Hello,

Richard, In that old mill did you use lard as a lubrication? That's something always there in the operating windmills around here, a slab of pork fat hanging from the ceiling to wipe over the wooden gearing to reduce wear on the cogs and teeth.
It comes to mind when reading your story now only because we killed the pig this weekend and with all the meat set up to cure and packed in the freezer I'm busy cutting up fat and rendering it for lard, the less pure part of which I'll use as a lubricant and some of which will be hung and dried in slabs.
Oh yeah, our wood boiler for warming the house is out of use right now until the pipes which feed the safety mechanism to cool things down in the event they overheat are repaired.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff