more police dogs or herding dogs. ) I agree with you about those poor naked cats, and other cats that are bred for unique traits that can actuallly be harmful. Scottish fold cats, the ones with the folded ears, suffer from severe arthritis at an early age, because the defective gene that causes the folded ear also affects the cartilage in their joints. You cannot breed two Scotch Fold cats together - the kittens will die shortly after birth, as the double recessive gene is lethal: All Fold cats are affected by osteochondrodysplasia (OCD), a developmental abnormality that affects cartilage and bone development throughout the body. This condition causes the ear fold in the breed and studies point to all Fold cats being affected by it. Fold cats therefore have malformed bone structures and can develop severe painful degenerative joint diseases at an early age.[2] Due to these health conditions, breeding Fold cats is prohibited in several countries and some major cat registries do not recognize the cat breed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Fold Purebred Persian cats can't groom themselves properly and must be brushed daily to keep the coat from matting. They also have trouble eating due to the squished in faces.

My uncle, a dairy farmer, had an ancient green Ford, with the long metal shift on the floor. The darn thing just wouldn't quit - I forget how many years he had it for! Okay, he was a licensed equipment mechanic before he decided to farm full time, so he knew how to keep it running! Here's what the puppy mills do when they have a defective pup: Of course, she gave birth to several pups with the same defect, but hey, the normal ones (that still may carry the recessive gene for this) got sold to unsuspecting buyers! (The picture was taken by Humane Society staff who raided the mill, and put it out of business.)

Very interesting video of how parchment used to be made out of animal skins for books! https://www.facebook.com/reel/1084237859620585

Things need to change, Chuck. If no one complains, nothing will get done. They are ruining the breed I love. (I guessed those were American bullies. I've seen quite a few - people do schutzhund with them.)