BilletHead

Nice! Supposed to have some around here. I am still looking for my first, BilletHead

You know Slab I don't get tired of my hobbies but my broken down body does. I get out of bed or the easy chair and it is taking longer to stand up straight. Good thing is I am not itching from the ivy nest I was in. I look at my pile of hunting clothes and think I need to burn them . When rolling out of bed on the screened in porch, yes rolling is how I get up I heard a gobble. Thought I should be out there fighting it. Now we will see how the weather is in the morning and if Mrs. BilletHead wants to try again, BilletHead

Once again I was asked to help in the Reel Recovery retreat. It was held at Westover Farms. Ten men had signed up and seven were feeling well enough to make the trip. I got to do the guide thing to take three of the men. Matt from Kearney, Tyler from Mansfield and Steve from around the St. Louis area. I was given the heads up on some things about Matt and felt urged to ask him if he would like to fish with me the first session, he did and we had a great time fishing and talking about what we had in common, not in common and life in general. Great guy and boy did we catch fish. He informed me when we had our closing ceremony and everyone was done fishing that we had caught the most out of all sessions . Second was Steve and I was asked to take him out. What a gentleman. He was the only one that had even fly fished before. When he found out after lunch we would be fishing together he was pretty excited. I had an alert on my phone we were under a thunderstorm warning as myself and the other river helpers watched the darkening sky it became dark, the wind blew, lightning hitting all around the rumbling of thunder! Just as it was at it's worst out on the porch came Steve, waders on, his bamboo rod in hand saying I am ready. I say Steve it's storming right now, but I want to go! We will they don't want us out there right now. Well I am ready . Still raining lightning and thunder in the distance he says again we gonna go? Yes we will go I am going to get my waders on and get a rain jacket so I don't get too wet. So where is your jacket Steve? Oh I got this light one. That won't keep you dry I got an extra.. I return and we get his rain jacket on. He grabs a wicker creel and one of the guys says we don't keep any fish. Oh I know Steve says my stuff is in there. So we rig up his bamboo rod and he says he had acquired the bamboo blank in Germany from an old guy that made it and could not fish anymore. He brought it back to the states and had it built. Steve is no spring chicken I tell you but we caught fish, quite a few. Every time he got hung up I cringed as he tried to flip it loose. I would finally say let me get it unhooked and then I was in a sweat holding that nice stick. I even got him to stripping woolly buggers and he caught a couple that way. Another river helper came down, Mike S. from the Ozarks Flyfishers. I told him he could be my net boy. Steve got a chuckle out of that and the three of us got to business working the fish over. Soon Steve says hey I got to sit down you two are wearing me out. He took a seat and handed the rod to us and says try it out. I castled a few times and handed the rod to Mike. Mike hooks up on a fish and I get it landed. He says this is pretty neat. I then tell Mike the story on the rod and he says as he turned a lighter shade of white if I knew that I wouldn't of even touched that rod. Steve caught a couple more and said I am done and want to get ready for dinner. We got him back and we I think were the last to quit. A while later after dinner some of the river helpers were trying their hands on the creek and I look down to see Steve bamboo rod in hand fishing by himself. I go over to see him hooked up on a fish. As I get there the leader broke and off goes the fish towing the strike indicator downstream. As I hurry closer Steve is following it reaching out with the tip of that rod trying to catch it. No Steve No don't do that I will try to get it. BUT it has that fly we caught so many on! Ha I thought and soon the floater separated from the line and we get that back. He looks at me and says I wanted that for a pattern I want to tie some of those. Do you have another ? Yes I will get you another. I do two and tell him one is a fly to fish with and one to take home, he grinned big. Day two after breakfast Tyler comes over and introduced himself. Will you take me out this morning? Yes I will be honored to Tyler. We grab gear and head out. More fishing and visiting, talked about his treatment and where he had it. Mercy in Springfield, hey that is where Pat my wife had her treatment. We caught a few and he said he wanted to fish the larger stream. We had lots of room there and we worked on his casting. Every time it went right and the line shot out he had the biggest grin. I swear you could see the gears in his head working. He asked questions, I did my best to answer. He learned to roll cast, upstream mend and downstream mend. He then asked to watch me cast. I explained a few things. Showed him a single hall and the double haul. Changed him over to a bugger and soon had him stripping. Missed a couple there. Then can I try to single haul? Sure but you don't need this right now. With a little help he did! Excellent! A few minutes before lunch we headed back to the little stream. If any of you have been here it is the garden section. A twisty little stream with a few short straight sections. I told him this would be his test. We lined up those straighter sections and told him to cast down stream and strip back watching the fly and the fishes reaction to it. Well it was on then. His heart was pumping, mine was pumping as the fish attacked that little black bugger. Tough to hook as they had to attack from behind in the four foot wide stream so most fish were missed as he strip set the hook right out of their mouth. He did hook and land two with that big grin on his face. He said he had bought a couple of eight weight rods with reels and line on craigslist and wants to learn to bass fly fish. I told Him I will tie him up a bass assortment so he can get started. I would also say we will be fishing together in the future. Lunch was served and closing ceremony finished goodbys said. Everyone back to real life. Good thing for these fellows and good for me too. A very humbling experience and I need that to reset from time to time. Out of these three fellows one is on maintenance chemo, one a year cancer free and one has been given six months left. The other four in various stages of treatment. I ask you all to say a prayer for these seven special guys. This is Matt and his very first fly caught fish. Steve and his bamboo rod just before the break off fiasco. Matt, Tyler, myself and Steve, BilletHead reset and humbled

I guess I was a sell out this morning, Ever had one of those days? Did not hunt the first three days of the second week due to volunteer work. Pretty tired when I got home last night but got a pretty good nights rest. Had a spot picked out where Mrs. BilletHead and I seen a few birds go through an area when she got her bird. Headed in at dark thirty to the spot. Set up and waited, soon birds began to sound off on the roost and fly down. As it got lighter I looked down to find I had set up in poison ivy . Went ahead and sat still watching birds. Had sixteen in front of me. Seven being gobblers. They strutted gobbled and circled the hens. This went on for a long time. I decided to call to no avail but I knew it would be that way. A few hens broke off with three toms in tow and they crossed into another field. All birds disappeared then some hens came back without the guys. Well crapola I thought. Got up very careful out of the noxious hazardous greenery I had nested in. Moved to peek into another field to see turkey rears heading the other way, crapola again. Called in a couple more places in smaller fields, nothing. Up again to peek in a larger field to see four birds messing around chasing each other but heading my way. Sat down and waited, they got closer but stopped out of range. Called some and one got too close. Juvenile bird goes down at ten o'clock on the nose. Fifteen and a half pounds, five inch beard with half inch nubbin spurs. One thing about it he skinned much easier than our other two birds and will eat pretty good. BilletHead

I learned from Elmer Fudd to watch out for them wraskelly wrabbits , BilletHead

Looking good there Ness Buddy! We finished up our planting yesterday. Worked on cages this morning some. Like you Ness we have had a rabbit problem. First of all they have jumped into the tubs and bit off some tomato plants. They usually do three or four each year before they decide they don't taste good. Then when the lettuce got so big and we left the covers off a few nights. Well the little rodents jumped in there, dug a hole, made a nest but before the easter bunnies could lay eggs I evicted the nest and covered up with wire. Go figure they did not eat any of the greens? Maybe they were mad and that was the reason they nipped the maters. Put more lettuce starts under the peppers like I did the tomato plants. They look good in there and just like in the tomato tubs and bed we will see how they do? BilletHead

Man there is some good looking grub here, Did a little foraging this morning. Got a nice pile of wild asparagus. So this afternoon we steamed this whole pile in the photo, then wilted some lettuce from the garden and fried up some of Pat's turkey she got yesterday. Only major thing bought was the bacon and breading. I think I could of grown the bacon if the Mrs. would of let me planted a few strips . The BilletHead's don't have much of a grocery bill.

Well I try but if I fail things go south fast. She should tell the story about being caught in a thunderstorm a mile from the house or having to crawl a hundred yards in the brush and mud at times. So we do don't do that anymore. The things we have done to try to get a bird. This year the pressure is off but we will try for a second bird. if it happens it happens if it doesn't we are happy with the season, BilletHead

Thanks a bunch fellows for the responses and likes. You guys made her day even better, BilletHead

Dang Ness! That looks goooooood! BilletHead

Well it happened and it was pretty exciting. Up early downed some coffee and cold cereal. Where we were going I really wanted to be in there early so it was dark thirty when we made the walk to our hide for the morning. I picked the spot where I had seen birds when we tried for the Mrs. bird last Tuesday in the rain. It was a fence/tree row between two large fields. It had been partially cleared of underbrush so we needed to be pretty stealthy to keep from being seen. We ended up not being too stealthy but kept hidden. Soon the sun began to light the Eastern sky and birds began to gobble on the roost. None close and it began to concern me. Quiet hit and I knew the fly down would began. Cackling on the roost hens began to pitch out into the field to our East. Then we started hearing gobbling on the ground. Tom's joined the hens and they began to feed silently moving away. I think these were boss birds and they knew the harem was theirs and could care less for my calling and this was the case. So the Mrs. was watching them as I heard gobbling to the South and they were coming fast. So it was time for her to shift carefully to the west and not alarm the big flock to our East. She shifted well and picked another tree. Here came three birds looking but again they ignored my calling and headed North and out of sight. OK shift back to original tree. Again she did and we watched the big flock. More gobbling to the South and shift again and two more again North and out of sight . What the heck I thought? Shift back to original tree again. Musical chairs I mean trees. Soon more gobbles and hens wanting to join the big flock in east field. I mean things were busy out there but none sounding off. I looked back to the North west to see strutting birds, three coming back to West field. THEY were listening to me. They would come and hang up, move more and hang up. I called and shook the gobble call. That was all it took and here they came. Shift again honey this might work! Bee lining it to us she could not get a shot and the lead bird crossed the fence row at ten yards. I told Pat to shift again carefully one more time hoping she would not spook the other birds getting ready to cross. She did and I could see her shaking badly. I mean BADLY. Under my breath I said calm down.First bird cleared the fence row less than ten yards away I said shoot, I cant too much brush. He was strutting closer. Then I heard an alarm from another tom behind us. The bird in front of us stretched out gobbled and was fixated on the decoys. He was so close and she was shaking so bad I was afraid there might be a miss. Boom, she waxed him. She began to cry and then I did did too. I don't care who you are when you are married as long as we have you want your spouse to succeed. Succeed she did. We claimed her prize. A nice big heavy bird too. 22.37 pounds, 11 inch beard, inch spurs on the nose. I am one proud happy husband. Sadie could care less, BilletHead

That is GREAT! Well done Gentlemen. Love the story and as soon as I get pictures resized there will be another . BilletHead couldn't be prouder of the Mrs. This morning !

Hang in there bud. I know a guy who could hook you up with four types of lettuce .

As much as I want to like that Ronnie I am not . Now I am half afraid to try these. BUT if there is enough bacon maybe I won't notice? One thing I can say is believe it or not canned tomatoes are a better BilletHeadbet when you cannot get fresh. Bad thing is they will not work for BLT. I detest soggy bread for BLT.

I did too, Mrs. B. brought home bacon and some of the most palest ugliest store tomatoes today. Got to have a BLT now that you have us thinking about them. Got lettuce for them though. Then we will be having wilted lettuce too. BilletHead

Let me know how smoked goose breast is .. BilletHead

Nicely done there John! That is a pretty fancy set up. Taking out Mrs. BilletHead in the morning. BilletHead

Well the BLT part of the garden is complete. First three pictures are for Tho1mas. I really wanted to plant some bacon strips and grow my own but Mrs. BilletHead put the nix on that and bought a pig . Had to put up a little fencing to keep out the rabbits and to keep the porker in. Hope it works cuz the little pig is growing wings, Getting things really going now. Some peppers in the ground too. Rosemary and basil growing. Still have 11 tubs that I will fill with peppers..Then the lettuce bed I will deal with and decide what to put in there. I gave away another six heads today. Sure wish some of you OA members were closer. I would gladly share. I had a monster salad for lunch and may for dinner tonight. It has been work but once it is done we get to water and watch it grow. BilletHead

After yesterdays cruddy fishing trip to the river I needed to save face. Went to the favorite farm/ irrigation pond. Built the fly rod, slipped into the waders and wouldn't you know it the wind came up . Oh well most casts wold be close so I had at it. Tied on a shuttlecock and went to chucking. Missed a few strikes and swirls and hooked up. Changed to a slider and picked up another. Once and a while you could see some blow ups across a wind blown point where they had minnows at bay. Then changed to an articulated worm. They loved the thing and a few more to hand. An hour later my urge to catch was satisfied and then home to work in the garden. All but one fish I caught was between two and three lbs.This pond has some real chunky fish, Time for a fish face!

I did last week one day Ronnie, Let me say it wasn't pretty. The run up was good but not enough water to get up for the run down. Tilted up the motor and floated back through the s curves. Luckily there was enough water to float the boat . BilletHead will not do that again.

Thanks for the offer John but I am all full of hobbies right now. Our Son in Springfield has his approved six hens in his town backyard, then there is one of my wife's coworkers that supplies us with fresh eggs. Many moons ago we had chickens, turkeys, guineas, ducks and geese running around in our yard. Pretty neat. Oh and a cage full of quail too. BilletHead

John an example from one of my books, Quote, " Each year, mushrooms appear t the leading edge of this expanding circle of mycelium. If the food supply is sufficient, the circle of mycelium may expand for hundreds of years. In undisturbed praire grasslands in Kansas, biologists have found fairy rings of meadow mushrooms and puffballs that were more than 600 foot in diameter. If the mycelium grew at a rate of about 18 inches a year, some of the rings in Kansas were formed at about the same time that Columbus landed in America, nearly 500 years ago. Large fairy rings several century's old have also been found in England near Stonehenge.They form a perfect natural counterpart to the circular assmblage of rocks placed by humans about 3,000 years ago to record the changing seasons through astronomical observations. " BilletHead

A thoroughly loaded omelet, Had a hankering for eggs this evening. Had stuff needed to be cooked too. Thus this was born and consumed. First off had one giant morel, the heart and gizzard from Mondays wild turkey, chives from the garden,some wild asparagus Mrs. BilletHead picked on her way home from work and some sharp cheddar cheese. I sliced the turkey heart thinly, diced the meat from the gizzard. Cut up the morel into pieces. Dredged the morel and turkey pieces in a mix of flour and Cajun seasonings. Heated up some goose fat, fried the morel and then turkey giblets. Drained on a paper towel. Cleaned skillet and added a slight amount of goose fat again. Mrs. B, scrambled some farm fresh eggs added the chives, asparagus and morels and turkey. Then she did her magic, Gave a flip cooked more added the cheese folded and finished, I know it looks kind of busy but it was good! You could taste all the elements. BilletHead

You know John I don't know. Guess we should investigate and report. I do know that I have taken morel trimmings to a couple places. One under our apple tree and then into a shroomy looking place next to the house hoping some spores would take root so to say and get started. 5 or 6 years worth and nothing yet. I dehydrated a few yesterday and can see a cloudy area where spores had fell out onto the dehydrator bottom and trays. i know I have seen forum member Gavin posting I think on the Missouri Mycological Society page, bet he knows? BilletHead

There must be RPS. Leaving the stump there does nothing to damage the fine network of threads in the ground. When you just yank up the shroom you can see the "roots". BilletHead