bear with me ~

I was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes after supper.  I just happened to look up and glanced out the window to see this little fella coming across the yard.  We noticed it had quite a limp; but really didn't seem too bothered by it.

My apologies for some  the reflections in the windows and off the screens on these shots.  Our house is built on a hill so the back side of it is actually a half story higher than ground level vs. ground level ... that's why I'm looking down at the bear and not straight out the window.

Anyways ~

~ when it turned and stopped we noticed it was missing it's hind left foot and part of it's leg.  I wonder if had been hit by a car when it was younger?  Or possibly lost it in a fight with a larger bear?

It sat by the bottom of the deck steps for quite awhile.  I was snapping off pictures of it; but kept getting bad reflections from the screen and window panes. Darn auto focus.  I considered myself lucky getting the shots I did.

Then it walked off and I decided to go to the deck door ~ open it and see if I could get some better pictures.

Nope ... that wasn't going to happen ... he was on his way up.

Again... my impatience got the better of me.  If I only would have waited a few micro seconds longer I probably could have gotten a nice clear picture ~ but I snapped the camera ... my flash went off ... and so did the bear.

Needless to say ... there are no more bird feeders left out at night AND the fish are still in the aquarium in the house.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

naft rendezvous ~

Dear Hubby finally found his "happy".  On Thursday we drove down to Portage and picked up his truck.  It's all shiney and new again :) You can't even tell he smucked a deer with it at 72 miles per hour.  He was very pleased with the repairs ~ all new parts and it looks and drives just like it came off the assembly line.

Then yesterday we drove down to Marshfield to the 46th North American Fur Takers Rendezvous ... that REALLY put a smile on my trapper man's face.

He was in his element here:

There were four or five large buildings filled to the rafters with wheelers and dealers of the fur trapping industry...

... and outside vendors too.  They weren't all selling traps and lures.  There was also a lot of stuff for anyone to see.  Bird houses and feeders, rugs, jellies and jams, fur hats, jewelry, prints, blankets, baskets, homemade breads, cookies, ice cream, flowers, wood carvings.  Lots to see :)

Is there a new pink camo deer rifle in my future?

Yeppers ~ following Dear Hubby around was like watching a little kid in a candy store!

He was on a mission ... making a list for this falls purchases and negotiating with the vendors on some traps this trip around.

I want this one to hang on my wall ~ maybe it'll scare off those rascally raccoons.

They even had armadillos there Sara! (that's an inside joke)

A full mount:

Or in basket form!  

It was interesting walking around and seeing what was out there.

I hope I win.

 ~ a make your own fur hat workshop ...

I love the Amish baskets and rugs. I did buy a rug.

So if you ever hear of a trappers rendezvous and think it's just about trapping ... it's not ... go check them out.  They really are an interesting place to visit.

... sorry about the photo overload ...

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

night time visitors ~

As I was making my post yesterday ~ at the end I had mentioned that I heard something out on the deck, suspecting the raccoon to be back.  I flipped on the outside lights and what should I see looking back at me ~ not one coon but two.

The photo is a bit distorted, as I shot it through the glass deck door.  I decided to open the door and try to get off a better shot; hoping not to scare the baby raccoons.

Yes ~ this is better:

Then I heard a growl and a snarl to my right ~ quick swing that direction with the camera ... it's Momma.

Oh no ... she's not too happy.  She's really snarling and hissing at me ~ I better back off a bit.

I'm standing by the deck door about 10 feet away and I put the camera on wide angle - I want to be able to keep an eye on Momma Coon when I notice on the center deck post ~ behind the grill there's another baby.

Then I hear a cry to my left ...

... there's another one!  There are four babies on the deck and Momma makes five!

Okay ... now I really need to back off some.  Momma just charged at me ~ that's her darting away in front of the grill.

I certainly don't need a ticked off coon gnawing on my leg in the middle of the night when I'm home alone.  How would I ever explain that to Dear Hubby in the morning when he gets home from work?  "Mel, why do you have a raccoon wrapped around your leg?"  "Geeze Slim, how do you know it's a coon?  Maybe I just haven't shaved for awhile."

And they're off.  

Like I said before, "never a dull moment around here."  AND ... I don't think I'm going to be in too much of a hurry to put my fish outside this year.

Until next time ...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

snapper ~

Late this afternoon the humidity finally let up some.  I decided to go out and pull some quack grass out of the flower beds and to get the Black Lagoon area cleaned up.  I am so far behind on my gardening, it's embarrassing.  I still didn't get my fish moved from the aquarium in the house out to the Black Lagoon because I need to get it cleaned first and redo the waterfalls.

Any hooooooooooo.... 

I get out there and start pulling weeds and look up to see something looking at me.

It's a snapping turtle ... and a pretty good sized one too.  

Now Paula may be the Turtle Whisperer; but I'll have to take the crown for being the Turtle Chaser :)

I did not want this turtle in my yard ... or taking up residency in the fish pond.  I get mud turtles or little painted turtles in there - which is bad enough.  I don't plan on feeding my goldfish and koi to this big momma.

She kept walking around ~ but would not be scared off.  I don't know if you're familiar with snapping turtles; but they are not cute and they are NOT friendly!  One bite of their powerful jaws and you could lose a hand or foot.  Seriously.

She was on a mission.  She started digging a hole in the driveway to make a place to lay her eggs.

Did you notice the leech that was attached to her shell right above her tail?  Gross.

She's out on the driveway; but still too close for my liking.

I went into the house for a bit because the mosquitoes were getting pretty bad.  It doesn't look like I'm going to get much weeding done today.

I sprayed down with some bug spray and came back out about 10 minutes later.

She was already done laying her eggs and had them covered with dirt ... BUT where did she go?  I hope she's not in the fish pond.

Oh great ... there she is on the patio ~ heading straight for it!

Not on my watch you ugly turtle ...

... that's right ~ turn yourself around and keep on walking.  You and that leech you're toting around on your back aren't welcomed at the Black Lagoon. 

Keep walkin' ... and don't give me no attitude either!

Gotta go!  I hear something outside on the deck ... I think that raccoon is back!! Never a dull moment around here :)

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel

sun catcher ~

This last weekend I went to a rummage sale.  Not looking for anything in particular; but would know if I found my "one man's junk - another man's treasure" when I saw it.

Then I saw it ~ and it was only $3.00. A toaster oven.

Bonus - for a quarter there was also a bag of beads ... oh the garage sale goddess was smiling down on me!

I saw awhile back a craft project on Pinterest that I wanted to try; but I didn't have the two main ingredients - a toaster oven (because I didn't want to melt beads in my kitchen oven ~ not knowing about fumes and such) and some cheap plastic craft beads like little kids use for making necklaces and such.

Yay.  Here they were - both at the same sale ... now I can make a sun catcher :)

The directions for making the sun catcher said to heat a oven to 400 degrees.  Put the beads in a single layer into a disposable pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes.  Pop out and hang.  Sounds simple enough.

I'm heading out to the garage to do this project.  First, I don't know if the toaster oven even works ~ and what is this going to smell like?  I'm assuming melting plastic could be a stinker.

So here goes.  A layer of beads in the pan.  Awww... aren't they pretty.

Into the oven they go.  Timer set ... temp set ...  

... hmmm.... did I get took for 3 bucks?  The oven doesn't work.

Ahhh ... there's the problem ~ operator error - turn the bottom knob Mel.  It won't work when it's in the Off position.

Now we're cooking and the beads are starting to melt ...

... and stink ... and smoke.  I think we're a little on the hot side!

When I saw this recipe they were doing it in a regular conventional sized oven.  I turned down the heat to 325 degrees.  Now that's better.  The smoke cleared and the beads continued to melt.

20 minutes later I have a pan full of melted beads.  

I let them cool a few minutes and popped them out.  I repeated the process two more times with the remaining beads.  They didn't smoke or smell once the temperature in the oven had been turned down.

Some fishing line to hang them ~ and I have a new sun catcher hanging off the deck.

I love it!

... and the price was right.

 I also have a toaster oven now for baking other craft projects ... maybe something made of polymer clay???

Seeing as how this toaster oven will be used strictly for crafting AND I'm keeping it out in the garage ~ maybe I need to put a little sign on it for Dear Hubby:

"Not for tater tots!"

Until next time ...

So it goes in my neck of the woods.

~mel