Happenings at The Homestead

The fire danger in Kommiecticut (actually most of southern New England) has been anywhere from "High" to "Extreme" with RED FLAG WARNINGS for the past few weeks. I receive the daily fire danger alert from the state via email. If there is a day of rain, the danger may go to low for one day, but on the next day it goes back to "HIGH" and continues up until the next rain. There have been many fires in the region and several I have personally worked. There was a 700 acre fire in Rhode Island that looked like a fire from out west that required help from CT & MA. Our fires never get into the trees like that requiring air drops, but that one did. The next couple of photos are from one my department fought along a town hiking trail. When we got the call it was reported as 10' x 10'. I was on duty that day and got there first with our brush truck, finding an area that was now 100' x 100' with a roaring fire spreading fast. We put it out with a total of six guys and 2,000 gallons of water from two of our engines. When all was said and done it was more than an acre. Normally a dirt strip will stop it, but as you can see it went right across the hiking trail burning both sides. In the last photo, the fire was on a hilltop a few hundred feet in off the road. Smelly, dirty, and soaking wet when you are done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My house is surrounded by woods and for the most part has a wide WUI (wildland-urban interface) barrier except for the west side facing the road. That is a thin strip of grass and in the summer also has a thick lush green area of ferns and ground cover. However, everything is just starting to grow so the ground is still covered with dry cured fuels that burn ferociously.

Our front porch which sees lots of use in warm weather

Looking down the steep hill from the porch towards the road.

The front of the house from the driveway

 

As you can see, the woods are pretty close to the front of the house. All it would take is some fucktard driving by to flick a cigarette butt out the window to light off my front woods. Under normal conditions that is not an issue. Once the tree canopy shades the forest floor, the ground cover holds the moisture and prevents fire spread. Right now, the sun is shining right through and baking everything on the ground making it super flammable. Therefore, once in the morning and once in the evening, the entire area 20-30 feet from the grass line out is wet down with what we in the fire service call "The Green Line" meaning a garden hose. Doing it twice a day will allow the water to soak through enough to slow if not halt fire spread. This coming Sunday we are supposed to get significant rain, so with this area pre-wetted down, the rain should really soak through and not just run off down the hill. Luckily we have not suffered through the decades of drought like Kommiefornia and are allowed to clear and mange our forests. I have a pile of stuff to burn out back once the fire danger lessens.

In yesterday's post about my Rhodesian Ridgeback Eli's birthday, I mentioned he won a dog show. The official photo came in the mail. I cropped it out for SafeSECS to eliminate the judge and my wife's faces, but there is my Handsome Boy in a show stance.

We normally keep our dogs lean, so you can just make out their ribs. But my wife was told that judges don't care for that look, so we have upped his meal portions to bulk him up and it seemed to work this time.

Twitter Can Suck It, I'm Now On GAB

All because of YOU.... Glen Filthie! 😆

If you are so inclined to join GAB, or are already on there, find me and give me a follow. I am even more snarky, perhaps mean, and some might say hateful where I know I won't be cancelled.

My existing Twitter account and tweets will just sit there and languish in perpetuity. 

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.