Saturday, April 3, 2010

Broke again..

Ok the main part of this post is for my rather impatient fellow blogger from Australia, Le Loup, who would rather me tell all about my latest acquisition instead allowing me the time to pass wind. To be honest I wasn’t in the market for another air rifle having recently serviced my old BSA meteor MK V and then on a slightly alcohol induced whim purchased the .177 Diane rifle on New Year. After all I think that you are all getting the picture that I’m as tight as a ducks arse when it comes to spending cash (and that’s water tight) with my favourite phrase “out for knout” being branded around liberally. But then during a visit from my accident prone brother in law, Wayne, he mentioned that he was looking to get rid of his rifle (purchased last September and only used twice since!) and putting the money towards his favourite form of fodder provider, a new shotgun. He really didn’t take to the air rifle after owning shot guns for eons and was looking for a quick sale. Now I’m not usually too impulsive but when he mentioned the ‘family rates’ asking price (over a third less than what he paid) I made a snap decision without even testing, holding or really knowing what the hell I was buying (damn that cider). So here I am the proud owner (I think) of a Benjamin Discovery .22 pre-charged pneumatic air rifle. As of yet I’ve yet to fire the damn thing but the surprising thing for me was the weight and balance of the gun, it really does seem to fit me like a glove and is actually lighter than the BSA. So a quick shuffle around has ensued involving fitting the BSA with the telescopic from the Diane, selling the Diane for the same price that I paid (minus the telescopic) and begging my beloved Clare for some early birthday money. I’ll let you how the new gun performs soon enough and Wayne has also promised me some shooting rights controlling rabbit, squirrel and pigeon this summer (and what ever else falls into the bag!), Mmmmm food.




Speaking of which I’ve been sowing some more crops for my tiny garden space including runner beans, bortilottie beans (think that’s spelt right!), tomatoes, peas, squashes, lettuce and another tub of potatoes. As you can see from the picture even my seedling space is limited with this little lot now taking over me grinding and drilling bench!


As for getting out and about, little to report here although I came across the first frogs spawn of the year down at loggerheads, it was all that I do to stop that infernal hound of mine leaping in and making a complete mess of it. Also work on the little lady has somewhat ceased due to the lack of time previously mentioned in the earlier post and now a distinct lack of funding (also paid for me latest tattoo) may well curtail this and other projects for the foreseeable future (damn that cider once again) so it looks as if I’m really going to have to start up my life of piracy back on E-bay if I want to do half of what I want to over the next couple of months (thrice curse that cider). So I guess for the moment I’ll be looking to do things for free (familiar territory here then) until the bank balance is the right side of the red line. Oh and Lucy? well she’s just chillin’






Tara for now,
John

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

John,
I always say it is better to be broke with toys then rich with nothing to do! Now just because I always say that doesn't necessarily make it right, but it sure is fun!

Enjoy that new gun and I am waiting patiently for the tales to follow.

Take Care,
Kari

ps.... pat Lucy for me again, if you would be so kind. (I would but it's a long reach!)

Keith said...

Seems to me you have BROKE even and made a good deal. Well done. If TSHTF in the future you may be very glad of the .22. Your garden efforts too are sounding good, a survivalist at heart I suspect. A hunter and forager.

Tovar@AMindfulCarnivore said...

Ah, the joys and dangers of impulse!

Wolfy said...

Murphy,

I hope you like the pneumatic air rifle. I've shot a few of teh Crosman's and like d the performance, but have always stayed with the manual types - the break barrels and pumps. I know my habits too well - the one time I would want to use the gun, I'd reach for it and find out I was out of air if I had a apneumatic.

I WAS looking forward to seeing th Bog Monster wearing her veil of sticky frog eggs, though.

Nice post - as usual.

Wolfy

Fish Whisperer said...

always a pleasure reading your ramblings. I would like to get an air rifle but I need a permit here in Fiji.
Cheers

LSP said...

Happy Easter!

murphyfish said...

Kari,
Hopefully there shall be many tales to come, I may have something rather special in store come the autumn, it’s not a toy but it is something to hopefully to hunt with, but that’s a long time away and is sure going to cost me, but that's for another time. I don’t mind being broke as long as the bills are covered, there’s food on the table, health is good and of course I’m surrounded by me toys. Consider Lucy patted (me thinks she’s all you folks really want read about ;-0 ).

Le Loup,
I think that you may be right, it first started with just trying to closer to nature and her cycles but she does seem to draw you in and really altering the way you look at things, well everything to be honest.

Tovar,
I blame the cider – always!!!

Hey Wolfy,
Well that’s partly why the BSA is still here, as well as being from my youth, since I reconditioned it it’s always on hand and ready to go after pesky little critters. And please don’t encourage Lucy, she gets in enough states as it is, me thinks that frogs spawn would indeed be the last straw.

Hi FW,
Thanks for dropping by, glad that you still find my ramblings interesting enough to come back.

LSP,
And belated happy Easter to you and all my fellow bloggers.

To One and All,
Thank you once more for taking the time to read my clumsy efforts and for passing your comments, as always they are hugely appreciated.

Your Friend,

John

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to your summer harvest! I've been thinking about a safari in my backyard with an air rifle stalking rabbits and starlings. Fantastic pests. Might alert the neighbors to my antics if I used a shotgun....

I saw a video somewhere of a guy killing a wild boar with an air rifle - not the monstrous Russian ones, but a big pig nontheless.

murphyfish said...

Hey Owl,
Don’t think that I’ll be after anything much larger than wabbits, pigeon or squirrels, me thinks that I’ll leave the boar to the better equipped! The harvest won’t be massive (looking at ways to increase growing space for next year) but hopefully it’ll be tastier than shop bought. Cheers for the comments my good man, always welcome from you.
John

Keith said...

Killing a pig with an air rifle! Now that I would like to see. Any idea of the calibre and year of manufacture?
Regards.