Manitowac County Fair

Close-up of Native American warrior

Estimated this carving to be about 8ft. high...price tag was $10K

Bear's seem to be popular among chainsaw carvers!

Perfect for the biker in your life!

Another Native American carving

This guy would look awesome sitting on my deck!

Couldn't resist sharing some pictures of some very cool wood carvings done with chainsaws. They had an auction on Sunday, but when we got there, it was packed, so we passed on trying to bid...Maybe next year...will give us a chance to save up for it, because these things "ain't" cheap people, and rightfully so, a lot of hard work goes into one of these pieces of art!

Dogs with balls....

Maggy guarding her stash of tennis balls!

It's a rare moment when Molly doesn't have something in her mouth!

Caught in the act...Nitschke with Bucky's tennis ball...

Bucky pouting because Nitschske just took his new tennis ball...

Molly posing for the camera in the kitchen...

As you can see, our dogs LOVE tennis balls...

NoNAIS.org

Thanks to Sandy at American Way Farm (and her patience for a HTML/Javascript for Dummies person like me)...I was able to add this to my gadget list (see upper right of my blog). Everyone, please check this out, very interesting insight regarding you and I farming in the future...

Sandy..BTW, how do I get a picture of the link to show up like on your blog???

Thanks a million....R Dean

Chillin' in WI

Brilliant colors...

Hey folks, I'm beginning to think it's true, Wisconsin only has three seasons, Spring, Fall and Winter! It's currently a "balmy" 56 degrees, overcast with wind gusts at 21mph...a typical day that we see in October, not August! Hey, I can't complain, I spent 31 years living in FL and I enjoy this more than the constant heat and humidity!

Today we plan to go to the county fair. I'm excited to learn about chickens so that will be my main focal point, although I do enjoy looking at the other livestock too! My plan is to build a coop first, before the first snowfall and then introduce chickens in early Spring. Not sure what breeds to get, but I figure I can aske a bunch of questions today! I heard Rhode Island Reds thrive in this type of climate.

I'll take pictures...

Peace..R Dean

PS. Couldn't resist another sunrise picture...you know me and sunrises! :-)

Bucky update....

Bucky enjoys playing with a harness more than his toys...kids..go figure!

I wuv tennis balls....

Good evening!

Just wanted to post a quick note about our little Buckster! Tuesday night we went to see Dr. P and she was very happy to see how Bucky was progressing. Since she started him on his special diet and medication, he is a different puppy..full of "piss and vinegar"! He is playing hard with his big brother Nitschke AND holding his own!

At this time, Dr. P decided to hold off on his vaccinations until his next visit, she wants to make sure he has another month or so to grow more before administering his shots, which in my opinion is fine! I would rather take a conservative approach to ensure his continued good health.

For those of you who don't know, Bucky, our little Black Lab pup has a liver shunt (some of his blood bypasses his liver) hence it does not get cleansed as needed. As Dr. P reminded us, there is no guarantee, but for us, everyday is a celebration of time we get to spend with him.

Oh before I forget.....weigh in...Nitschke is 37 lbs...and Bucky is 27 lbs....whew..little chubby monkee's! LOL

Enjoy your evening...

Peace..R Dean

Yesterday's sunrise...was sooooo cool

Good morning...

I overslept this morning..didn't get up until 5:30am so I'm trying to cram a lot of stuff into a short period of time this morning. I wanted to post a cool picture I took yesterday morning in landscape mode, where the camera actually stiches together three shots...

More to come later today/tonight, I want to post an update on Bucky's condition (good news...not bad thank goodness)!

Have a fantastic day, and by the way thanks a million for taking the time to stop by my blog and post a quick comment, that really makes my day!

Peace...

R Dean

Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center

Last week, I took these photographs of Blue Sky Green Field Wind Energy Center which is approximately 25 miles due West of our place. I did some preliminary research about it and found out this farm is capable of powering 36,000 avearage residential homes! It consists of 88 turbines scattered about the countryside. Although I am 100% behind wind power, I have to admit I would struggle with losing my precious view to these lumbering modern day wind mills, which stand 262ft. from ground to hub...the picture of the barn really puts their size into perspective.

R Dean

Excursion to Door County

Old barn with a rainbow in the background..It was not the nicest day weather wise, but this made for a great photo op!

I wasn't...but the beer was... :-)

My new friend in front of Casey's BBQ & Smokehouse, Egg Harbor http://caseysbbqandsmokehouse.com/default.aspx

Prior to plastic coming onto the scene! They don't make 'em like this anymore!

Old Ford delivery van at Hyline Orchard, Hwy. 42. Best part of the stop was the photo op's!

JD on her way into Hyline Orchard where we quickly found out specializes in "mean and crotchety"! Too bad that some people hate life and feel the need to take it out on everyone else!

Curt's Spice Co. & Oilerie, LLC in Fish Creek

Thursday, I had to make a couple calls in Door County, which is about an hour and a half NE of us. Since it is a vacation destination with many unique little boutique type retailers I asked JD to accompany me. She quickly accepted the offer. Our first stop was Door County Coffee where my first call was. We couldn't resist having Mocha's...mmmmm...very good. For those of you who don't know this drink, it is a shot (or two) of espresso, steamed milk and chocolate! JD can rattle these recipes off as she managed a Starbucks "way" back when. Here is the link if you want to check it out. http://www.doorcountycoffee.com/session_c82d2c7e3665/ We couldn't leave until we purchased a couple bags of specialty blends.

Next stop was the Ephraim Inn in Ephraim..go figure! It's a beautiful sixteen room B&B. I had some business to tend to with the owners. Hopefully one day we will be able to get back up there to stay a night or two. Here is the link if you're looking to stay there or simply interested in checking it out. It comes highly recommended! http://www.theephraiminn.com/

On the way back JD was anxious to stop by The Oilerie in Fish Creek. This is truly a specialty shop by definition as they specialize in extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars. After getting a tour of the store, JD left with six bottles of assorted oils and vinegars and a big smile on her face! Here is the link. http://oilerie.com/

Well, we are going to head out to the garden soon, need to harvest some corn, it's ready..finally!

Enjoy the day!

Peace..R Dean

The Dogs of Windee Acres Farm...

Chelsea is posin' for the camera...

Chelsea's "post" frog huntin' picture...Isn't she adorable?

I wuv tennis balls...

Chelsea sacked out on the floor!

Aunt Maggy loves her picture taken! :-)

Dis is myyyyyyy toy Nitschke!!!

Maggy and Molly waitin' on Bucky and Nitschke to come out and play....

Kennel Club...

Dis is myyyyyyyy stick!

It's been a while since I posted anything about our pups so I figured, what a great time to do so! They're getting SOOOOO big!! We have also been blessed that a family that purchased one of Molly's yellow lab pup's has stayed in touch with us. She gave us permission to share some of her photo's of Chelsea on our blog. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as we do!

R Dean...

Favre signs with the Vikings...

Okay..how could I NOT resist saying something about Brett returning to the NFL after what....his second retirement in that many seasons? And plus, I need to get out of "scanty" mode when it comes to my blog postings..right Faith? LOL :-)

For any of you that don't already know or for that matter really care...we reside in WI, not "too far" from the hallowed grounds of Lambeau Field. For me, GB Packer football has not been the same since he left. That said, I have "overnight" changed my favorite colors from green and gold to PURPLE! I

I know, I know, this turn of events (Brett coming back) not me changing colors, has sparked a lot of ill feelings with a lot of GB Packer fans, but oh well...GET OVER IT! In my opinion, hey, if you are forty years old (39 and counting) and can still play with the young bucks AND beat them at their best game at that level..hey, you're my hero Brett! I know this old body couldn't have done it at forty, or thirty, or...!

Rock on Brett...I'll be sporting a new team jersey this season and it will be PURPLE! Who knows, maybe I'll even invest in one of those Viking hats with the horns poking out the sides and see if I can steal a photo beside Ted Thompson in front of the Curly Lambeau statue!

Woooohooooo....R Dean

Weekend weather...

The weather was brutal this weekend. It wasn't so much the temperatures, but instead the air quality. It hit me really hard on Saturday after spending a few hours trimming and cutting grass on the property. According to the weather pollencast, weed was "moderate" so I guess that was giving me the problems. I must have sneezed one hundred times yesterday!!

When you walk outside, the air is still heavy, even at 9:21pm..which is atypical for the WI climate. Even this morning, the air was heavy when we got up around 5:45am.

Sunday morning harvest...

We were able to spend about an hour this morning poking around the garden, pulling some weeds, admiring the veggies and even picking some too! We harvested our first ears of corn, and cooked it up tonight for dinner..it was so tender and sooo good! Got more beans, beets, squash, zuchinni, carrots, onions AND some brocolli! We'll be eating good this week!

I'm also happy to say the transplanted tomatoes seem to be coming along well, and the cucumbers are starting to come to life, they have been kind of slow to grow this season, not sure why! Our melon's are growing like crazy and the vines are spreading like wild fire! If they all make it, we'll have way too many for ourselves, so we'll be giving some away to friends and family.

R Dean

Finally Friday...

Watermelon's...

"Baby" Butternut Squash

"Juvenile" Butternut Squash

First of five or so transplanted sunflowers to open up!

Well, my morning started off fun! Maggy, decided she would go across the road to her Rocket's farm....wasn't that special! So, after herding her back onto our property and putting her inside, I went out to let the pups out only to find that Bucky left me two surprises in his kennel! That was really special!! Wooohooo..what a way to start off the day! Hahahaha.....But then it all got better, as I reminded myself how lucky I am!

Hope you enjoy your day because I will definitely be enjoying mine!

Peace...

R Dean

Garden story...

Tonight after dinner, we meandered down to the garden as we do every night, eager to see what new treasures awaited us. Unfortunately, the replanted tomatoes aren't looking too good, but we still have hope that they will survive and produce! The good news, we harvested another yellow squash, a bunch of beans, mostly wax, some more lettuce and three more zuchinni's! Very rewarding! We finally have a cucumber coming along as well, so hopefully the next few days of warm weather will really get the garden cooking!

And finally, the most interesting garden story...JD was pulling weeds around the lettuce and noticed a pile of mulch. After moving it around with her gloves, to her surprise it was a nest of what appeared to be a litter of five mice that appeared to be a day or two old. Needless to say, she was very "surprised"! I played good hubby and removed them right away! :-)

R Dean

Thinnin' the maters'

Our NEW tomato patch!!

Hey everyone..well, as I post this, we are sitting at 84 degrees outside, feels like 92 degrees and with a dew point of 74 degrees according to http://www.weather.com/.

For you weather geeks out there..it's hot and humid!! I have to say, that we are thankful we have air condition! I'm happy to say TODAY is the first day we turned it on! JD thought we should turn it on early and we did, she was right, good idea, it is very nice in our "shades drawn" little piece of heaven! The girls are sacked out and the boys are too! They just enjoyed a bucket of ice cubes, so they are set for another hour or so.

Around 8:30am today, we went down to the garden with our main objective..thinning out our tomatoes. JD ignored the thick foliage inhabited by the infamous "Thamnophis sirtalis" and the "Opheodrys vernalis" and quickly pulled out a half dozen plants, tossing them to me for transplantation. Hopefully both the thinned out plants AND the transplants will continue to flourish! We'll keep you posted!! :-)

R Dean and JD ;-)

Sunday morning scorcher...

Mornin' folks...it's forecasted to be a scorcher today! We're supposed to get into the low 90's with the heat index in the mid to high 90's, which is going provide the perfect ingredients for storms tonight, so hold on! As I post this, the temperature is 69 degrees with a dew point of 66 degrees, so that alone describes how thick the air feels.

I know, that isn't really too bad, considering what the South and Southwest can deliver this time of the year, so I shouldn't complain. In the Midwest, particularly in WI, we have become spoiled with our mild summer time weather which usually stays under 90 all summer long.

Anyway, we'll be getting things done early and kicking back in the afternoon, trying to stay cool.

I wanted to share some garden news. We got our first three summer squash last night, yeah! A couple more zuchinni's, green and wax beans and a few more pear tomatoes. My concern lies with our larger tomato plants. They are flourishing, but not showing any signs of real production. Perhaps we have too many plants too close together? JD and I are going to try and thin them out this morning.

Have a great day and as always..Peace!

R Dean

Soggy Saturday morning cont'd...

I guess golden finches nor the yellow jackets really care whether it is sunny or rainy, they seem to go about their business regardless of the weather conditions!

R Dean

Soggy Saturday morning...

Hey folks..it's been raining..sometimes hard, sometimes soft since we awoke this morning at 3:40am from loud claps of thunder and eye piercing lightning..but it continues to be steady nonetheless. We're loving the precipitation, it does wonders for the soul, not to mention our garden, which by the way, I haven't checked on yet today. Our biggest fear is hail..it can devastate a garden! I don't think it hailed, typically we can distinguish the sounds of heavy rain versus hail, and I pray it was only heavy rain this morning, but I'll keep you posted.

Upon opening up the garage and meandering out in the light drizzle this morning, I was happy to discover our rain barrel's were over flowing, so more free water for the inside vegetation and good drinkin' water for the girls. If I was to guess, I would say we have gotten at least 2-3"! Which further supports the need for some weather gage apparatus on the farm.

The boys don't mind the rain, thunder or lightning, they go out regardless of the weather. But the girls on the other hand, they are fair weather "creatures", they "hate" the thunder, however, according to Maggy, a rain bath is much better than a hose bath any day of the week, but second only to a swim in a pond! Speaking of ponds, it's supposed to get up into the 90's tomorrow, so I need to give our neighbor a call today and ask permission to let the girls go down to his pond for an afternoon swim to keep their black coats cool!

R Dean

Here comes the sun....

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say it's all right

It's all right

George Harrison