The Hunting Times

The other set of grandparents were all gathering at Shelby's Mom's house, so the kids got dressed up for Halloween and visited today - trying to knock out as many visits at once as they could. We had a Pumpkin (that I wrongly called a jack-o-latern) and well, I don't want to ruin the surprise...see for yourself.   Look at his little werewolf hands!  And the ripped plaid shirt!  OMG.  Too much.   The first thing the 3-YO said?  Happy Halloween!  I want some candy!  Just adorable.

I was out walking the dog before 9 am Saturday, 24 OCT.  Got a call from the Sheriff's Office.  Deer had been hit and killed - did I want it?  Sure.  Grabbed Alex and we drove to retrieve it. Sadly it was a large buck that someone would have been very pleased to shoot this season.  And now, half of it was lost to damage.  We grabbed what we could salvage for grinding into salami and of course the loins.  We cleaned and packaged most it for use later. We then grilled some fresh loins for lunch.  From hoof to belly was less than 4 hours.  Talk about fresh! It was not supposed to be how we started the day, but it was a great surprise.  We still had to do recycling and haul furniture, but those waited until later. A large 9-pt buck that went 200#. I sent this picture to my hunting buddies.  Told them I killed it with a knife! At least we got meat in the freezer.  Even if it wasn't from Good Aim.

So one of Tiki's favorite things to do is run next door and visit her doggie friends at Kathy & Alex's house.  One of Tiki's least favorite things to do is come back home after play time is over.  Her friends get locked back up inside the house and the only thing to do is walk back home, sad. After one of those Play Dates with the dogs, I started walking back home.  I soon realized I was alone.  I turned around and saw this: Just looking at Kathy's house, right? Look closer... Now really close! Poor, sad, little Tiki.  She's still on the porch hoping that (a) I don't see her, but more importantly, (b) that her friends will come back out and play.  And probably hoping that I don't see her.  I did.  I called her to me and we played on the way home.  It was a good Dog Day.

Those who could went back to Nick's to shoot-in our firearms for deer season this past Thursday because it was perfect - 81 degrees and only a slight breeze.  We shot in rifles, shotguns, and muzzle loaders.  We shot in six guns in 11 shots - with three of those being on a brand new scope & another three being second shots just to verify the first.  This has never happened, especially with muzzle loaders.  So, we were done way earlier than we thought.  So what did we do?  Busted out the coolers, drank beer, watched the sun set, while telling old stories. I told the boys, "You're missing an awesome sunset."  To which they looked up and blandly replied okay with less than the enthusiasm such a creation deserves.  Then it hit me, I was wearing my prescription sunglasses - with filter.  So I passed them around the circle to let everyone look thru and see what I was seeing.  Now I got the reaction I expected... So here are a couple of photos - the first is the original

Grandma & Papaw were watching all the kids one day last week.  Dictator & Ruler of the Free World Will was giving the orders as usual.  And, per standard practice, his sister was not allowed to participate.  In fact, she was invisible to him.  Will ordered Mallory around, which she dutifully complied.   So Hadley brought her guitar into the Family Room as asked if we wanted to hear her concert.  Of course we did, but brother forbade it - she was not to play because he sets all the rules (see aforementioned title).  Grandma & Papaw ignored the dictator and asked where the concert would be held.  "In her room," was the reply.  We all, including dictator, Mallory, and baby Wes went into the girls' room (previously occupied by Mallory's daddy).   Hadley started to play the guitar and sing.  Grandma & I oooh'd and awww'd.  When dictator saw the attention his sister was receiving, he ran into the Living Room and grabbed another toy that made music (a

Tuesday was 'Grandma Watches Will & Hadley Day.'  During a break from online meetings, I prepare to take Tiki out for a long walk.  Will wishes to join and says we shall adventure to the dirt pile (shooting range backstop about 1,000 yards away).  No worries.  Sounds like fun. We take off and make it to the first water way.  What's a water way, asks the 4 yo.  Too late.  Tiki has decided that there are too many smells here to pass up.  So she and Will have their own adventure in the water way.   Tiki checking for 'permission' from Will to explore. Of course, what else would a 4 yo say but Yes!  FYI, the dirt pile is at the woods in the back far right of this photo - a loong way off yet.   I love how Will picked up his knees to march through the tall grass.   Tiki pointing and Will giving the OK to proceed. Tiki decided it was okay to check out the corn.  Will wished to follow.  I stopped him prior to entering through a thicket of raspberry bushes.  I showed him

So Alex wants to borrow the bush hog and knock down the grass between us before winter.  No worries.  I get everything hooked up and ready.  Alex comes back in about an hour - the unit is smoking. No worries.  Let's let it cool and then check it out.  I have him fire up the tractor and engage the PTO.  Thump, thump is all we got.  We shut it down and I check for blades hitting an obstacle or stuck branches.  Nothing.  We try again.  Nope, it's the gear box. We shut everything down and investigate the gear box.  Looky there.  Kinda looks like an oil fill plug.  We open it up.  Burnt to a crisp.  No oil in sight.  Huh? Alex notices there is a three-year warranty on the gear box.  Nada.  I've owned it for 11 years - and have never...ever...put oil in the gear box.  My bad.  Maybe I should have read the manual???  Go figure that the gears do not want to turn without lubrication! I research the web and find one, with tax and shipping for $200.  Bingo.  Ordered - AFTER consulting

 Davey and I entered the squirrel woods (Marshall's N Farm bottoms) at 7:30 am this past Saturday.  Dave had texted Brother Roach Friday night to see if we could hunt.  No reply. It didn't matter.  We sat in the truck and drank our coffee.  That soon turned to having a beer.  We talked away the next 90 minutes - during which time, Roach texted back and said we had permission. While we waited and talked, a small 6-pt buck walked out from the S, crossed the road, and disappeared to the N.  We also saw a squirrel to the S. We finally got out and walked a loop around the bottoms.  We saw two more squirrels - that's it.  One came out at about 3 feet.  My gun is not scoped to shoot anything closer than 20 yards.  I aimed high.  I missed. We saw our final squirrel on the way out.  Too far to get off a shot.  Our adventure in "hunting" ended there. We like to thank our sponsors for today's trip:  Ruger, Leinenkugal, and Warsteiner. From the "woods" we went u