28.09.2022 Threshing by hand!

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 Wednesday 28th 40F/4C Calm and almost clear but with weird stripes of cloud in the south. Rain was promised but now it looks like a few showers with some sunshine. The bad weather has moved north. Up at 6am. Wednesday means the farm museum. 

7.00 Going for an early walk. A brisk one with only a few stops for photography. The sky was gorgeous and increasingly so as the sun broke free of the clouded horizon. 

 Pinky-gold was the theme. With the sky mostly covered in high, feathery clouds. Which had received a severe brushing from high altitude winds. Tumbled mash potato towered in the south east. While grey smudges to the west moved away towards the north. I was gone for half an hour from 7.15-7.45.

 8.20 42F. Still cool, but the sun will help to warm things up. That "Somebody" hasn't done the washing up again!

14.30 "Somebody" duly did the washing up on arriving home. 

 It had been a busy morning. I started by unscrewing and loading 8x4 sheets of plywood. They had been laid out on the lawn as a floor for a dance in a large tent. Which had been held on the previous Saturday. 

 The sheets were carried away on the fork lift tines of the tractor while I followed on foot. Then the driver and I unloaded the sheets and joists into a shed. There followed my pushing 5m lengths of 2x6 [50x150mm] up onto the roof of a big, new machine shed. Then pushing long lengths of roofing battens up onto the roof joists once they were safely fixed.

 I was then dragged away by the museum director. To help him test some antique machinery. These were hand driven threshers. More hard work but great fun. Both machines employed a centrifugal fan inside. Much like a paddle steamer. To blow the chaff away from the falling wheat. 

 A series of trays, each holding increasingly fine wire mesh, were arranged both vertically in series and sloping. The wooden frames, holding the mesh, were simultaneously shaken extremely vigorously by my hand cranking. To screen the grain from the straw and other rubbish. 

 The dust produced was truly worthy of an action movie! The noise was tremendous. One can hardly imagine how farm labourers felt. About turning the handle of such a demonic monstrosity in a dark shed. Perhaps they worked outside? The museum director loaded hay into the hopper area at the top while I cranked. 

 The enormous gear ratio involved and the weight of the rotating fans. Meant that the machines had to be accelerated up to working speed. One machine was built almost entirely of wood. The other had more metal components. 

 The wooden one proved to be most useful and dated from 1900. The manufacturer's original paint and decoration remained almost intact. We produced half a sack of grain from only a small load of hay. The grain was then collected and placed in an original, hessian sack. To become quite surprisingly heavy.

This image is borrowed from a US auction site. To a give a rough idea of the appearance and scale of a manual threshing machine. Perhaps 6' long by 4' high x 4' wide. The one I was cranking was more obviously a commercial product. Built to a much higher standard of appearance and finish.

 Several very long, antique benches then had to be pushed up into a roof space of the barn. Before it was time to drive home.

 I shall be taking my camera and photographing my activities in future. I was unsure whether this was allowed. The museum director was happy to allow me to do so. I shall be posting some of my images here in due course.

 17.00 54F/12C outdoors. Occasional sunshine meant that I have been able to use the greenhouse for heating the house again. 67F/19C upstairs. 64F/18C in the greenhouse and downstairs. The sun has now gone. So I have had to shut the doors to the lean-to greenhouse. All the internal doors are now shut to reduce air exchanges. I haven't had to light the stove today. Though I may have to later.  

 My load of laundered socks was nicely dry after a day out in the greenhouse. The towels on the outside clothes airer were still rather damp. I have brought them into the greenhouse to dry on the clothes horse. No rain today but more rain is forecast for tomorrow. The autumn colours are invading the trees and shrubs. 

 Quite out of the blue my nice new neighbours came around. After a brief tour of the ground floor we talked for an hour. About anything and everything. It was wonderful to talk, in English, with two highly intelligent and articulate people. 

 Once they had gone I lit the stove and let it burn one log. Dinner was chicken curry using Ben's Medium Curry sauce.

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