ness

Interesting stuff. I've got a buddy that's a big upland bird hunter and he's really into the Deutsch Drahthaar, which is an offshoot of German Wirehaired Pointers. Those guys take much the same approach as what you're saying with the Pudelpointer guys -- strict breeding practices, testing prior to registering, buyer screening, etc.

You’ve shared that picture and story before. What a good boy!

You know you’re welcome anytime! Rusty is a wild man and hard to control at a year and a half, but I feel like he’s got real potential. I’ve never had a more eager and quick learner than him though. Just need to put in the time, which isn’t easy. Ruby’s steady and has always done good. She’s 11; I hope we get a few more years out of her. KS opens this weekend but we’re tied up with another wedding. I’ll probably wait for things to calm down a bit and get Rusty out by himself.

I have wondered where Justin is. He was always a good contributor here

As much as you two love animals, (and I don't mean eating them, I'm thinking Sadie), and as much as you love hunting waterfowl, I wish you could get a Lab or such. There's nothing better than a four-legged partner, IMO. My dad, brother and I hunted ducks a fair amount, but without a dog. My uncle George was an avid waterfowl hunter and we went hunting with him once. It was my first exposure to a wonderful hunting dog. He had a female black Lab named Sam. The blind had a small door and Sam would sit rock solid there through the shot, but when my uncle gave the signal she was out the door like a rocket. If she didn't see the duck he could steer her through whistle commands. It was really something to see! I can just see you and Pat with a loving, well-trained dog making your hunts a bigger joy, and extending your years hunting. And being a wonderful companion the 99% of the year you're not hunting.

Holy flash flood, Batman!

Yikes!

Ahh, thanks for the offer but you don't need to do that!

Any seasonings, etc. when doing the pressure canning?

Another excellent, well-written report! You’ve got a real talent for telling a story, like John. Thanks and keep it up please!!

I heard some time ago that an American Indian said something like, 'Only the white man can cut a piece off the end of a blanket, sew it back on the other end, and think he has more blanket.'

It was interesting to us, and you probably know this, but every bar we went to in Ireland had Southern Comfort in a prominent place on the shelf. And, we went to at least one bar a day. Not to sit around to drink but to eat. Because that's where you eat in little Irish towns.

I miss having them around. I used to love seeing a ball of rabbit or squirrel fur laying on the ground. We had a sickly coyote hanging around behind our fence, under our neighbor's deck. etc. a couple years back. I was glad when he disappeared! One of the neighborhood internet wildlife sleuths decided it was probably a jackal

I've never encountered a gray fox. The suburban ones we had were red and generally didn't give a hoot about people being around. One morning our dog was barking out the upstairs window so I went to take a look. There was a red fox in the back yard right next to our little 4-foot fence. He jumped over the fence from a standing stop, which really impressed me. Cool animals!

The three gallons I started back in August fermented out very dry at about 0.998. I added some priming sugar for carbonation and bottled it a couple weekends ago. The test bottle (plastic soft drink bottle half filled) was rock hard, indicating it had fermented more and produced the carbonation, so I pasteurized last weekend. I noticed one bottle had a pretty thick sediment so I thought I'd crack that one open and check it out. I guess it got a little more than its fair share of yeast because when I opened it up it was a geyser! Now I was skeered I had a problem, so I opened a couple more. All was well on those two with perfect carbonation. Just where I wanted them acid/tannin/sweetness/flavor-wise, but still pretty young. With my safety glasses on I inspected the remaining bottles and didn't see any others with heavy sediment, so I think I'm good. But...these won't be getting shipped anywhere. I had one of my November 2023 ciders the other night and it was really good. They have all three continued to improve with age, but have kinda plateaued.

They are cool but kinda act weird at times. We've had them around the neighborhood, even in our back yard, but not recently. I have a friend that's got a second story deck and one climbs the steps and sits on the deck furniture from time to time.

Nice report! It’s cool when you catch on a fly you tied; cooler when it’s your pattern!

My oh my! Great report!!!

Just got back to the room after seeing the Peterson’s in a very small theater in Branson. Four Peterson siblings, their mom and a guy on dobro. We found them on YouTube sometime ago and really like them. Bluegrassy takes on a lot of other folks work and a bunch of their own too. Merle, Alison Kraus, Fleetwood Mac, Queen (Bohemian Rhapsody; didn’t see that coming!), Denver, Emmy Lou, Dolly. Excellent show, good audience rapport too. We were in second to last row, AKA, the fourth row. Up close and personal

Ladies and gentlemen: Sexual Chocolate!

That boy’s good!

This week’s ear worm. Love this rendition

The elk in Estes are interesting - oftentimes right there in the middle of town. Kinda felt sorry for this guy who got tangled up in some Christmas lights.

And…there are native cutthroats in that there water!

Nice shot! I was out Tuesday but it was a little hazy plus I had some light pollution to deal with.