BilletHead

Johnsfolly, I would trade you a couple dozen green tomatoes for that red one . Well my plants continue to grow too much! I finally took a measurement on the tallest. EIGHT FOOT from dirt to top. I mean this plant is loaded. After the storm, rain and wind last evening I was worried some of these would be trashed. Nope my system worked so far. I did start topping the plants and I took over a foot off of some of them. Blooms and little tomatoes. I cringed as I clipped each branch. After trimming the eight footer I counted 26 tomatoes that I could see easily on that one plant. I thought of Jack and the beanstalk as I looked at the pile of trimmings, The plants before the trimming, Some of the Black Krims at the bottom beginning to turn. BilletHead

Ha Lancer in the first photo I thought for a moment you had one of those special pointing dachshund breeds, second photo shows the true type. Plain old weenie dog. Best kind the pet! BilletHead

Great shots so far!

Ha! I think this is so neat Ronnie, If you look back you know what Pat and I have for kayaks. Ours is a cross between a kayak and stand up paddle board. I know you posted you don't care if you can stand up or not but we like the option. With my abilities I cannot sit too long or stand too long so I need to constantly move from time to time. They are not speed demons either but very comfortable and have the high seat option. I may just might know where there is one like ours that needs some work and might be bought for the right price. I will look into that. For fishing sit on top are the best IMO. For speed and a dryer ride a sit inside type.. I have a native ultimate 12 foot sit inside I use for mostly easy duck hunting and some fishing. Like it too. As mentioned above use Austin Canoe and Kayak out of Texas http://www.austinkayak.com/ Sign up for their newsletter. Only comes once a month, they will not spam you and each month 10 to 15 percent off one item. Some things free shipping. On your birthday another 15 percent discount. We have bought some pretty nice things with the discount and free shipping I would never otherwise buy. Good luck and PM me if I can help in any other way.I could bring the Diablo's down sometime and we could paddle around some so you can see what thy are all about, BilletHead

No the smell was out of this world! Pure torture waiting for the dish to finish. Kept opening the lid and taking a sniff. Pat kept telling me stay out and leave it alone. Vacuum sealed six more squirrels yesterday for later dishes. I will be polishing the leftovers off at lunch today and then it will be deer soft tacos for dinner. BilletHead

Mostly boondock camping for us Ketchup, Save for two weeks of it out West. Stay off grid all we can but there is times we need to resupply, get water and a real shower between places. Another reason the high country is the fishing and the cooler weather. Hard to get a good nights sleep sweating. BilletHead

Mr. Blacknoseddace, While never going out to target carp on purpose I am always keeping my eyes peeled for the opportunity. I have caught them on small buggers and like you crawfish patterns. Last Summer while way upriver looking for some holdover hybrids I spied some rather large grass carp in schools. I had just tied on a smaller grey over white clouser with bead chain eyes. Cast it ahead of one of these schools of fish. Actually had one chase it, check it out on the pause and turn off to join his buddies. I quickly followed up with a clouser swimming nymph in orange brown color. Clear water and this fish made a six foot run to take it, After the long battle in the section of the river the rest of the school wanted nothing to do with me a second time, BilletHead

Well then this is a keeper! Purposely picked out three of the biggest toughest squirrels for the recipe. They turned out very, very tender. Not hard to make just smelling them as they cooked was the worst part . http://honest-food.net/2013/10/24/braised-squirrel-aurora-recipe/ Will be doing this again! BilletHead

John, Big tomatoes soon for you? Color me jealous! Our sun gold have not done too well yet. The Doc Mrs. BilletHead works for has been gone this week and I have been watering the sun gold and red cherry plants we planted for her in big pots. Eating tomatoes as I water too. She has been watering from day one with miracle grow and the plants are as tall as our Black Krims pictured. I had to do the same thing to her giant plants and told her to stop with the miracle grow. I had to stand on a chair to tie them up to the back eve of her house. While doing this task I had to take a dip in her pool a couple of days :). Tough job but someone has to do it. We also attached a section of cattle panel to her fence and transplanted some blackberry starts under the panel. Nice big starts and they have grown and I started weaving them in and out of the panel. She will have blackberries next summer for sure. Training the berry vines is easy but now will train her how to take care of her berry patch. I know a cattle panel in her backyard? I assure you it was a classy installment and she is very happy with her mini garden to be . Now to bunnies, We have been fighting some too. Man where are those rodents when season is here? One had a hole dug and tunneled under one of the cucumber plants. I reached into the hole pulling out wads of clover and bunny fur bedding thinking there would be little naked bunnies with each hand full. When i got to the bottom of the hole nothing. Got there before mama rabbit laid any Easter eggs! I pitched the mess of stuff in the yard then filled and tamped the hole dung and watered it good. So far no more new excavation. BilletHead

Oh what have I done now? Tall tomato plants in one bed. I did put some good potting mix and soil to amend this bed plus sprinkle a little triple 13 pellet fertilizer. I mean just a little before tilling. I was under the impression the pellet fertilizer breaks down slowly and would not influence this seasons growing period? This is the same bed I had the lettuce growing under the tomato starts when they were small. The plants are loaded with tomatoes of all sizes, big at the bottom getting smaller towards the top. I have big cages with a six foot stake in the middle of the cages, then some four to five foot stakes zip tied to the six footers. When that mess started to lean metal fence posts and heavy cord to reinforce all that. I will need a step ladder to give a shot of seven dust when the tomato worms appear. I think I will be giving this mess a buzz cut this weekend and just let the lower fruit grow. Cucumbers coming out the wazoo. We have been picking them small a the Mrs. doesn't care for them big and seedy. I get out daily and pick a couple small, rub off the little spiny roughness and begin to chow down skin and all. Of course there is a ongoing summer of cukes and onions in the fridge. My lunch today was just a big bowl of cukes and onions, Early crop of blackberries need picking each day now with the other later varieties still in the green stage. Got a gallon bagged up so far and will start another bag in the morning. Still have some froze up from last year. May have to try my hand at blackberry syrup. The baby chestnuts are growing daily You can actually see the change every few days. The blooming catkins are not too fragrant actually a bit stinky. Have yet to see a honey bee on them but all kinds of other insects being pollinators, Have had a few cherry tomatoes to eat and am so ready for the big ones to ripen. As far as peppers go some cubanells have been picked and eaten. A couple sweet yum-yums too. Nice big jalapenos soon and the anchos not far behind. So far a good season, BilletHead

Famous words of Homer Simpson, Ummmm Bacon To answer your question Ness Cooking? Yes some but I think I gained twenty pounds looking at your food pictures from the trip. Have not tried much new but I have been doing some sniping from the back porch shooting the faces off of squirrels. Up to fifteen since season opened and only lost one front leg. I was a bit off on that shot. Been looking up some recipes and found one we may try tomorrow using a few of the tree rats. Bought a new toy and tried it out last weekend making Sichuan fragrant duck for the umpteenth time (good stuff right there). Sucker born every minute and I hate Cabelas sale flyers but it will be used all the time. Better than heating up the house in this hot weather, Got a real good cure on the Wok. Just a rinse with hot water and wipe out after use. Fire up the burner or throw in the gas grill to dry. Who says there isn't an easy button? BilletHead

Fantastic Russ! Blessed news for sure, The BilletHead's

Congrads Joe D., Not a golfer but can relate to accomplishing the holy grail of any sport, BilletHead

Oh yes Wrench sometimes I bite my tongue so hard it bleeds to keep from saying what I really feel. Shouldn't have to be that way but sometimes some people get real butt hurt if you say something they don't agree with. We should all take some things said here like a grain of salt. Lots of opinions here like all those little grains in that bottle of salt. If we were all the same it would be a boring world to live in. Oh Ham Richard is a member but one of those closet members. He prowls this place but keeps quiet but when we are together he and I are not so quiet. We tend to let the world know how we feel about things. Keep it on the water though. Heck we even bump heads from time to time while fishing. And don't think the fishing is always off the hook or on the hook so to say like it was for you two . Next time you make the trip it could be different but days like you had makes it balance out, BilletHead

I am sure cedar will work but like you said a bit heavy. More durable too. Never tried it. Like the way balsa floats and carving is a breeze! I bet if a guy wanted to he could make some great spinning lures out of the cedar, BilletHead

Gosh Wrench I hope you don't think I am phony Got your message Ham and I will get you the info you want. Sorry I did not get to see you this go around as I was in a fishing passion in a way off place. When I got back I was so spent and beat I couldn't get up the next morning to get with you two. I was up there this morning with not much luck. Will be doing the evening shift here in a bit, well you know just where I will be. You wore Richard to a frazzle so he is resting today doing his driving job. Yes also to meeting some great folks on here. Yes there are disagreements and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I would fish with most anyone on here, most I say :), BilletHead

Still thinking about you Al and Mary, Been gone a couple of days and off the grid. Catching up a bit and reading things. While I do think some meds are outrageous I will not debate it here on Al's post about his bride. Wrench I will visit this with you PM or I have your number and will text you until you get sick of me but I leave you with this. What would be the price that you would put on a life? BilletHead

Mrs. BilletHead and I are so glad to hear about this recovery! I can relate to you Al being a caregiver. Bet there is no way we can know what our wives have felt. I know when Mrs. BilletHead had her chemo she had to take a neulasta shot. This was to try to keep her white count up. Six of those shots at 6000.00 bucks each. Thank goodness for insurance. Our thoughts will still be with you Al and Mary Agnew , The BilletHead's

Dang it Ronnie you got me to looking around and they now have an XP90. The Macro on these new little cameras like we have is so neat. If you look into the center of this hybrids eye you can see the reflection of the camera lens and my thumb on the shutter button. Ready now to see more of your photos. Funny too having this little thing in your pocket makes you use it more too, BilletHead

Nice Ronnie, Us the same and it just isn't feasible at times to haul the bigger unit around. We started off with the Fuji Finepix XP 70 a couple of years back before vacation. Liked it so much before last years trip we hit Sam's club and they had a special on the newer XP 80 with an instant rebate at the register. http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/xp/finepix_xp80/ Now we both carry them. Hate to admit it but mine is carried in my man bag (murse) and when I leave the truck in the outdoor world fishing, hunting or in the garden it is in my pocket ready for action. All the features are great. I even downloaded the App and use the phone as a remote for setting off the shutter. I am not a techie person at all. I find myself even grabbing the thing at home for use especially for posting photos on here. BilletHead

Looking good there Ness buddy, Our gooseberries are huge this year. Mrs. BilletHead says she is going to start picking some tomorrow.I think we have three gallons still froze up . The wild raspberries we have in the road ditch are changing color now and like yours it won't be long. BilletHead

Chief, Remember after you skin and gut those baby possums you stuff an apple in their mouths before putting them in the smoker BilletHead

Couldn't agree more Tho1mas. Love the raised beds. What lettuce we don't eat this weekend will be in the compost.. BilletHead

Well time for the garden update. How is yours going? The BilletHead's is growing great but some hot sun would help. With this wet weather am sure glad it is in raised beds. Starting with the chestnut project. Some of the catkins have baby nuts on them. I mean tiny nuts. My friend who got me to start this project assured me the nuts will grow fast. He said you can see the nut grow and change every few days. Did more reading about wildlife liking these. A lot more nourishment than other mast crops. Deer actually prefer chestnuts to acorns. We will see . They will produce each year unlike some acorns that only produce every other season. So here is one of our baby's under my thumbnail. Tomatoes going crazy.The lettuce under them needs to be picked this weekend as the sun is not getting to them. Pretty little heads in those beds. Lettuce binging with every meal now, Little tomatoes hiding in there too, Planted some cucumbers in the original lettuce bed. A couple of purple basil also. Had some garlic sprout in the house so I planted a row of them too. Every clove in that cluster sprouted. Don't know anything about growing garlic but here it goes, Then there are the peppers. Some plants growing well while others a bit slower. Some with peppers, We think we did a good job of getting the blackberries under control. Berries formed on one variety while the outer rows still in bloom, Herbs great. New pots of sweet basil and rosemary. The carryover sage 7 to 8 years + is in bloom Lemon thyme, oregano, mexican oregano carryovers too. Finally a few flowers showing off. Torch lily's four years in the soil, may need to thin out this fall really in thick masses, The wildflower patch, coreopsis in bloom while the pale purple coneflowers not far behind. Some of the butterfly milkweed is blooming and soon the backyard flowers will be showing off. Also had something pretty cool happen this year. We have five dogwoods growing around the yard. The area we live in has no wild trees in the timber. That may change soon. We found four baby trees growing in one of our flower beds. Yanked them out and put them in other places in the yard. Crap we really don't have anyplace to plant more stuff unless we take something out. So if anyone wants a dogwood I may be able to fix you up or if anymore appear they will go to the timber and take their chances, BilletHead

Wonderful Jesters HK, Smiles all the way around. Here is hoping my grandchildren get the fishing bug someday, BilletHead