We found a huge saw upstairs in the barn a few weeks ago, and we decided it had to go to Ed Gulley, who has barns full of industrial farming equipment. He was all dressed up when he came over.

I call Ed’s fascinating farm exhibit – it fills three barns –  the Ed Gulley Memorial Museum. Ed asked me why “memorial?”, and i said it was because nobody would ever name a museum after him when he was gone.

He better take his shot now, I said, and he guffawed and agreed. Maria thinks Ed and I were twins separated at birth, I can see it.

Ed also explained to us that this big old saw was an “ice saw,” that many of the old farms had ponds so that the farmers could harvest the ice in the winter and use it all year. The ice, he said, was about four feet deep the farmers would punch a hole in the ice with an ax and then start sawing.

They would pull the ice out with giant tongs, cover the ice with saw dust and it would keep almost all of the year. That explains the shallow pond behind the farmhouse. I can only imagine the work it took to get that ice out of the pond and into the barn or the farmhouse cellar.

Ed has a vast and well organized collection of farm tools and implements, he really ought to open a museum. He has more than enough fascinating stuff to fill one.

And he knows the story of each piece of equipment that he has. He is a master folklorist and a born story teller. Ed is the real deal.

He and Carol came by to look at Griselle, the ewe we think might be pregnant. He says it looks like she was pregnant, but dropped the baby some time ago. Sounds right to me. We’ll know soon enough.

We are happy the big saw has a fine home to go to, there is no better place on earth for it than Ed’s Memorial Farm Museum.

You can get Ed’s stories and ideas on his very popular blog, the Bejosh Farm Journal.