Mud Season

With the appearance of the first Red-winged Blackbird spring has officially arrived and mud season has manifested itself in all its glory.

Everything is thawing-out
.
The ice has left the small pond behind the house while the big pond north near Silver Creek is still frozen and ice covered.

Not that this makes any difference as geese and cranes are hanging-about its frozen fringes.

The creek is running full-bore.

However - while setting out to do some chores yesterday - the crossing was flooded by an assemblage of flotsam and jetsam blocking and diverting the flow of our navigable stream.

Navigable stream - you say?

Yes - a navigable stream.

We were thinking we better go fetch the canoe really quick and float it in our stream before it returned to its normally dry state. But I digress.

With some rakes and grub hoes the Frau and I managed to remove all sorts of debris from the inlets of a couple of ancient culverts buried beneath the stream crossing.

Girlfriend personally fetched and dragged the log in the picture above from the water.

The flooding abated and the crossing was made without incident.

Spring Has Sprung

It's official.

My personal barometer of the arrival of spring confirms it.

Spotted the first Red-winged Blackbird Agelaius phoeniceus of the season this morning.

Spring has arrived.

Not Just for Toothpicks Anymore

The Norway Spruce is one of the fastest growing and tallest spruces in Wisconsin. It is the dominant tree in the Fatherland's Black Forest region.

It is also an important wood for the manufacture of paper because it has long wood fibers which bind together to make a strong product.

The spruce is utilized for other purposes ranging from general construction work and crates to highly specialized uses in wooden aircraft and many musical instruments, including guitars, mandolins, cellos, violins and piano soundboards.

The Wright brother’s first aircraft was built of spruce – same for Howard Hugh’s Spruce Goose.

Toothpicks are manufactured from this tree too.

Spruces are cultivated over vast areas for these purposes.

They are popular ornamental trees which is why you will find them in yards, cemeteries and for sale as Christmas trees.

Scientists have found a cluster of Norway Spruce in the mountains in western Sweden, nicknamed Old Tjikko - which at an age of 9,550 years are claimed to be the world's oldest known living trees.

The even-aged stand in the picture is eleven years-old.

Dog Tired

There is nothing better than a high-energy breed of dog completely conked-out.

Several days in a row of tearing around in the woods can have that effect on a dog that has more energy then sense.

Same for me.

Although I don't make puppy yips and twitch in my sleep.

At least I don't think I do.

Mousing

How's that for plump little snack?

My constant companion - Girlfriend - never misses an opportunity to head-out in the woods with me.

I work and she recreates.

She gets to roll in all manner of disgusting stuff, dine on deer poop and an occasional bunny part leftover from some other predator's kill.

The best part is mousing.

Yep. Labrador retrievers are better mousers than your average cat. And Girlfriend is better at it than most Labs.

As evidence of this consider the fresh rodent morsel I managed to extricate from her mouth.

For her it's just a pinch between the cheek and gums...

Abandoned Home

More work on the woods.

Corrective pruning of oaks and walnut and spraying of gypsy moth egg masses.

Countless bird nests to be found from last year.

Funny. You can hardly locate these during the nesting season - but they're all over the dang place after all the leaves have fallen.

Locavore

Locavore - Someone who eats foods from their local or regional foodshed or a determined radius from their home (commonly either 100 or 250 miles, depending on location).

100 to 250 miles?

Lessee. Baked goods, meat and cheese all produced in the neighborhood. Those eggs come from a near-by farmer..

They arrived nestled in a carton with a note that says the following:

One Dozen Ungraded, All Natural Free-Range Eggs. Thank you for buying locally and choosing our eggs! Our hens are pastured, fed a natural diet and live in a stress-free environment. Ideal conditions for them mean the highest quality food for you.

(The expiration date is penned by hand).

I dined upon venison this weekend harvested less than a half mile from the house. Accompanied by vegetables from my garden

I must be an extreme locavore. Maybe even a radical.