Fawn Drop

It would appear to me that reproduction levels of the resident deer population is successful by-and-large. 

Neither of the two hunting dogs have as much as located a fawn yet.  I suspect that is because mama is hiding them carefully and their natural camouflage and lack of scent helps.

There is no hiding from a carefully-placed trail camera however.  Here is a very pregnant doe.

Not the best shot in the world - a pair of fawns filing by - lower right corner.

click on images to enlarge

Bumper Crop of Bumper Stickers

Am I alone in thinking that this has gone too far?

I have a Share The Road With Bicycles along with a Hunt For The Hungry bumper sticker on my pick-up truck.  A Whitetails Unlimited decal is on the rear window of my Saturn commuter car and a National Wild Turkey Federation and Pheasants Forever decal may be found on the rear window of my GMC Acadia.

Stickers in moderation I say!

Why is it whenever I see something like this there is always an Obama-Biden bumper sticker included? 

Kayak Nation

Lest you think I have some sort of weird obsession with kayaks - I ask that you consider this.

According to Chicago-based National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) - between 90,000 and 105,000 canoes and 350,000 kayaks are sold annually.

The kayak has supplanted the canoe as the quiet, personal watercraft of choice.

Baby Boomers want their kayak!

Learn more about it here.

Smile For The Trail Camera

Good idea to let those yearling bucks walk last fall.

Here's a pair of fellas sporting some antler growth.

There's the deal - leave a trail camera out for a two week stretch, good location (heavy cover or a game trail) no human scent, no bait nor attractant and I'm getting 145 to 175 deer pictures per camera.

Build it and they will come.

Wild Iris

Blue Flag Iris -  Iris versicolor

Also commonly known as the Northern Iris.  As you can see it comes in several color variations.  A beautiful and delicate wildflower it propagates by means of an underground rhizome.  Native cultures used the root for medicinal purposes.

As wet as it has been this spring this is the largest crop of wild iris we can recall in decades.

Restaurant Review - A's

If you like fine dining you need to check-out A's Restaurant and Music Cafe.

Located a 112 North Broadway in DePere this establishment offers a relaxed and slowly- paced dining experience.  In a word - exquisite!

I had the rack of lamb and The Frau had the baked apple and Brie chicken.  Fresh salad, homemade soup and salad dressing.  They construct a fine martini too.

We shared this for dessert.

A decadent (but light) Key Lime torte.

More at www.asmusiccafe.net

Taking Time To Smell The Flowers

The little blonde dog is growing fast.  She's 25+ pounds and gaining 1-2 pounds per week.

She learned some basic tricks and is completely unfazed by gunfire.

Amazing.

On our morning walks with Girlfriend sometimes it's nice to stop and smell the flowers.

Ox-Eye daisies - Chrysanthmum leucanthemum.  

More Kayaks on the March

Isn't this a beauty?

A beautiful wooden kayak.

I'd be afraid to drag that anywhere near the coast of the peninsula what with all the dangerous rocks around.  This guy apparently has some confidence.

The Frau and I are hopeful to take some kayaking lessons this summer.

Water Quality

We haven't had the well tested in about a half-dozen years so The Frau and I took some samples to drop-off at the lab in Dykesville.

The first tests were for bacteria (specifically e-coli) and nitrates.  Important to test for in farming communities.

The results were negative.

Next up is lead and arsenic.

The well itself is 267 feet in depth, with a casing encased in Portland cement.  It's a nice, deep water column - important when considering the fractured dolostone formation of the peninsula.  Point-source pollution can travel miles through the horizontal fissures of the rock. 

I prefer the water on The Platz to city water.  It is clean and sweet and doesn't stink of chlorine.

Mrs. Robinson

While Mrs. Robinson from the porch has gone missing - Mrs. Robinson nesting in the white pine next to the yard is about to fledge some babies.

Summer Sunset

Another spectacular sunset. This one taken from the porch at The Platz.

click on image to enlarge



Fire!

Been paying attention to the wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico?


The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired this image of the fires on June 16, 2011 at 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. EDT). Active fire areas appear as red dots, and smoke is blowing to the northeast.

NASA

Here is some time-lapse imagery from NASA’s Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra spacecraft of the the Wallow and Horseshoe 2 Fires burning in Arizona mid-morning (local time) on June 7, 2011.

511,118 acres burned so far witth no end in sight.

Top Dog

About those puppy antics.

If the big dog pushes you around there is always a way to gain the upper ground.

Just so you know - this sort of behavior is verboten.

The picture was cute.

Farmstead Flowers

Some edible violets have self-seeded themselves amongst the rocks beneath the outdoor spigot.

Yes, they are edible.  Great when you have little kids over to visit.

They can garnish their plate with these.

The lilacs are done for the season but it sure was terrific having bouquets of them in the house at their fragrant best.

Summer Sunset

A classic northwoods summer sunset.

Just cleaned a day's catch taken from Wisconsin's Eagle Chain of Lakes.

Roadkill Recommendation

Saw this on the rear window of an SUV the other day.

Cannot help but wonder what the story is behind this.

Puppy Antics

One of the things  about having a puppy in the household is you have to keep watch over them constantly lest they get into trouble.

Let me give you an example.

On Memorial Day the ever-inquisitive blonde dog poked her head up a corrugated plastic pipe at the end of a downspout on the shop building.

It was easy to go forwards.  Backing out - not so much.  She got her entire head hopelessly stuck.

I would have taken a picture of her predicament only the Frau and I were frantic to cut the pipe apart to release her.

Cheap puppy entertainment is sitting in the laundry basket and watching the wash go round and round and round again.

Playing a Game of Chicken

This summer we all get to enjoy the political theatrics of the giant game of chicken that

Congress is going to play with the debt ceiling.

By the beginning of August, the United States will run out of accounting options to avoid

defaulting on some of its $14.3 trillion sovereign debt. 

Since reaching the debt ceiling on 5/16/11 the Treasury Department has taken several steps to

avoid defaulting - including suspending payments into two public employee pension plans.

Source: Treasury Department      

Smile For The Trail Camera

For comic relief a picture is worth a thousand words...


 
click on image to enlarge

Senses

It's funny how your sense of smell is connected to your oldest and fondest of memories.

Take for instance the smell of stale gasoline and exhaust in the shed. 

It reminds me of my grandfather's garage.

Or Coppertone suntan lotion.

It evokes memories of playing outdoors, camp and going to the beach as a child.

Vladimir Nobokov said...

Nothing revives the past so completely as a smell that was once associated with it.

That beer would be another memory...

Smile For The Trail Camera

The swampy tangle is holding deer too...

click on images to enlarge

Happy Hour

The boys and I spent four glorious days of fishing a few days ago.

When we got off the water and had our catch cleaned it was time for Happy Hour.

Followed by dinner at 10:30 or so and up again the next day to do it all again...

click on image to enlarge

Smile For The Trail Camera

It's early but the young bucks are starting to grow their antlers.  It is going to be fun to  watch their progress if they stick around and don't disperse.

Of course if they disperse someone else will move-in to replace them.

a little button buck - one of last year's fawns

Probably a two and a half year-old buck

click on images to enlarge

The Kayaks Are On The March

My regular readers know that I have taken notice of kayaks from time-to-time.

Anecdotally, I've observed more kayaks on the road than on the water.

Lately I've been seeing more kayaks on the road.  Technically - on the rooftop of a vehicle.  Although I saw a woman in a kayak while fishing a week ago.

Of the two kayaks in this picture the one on the right was make of wood.

Very nice.

Smile For The Trail Camera

Some action shots...

click on images to enlarge

Where have You Gone Mrs. Robinson?

Remember that robin nest that Mrs. Robinson built above the back door outside of the transom?

It wasn't too long afterwards that Mrs. Robinson went missing.  Or at least she wasn't around when we were watching.

In any event we figured out that she probably got grabbed by a hawk or some other predator because we never saw her again and the eggs never moved or hatched.

Nature can be a cruel Mother.  But that's what nature is all about.  Which is why I always remind anybody that's listening that Door County is - Where The Strong Survive and The Weak Are Killed And Eaten.

I took the nest down a week ago and it made a perfectly fine conversation piece atop the antique radio.

The nest at two o'clock is a goldfinch nest.

Side Pork Fest

click on images to enlarge

Belly/Side/Side Pork - The belly, although a fattier meat, can be used for steaks or diced stir-fry meat. Belly pork may be rolled for roasting or cut for streaky bacon - Wikipedia

Of course if you live in Brussels, WI you can build a festival around this cut of pork and raise money for your local volunteer fire department.

In the big cities there always seems to be buckets of money laying about for the fire department to have virtually anything they want.

In Brussels, or any other small town in America, volunteer fire departments are always holding fundraisers to make ends meet.  A succession of brat frys, chicken BBQs, pancake and porkie breakfasts are routinely scheduled to purchase a defibrillator or two, pay-off a grass truck, fire engine, tanker or finance an air boat to fetch stranded ice drinkers from the Bay.

The BUG (Brussels, Union, Gardner) Fire Department held their first Side Pork Fest today.

The Frau and I went over there in the afternoon to take-in this gastronomical event.  A hamburger topped with side pork on a bun-$5.  Side pork dipped in chocolate-$2.  Side pork straight-up-$1.  Pitcher of  Bud-$8.

Live music at the ball field with the Kentucky Headhunters as the closing act.

For any of you who have never grilled side pork on your Weber it is a messy proposition.  Flames and smoke everywhere.  But very tasty.  And considering the flare-ups probably not a bad idea to have the fire fighters doing the grilling.

Simply lay your slices on the grate, sprinkle liberally with Lawry's Seasoned Salt.  Grill until crispy and serve with catsup, BBQ sauce, mustard, grated Parmesan or whatever.

Yum! 

Sidepork Fest was no different - only gigantic in scale.  I inquired about how much of this greasy delicacy was on hand for the event and was told that the fire department had 1000 pounds of it on hand for grilling.

Returning home it was showers all around. We both felt like we had a molecular layer of grilled pork fat all over... 

Mothra

As is our routine - big dog and little dog and I go for a walk first thing in the AM.  It's cooler and thus easier on the dogs.

We're also keeping a sharp eye out for two things.

First, I think there is a reasonably good chance that between me and a couple of inquisitive Labrador retrievers there is a reasonably good chance we're going to find a newborn fawn one of these days.

We're also looking for plant and animal invaders.

Like this gypsy moth caterpillar.

We're not finding many of these - which is a good thing.

We've had a very wet spring.  The consequence of which is that the growth of a naturally occurring fungus - Entomophaga maimaiga - has been spurred.  This fungal pathogen is deadly to mothra so the oaks, tamaracks and other trees that fall prey to gypsy moth larva may catch a break this year.

As for the tiny larva in the picture - I squished it.

Friday Evening Music

Posted this song this morning over at the other blog.

Same song - different version.

I love these artists. 

It's all good...

Smile For The Trail Camera

This is interesting.  Over the course of a day an early morning shot of a pair of deer browsing

And a deer bedded down for the evening

Fire In The Sky

The other day there was a spectacular red sky just before sunset.

So I snapped a picture of it.

The result doesn't look at all like what I saw with my own two eyes but the effect is still pretty cool. 

It looks like the skyline of trees are on fire.

Smile For the Trail Camera

Two weeks ago I placed the second Moultrie GameSpy digital camera out in the woods.  I located it in a swampy thick tangle of dense cover.  Mostly alder, willow and dogwood.  The first camera stayed in its place in the pine plantation at a deer trail intersection of sorts.

Over fourteen days the former snapped 63 deer pictures and the latter an additional 161.

While many of the pictures are of the same critter it looks like we have beaucoup deer around here.

This summer thru the fall hunting season I am going to to feature some of the better and more interesting shots...

A young buck just starting the grow his  antlers

And a young doe