Our young friends, Eli and Pat stayed
with us this weekend. They were here to work on tree stands for bow
hunting this fall. Friday night we had grilled sirloins complements
of the boys. Ellen made garlic mashies, salad, and green beans to go
with them. That evening, they shot their bows in preparation for a
Saturday afternoon fund raiser bow shoot in Cashton to benefit
Cashton Basketball - which Eli helps coach. (I was going to shoot
with them, but after seeing them shoot, I'll wait until I spend some
time trying to arrow a target a few times without an audience.)
On Saturday morning after a breakfast
of scrambled eggs and peppers and grilled bacon, the guys headed out
into the woods to do some maintenance on stands and check out our
food plots. They checked on and replaced the ratchet straps on
several of their hang-on tree stands and moved a couple stands. They
hung two new ladder stands - ones that I can climb. They came back
in sweating, boiled, and bug bitten.
I went to the dump around noon on
Saturday. Out on the bay at Stoddard and north, there were many
boats with people fishing I presume; they were either really catching
fish or desperate for a tan as it had to be murder out there in that
sun.
When the boys got home from the
bowshoot, they said they had a good day on the bow range. They were
hot, literally and figuratively, finishing in the top tier of
shooters. That evening, we had old fashions and nachos while I fried
walleye filets that Pat and Eli caught on Lake Winnebago. Ellen
fixed coleslaw, and red potatoes. Afterwards, while we guys were
watching the Brett Favre Hall of Fame induction, Ellen presented us
with peach crisp (made with delicious South Carolina peaches that I
purchased from the stand at Tractor Supply) and ice cream for
dessert. Good day.
On Sunday, it was a little cooler and
the boys went out to finish up some of the stand work. After lunch,
they cleaned some eaves troughs for us and then washed the siding on
the north side of the house that had mildew and algae growing on it.
(We tried spraying the surface with a mixture of 7 parts water to 3
parts white vinegar. It worked quite well with a little elbow
grease.) Before they left, Ellen loaded them up with garden
produce: garlic, onions, zucchini, and green beans.
This past week, I mowed the ridge road
and some of our trails with the John Deere. I have to remember the
roll bar behind my head. Once a limb caught on it and broke off,
dropping on the seat behind me. I was okay, but startled. Anyway,
some of the black berries are starting to turn in the berry patch on
the ridge. There are black caps in places with a ripe berry or two,
but it would take an army to pick a pail full at this point. Some of
the apple trees are loaded with green fruit and the corn is tall and
full.
This spring and summer must be good for
wildlife. I have seen some hen turkeys with large flocks of poults
and one bachelor group of a dozen tom turkeys. We have been spotting
some whitetails, or maybe more like surprising them all over our
woods. Eli has over 200 pictures on trail cams in just a couple
weeks. We have a sand hill crane family: mom, dad, and a skinny
long-legged baby, living down the road. Some people don't like them
because of crop damage, but their elegant walking and flying is a
thing of beauty even if their call is a miserable gronking. We seem
to have an extraordinary number of rabbits this summer; that happens,
but has anyone else wondered what's up with all the chipmunks and
ground squirrels and moles and gophers? Gypsy and the other
auxiliary walk on cats, Rosco and Oreo are not doing their job as
well as I'd like. Gypsy is a serial killer, and I am guessing the
other two are as well, but still the numbers of those rodents seems
to be increasing. Oh well, it'll be good for the coyotes - sarcasm
intended.
Until next time, get out -
congratulations in advance to Broadcaster editor, Matt Johnson and
his bride-to-be, Viroqua Elementary art teacher, Brenda Gunderson on
their wedding this weekend. Ellen and I wish you much happiness.
Enjoy.
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