Let's get ready to rummmmbllllle

While I was away in the big city, Denise added her own contribution to "critters from the porch".  We must be in the middle of cardinal heaven, because we hear them every morning and they frequent the north pasture fencerow.  Denise threw out some old brown rice, and the redbirds have been loving it.

I also saw our neighborhood turkeys in that gap Saturday afternoon.  Unfortunately my camera was on the table and I didn't want to spook them by going outside.  It looks like two full grown hens and about nine youngsters that are better than half grown.  I did get a lone turkey on the game cam I set up Saturday evening, but I was hoping this flock found the corn.  My bet is that they will, eventually.

This weekend was about getting the porches close to right and setting up a deer feeder.  Friday I was cutting brush and overhanging branches to give a line of sight to the feeder.  Here's the result. (the ladder I was using to work on that pine tree is visible...it is not part of the field design).

I hung a camera on a little oak tree right behind the feeder Saturday evening...I'm thinking it may take a while before the deer find the corn, but I'll be watching for when they do.  Next week I'll see what we get and hang a better camera (one of the leftovers from Uvalde).  

There's some little native plants that are showing the signs of late summer.  I think these are beauty berries...but maybe not.

...now I know this is some kind of azalea...and a fall bloomer to boot.

We spent a little time working on the back porch.  We retrieved the big pots we've been lugging around for years and went with a cactus motif...I hope they survive the humidity.

We also moved Scotty's cajun cooler to the back porch and doubled up on the tables and chairs...and we're ready to party.  We were also able to place the big double utility cabinet on the back, which is useful for all kinds of stuff we don't want cluttering up the place.  I also hung two tools that Denise likes to have handy at a moment's notice...the broom and the snake chopper.

I'll close this blog with the first two pictures from the game cam...

I told you I snapped a turkey (no gobbler jokes, please).

TurkeyTown

It sure is nice to bug out a little early on Thursday when a place in the woods is your weekend destination.  If you ignore the two tone walls (it's on the list to get painted, but we're leaning towards keeping the fireplace/antique mantle), take a look at bliss after a week at work.  Very Norman Rockwellesque, if you ask me.

Friday was uneventful, but Saturday morning started off with a surprise, and my next installment of critters from the porch.

That's right - Ben Franklin's choice for the National Bird.  Although it was one of the choices in the contest (and one that no one picked), these avian visitors had nothing to fear.  They were all hens and only gobblers are legal game...for a short time in the spring.  Even so, they were cool to see.  Friday morning was very nice - north breeze, low humidity and temps in the upper 60's.  Just that little taste tease of the pending change of season.  It also brought a visit from Woody Woodpecker.

Well, I had to put down the coffee and the camera and get to work.  This weekend it was time for that big trashpile in the north field to go...also the turkeys got me thinking I had better get a corner of the north field ready for a deer feeder.

The spot is cleared, but the mower experienced a transmission belt malfunction Saturday...I got the belt back on the wheel, but got stumped by one end of some tensioner spring.  The feeder spot is almost ready, though...

There's a few saplings to cut on the right, and an overhanging oak limb, but the site is about ready.  Maybe I can pick up a feeder in Houston next week and get that thing set and feeding with a game cam to monitor any action.  I'm thinking crows, squirrels, coons and maybe turkeys will show up first.  The remainder of the clearing and the blind can come later.

As you can see, I forgot to take off the 300mm lens, so the above shots don't show the clearing as well as it could have...but it turns out to have been a fortuitous oversight.  As I was sitting on the back porch Sunday morning getting my haircut, our big ground birds showed up at the far end of the pasture...I didn't have to take a picture through the window this time.  We counted about a dozen by the time they all crossed.

I did see them Sunday evening crossing back the other way, so we have a flock hanging around here for a while at least. , I didn't have too much time for many more pictures, so I'll end this brief narrative here.  Until next week...

The Eagle has landed...(some would say the Buzzards)

We were able to load up a 20' U-Haul truck and another 6X12 covered trailer with the rest of our furniture and all of the big appliances.  We loaded on Thursday, July 25 and made it to our new permanent residence that evening, leaving nothing but a clean house behind us.  Scott (between night shifts) and Joe (between evening shifts, bailed us out and showed up around 8:30 on Friday morning for the unload.

They did yeoman's work and had us completely unloaded before 11:00 AM.  We then loaded up the frontload washer and dryer into Scott's truck for their ride back.  He didn't have room to take the side-by-side fridge, so we set it up on the front porch.  Joe remarked that now we had a porch decor consistent with the neighborhood.  The unload resulted in an interior decor that probably met the same standard...

  
Big Daddy came to stay for our first week in the house while I had to go back to Houston for work.  He was a big help as we started the slow process of situating our home.  He supervised the burn barrel...

...helped clear the front porch, and cleaned all of the windows (Joe had previously chunked the old window units and re-set the windows in the frames).

He also assisted Buck with the back porch critter watch...

...and tried out the kitchen table.

You'll notice the pile of dishes (maybe)...the dishwasher went on the blink the first time Denise tried to use it...those new appliance can't come soon enough (Monday, August 5th).  Meanwhile, Jack and Alice came for an end of summer visit...the new Exxon convenience store in Longville started stocking BlueBell, so the kids were instructed to eliminate the temptation, and they grudgingly complied.

Big Daddy left for BR on Sunday, Aug 4, and I picked up Audrey in Crowley (the halfway pt) that evening after she had spent a week in Florida with one of her friends.  Before that, we decided to supplement our future retirement years by subcontracting as a NORAD station...

Of course, it's the dishes for satellite internet and Direc TV.  Let this serve as the official invitation to family and friends who want to watch LSU games this fall in the country.  BBQ, fish fry, crab boil, fried backstrap...it's all on tap.

It's nice to be connected again.  For now we're using the same @sbcglobal.net e-mails, but we may change in the future.  Audrey was a pro at figuring out the DirecTV remote...it's going to take me a while, I think.

We still have some furniture rationalization to take care of.  The couch for now is in front of the fireplace...but it and maybe the matching love seat are destined for Illinois when we go to see the grandBea in a month or so.  Brian is taking the oak coffee table he grew up with, along with the entertainment stand/towers and the curio cabinet (for his budding library of scholastic tomes).  We're either wall mounting the TV over a re-worked fireplace, or building an entertainment center in front of it (and stick to fires outside somewhere).  Below...the aforementioned curio cabinet and my 30 year award from my corporate overlords...a grandfather clock (Jack assembled it for me and set the chimes...I might have to ask him to program it for silent mode before he goes home; I haven't decided.)

The new additions to the kitchen...

Alice was loading the nutri-system dry meals in the cabinet for us.  Jack was instrumental in helping me install the dishwasher - the only appliance the Sears guys couldn't set up for us due to some law protecting plumbers' work.  We got it in there and it works wonderfully.  Also, the utility room looks great with all of the appliances in there.

The guest bathroom is pretty close to being done.  When Joe was here in mid July, we started switching out all of the interior doors.  It is still a work in progress, but it already looks nice.

No post would be complete without a few yard shots; I cut another path through the north pasture, and trimmed some fenceline vegetation to enhance the view from the kitchen porch...

Alice found a vine growing up the burn pile; she was excited to report that we had something interesting going on in the field (and checked it every day).

I think I know what one of our spring planting components will be...I don't think these have enough time to get ripe this year, but we'll see.  

I have identified an interesting spot for a close-in deer stand (an adult tree house, truthfully).  There's a huge horizontal limb coming out of a big water oak that overlooks the north pasture.  It may be the first year solution while the "real" deer spot gets developed towards the back of the property a little closer to the creek.

And as this overlong entry comes to a close, I'll leave you with an afternoon look at IL Magnifico, a robust titan in the prime of it's life (kind of like me, don't 'cha think?) haha

Later, Friends.