[RHClarke]

It was very cold at the barn early this morning. I chose the coldest day of the year so far to sneak out of the house early to get in some quality barn time. It took a few minutes to spark up Lucifer, but true to its name, it was glowing about 20 minutes later. While Lucifer was thawing out the mosquitoes, I did the usual clean up of the shelters and doorways. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning the Pilot Model hubs in prep for painting in the afternoon.

Bob and Grant made their appearance later on in the morning and set about their usual chores. Bob fiddled with his sewing machine and did some door measurements. Grant worked on his trailer suspension and dismantled a old Ford CMP spring pack that still had some life in it - particularly when the nut from the center pin was removed... After the spring surprise, a but more caution was used and a good number of C clamps as well.

Following lunch, we got back to the chores at hand. Later, Bob surprised us with a small treat - a ration can that he surmised came from an army ration pack from the 1950s. To me it looked like the old US ration can that always left green flecks in the food when you opened it. Bob decided to taste test the contents and did not seem worse for wear, so I guess the rats were OK.
It can never be said that we are not willing to try out different things at the barn.

The end of the day was marked by a sit down session to discuss the characteristics and dimensions of Ford and Chev springs. This was all too exciting for me, so I headed home just as it was getting dark.

Photos:
1 - Grant safely removing spring leafs
2 - Really old rats anyone?
3 - Adventurous Bob biting a biscuit
4 - CMP nerds at play