The Weather and The Weatherman

The weatherman said it was going to be 98 degrees today

and

I am afraid his forecast is correct this time.

water plains: coppers vs steel fleet

We have established the beginnings of two forces:

the steel fleet 

and

the coppers.

the youngest help set rivets and prepare the boats.

water plain attack: steel fleet coming in from open waters

 the copper already had a great patina on them. being exposed to the element should make for some excellent texturing!

water plain defend: the coppers are ready to repel

the steel fleet comes in from open waters to attach in the coppers waters.

clouds: two layers of anxiety

Trouble is rarely ever simple:

two layers to this anxiety.

better run.

Rock displaying on the "water plain"

When we go out hiking or camping we are VERY likely to come back with a rock or two.

these rocks act as sort of a souvenir of the trip, so it seems fitting that we should have a way to present them (at least until they get lost in our landscape). This would also give me a location to organize our collection of "keepers". my other initial goal with this project is to teach the boys about the elements of composition in 3D.

in summary our project is a sort of simplified residential back yard version of a Japanese contemplation rock garden.

the idea is simple: create a large plain of smaller rock that will act as a body of water and then position smaller rocks that will function as small islands.

our scale is very small so i opted for sand as the water. the sand is also easier for picking out debris because it just sits on top versus getting in between the larger pebbles.

to add to the fun, we are making little boats to really help them along in the transition of imaging a large sandbox as a body of water.

back yard rock display with boats

 copper boats vs steel boats, working on our scale

my next step in this project is to see how we can also turn it into a sort of Battle Ship game.

i think a small armada on each side with catapults, like our indoor Crush the Castle game.

back yard rock display with boats

backyard rock display with boats

 the steel from this boat is the binding for railroad tie bails

other materials are bamboo skewers and some scrap cedar.

making boats for backyard rock display

a quick plug for these Milwaukee Markers. these are really holding up well. very good for marking on abused surfaces, metal and wood.

Damaged calm

Time to run!

Hanging guard

Whitetail buck guarding the kindling ladder.

important job in winter.

Petal slip and slide

When I saw this in the back yard i amused myself with a monte python cartoon moment:

the ready to fall seeds drop one by one, sliding down the wave of the petal like a floral slip and slide. 

the entire time saying, "whoa whoa whoa WHOAAAAAAA!"

Hair of a bee

Almost gone:

It is that time of the year where the bees are frantic with their last attempts for gathering.

took advantage of getting nice and close to this fellow as he tries to finish off this sunflower.

starting to see more and more bees against the side of the house over the night time.

by morning they are increasingly falling.

really gets one thinking.

July 2014 hops

I desperately need to get out there and pull my first harvest of hops.

they are just begging to be brewed.

freshly dried hops thrown into the final 5 of a boil can NOT be compared!

the difference is undeniably there.

Tomatoes in a bucket

When the tomatoes turn red our summer becomes a bit more purposeful:

proof our gardening abilities are boastful

and 

the additional freshness to our food is pretty damn amazing.

we grow our tomatoes in buckets to excellent success:

this method allows us to amend to the soil more exactly,

keep the tomato soil more isolated from pests,

allow for earlier plantings,

and creates different layers of growth so we can plant companion vegetables between the tomato plants.

we have a quantity of buckets half buried in the garden and another quantity that are sitting on pavement in unoccupied spots of the back landing.

the only other note is that we do leave room for mulch on the top and a few inches below the rim. this way i can have the boys water them with the hose till the mulch floats to the rim and then stop. that amount of water seems to work well for us.

we grow a number of varieties for different recipes. these cherry tomatoes are just for us to eat on the spot while we garden. the key is to plant enough that the oldest boy doesn't eat them all before my me.

Chronodex week 26 with a fireworks theme and two ridiculous fireworks

For Independence Day we have our daytime fireworks that the boys light off all day long 

and

then there are the bigger works that dad gets to light.

among the fireworks that the boy had were these two absolutely ridiculous ones: 

poo dog and chicken egg.

the cackling youth at the end of the chicken egg works was the youngest.

A fireworks themed week for the chronodex leading up to Friday's Independence Day.

for two days i had just a bit of extra time to make a VERY short video on the chronodex. adding a motion picture element to the final product is quite rewarding.

ground flower chronodex

smoke bomb chronodex

strobe light chronodex

chonodex 6 no 7.6.2014

Independence Day games

Around mid afternoon every Independence Day we shoot the daisies.

when we are fat from food and DRINK, around mid afternoon we take on our Independence Day Challenge. we pull out the boys old BB guns and take turns seeing who can shoot off the designated daisy blooms.

Independence Day Challenge, Lewis's turn

sitting on lawn chairs we take turns until, "mama had a baby and her head popped off".

Flowers at 3 oclock

Storms tonight

but

here are the flowers at 3 o'clock

the breeze was starting to pick up

Flowers at 1 oclock

Storms tonight

but 

here are the flowers at 1 o'clock

"B"ucking silver maple

Wether at the bench or outside, making shavings means making progress 

and

here i am working on filling my cuff to the brim.

bucking the last log of the day.

this really should of been an early spring job, but the condition of the tree became too apparent after these last storms. 

next step will be to start swinging and make firewood.

Palm reader and damaged calm

Nothing better than sitting down for a moment in a garden chair after working hard outside.

the whole idea is to take a breather and rest the mind,

then

suddenly i found myself covered in a nest of red spider mites.

with the calm damaged i felt it necessary to teach this one a lesson.

they don't really brush off, they more or less just smear off.

Haws' green and reflected blue skies

Taking a breather and watching the clouds go by in my bucket of mirror.

filling up water for the top tier:

my skin is starting to get tight from the sun, so i found it refreshing to see the thin layer of overfill water on the ground. 

from one layer of water to another, i just took a moment to watch the reflected clouds go by.

Chronodex week 19 and the garden blooms

Around week 19 of each year the last chance of frost is over and the garden really starts to pick up.

this week the iris are coming to be

iris are coming to bloom in week 19

and

the damn volunteer trees are popping up everywhere! 

volunteer silver maple in a retaining wall

before work i needed to do some trimming of the beard.

so then of course i needed a bearded chronodex.

bearded chronodex

 after the bearded chronodex, i though i would make a mustache chronodex

but 

that failed. 

below was my plan B version. 

plan b chronodex

Chronodex week 18 and the mammatocumulus

Some weeks are better chronodex weeks then others.

this week i allowed myself a bit more time to organize my day. the results were better preparedness and some entertaining bottle/can themed chronodex.

chronodex 5.5.2014 bottle theme

chronodex 5.6.2014 bottle theme

chronodex 5.9.2014 can theme

the week ended on a more dramatic note.

a nice storm front came in and leading the way was this magnificent ceiling of mammatus clouds. 

mammatocumulus over eastern nebraska

there really is something very energizing about such a site.

European mount removing deer head from the ground

Catastrophe hits my 2013 deer head for mounting.

This is the largest deer i had ever took and this beauty deserved a proper mounting.

unfortunately

the freezer storing it failed and i am now on to plan b, a european mount (like my other heads).

i am not going to dwell on the loss but will look forward to the alternative.

to clean the skulls, i bury them to just below the antlers. after burying i cover with a large tote and let the bugs do the rest. when i excavate the skull a quick rinse with hose is about all i need. 

in february the ground is still frozen so i had to hang it up a bit. life got busy and kept putting off burying it. needless to say that by the beginning of april the weather turned nice and I was at the point where i could not put off getting it in the ground. 

i have a dedicated spot to bury the heads and it was currently occupied with another one.

the below image is what a person will see when the tote is pulled off.

just the antlers periscoping above grade.

removing deer head from ground

i was very surprised to see how much skin was still on the top. i blame this on last years heat and drought effects on the insect population. the only other area that needed some attention was some mass in the eye sockets and that just poked out. all in all it just needed a brief scalping. 

what i really like about letting the insects take care of business is that the membranes are picked clean and no damage is done. plus there is no stink from boiling. this is as simple as it gets.

removing deer head from ground, never have i seen so much skin still attached after pulling from the ground

a bit of a shake and the lower jaws and some dust fall off. 

after hosing i will need to do some skinning.

the leather has hardened a bit but in about 20 minutes all traces of skin are gone. 

20 minute scalping and this deer is ready for the next step

the next step is to cover the antlers with an opaque wrap and then hang the head to sun bleach.

after awhile the head will whiten. when all is said and done i will have a white skull and natural colored antlers. what i really like about this process is that it is about the closest "controlled" method to what would happen out in nature. 

there are many ways to do a european mount and this happens to be mine. i have no issues with any other techniques. some people like to peroxide the skull for an ultra white hollywood smile, but that is not my aesthetic. some people take their skull to a professional to have the meat removed with dermestid beetles or buy then and do it themselves. i would actually be willing to do that. what i like the idea of the entire process happening in a drier environment.  

when i buried the 2013 head i actually had to use 2 totes, one for each antler!