I was wasting some time over at the land of YouTube just checking to see what kind of stuff I would get if I searched the word - Verrückter.
I stumbled across this and was gratified to to see that craziness is universal and knows no cultural or or national borders.
This is the kind of stuff we did as kids...
You're probably thinking - Where can I find a kid's carousel?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
A Minor Milestone
I noticed this morning that there have been 1001 visitors to the Crazy German Campground.
I"m glad these aren't real visitors to the real place - as that would be an unacceptable number of people tromping around the place
What I am referring to are my virtual friends.
Tonight I will grill some tasty Door County venison, raise a glass of lager from the Fatherland and drink a toast to you - my readers.
Prosit!
I"m glad these aren't real visitors to the real place - as that would be an unacceptable number of people tromping around the place
What I am referring to are my virtual friends.
Tonight I will grill some tasty Door County venison, raise a glass of lager from the Fatherland and drink a toast to you - my readers.
Prosit!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A Lazy Weekend
The weather has been crappy and aside from a brief foray into my vast garden and stacking some firewood I've been holed-up indoors most of the time.
In the space of a few days we have gone from dry to very wet. Water everywhere. Which is good.
So I've been getting caught-up on my reading and doing some writing.
A slow fire in the woodburner.
Which is not such a bad plan.
Lawyer is here spending frustrating days in the rain turkey hunting.
He's emailing me constantly with his field reports.
He's been seeing birds. Missed one shot and spying all sorts of deer.
There were twenty deer out along the edge of the road the other night. Twelve more last night. Another half-dozen this morning.
Yep. We have a deer shortage on our hands.
What I cannot get over is the bird activity.
A couple of turkey vultures on Friday. Five cranes at dusk. Chubby mourning doves in the yard. Tree swallows chasing one another in wild aerial displays. Red wing blackbirds showing-off their brilliant epaulets. Pine siskins and goldfinches on the thistle feeder and a half-dozen wood ducks along with our resident pair of mallards in the big pond this morning.
The natural world is springing to life.
Edit - 4/26/09 12:22 PM
Lawyer has been emailing all morning his sightings and lack of shooting opportunities. For two days the poor fella has been sitting out there in the rain.
Wet clothes, wet gear, wet gun.
I know he's not crazy. So I suppose that would make him persisent.
Just got an email and it reads: Dead Bird
Yikes! It is a bearded hen!
In the space of a few days we have gone from dry to very wet. Water everywhere. Which is good.
So I've been getting caught-up on my reading and doing some writing.
A slow fire in the woodburner.
Which is not such a bad plan.
Lawyer is here spending frustrating days in the rain turkey hunting.
He's emailing me constantly with his field reports.
He's been seeing birds. Missed one shot and spying all sorts of deer.
There were twenty deer out along the edge of the road the other night. Twelve more last night. Another half-dozen this morning.
Yep. We have a deer shortage on our hands.
What I cannot get over is the bird activity.
A couple of turkey vultures on Friday. Five cranes at dusk. Chubby mourning doves in the yard. Tree swallows chasing one another in wild aerial displays. Red wing blackbirds showing-off their brilliant epaulets. Pine siskins and goldfinches on the thistle feeder and a half-dozen wood ducks along with our resident pair of mallards in the big pond this morning.
The natural world is springing to life.
Edit - 4/26/09 12:22 PM
Lawyer has been emailing all morning his sightings and lack of shooting opportunities. For two days the poor fella has been sitting out there in the rain.
Wet clothes, wet gear, wet gun.
I know he's not crazy. So I suppose that would make him persisent.
Just got an email and it reads: Dead Bird
Yikes! It is a bearded hen!
Friday, April 24, 2009
A Refreshing Burn
We have a reasonably-sized planting of native grasses and forbs. Cover for ground-nesting birds. Plus it's easy on the eyes.
In the natural order of things, America's grasslands evolved under the influence of fire. Whether these fires were started by the people that preceded us or by lightening, the application of fire returned valuable nutrients to the soil, suppressed the growth of trees and stimulated the regeneration of the grassland.
Management of a grassland periodically calls for a burn. This is generally performed in mid-spring - when the undesirable cool season plants are beginning to green-up but just before the native plants break dormancy.
This would be a controlled burn - not a wildfire.
I had plans for burning this spring.
I mowed my firebreaks last fall and had everything prepared in advance.
Alas, it has been drier than a popcorn fart around here. As a result there has been a burning ban in place.
No campfires, no burn barrels, no prescribed burns allowed.
My window of opportunity is about to close as the probabilities for ideal conditions - humidity, temperature and wind all being perfectly aligned - diminish.
Here's some pics from a burn performed a few years ago.
My neighbors and my jury-rigged firefighting rig.
We hitched a small trailer to the the four-wheeler to tow a water tank and power driven pump in case we needed to snuff-out anything that got away from us.
We contacted the local fire chief and he stopped-by to watch the proceedings. The chief contacted central dispatch to clue them-in as they were likely going to get some calls about the smoke.
Jeff is the burn-boss. He's also Pheasants Forever's Regional Biologist
The acreage to be subjected to the burn had a firebreak mowed around its perimeter the previous fall.
That incendiary device in the lower left corner is a drip torch. It is used to ignite the fire.
Everyone was equipped with a shovel, rake or backpack sprayer - necessary to keeping everything under control.
The burn was scheduled for the end of the day when the winds die-down and the temperature drops.
This is a procedure known as back-burning.
The prevailing winds are blowing from right to left - so the burning is commenced into the wind - not with it. This allows for a slow controlled fire line that leaves a burned and blackened expanse in its wake.
Once you've established a sufficiently large enough back-burned area...
You ignite a second fire line from the opposite direction.
This is called a head fire and is purposefully set to burn with the wind.
Once ignited it is going to move quickly as it has the wind at its back.
Once started, the head fire really starts cooking. But it cannot advance any further once it connects with the previously established back burn fire line.
The column of smoke and flames from the conflagration are pretty spectacular at this stage and some 911 calls began to come in.
The fire chief got on the radio to keep dispatch informed.
The resulting blackened surface.
This accomplishes a number of things.
Setting-back the undesirable plants, removing accumulated mulch, returning nutrients to the soil and leaving a dark surface that will warm-up quickly in the spring sunshine encouraging the rapid growth of the warm-season grasses and flowers.
Prairie Dock - a flower that has elephant ear leaves and grows as high as an elephant's eye! Up to 10 feet tall.
The blooms appear on these giant stalks and persist for a month or longer. The birds love the insects attracted during the growing season and the seeds in the fall and winter.
In the natural order of things, America's grasslands evolved under the influence of fire. Whether these fires were started by the people that preceded us or by lightening, the application of fire returned valuable nutrients to the soil, suppressed the growth of trees and stimulated the regeneration of the grassland.
Management of a grassland periodically calls for a burn. This is generally performed in mid-spring - when the undesirable cool season plants are beginning to green-up but just before the native plants break dormancy.
This would be a controlled burn - not a wildfire.
I had plans for burning this spring.
I mowed my firebreaks last fall and had everything prepared in advance.
Alas, it has been drier than a popcorn fart around here. As a result there has been a burning ban in place.
No campfires, no burn barrels, no prescribed burns allowed.
My window of opportunity is about to close as the probabilities for ideal conditions - humidity, temperature and wind all being perfectly aligned - diminish.
Here's some pics from a burn performed a few years ago.
My neighbors and my jury-rigged firefighting rig.We hitched a small trailer to the the four-wheeler to tow a water tank and power driven pump in case we needed to snuff-out anything that got away from us.
We contacted the local fire chief and he stopped-by to watch the proceedings. The chief contacted central dispatch to clue them-in as they were likely going to get some calls about the smoke.
Jeff is the burn-boss. He's also Pheasants Forever's Regional Biologist
The acreage to be subjected to the burn had a firebreak mowed around its perimeter the previous fall.
That incendiary device in the lower left corner is a drip torch. It is used to ignite the fire.
Everyone was equipped with a shovel, rake or backpack sprayer - necessary to keeping everything under control.
The burn was scheduled for the end of the day when the winds die-down and the temperature drops.
This is a procedure known as back-burning.
The prevailing winds are blowing from right to left - so the burning is commenced into the wind - not with it. This allows for a slow controlled fire line that leaves a burned and blackened expanse in its wake.
Once you've established a sufficiently large enough back-burned area...
You ignite a second fire line from the opposite direction.
This is called a head fire and is purposefully set to burn with the wind.
Once ignited it is going to move quickly as it has the wind at its back.
Once started, the head fire really starts cooking. But it cannot advance any further once it connects with the previously established back burn fire line.
The column of smoke and flames from the conflagration are pretty spectacular at this stage and some 911 calls began to come in.
The fire chief got on the radio to keep dispatch informed.
The resulting blackened surface.
This accomplishes a number of things.
Setting-back the undesirable plants, removing accumulated mulch, returning nutrients to the soil and leaving a dark surface that will warm-up quickly in the spring sunshine encouraging the rapid growth of the warm-season grasses and flowers.
Prairie Dock - a flower that has elephant ear leaves and grows as high as an elephant's eye! Up to 10 feet tall.
The blooms appear on these giant stalks and persist for a month or longer. The birds love the insects attracted during the growing season and the seeds in the fall and winter.
This is a plant that will flourish for decades - with an occasional refreshing burn.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Trouble With Mice
I had to perform some service work on the tractor - namely the replacement of a couple of high pressure hose fittings leading to the hydraulic fluid cooler on the radiator.
When I fired-up the New Holland for the first time I noticed those fittings were cracked and just about ready to burst and ruin my day unless they were replaced.
A quick trip to the implement dealer and twenty bucks bought me two four-inch, 90 degree factory hose fittings. Ouch!
Anyway, no matter how fast you work anytime you disassemble a hydraulic fitting you're going to get fluid all over the place.
So I walk over the shelf to grab some shop towels out of the box and as I give it tug out comes a blizzard of shredded towel fluff and mouse turds.
Blech.
In all fairness - if I was a mouse looking for the best place in the world to build a winter nest and raise the kids you can't do much better than a box of Scott shop towels.
When I fired-up the New Holland for the first time I noticed those fittings were cracked and just about ready to burst and ruin my day unless they were replaced.
A quick trip to the implement dealer and twenty bucks bought me two four-inch, 90 degree factory hose fittings. Ouch!
Anyway, no matter how fast you work anytime you disassemble a hydraulic fitting you're going to get fluid all over the place.
So I walk over the shelf to grab some shop towels out of the box and as I give it tug out comes a blizzard of shredded towel fluff and mouse turds.
Blech.
In all fairness - if I was a mouse looking for the best place in the world to build a winter nest and raise the kids you can't do much better than a box of Scott shop towels.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
A Foray Into Taxidermy
I thought I would turn my hand at something I've been meaning to do for quite some time - namely a simple taxidermy project.
I removed the tail on the gobbler I shot this spring with a goal of making a mount of it.
The first step it to remove as much of the flesh and fatty tissue as possible from around the area of the quills.
Then mix a cup of borax (Twenty Mule Team Borax) with a cup of non-iodized salt (Kosher salt).
I removed the tail on the gobbler I shot this spring with a goal of making a mount of it.
The first step it to remove as much of the flesh and fatty tissue as possible from around the area of the quills.
Then mix a cup of borax (Twenty Mule Team Borax) with a cup of non-iodized salt (Kosher salt).
Take a piece from a heavy cardboard box and cover it with aluminum foil. Leave an extra flap of foil near the bottom in the middle.
Rub a generous helping of the borax mixture into and around the part of the tail that will face down.
Place a handful of borax mixture on the foil and press the base of the tail into it.
Spread the tail fan over the foil starting from the middle and working outward. Use something to assist in holding it in place. Pins or small finishing nails. I used a staple gun.
Work more of the borax mixture into the part of the tail facing up. Pour the remainder over it.
Fold the foil flap up and over the borax mixture and fasten in place.
I took an additional piece of foil and wrapped it around the base of the turkey's beard with some of the borax mixture as well.
I left the whole shebang on the workbench in the basement and will report-back with the results in a couple of weeks.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Everyone Is Waking Up
Yesterday I found a couple of these guys sunning themselves on the concrete apron of the machine shed.
This is a red-bellied snake.
They're actually a snake you want to encourage to be around.
They do not bite and they eat insects and slugs.
I figure they have a den underneath the slab of the machine shed somewheres.
They are most welcome to den-up under the shed since my vast garden is immediately alongside.
It's a sure sign of spring when you start to see the herptiles thaw-out and make themselves known.
What is way more cool than that is the sound of the spring peepers.
They started tonight.
As I post this there is an absolute cacophony of peeping.
The peeper - Pseudacris crucifer - is a welcome sound and heralds the end of winter.
One of the very first frogs to call in the spring.
Of course the mallards and geese in the big pond have preceded this little fella. So I knew spring was here.
Anyway, if you were to find one of these amphibians you would notice a large X on its back.
This is how it earned its name - the Latin species crucifer or cross bearer.
Photos courtesy of WDNR
This is a red-bellied snake.
They're actually a snake you want to encourage to be around.
They do not bite and they eat insects and slugs.
I figure they have a den underneath the slab of the machine shed somewheres.
They are most welcome to den-up under the shed since my vast garden is immediately alongside.
It's a sure sign of spring when you start to see the herptiles thaw-out and make themselves known.
What is way more cool than that is the sound of the spring peepers.
They started tonight.
As I post this there is an absolute cacophony of peeping.
The peeper - Pseudacris crucifer - is a welcome sound and heralds the end of winter.
One of the very first frogs to call in the spring.
Of course the mallards and geese in the big pond have preceded this little fella. So I knew spring was here.
Anyway, if you were to find one of these amphibians you would notice a large X on its back.
This is how it earned its name - the Latin species crucifer or cross bearer.
Photos courtesy of WDNR
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Talkin' Turkey
Up at daybreak and out for the first day of 2009 turkey hunting.
After a couple of hours of calling I had a gang of four hens come into my decoys only to leave and return a half-hour later.
I'm thinking - Hens. That's good. If the ladies stick around maybe a horny old gobbler will come along to put the move on them. Charm them so to speak.
They left.
Back to my book.
Book? You're reading a book?
You bet.
Turkey hunting is a sport of concealment and patience and there is no better way to while-away your time than calling every twenty minutes or so and reading a good book.
This morning I started on The Road by Cormac McCarthy. If you are into post-apocalyptic genre I recommend it.
Anyway, as I was a little more than half way through the book I glimpsed movement further up the trail.
A couple of big birds. Both heading in my direction at a determined pace. Ooooh baby.
Book down and gun-up.
Here they come. A pair of good sized gobblers too.
They stop at about 30 paces and size-up the situation.
I'm thinking - I have a clean shot. Separate you morons.
One bird turns to depart and the other takes one more step toward the decoys.
Kaboom!
The trusty Mossberg 12GA. turkey gun barks and there is dinner. Before lunch time.
After a couple of hours of calling I had a gang of four hens come into my decoys only to leave and return a half-hour later.
I'm thinking - Hens. That's good. If the ladies stick around maybe a horny old gobbler will come along to put the move on them. Charm them so to speak.
They left.
Back to my book.
Book? You're reading a book?
You bet.
Turkey hunting is a sport of concealment and patience and there is no better way to while-away your time than calling every twenty minutes or so and reading a good book.
This morning I started on The Road by Cormac McCarthy. If you are into post-apocalyptic genre I recommend it.
Anyway, as I was a little more than half way through the book I glimpsed movement further up the trail.
A couple of big birds. Both heading in my direction at a determined pace. Ooooh baby.
Book down and gun-up.
Here they come. A pair of good sized gobblers too.
They stop at about 30 paces and size-up the situation.
I'm thinking - I have a clean shot. Separate you morons.
One bird turns to depart and the other takes one more step toward the decoys.
Kaboom!
The trusty Mossberg 12GA. turkey gun barks and there is dinner. Before lunch time.
The bird weighed-in at twenty four pounds at the registration station. It had one and an eighth inch spurs and a nine-inch beard.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Back Home
Hi there.
Long time - no post.
You see I've been away on holiday and living in a blissful state of disconnectedness. I've been road-tripping with my darling wife and Girlfriend.
It is awfully good to be back. There are tree swallows staking-out their territories around the nest boxes and a pair of mallards down in the big pond.
Speaking of Girlfriend - she and I just got back after putting a gobbler to bed.
You turkey hunters know what I'm talking about. For the uninitiated this is the process of poking-about where the turkeys roost for the evening and calling to them with an owl hooter or crow call.
Those gobblers can't resist gobbling back.
It's a good method of locating their roosting locations so I can sneak out tomorrow morning in the dark and lay in ambush for them when they come off of their roosts at sunrise.
The warm-up before bed-time is a classic martini garnished with a couple of queen green olives and twist. A fire in the woodburner.
Followed by grilled/smoked redfish and speckled trout. Green beans from last-year's garden too.
Any guesses as to how that delightful repast found its way into my ice chest?
Long time - no post.
You see I've been away on holiday and living in a blissful state of disconnectedness. I've been road-tripping with my darling wife and Girlfriend.
It is awfully good to be back. There are tree swallows staking-out their territories around the nest boxes and a pair of mallards down in the big pond.
Speaking of Girlfriend - she and I just got back after putting a gobbler to bed.
You turkey hunters know what I'm talking about. For the uninitiated this is the process of poking-about where the turkeys roost for the evening and calling to them with an owl hooter or crow call.
Those gobblers can't resist gobbling back.
It's a good method of locating their roosting locations so I can sneak out tomorrow morning in the dark and lay in ambush for them when they come off of their roosts at sunrise.
The warm-up before bed-time is a classic martini garnished with a couple of queen green olives and twist. A fire in the woodburner.
Followed by grilled/smoked redfish and speckled trout. Green beans from last-year's garden too.
Any guesses as to how that delightful repast found its way into my ice chest?
Thursday, April 2, 2009
More Google Fun
Sometime it's just plain fun to Google yourself.
Really. Try it some time.
Just for kicks I went to Google Images and typed in: verruckter deutscher campingplatz.
I hit the enter key and this is what appeared.
There is a nice collection of images there that have appeared both here and over at the other blog - including those from my growing family of German bloggers.
How does an image of Ron Jeremy get first billing?
Really. Try it some time.
Just for kicks I went to Google Images and typed in: verruckter deutscher campingplatz.
I hit the enter key and this is what appeared.
There is a nice collection of images there that have appeared both here and over at the other blog - including those from my growing family of German bloggers.
How does an image of Ron Jeremy get first billing?
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