Been sitting here nursing a cold listening to the wind and thinking back on my recent trip to Germany. Thought I would share a couple of photos of the Bavarian Alps and a castle built by King Ludwig II.

Goose Hunt

The funniest hunting experience happened when Mary was in high school and on a Christmas morning we drove to Caseys to pick up something and of course had to take a quick trip to do just a minute of road hunting. Well dad shot a partridge (Minnesota style sticking the shotgun out the window) and Mary trudged through the snow to get it. Every time she reached down to pick it up the partridge would run. I suppose you had to be there but Mary and I have had lots of fun with this story over the years. Actually maybe it is just me that has had so much fun with the story.

This morning is a close second. Got up and put a pair of jeans on and was relaxing watching the sunrise and checking email. Walking into the bedroom noticed a flock of geese flying low coming toward the house. I ran out into the living room and grabbed my goose gun that sits loaded by the front door, ran out on the porch bare footed and bare chested and lo and behold shot the goose you see in the photo. When I got shirt and shoes on and went out to retrieve my goose my friend Virg was walking accross the field toward me. He had two geese that he shot and after he shot the same flock was the one that came over the house. Want you to know I can count the number of geese that I have shot out here can be counted on one hand with fingers left.

Windy Day

Last weekend was the Iowa "pheasant opener" and four friends all raised in the "iron range" came down for a long weekend. Saturday, the actual opening day, was very nice and hunting was good. Sunday we had a horrid wind with a sustained wind speed of 45 with gusts over 55. Well, I would have written a day like that off and said it was a waste of time to even go out. The "rangers" went out anyway and harvested five roosters on an impossible day. Today was much better and before they left they got three more for a total of 17. Not bad for my little farm. The wind was so strong that it produced white caps on my six acre pond complete with mist blowing off the tops. The posted photo doesn't show the mist but does give one an idea of the force of the wind. Had to sit when I took it as couldn't stand up against the wind. A good time was has by all with plenty to hunt, eat and drink.

Turtle

Sitting at my computer desk I looked out and saw this huge turtle walking across the front yard. Perhaps you can't see the size would guess it was about as big around as a toilet seat and maybe in the 30 pound size. What amazing things happen in this little sanctuary!

AK/day six

Today was an early start from Homer to get to Seward for an ocean cruise. One goal was to see a moose and we were starting to think that the closest we would come would be our stop at the "Moose is Loose Bakery" in Soldtotna about an hour and a half north of Homer. An hour outside of Soldotna we came upon a sign that warned of moose over the next sixteen miles. My experience is that these signs never mean a thing. Nonetheless, shortly after the sign we came upon a large cow moose with twins feeding in the ditch along the road. My photographic skills aren't the best but you can see one of the calfs. We arrived in Seward in time to go to the post office to send some fishing poles home and check in at the cruise office. Shortly after embarking on the "Kenai Star" into Resurection bay where we saw one of the many sea otters and a miriad of shore birds. 'too many kinds to mention but the cutest are the puffins. Also we saw a number of Bald Eagles. The cruise offered a lunch of salmon and prime rib which we enjoyed as we came up to Aialik Glacier. Aialik is a huge gracier that runs down to the water in Aialik Bay where it rises to over 1000 feet and goes back for miles. It is over a mile wide at the base. On the way back we were treated to quite a show by a couple of hump back whales and also saw a rare Minke whale. A group of porpoises escorted our boat for quite some time. Seals and Stellar Sea Lions covered lots of rocks along the shore. The mountains peaking above the clouds along both sides of Resurection and Aialik bay were just to beautiful for words. Today was a perfect end to the most wonderful AK trip with Michael and Holly. Tomorrow to Anchorage and back home.

Day five/Seldovia

Today took us to Seldovia, a town of two or three hundred people, which is accross Kachamak bay on the Kenai Peninsula. It was once the largest town on the peninsula and is accessible only by air or water. It is a town which can be described as all Alaska. Mostly removed from tourism and yet has a rich heritage. The life style is slow and laid back. The scenery is out of this world. We rented an ATV and spent an about 90 minutes exploring the area. The highlight was perhaps the Pink salmon running up Fish Creek. They were so thick that Michael thought he could literally pull them out with a stick. Unfortunately the were much faster than one could imagine. The trip far exceeded my expectations and will definitely go back go back given the chance.

day four: alaska 2008 off to homer

Day four found us lazy in the morning after a restful sleep in the last night of our cabin stay in Ninilchick. We headed north to Captain Cook state park and thought we might have the opportunity to catch some salmon in the Swanson river. However, after speaking with a few locals we realized that the low tide was not bringing much luck for the catch, so we drove up a bit and found a landing to the upper coastline of Cook Inlet and came across an amazing landscape of large rocks in the sandy low tide. The backdrop of the mountains across the inlet were strikingly visible because of another lovely day of Alaska sunshine. From there we drove back to Ninilchik and picked up the few fillets of halibut that we caught that would not fit in our airline boxes. We planned to cook these in our cabin but due to a mix-up we ended up in a hotel room without kitchen and the fate of the fillets in the tiny freezer is yet unknown. We spent the best of our evening on the Homer spit trying to catch some salmon. While many around us were bringing them in, both people (largely by snagging) and seals as well as seagulls scooping up the scraps, we didn't end up with any fish. We ended the evening with a few games of pool at the Salty Dawg and a grand dinner at Captain Patties with an excellent view of the mountainous coastline.

day 3/ ninilchik halibut fishing and.....

Today was the most beautiful day so far. We arrived at our charter meeting point at 10 am and by the time we launched the boat and got underway the sun started poking through the haze of clouds that barely shifted over the still and serene bay. We prepared for the cold conditions the day previous but were not quite warm enough so today we padded ourselves with extra layers but for naught. It was warm and sunny and quite nice to peel off layer after layer of clothing and especially nice to have this warmth as it was Michael's birthday which was gifted with fishing on Cook Inlet in t-shirts. The fishing was fun but again exhausting (holly's arm's are raked but somehow less painful than they were when she awoke this morning). We have about 100 pounds of halibut to bring home. After the fishing we went to Homer thinking we might book a salmon fishing trip but decided to go on a water taxi to Gull Island and Soldovea. The scenery around Homer was too awesome to even believe. There was a red spot in the sky that looked like a horizontal sun dog but we hypothesized that it was a reflection of the polar ice. We stopped at a grocery store with stocked and somewhat moderately priced shelves and of course had a couple beers in the Salty Dog. The mountains that I had never seen without being shrouded in clouds were showing themselves in their entirety.

Ninilchik, Halibut fishing, day one.

What a wonderful day out in Cook Inlet fishing for Halibut. The process involves letting down a piece of herring with a three pound weight approximately 130 feet and waiting for the halibut to take the bait. To reel in a 20 pound fighting halibut with a three-pound sinker 130 some feet is indeed a physical challenge. We all caught lots of fish and were completely worn out after the process. The weather was beautiful, cool, and calm on our way out as well as during the bulk of the fishing. When we had caught our limit the waves were picking up and we crashed through multiple waves with sea-spray all around on the trip back to shore. After getting back and taking care of the halibut we tried to catch silver salmon on the Ninilchik river. This venture was not successful but after a heavy catch of halibut the salmon failure rolled off us like water. A great time was had followed by a fresh halibut dinner with a skillet of potatoes, cabbage, and onions.

Yesterday, August 16th, saw Michael, Holly and Gary meeting at Anchorage in time to get settled into a motel and go up the street a couple of blocks to Gwennies Alaskan Restaurant. Without going into detail it was the most wonderful time. An interesting local restaurant with the feel of an old fashioned trading spot with lots to eat and drink and lots of fun. Today after a late start we traveled to Ninilchik where we will stay for three days. Two of those days will be out in Cook Inlet fishing halibut. The scenery was as beautiful as I remembered from my travels here last summer and the views are so breathtaking that they bring tears to you eyes. This evening was exquisite as can be seen from the pictures looking out at the volcanoes surrounding Cook Inlet. These photos were taken from the vantage point of the Russian Orthodox Church. Tonight we will rest well in our spanking new cabin and wake to a full day of fishing. So far it's been such a wonderful time.

It is another gorgeous morning here and the picture shows what most mornings have been like lately. A shroud of fog normally hangs low over the sloughs. Also have never seen the corn look so good. Am excited to see how it yields. Will ride in the combine if I'm around when they harvest. This is fun because the on board computer continually shows what the current yield is. Have a big list of things to do to get ready for AK. So it will be a busy day. Am looking forward to a week with Michael and Holly on the Kenai peninsula.

Twins

Now that the corn has the homestead cloistered into a little mecca of wildlife habitat it would be fun to share a few highlights and give you a glance at why this time of the year is special. Since blogger will only show four pictures will try to pick out a nice assortment. But one of the best wildlife shots I have ever taken is of the twin fawns. Then thought the rooster and rabbit were fun even though the pictures is not the best. The wildlife seem to get along well regardless of size or color.

Eagles

Today was special as had breakfast with two friends and then to ones boat out on West Lake to look at the eagles who have nested high in a cottonwood tree in front of a cottage I had done the plumbing work on for more years than I care to remember. My pictures are not as good as they might be but for taking them in a wave rocked boat not too bad. The eaglet appears to be as big as the mother (or father) but has not changed color. They gave a constant concert while we watched. Baby like the photo op the most. Am posting the best three out of about fifty pictures.

Surprise

Well, I have been busy and not too much to post since mainly have been concentrating on healing from the three surgeries I've had the past four or five months. But there are two pictures that have been requested to post so have a look. One is a desk that I made for the living room as the huge roll top took up the whole room and the other is a baby swallow that is looking our over her nest. Swallows are very spooky and it is hard to get a picture. Think there were five or six chicks.
Life is getting better and even took a walk of nearly two miles yesterday. Everything went well and had no soreness but need notice that am a bit out of shape. One good thing the sedentary life didn't seem to add to my obesity.

Shown in the pictures are a stool that my grandmother used to stand on to reach things high in here cupboards and a TV cabinet that is built from scratch. Mary stripped the paint off the old stool and dad did the rest. Enjoyed the project

Want to see what the full moon closest to the Summer Solstice that is low in the Southern sky looks like. Well you can see it. Not as easy as you might think to get this shot.

misc

My the Spring views are really awesome. Recently I made a space for the new ham equipment my brother gave to me as he got some new equipment. Although I don't have an antenna up to use it thought the picture of the ham shack and the view out the window in front of it would be interesting. My brother is as awesome as the Spring views!