Kayaks on the March!

When I was in Canada last week my pals Lawyer and Lawyer's Bro said that they saw a kayak in the water.  Since I didn't see it for myself I suspect they were pulling my leg.

Plausible deniability you know.

Everyone knows that kayaks belong on vehicles and are most for show.

like this interesting set-up on a VW motorhome...

click on image to enlarge

Big Buck

Captured this image on the camera posted near the northeast corner of the property.  It's got a nice view of the trail leading into a thicket of willow, alder, birch and aspen adjacent to a large meadow.

This big fella is beginning to lose his reddish summer coat.

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I think I'm seeing a pattern developing...

Checking the Trail Cameras

Oddly enough - in the ensuing week there hasn't been much on the trail cameras.  What I did capture has been encouraging and interesting.

Like these bugs.

At least I think they're bugs.

The first one looks like a wasp.

Not sure what this one is however.

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Road Work Continued

Here's an update on the up-grade of the county road.

Seems that the crusher mulcher machine that was run down the road last week was indeed used to recycle the old road into a base for a completely new road.

After munching-up the old road into a loose base the county decided to let everyone and everything drive on it for a week.  Compacting it.  Then they rolled over it with road graders and other heavy machinery - compacting it further.

Then they ran an asphalt paving machine over the base (constructed from the previous road surface) and laid and rolled-out a very nice and smooth surface.

I would be willing to bet that this is the best that this road has looked since it was a dirt track a hundred years ago.  I cannot wait to ride my bicycle on this.  There's nothing like riding your bike on new asphalt.

It's also going to be a nice match with the new asphalt driveway that is scheduled to be constructed.

No more gravel from the plow in my yard or stones in the house.

Holy Crap

After a brief hiatus it is good to be back.

Just returned from a trip to visit our neighbors to the north on a hunting and fishing expedition.  You can read all about it this week over at the other blog.

Check this out.

A breakfast cereal I picked-up in a grocery in Canada.  Who can possibly resist a hot, rib-sticking, breakfast cereal called Holy Crap.  It looks pretty healthy for crap don't you think?  I can't wait to try this out when the weather turns cold. 

Learn more about it here.

Road Work

Our road typically gets a resurfacing every ten years or so.  They pour a viscous oil all-over and then top it with gravel.  A sweeper collects the excess gravel and as everyone drives on it the material is gradually pressed into the surface.  It's messy for a spell but makes decent surface.

We're getting a new road.

Not exactly correct as the county is making the new road out of the old road.  They're using a machine that crawls exceedingly slowly down the road that grinds-up the old road surface and then lays-down the crumbled remains behind it.

click on images to enlarge

The substrate is not exactly soft but it certainly isn't vehicle-worthy.  At least just yet.

It will be interesting to see what the do with it to make a hard surface.  

Have Grill Will Travel

I spied this pick-up running down the highway yesterday afternoon.

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I thought to myself - That guy has got a gas grill mounted on his hitch.  How cool is that?  Perfect for tailgating.

Of course it was several miles later that it all made perfect sense.

Packer game in Green Bay last night.

If you want one of these I looked it up on the web. 

Learn more about Freedom Grill here.

Ancient Body Art

This is positively fascinating.

Tattoos of a 25 year-old Siberian princess from the 5^th century exquisitely preserved by the permafrost where she was buried.

Buried around her were six horses, saddled and bridled and a couple of warriors - her spiritual escorts to the next world.  Experts are divided on whether she was a royal or a revered folk tale narrator, a healer or a holy woman.

I guess people have been decorating themselves forever.

Pictures and more here.

One Hundred Years and Counting

The income tax return that you will file next spring represents the 100th anniversary of the federal income tax (the first year for filing was 1913).


Believe it or not 100 years ago you would have paid a tax of 1% on the first $20,000 of income and up to 6% on income over $500,000.


During WWII rates rose as high as 94%. From 1965 to 1980 the maximum rate was 70% - with intermittent surcharges for the Vietnam War.


Learn more about it here.

Schützenfest 2012

Schuetzenfest 2012 was a resounding success.

Here is some nice off-hand shooting at a binary reactive target...

More Deer

More deer here - including a mid-day picture.

Last weekend when we were building shooting platforms we spotted a buck in the main trail on the north end of the property.

He skedaddled before we could take his picture...

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Deer

At least one of the trail cameras has been moved to a new location on a weekly basis.

Deer are being photgraphed everywhere.

No antlered bucks for the week these pictures were taken...

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The Problem With Critters

It seems that I have a constant battle with critters.

Rabbits in the garden?  Not so much a problem.  When they reveal themselves in the early morning or at dusk they typically come down with an immediate and fatal case of lead poisoning.  Same for ground squirrels.

Ground hogs are another matter.  If they're under the barn a box of mothballs will generally make them move on.  If they are tunneling in the septic mound - it is a simple matter to get revenge by tossing a smoke bomb down the hole. 

As frustrated and annoyed as it may seem at times it's always useful to know that someone, somewhere, has a bigger critter problem on their hands.

My son-in-law sent me this picture of the critter that has taken-up residence near his sister's yard.

This reptile is 6+ feet in length!

Fiscal Cliff

According to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) because the Supercommittee

failed last December to identify debt reductions, $1.2 trillion of automatic cuts will occur

over the next 9 years (2013-21).

The first cuts amount to $109.3 billion in 2013.

The Bush era tax cuts are also scheduled to expire at the end of the year.

Congress has some interesting choices to make.  They can either let current policy go

into effect at the beginning of 2013.  Taxes will go up across the board and significant

spending cuts will go into effect.

This is going to be an interesting game of chicken as all of this can conspire to tip the

US economy back into a European-like recession.

Learn more about it here.

The Guard Tower Deer Stand

We began construction of a couple of guard tower deer stands last  weekend.

Here is a picture of one of the almost-completed towers.

It still needs some additional bracing to make sure a hunter doesn't suffer an accidental fall.

But check-out the view...

View to the east

View to the north

click on images to enlarge

World's Best Blood May

The world's best Bloody Mary can be found here at The Platz.

The foundation is homemade tomato juice concocted from fresh garden tomatoes.  Infused with steak sauce, Worcestershire, horseradish, pickled garden dilly beans, celery and topped with a wedge of lime and celery salt...

Served with a cold Schlitz beer chaser.

Awesome!

Lawyer and Sid Slay the Fish

True to form Lawyer and Sid have been slaying the fish on the bay.

Check this out...

Lawyer and this smallmouth bass

And this walleye

Sid and this northern

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Storm Chaser

A few years ago The Frau and I traveled to Grand Isle, LA to join daughter and son-in-law at their fish camp in Cajun country.

I wrote a series of posts over at the other blog chronicling the trip.

Anyway, when the kids visited with us here at The Platz last week daughter introduced me to this video clip that Captain Herk filmed earlier this year.

Balls of brass these Cajuns have...

Irish Eggs

Colloquially known as Scotch eggs - these are Irish eggs.

If you take a hard-cooked egg and wrap it with authentic banger sausage, then bread it and deep fry it - this is the result.

Serve it with Irish mustard and a Guinness and you have a pretty good happy hour.

You can check this out at Kitty O'Reillys in Sturgeon Bay.

The Garden Chronicles

This year's garden has been an enormous success.  At least so far.

The tomatoes are beginning to come on-line.  Green peppers are in abundance.  The spuds are probably ready to spade from their mounds (already) and the onions are not far behind.

We've been picking broccoli and the green beans are awesome!

 

Nicer Rack!

Another buck - different location and different time of day.

This guy is a dandy!

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Solo Doe

Been capturing a doe and her fawn at this location for quite awhile.

Here a solitary doe.

No fawn.

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