Dandelions

Am I the only person to notice that this spring has brought with it a bumper crop of dandelions?

Was it all of the precipitation?

The cooler weather?

I took a picture of this field the other day with my Berry's camera.

It was almost solid gold.  All forty acres of it.

In the foreground is the contrasting ditch next to the road.

Maybe they planted these dandelions deliberately?  Salad greens perhaps?  Dandelion wine?

Remember

For The Birds

There is a bumper crop of birds this year.  More than I can recall in recent times.

A pair of geese in the big pond.

A pair of mallards too.

We're still seeing the great blue heron walking about.

The Baltimore orioles have polished-off one jar of grape jelly already and the Frau recently returned from Havegard's with fifty pounds of thistle seed for the burgeoning goldfinch population.

At last count there are a half-dozen feeding stations out.

Just the other day one  of the hummingbirds found its way into the garage and couldn't find its way out.  It was chirping and frantic to find an exit.

So I grabbed a broom and held it up.

Right on cue the little bird perched atop the bristles and I carried it to the overhead door to be released.

It's all for the birds.

The Garden Chronicles

The tomatoes have been in and out of the garage almost every day to harden-off.

After Memorial Day they go into the garden.

Can't wait for that first BLT.

The High Price of Travel

If you run up and down the highway as much as I do you'd know that  average price of gasoline has nearly doubled over the last 2 years.

Nationally, the price has risen from $2.05 a gallon on 5/01/09 to $3.97 a gallon on 5/01/11

(source: AAA)

Swamp Hatches a Big Plot

We've planted clover in several of our roughly three miles of trails because of the obvious. 

Namely:

1.  You have to have something vegetative in your trails - otherwise you end up with mud.

2.  Clover is easy to maintain.  Mow it once a year and broadcast some fertilizer over the top.  It reproduces prodigiously.  It is the gift that keeps on giving.

3.  All critters love clover. The birds eat the bugs that are attracted to the clover.  And the critters eat the clover.  In the winter the deer will actually paw-up the snow to get at the clover forage below.

 
There are also some large plots in open areas that we rotate various forage crops.

Last year was a bust however.  Way to wet to get any prep work completed and nothing planted.

Not so this year.

I sprayed those overgrown plots with glyphosate (generic RoundUp) at an application rate of 8%.  I'm going to nuke all of the weeds and trash growing in there and then disc-it-up when it's drier.

I know for sure I'm planting oil sunflowers this year because all the song birds like sunflower seeds.  Still have to figure out what else to plant.

Woodland Wildflowers

The tiny woodland flowers are in full swing.

From top to bottom - wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) and a couple of different hued common blue violets (Viola sororia).

click on images to enlarge

Sister

What could possibly be better than eating turkey shit in the woods?

Dining on a turkey carcass of course.

I caught Sister also dining on deer droppings.  Doggie M&Ms I call them.

The Labrador retriever is breed full of contradictions.

Smart.  Loving.  Loyal.  Disgusting dining habits.

A Trillion Here A Trillion There

It's unclear whether or not the late Everett Dirksen ever said anything about real money.  Nevertheless, the United States has accumulated  as much debt in the last 7 years as we created in our country’s entire history up to 7 years ago. 

As of the end of April 2004 the total debt of the US government was $7.13 trillion. 

As of the end of April 2011 the total debt of the US government was $14.29 trillion.

Source: Treasury Department  

Running (and rolling) With the Big Dog

In keeping with the notion that you cannot have too many puppy pictures here is Girlfriend giving sister a lesson in how  to roll in some other critter's feces.
Sister has already discovered the fine dining experience of scarfing turkey shit.

And now has enthusiastically embraced the practice of rolling in whatever disgusting stuff can be found in the woods.

Blech.

Deer Behavior

If you watch deer long enough while scouting or bow hunting you begin to take note of deer behavior.

I have seen deer rub trees, spar with their antlers and rear-up and pummel each other with their forelegs.

I have heard them snort, grunt and bleat.

Here is some whitetail grooming behavior.

Very dog-like.

The Flash

There was a sequence of three shots (burst mode) taken by the trail camera.

Here is the first.

And here is the third.

Something must have really startled this whitetail.  She skedaddled like The Flash!

Click on images to enlarge

Deer In The Headlights

Remember that missing trail camera? 

Here is a shot.

What is interesting to me is that this is an IR flash - yet is sure looks to me like this whitetail knows it had its picture taken.

Smile For the Trail Camera

Just the other day the dogs and I went out for a walk in the woods.  I figured one of the things we could do is place the second trail camera along a game trail.  Game trails are easy to spot during mud season because they look like muddy cow paths.

Accomplishing that I figured we could swap the memory card out of the other camera for a fresh one and upload whatever we photographed onto the PC.

Only we couldn't find the camera.

I'm thinking - Damn, Gas. Where'd you leave the camera?  Did you move it?  Did someone swipe it?

We looked everywhere. 

Convinced I left it in the pine plantation - I thought I knew where it was supposed to be.  But if you've ever been in a pine plantation you'd know that every white pine pretty much looks like the next white pine.

Girlfriend and I returned later and eventually found it - precisely where I left it any number of weeks ago.

I have a fix for this problem.

The Trouble With Pups

The trouble with pups is if they are not in their crate or under constant supervision they'll run-off with your moccasin, grab the table cloth and try to drag it off the table along with everything atop, or fetch something out of the bathroom...

Good Eats

Sid has been doing some turkey hunting and fishing this last weekend - and it wasn't looking very good for him for awhile.

Rain and high winds caused him to leave the woods.  A small craft advisory chased him and Lawyer off the water.

What to do?

If you're me - you fire up the grill.  And stoke the wood burner and put your feet up in front of the fire with a robust red wine and a good book.

And you have your pals and their Frauen over for dinner.

Baby back ribs done on the Weber - low and slow for four hours - over Cowboy Charcoal and chunks of mesquite.

Recharge the fire with more coal and mesquite and do some Louisiana Redfish.

Lawyer assembled an award-winning salad with Greek yogurt dressing and sautéed eggplant. 

Yum!

Sid got his bird on Sunday.

Snooze

No, the new pup doesn't have a drinking problem.

It just seemed a suitable prop for a thoroughly pooped pup.

Kind of like when college kids get totally blotto falling down drunk and someone writes stuff on their bare chest with permanent marker and posts the picture on the internet - only nicer.

You cannot have too many puppy pictures.

Running With the Big Dog

Last night Sister was really sleeping it off.  Along with  Girlfriend.

There is nothing better than two pooped Labs.

Took both pooches out for a long walk with Sister tied to a length of clothesline I could stomp-on.  For having such short legs she's incredibly fast.

Things are still very, very wet and muddy.

And blond dogs show the dirt more than black dogs.

Friday the 13th

It is Friday the 13th today.

All day, too.

In honor of the holiday I present you with a giant chicken.

A Couple Of The Girls In My Life

The Frau snapped these pictures last weekend.

Nice pair of good-looking Labs, eh?

Steel Bridge

This is Sturgeon Bay's Michigan Street bridge.

Affectionately known as the Steel Bridge.

Built in 1930 it was - for a period of time - the sole connection between the northern and southern parts of the peninsula. 

As a college kid I remember camping at Peninsula State Park and waiting on a Sunday afternoon to make the crossing with what seemed like a bazillion other tourists. 

One crossing.  And boat traffic has the right of way.

The bridge was damaged in 1960 when a freighter collided with a lift span. The bridge was out of commission for months.

A pontoon bridge was hastily constructed to cross the ship canal to the east – but following this episode the locals demanded that a second bridge be constructed.

Almost three decades passed before the Bay View Bridge built.

A couple of years ago the Oregon Street Bridge was constructed – mostly because the old steel bridge kept failing.

This picture was taken from the Oregon Street location and you can see the venerable Steel Bridge under all of those shrouds. It’s getting a new coat of paint as part of its rehabilitation.

Takn' a Leak

I sure hope someone doesn't do this to me in the woods some day.

Taking a picture whilst taking a pee...

How to Fill Your Shed One Item At A Time

I brought this back from my shopping trip to Green Bay.

A garden tiller.  Currently on sale at my favorite shopping venue - Fleet Farm.

I can vouch for the fine job of garden cultivation it does as long as you keep your wits about you.

Door County is known for its rocks that are lurking just below the surface.  They are a gift from the last glaciation.  A gift that keeps on giving.

The Frau suggested a rear-drive tiller just for that purpose.  They're better-equipped to handle an occasional rock.  That may be true but when you finally strike one you'll know it for sure.

It has occurred to me that the shed is filling-up with stuff.  Should probably get the Ford 8Ns running again so I can peddle them at the side of the road - along with the ATV's Bush Hog.

Mangy Deer

These have got to be just about the mangiest deer I've ever seen.

Lots of rain lately.

They might have slept in their clothes...

Good Night

Just brought the dogs in from doing their business.

Things are working-out rather well between the big dog and pup.

It is a beautiful spring night tonight.  Someone must've spilled an entire bucket of stars across the heavens.

There is just a slice of moon in the western sky - punctuated by the frog chorus.

Was Jesus a Liberal?

Saw this just the other day.

I happen to like Jesus too.

But everybody knows that Jesus wasn't a liberal.  Heck - the word and interpretation hadn't yet been invented-yet during New Testament times.

Jesus was a Jewish revolutionary.

Protect Your Noggin

I've got a couple of old pieces of GI headgear down in the basement.

Dad used to tell me that the steel outer shell was quite useful.  You could  use it as a wash basin or a stool.  And in a pinch you could cook in it. 

The fiberglass helmet liner was helpful too.  You could keep your personal stash of toilet paper tucked-above the webbing and it would stay dry under the rainiest of conditions. 

The steel pot on the left is quite old - WWII or Korean War vintage.

The helmet on the right has cammo netting but a three-point chin strap - left, right and rear and a form-fitting leather-lined chin cup. 

Airborne equipment?

Anybody know?

Busted

We've all seen video clips of crazed sports fans causing property damage after their favorite team has won a championship. But in a bizarre twist, it was the star player who was the culprit recently in Spain. Just hours after defeating rival Barcelona and winning soccer's King's Cup, Real Madrid star Sergio Ramos lost his grip on the trophy while waving to fans from atop a moving bus.

Spring Buoys

It is spring buoy-tending time.

And the U.S. Coast Guard working boat USCGC Mobile Bay has been out marking the shipping channels. 

By the middle of this month they'll have installed five-dozen buoys between Sturgeon Bay and Escanaba, MI.

The Door County Advocate has a most excellent photo array and story about life on a working boat here.

Dirty Girlfriend

Yeah. I know what some of you guys are thinking.

Perish the thought.

Girlfriend has been mixing it-up pretty well with her new sister - but most of the time she's been down at the little  pond in the back yard hunting frogs.

She can do this for hours on-end.

Perfect dog entertainment.  Free for nuthing too.  Although it is hard on the frogs.

Anyway, at the end of the day we were presented with a perfectly muddy and slime covered Labrador retriever.

Hosed her off and let her dry on the porch over cocktails.

Big Bird

I'm getting plenty of pictures over the last few weeks of a Great Blue Heron.

What a gorgeous animal.

I wonder if it's nesting here?

The habitat is good and mucho frogs to eat.