Baby Boy's Birthday

Eli (Whitney) the Rhodesian Ridgeback aka "Baby Boy" is 3 years old today. Not a puppy anymore, but he sure does love his Daddy. He is the youngest of our three dogs.

8 week old puppy version going home. He was the pick of the litter, but the breeder decided not to keep him. She was worried about his tail, but the little imperfection went away as he grew.

 

 

Another shot from June 2020 in his new home. Floppy ears and giant paws.

Now? The breeder warned us he came from breed stock that was hard driving and would need tons of exercise. HA! While he does do Agility and Scent Trials with my wife, go hiking and other outdoor activities, he is equally happy to nap.

 

Here he is in his favorite spot, curled up in the crook of my leg on the couch watching TV. We have a 65" flat screen and he loves to sit and watch animal shows, especially with dogs. My wife will stream the Westminster Dog Show or Agility matches and he is enthralled.

Eli is the fourth Ridgeback we have had and all were raised by us from puppies. They are great dogs. He is currently undergoing breed confirmation and his breeder is paying for everything. All we have to do is get him to the show. My wife has been doing all the handling. They did win last show which was his first. 9 more wins plus a major and he gets his AKC title.

Mommy took him to work today, and I'll bet he will get a birthday Frosty from Wendy's on the way home this evening.

No Range Time, Been Fishin' Instead

I have been out fishing twice over the past few days without getting skunked. The bass are now active. All my tackle has the barbs crimped for easy catch and release. It also makes landing them a little harder because if you don't keep tension on the line they will get away.

Saturday morning the 15th I got up at 4:30 and was at the club pond around 05:15. It was still dark and the fish must have been asleep because there was zero activity. That is, until early dawn at 06:00 when it seemed like a switch got flipped and they started jumping and biting. First I caught a Smallmouth Bass by hooking it in the side. It must have swam by my lure just right as I was reeling it in. It was hooked solid but easily unhooked and released with just a small wound. It swam away fast. Next I had two good sized fish on the line but lost them both about 12 feet from shore. It could have been the same fish for all I know. I then landed two good sized Bluegills. Not very long but they both tried to swallow my lure whole and the hook got them solidly in the lip. They fought hard enough to activate the drag which I tightened up. Bloop... back in the drink they went. The last fish of the day was a good sized Largemouth Bass. He put up a good fight and I successfully got him to shore. The hook was through his upper lip and easily removed. I took a good look at him and tossed him back. Our club pond is stocked with Trout, but I don't fish for them. IMHO they are too fragile for catch and release and since my wife won't eat game fish I don't keep anything.

I went fishing at the club pond again last night after shift. I only caught and landed a single Largemouth Bass just as it was getting dark. I was using a wiggly floating plug that had two treble hooks. The bass hit it right after the lure hit the water and tried to swallow the whole thing because he had both treble hooks stuck in his mouth. Again, crimped barbs so easily removed and it swam away as soon as it hit the water. As I started to leave, I passed the deep swamp created by a beaver dam. Holy cow... the fish were super active breaking the surface every where. I parked in a pull off and started casting from the edge of the road. I got one bite early and then nothing as it got darker. I will try fishing there instead of the pond on my next outing which will hopefully be tomorrow evening.

A word about Bluegills. They are the favorite fish for kids to catch and considered not worth anything by most fisherman. There is no bag limit and kids will fill a 5-gallon bucket full of them. When I was a teen, I used to go fishing with my neighbor in his canoe at Shenipsit Lake in the wee hours of the morning. We would actually fish for Bluegills because they were HUGE! They were big enough to fillet, so I would keep 2 or 3 of the largest ones for my lunch. I would dip the fillets in raw egg and roll them in bread crumbs, then pan fry them with some onions. YUM!

Once the weather warms up a little more I will expand my horizons by fishing some wild woodland ponds and some Army Corps of Engineers dammed up water ways from my kayak.

Fuckin' Liars!

When you spew lies to try and garner support for your position, you lose any and all credibility.

Gun violence IS NOT the leading cause of death among children.

If the media was to actually do its job, these anti-gun hoplophobes would be called out, ridiculed, and then ignored.

Sunday Morning Firefighter Breakfast

Sorry for the lateness of this post. I am on-shift alone today and have been hammered with calls since mid-morning when I started to compose it. I just got back in the office to do my reports and decided to get this post up first.

 

We had a steak BBQ with friends over the weekend. My wife bought some nice top sirloin steaks at The Country Butcher in Tolland. They were pretty big so I only ate half of mine, which meant the other half would become a steak-n-egg breakfast. It is after 3:30 PM EDT and I am still running on breakfast with no interest in lunch.

I slice the steak to half thickness and fry it char side up with butter. A left over baked potato got cubed up for homefries, skin and all sprinkled with garlic salt and paprika. Two fresh eggs out of my chicken coop from yesterday afternoon over medium with a slice of cheddar melted on top, and a Thomas' cinnamon raisin English muffin slathered with REAL butter. Just before I ate (after the photo), the eggs were doused with some Cholula Hot Sauce. FYI... The apple is the fruit pattern on the plate, not food.

Small Scale Farming Since 2007

I have raised chickens for eggs for almost 16 years. While we consume our share of eggs, we give eggs to family and sell the surplus to friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I will be placing an order to a regional farm supply outfit for 8 more Rhode Island Red pullets on Monday. Today, my wife had two of our three dogs at an event in New Hampshire all day, leaving our female standard poodle Lucy Petunia home with me and my father-in-law.

Her Majesty, Princess Lucy Petunia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our dogs have a fenced in yard they access through the walkout basement. With the boys away with Mommy, Lucy could be out in the open area of the property where she stays close by. When the boys are home and all three dogs are loose they tend to run off into the woods out of sight and come back when they feel like it. Outside free separately, they come when they are called.

The dog yard is separated from the chicken yard by a 5 foot high wire fence and a gate. Once every few weeks, we let the chickens into the dog yard to go on a tick search and destroy mission. Today with the boys away, I let them have at it.

I only allow this when I am home, due to the fact that the fence surrounding the chicken yard is secure from predators, where the dog yard is not. So, as insurance against predators, this was handy near the door to the deck overlooking the dog yard.

1971 vintage Marlin 336 in .30-30

 

I would have a clear shot from the deck down to the yard at any critter after my birds. The magazine stays empty but the sleeve on the stock contains 9 rounds of Federal 150 gr softpoint ammo and the scope is a Bushnell Trophy zeroed at 100 yards. I can lock and load quite fast on my way out the door. The 150 gr lead pill will instantly evacuate the chest cavity of all vital organs for a fox or bobcat.

I bought the Marlin 336 second hand back when I first started raising chickens and realized I did not have a proper firearm for predator control. It cost me $265 and had the Marlin scope mount already on it. I had the Bushnell scope and mounting rings in the safe not mounted to anything. With the Federal ammo, I can shoot quarter sized groups at 100 yards. Closer and I just aim a little lower. For larger predator trouble I have some Federal 170 gr that shoots 2 inches lower at 100 yards with the same scope settings.