The New Huntmastersbbs!: 4th Plans?

This is topic 4th Plans? in forum Member forum at The New Huntmastersbbs!.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://www.huntmastersbbs.com/cgi-bin/cgi-ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=005138

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 01, 2019, 07:13 AM:

Looks like I'll be making pickled beets and canning all of them.
I'm off and the other half is on.
Also looks like I'm going to have a ton of onions this fall, yellows and whites.
Nothing else is quite ready for use yet.

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 01, 2019, 08:06 AM:

Archery practice.
Yardwork.
Cleaning the workshop out.
Sitting on the patio watching the fireworks & sipping on a Rum Chata / Fireball. (Probably with our fearless pit-bull curled up trembling on my lap.)
Not going nowhere & got all week-end to get there.

[Cool]

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 01, 2019, 08:31 AM:

Sounds like a great plan.
I may sit out in the cabana in the evening and enjoy the night and listen for any fireworks.
Other half will be work until midnight that night.

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 01, 2019, 08:33 AM:

Whatever is the attraction of pickled beets? Maybe as a tinsy bit of garnish on a salad? I don't think even a vegan would care to make a meal out of them?

Onions. But, I don't know? What's a yellow? I see lots of red, white and what I consider a brown onion, which is what I buy. There are a couple others like Mayan, and another big fat one can't remember the name but mostly beyond what I feel an onion is worth. However, I do love the little green onions, my dad used to buy them all the time. Sliced, they beat chives on a baked potato, in my opinion.

Any kind of onion is great in a cheeseburger, even red, which should not be eaten in any form except raw. sez me. Rutabagas really suck, my mom used to serve them mashed with potatoes. It's impossible to develop a taste for them. Now, I think I'll have a beet for lunch. Yum!

Good hunting. El Bee

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 01, 2019, 08:44 AM:

We like pickled beets especially home canned.
Yellow/brownish onions are more for eating as with the red types.
White onions are more for making salsa they hold up better and better lasting flavor in salsa.
Other half loves turnips especially raw. May plant some for this fall.
I also like pickled asparagus now a days.

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 01, 2019, 08:55 AM:

turnips are those white and purple things? And here I thought you feed them to horses? Never tried one, myself.

What is that sweet Mexican root called? Kinda round, brown skin, white flesh like a potato? Very agreeable taste, eaten raw.

Let's hear it for the easiest salad veggie to grow, the radish! Also very good, sliced, with tacos.

Good hunting. El Bee

edit: PS I will have to remember that about white onions in salsa. The home made salsa I make goes fast.

[ July 01, 2019, 08:59 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 01, 2019, 09:02 AM:

The Mexican potato is called jicama I think that is the spelling. Tried some earlier this spring. They are okay but won't buy anymore.

My second planting of radishes are now ready to pick and eat along with some carrots.

Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on July 01, 2019, 09:23 AM:

Went with all heirlooms in my garden this year. Already got a few dragons egg cucumbers, a Croatian variety. Border red okra on the way along with mushroom basket and Russian purple tomatoes. Aside from my copious flower beds - over 30 different kinds - my focus is on my Havana 608 tobacco to go with my burly var. and black mammoth tobacco I grew last year and am fermenting right now. In August, I will plant a sweet green radish that looks like a kiwi fruit and turns to a highly sweet tuber after the first frost. Will see...

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 01, 2019, 09:35 AM:

Damn! That's whole hog, Lance! Will you roll your own cigars? At the price of premium cigars these days, I'm starting to blink.

Good hunting. El Bee

edit: thanks, EW. That's exactly right. However, as a break from routine, I would consume some, especially if I had to choose between turnips and jicama.

[ July 01, 2019, 09:39 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 01, 2019, 01:37 PM:

okra must me a south thing.?
Other half likes especially deep fried.
To cold for tobacco and sweet potatoes up here.
But these Russian plants are opening the door for colder zone growing.
I know you need to start all your seeds early raise the plants then set them out to get a good jump start on the growing season at the new place. It's a heck of a learning curve after living at 2700 feet to 5,000 feet plus poorer soil.

Posted by NVWalt (Member # 375) on July 01, 2019, 05:00 PM:

That all sounds great but every time I think I can grow anything it starts off fine but then withers and dies or they get to looking good and the critters eat them. This was an early spring and then a freeze so the fruit trees are not working out as expected. BUT, just down the road 1 mile away is a Mennonite farm and they seem to be able to grow anything and it all tastes good.
The chickens are getting big enough to start laying eggs soon I hope. Figured it out roughly a couple hundred dozen eggs will let me break even on everything chicken.
This weekend is a BBQ at some friends place and if the winds co-operate maybe I'll fly a kite or two.
Stay cool and have a great 4th of July.

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 01, 2019, 05:09 PM:

Hey Walt;
Is that mail order kite place in Colorado still around ???
They used to have some awesome kite designs.

Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on July 01, 2019, 05:28 PM:

Was never a fan of okra due to the slime inside, but they're sure fun to grow and they'll go crazy in the kinda heat that kills everything else. I don't really know how to can, but I did do okra using a refrigerator dill pickle recipe last summer that was as good as anything at the store. Even the wife liked them. Now, you said you pickled asparagus. We eat the hell outta that, too, and our favorite way is fresh, rolled in olive oil and steak rub and grilled. You can do the same thing with okra and man, is it good like that.

I started my own seeds this year (first time for this) for the tomatoes, the dragon's eggs, and about 200 coleus plants that are spread out among my flowers beds. Also started some "lipstick" peppers,a red sweet pepper that's supposed to have almost zero heat. They're all growing well but just getting to blossoms.

The tobacco has been an adventure. Didn't know what to expect and been running the learning curve. Made my first try at it two seasons ago with some seeds from the UK. Zero luck. Last year, went with the same company and got 100 seeds. That period at the end of the last sentence will hold about a dozen tobacco seeds. Insanely small. Have to start them on sterile media and their so small that I dumped them onto a white sheet of paper and (wearing a mask so I didn't blow them away with my breath), used a toothpick with a sharpened end dipped in water to pick the seeds up one at a time and brush them onto each starter cell. The first month of watering is done with a very fine mister and if/when they germinate, they look like a tiny speck of green moss. Takes about a week of good growth to be able to see the first two leaves with unaided eyes.

Moved them to the garden when they were about two inches tall and only had six plants take hold. Last summer was brutally hot and dry and I spent every evening out there watering and weeding, and worrying about the heat. Turns out they love that weather and the hotter and more miserable the day, the better they did. By the time they flowered in late August to early September, each plant was a bit taller than me at 6 foot, and the largest leaves in the second row from the bottom were almost thirty inches long and 22 inches wide, soft as velvet. I cut them when they started to turn yellow around then edges and grouped the leaves according to where they were on the plant (top, middle, middle lower, and lower) into bundles of five leaves each, or "hands". Ended up with 28 "hands" which I hanged from the rafters in my garage to dry (cure).

Sidebar: Once I had okra and tobacco going well alongside each other, the wife didn't see the humor in me calling the backyard "the plantation".

Now, most folks think that you just take that cured tobacco and roll it up to smoke it and you're good to go.

Nope.

In fact, that'll make you sicker than hell.

When Spring got here, I then built a "fermenter" out of a 60-gallon plastic barrel, an outdoor weather sensor and a crock pot. The goal is to have those cured leaves in an environment where the temp is a steady 95-110 degrees F and 70-90% humidity 24/7 for 6 weeks. My leaves went into the barrel on June 5, so here we are coming up on 27 days tomorrow, or 4 weeks Tuesday. Two more weeks and they'll be ready to use. Haven't burned the garage down. Yet.

Why ferment? Fermenting removes ammonia from the leaves (which would make you sick if smoked dried) and converts other stuff in the leaves to sugars to give the tobacco its flavor and aroma. Every day at 5 o'clock or so, I go out, smoke a cigar while I pull out all the hands of tobacco, shake out any excess moisture to keep them from molding, fill the crockpot with fresh water that's been sitting for 24 hours so the chlorine and other stuff will "gas out", then rearrange the leaves and seal the door shut until the next day.

Although the tobacco is smokable now, the next two weeks will make it much smoother. I have taken a couple loose pieces and held them up to the lit end of a cigar I was smoking and I have to say, Mmmmmm. Doesn't flame burn, Just catches and smolders and the smoke smells very earthy. At first, the leaves were brittle dry and smelled like dried alfalfa. Now they have an earthy smell with a hint of sweet. Still all puckered up and rough looking but by gawd, they look, feel and smell like tobacco.

The two varieties I have fermenting are called burly variety, and black mammoth. Both are used as filler - the tobacco inside the cigar, and the black mammoth (the best leaves) are used as binder, the inside wrapping leaf that contains the filler tobacco and is then wrapped in the wrapper leaf. The Havana 608 I'm trying to get going now is a good wrapper, if I can keep it alive. If not, I'll order loose leaf tobacco leaves and use them.

Making the cigar sounds easy enough. I'll use some scrap oak I have around to make a few cigar presses with my router. Use them to clamp the finished cigars until they dry.

Seems you just spray mist the leaves until they're pliable, bundle the fillers (I'm thinking about adding some pipe tobacco for flavor) and warp in a binder leaf, then wrap that in a wrapper leaf that has been brushed liberally with a pectin solution that acts as a glue. Put them in the press and let them cure for a couple weeks. Sounds easy enough, huh?

Now, Kevin has rightfully raised the question about why I just don't buy them like everyone else does and save myself the trouble. He has a point, but what's the fun in that? I used to buy all my hand calls and then I learned how to make them and had a great deal of fun killing coyotes called with something I'd made myself.

I started loading my own ammo and realized how much fun it was to call them and kill them with a load I'd developed on my own. Both things gave me a sense of appreciation for what goes into calls and ammo along with a real sense of accomplishment in ,"look what I did right there!"

This project has really opened my eyes on cigars as well. There's a reason that cigars have their own culture. By my guess, a real cigar at the lower end of the price range probably takes about 3-5 years between seed and cigar, and that times costs money. Maybe it's a waste of time, but the sense of satisfaction that comes from growing everything myself in my own backyard and then getting the chance to sit out back by the fire pit and maybe share a stick with a friend who appreciates good (or, in my case, rancid-assed dog turd) cigars is, well, how can you put a price on that?

Then again, I may choke to death on the first light up and Kevin will have been right - smoking cigars will have killed me. LOL

Trying to post a pic from my phone but Photobucket isn't cooperating.

Posted by CrossJ (Member # 884) on July 01, 2019, 06:04 PM:

Lance, start your tobacco plants early in a green house(two months or more). Cut them back from the top as they grow. This will give you a lot better root system at transplanting, as well as a heartier plant. Keep any tobacco users away from your young plants, as they are very susceptible to MDMV(maize dwarf mosaic virus). It can be transmitted through tobacco products and it will render your leaves worthless. Message me if you have some difficulty, if I cant help I bet I know someone who can.

Maintain

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 01, 2019, 06:57 PM:

Lance, you better try for a Backwoods type of smoke. I wouldn't try to roll a Cohiba at first. Besides that, I have heard that those that roll a first class cigar, apprentice for a long time. IDK?

Good hunting. LB

PS what does ATF have to say about growing tobacco and Bourbon and firearms?

edit: as far as deriving satisfaction building your own calls and handloading your own ammunition. I have been saying for YEARS, anybody that owns and hunts with a rifle should relaod, although I object to the term because it sounds second rate, but is actually superior. Besides that, I don't know anybody that handloads that can't quote velocity and drop and terminal energy and midrange trajectory. I hunted with a guy that showed up with three different boxes of 7Mag, half full. By the time he got sighted in he had to use a different box, but they were all 175 grain so it's all good, right? Anyway, you're headed in the right direction.

[ July 01, 2019, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

Posted by NVWalt (Member # 375) on July 02, 2019, 02:45 AM:

Kokopelli, if you mean Into The Wind, they are still around and still sell kites. Have met them at a couple kite festivals and they are pretty ok people that own that place.
Reading about the tobacco project here was, and is,pretty interesting. It also let my feeble mind realize why they grew tobacco here in the south. At 100 degrees out this past couple days your plants would have been in 7th heaven. I was curious about that because I enjoy my pipe and a good bowl of Chartwell and thought about trying to grow a plant or two to try out. Does sound like a lot of work but gratifying in the end.
The wifey nice has tried to grow some rhubarb now for a couple seasons. They seem to just get going and then croak. I think they don't like the weather here but those Mennonites seem to grow some each year. Must be some sort of green thumb thing.
Have seen a few red fox splattered on the roads here of late. Sure wish I could legally hunt at night here for them. Oh well. Speaking of critters I have seen more bobcats and pigs than coyotes and you can listen to the coyotes at night. Go figure.
Happy 4th to you all as they say down here.

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 02, 2019, 05:02 AM:

I sure wish I could hear coyote howl! Almost never. One time , I heard one while sleeping in the back so I stood up through the hatch and I saw this coyote standing about 2 feet from the back bumper. He never looked up and as he was walking away, I nailed him, a never knew what hit him type of shot.

But, my hearing has been shot since the military, we never were issued or used ear plugs. I competed on the Battalion pistol team and what we did was stick an empty 45 case in our ears. I'm not sure if it helped much, but our range was a huge, and I don't use the word lightly, back dropped structure that was probably 4 stories high and across maybe a hundred shooting positions, almost exclusively for rifle out to (I think?) 500 yards. So we were right up close, 25 yards and the acoustics were brutal! This was a general purpose range and all the other units came there, Maybe it was by Graffenweir, I'm not sure? But for pistol competitions it was less than ideal and thats where I lost my hearing and probably so did everyone else. Hard to believe, today that there was so little concern for hearing, back then. Talk about technique! we were taught stand sideways, one handed, the other hand in your front pocket. I'm not much better than average, as a pistol shot, tell you the truth.

Good hunting. El Bee

[ July 02, 2019, 05:14 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 02, 2019, 05:52 AM:

Walt;
That's the place. I used to have a few of their kites until my daughter took them away from me. Had one that was a black shark about 5 feet long. Looked really cool 'swimming' in the air.

C-Dude; Are you familiar with the 'Backwoodsman' magazine ?? Lots of cool project articles.

Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on July 02, 2019, 09:43 AM:

Koko, yeah, have a couple issues lying around here and a couple big books of that sorta stuff on the shelf.

Geordie, these plants were under growing lights for two months so they were started well before they went into the ground. What kinda things should I avoid planting them near or in ground they occupied the year prior? I can say that not a single bug bit into any of my plants last year. Healthy as could be when they flowered.

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 02, 2019, 10:45 AM:

It's called being self reliant, knowing how to feed yourself, stay healthy and keep the knowledge going forward.

Canning is easy. I did watch and help my mom a million years ago. So really had to learn it all over again. The hardest part of canning is prepping the food and jars. A lot of good books out there and follow the recipes and the instructions and usually not many problems.

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 02, 2019, 12:07 PM:

One more plug; There's a series of books called Foxfire' that are basically about self-reliant mountain folks. Lots of good info.

Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on July 02, 2019, 04:31 PM:

Thanks to KOKO I own the foxfire book , Love pickled beets and okra . my mama was a canning fool I remember one year we canned 128 lbs. of white meat Albacore in oil and Bbq. sauce! After a nice three day boat ! MMMMM Sounds cool but it was a lot of work fed us many times !

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 02, 2019, 04:42 PM:

None of you guys will know this, but many years ago, Shredded Wheat used to come in a shape that was like a shoebox and the biscuits were as big as a baking potato and you crumbled them up, added milk and sugar. So far, you are with me? But the layers between had a cardboard divider and on these were printed a bunch of camping and frontier stuff, by Straight Arrow. How to make your own bow or set a trap for beaver, stuff like that. Also there were drawings of the tracks various critters mad, the spoor they left behind, etc. I used to save those cards forever. Back in those days, there weren't a lot of choices, Wheaties, Cherrios, Quaker Puffed Wheat and my favorite, Puffed Rice. This stuff was "Shot From Guns." Sponsered "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon" Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Had a Shepard named King. This was radio shows, can you think of anything less appealing, for todays kids?

Good hunting. El Bee

Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on July 03, 2019, 03:49 AM:

Don't know what you're talkin bout Lenbo and that was Yukon King. LOL Shredded wheat was my favorite !
Radio was awesome. No one knows what danger lurks in the hearts of men except the shadow he knows !

[ July 03, 2019, 03:53 AM: Message edited by: Paul Melching ]

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 03, 2019, 06:36 AM:

I think that it was what 'evil' lurks in the hearts of men.
Or maybe in the hearts of women. [Confused]

Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on July 03, 2019, 06:50 AM:

You are correct been a few years !

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 03, 2019, 08:49 AM:

Yeah, ko ko, you sure called him on that screw up, I'm sure it was "evil".

The one that actually gave me the creeps was the "squeaking door" sound effects. Holy shit! Terrifying for a little kid, and I was little.

When all the Veterans came back from the war, (WWII) there was a severe housing shortage so "they" somebody? started building Quonset Hut communities. A family lived in half, another family in the back half. Almost 100% former military and much friendly rivalry.

Anyway, the Mitchell's lived straight across from us and talk about a sensation when those uppity people bought a television set. Had a huge 7" screen, black and white, of course, but they had a magnifying glass in front that made it just as good as the latest 9" models. Anyway, they would set in it the doorway and draw a crowd every night to Watch Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. And, he did his own commercials for Lipton Soup, not Ice Tea, which hadn't been invented yet.

The Bosinski's and Mitchell's bought a house together about two years later, two residences in what they called a "double bungalow" Still more than adequate accommodations in a nice part of south Minneapolis. By then, everybody had an Admiral or a Muntz TV, at least 17". with doors across the front because you had to limit watching which could develop eye strain, and that made it look like a piece of furniture, maybe a cabinet for your silverware, who knows but I don't ever remember seeing those doors closed for more than 5 minutes? These things had warm up times, by the way, and the staple was cowboy shoot'em ups, and they really did show test patterns before 6A.M. and after midnight. By then, nobody, but no body had a big standup radio. About that time they invented "clock radios" small enough to put in your headboard, but still analog, sure as hell wasn't digital. I was 10 when I got my .410, in 1952. It was a dependable bolt action.

That was the early fifties that flew by and everybody "Liked Ike".

Down Memory Lane with Lenbo.

Good hunting. El Bee

[ July 03, 2019, 08:56 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on July 03, 2019, 09:48 AM:

Apparently, I was born about 20 years too late. Always have had a draw to that era of stuff. Even today, I spend at least a little time each night seeing what's on TMC for an old black and white movie and I've always loved those old radio shows. Still listen to them on a regional AM station that caters to the ag community. Spencer Tracy, Flibber McGee and Molly,. etc.

By my guess, all this ties in with a spot Paul Harvey (talk about an icon and storyteller) did once about the difference between books, video, reading and watching. Someone somewhere had taken a group of kids and divided them into two groups. Group A got to watch a Harry Potter movie, then they the were given the book to read. Group B was the reverse, they got to read the book first and then watch the movie. Afterwards, they were asked a battery of questions to see which version they preferred.

Turns out those who read the book first enjoyed the book more and preferred it over the movie.

Those who watched the movie first enjoyed it more and preferred it over the book.

The person who did the study hypothesized that the kids who read first enjoyed the book more because, as they read, their imaginations created the scenery and characters for the "movie" in their minds and, when they watched the actual movie itself, it lacked the intensity that the book had and failed to connect with the kids at the same level. Those who watched the movie first, when reading the actual book later, merely replayed the scenes from the movie in their heads which failed to come even close to what the watchers had experienced.

Old time radio shows, like reading, takes the listener on a trip in their heads. The characters are often played by people they know, whether that be actors or family. The scenery and characters are drawn from familiar experiences and people, and as such, the story becomes personal for the listener or reader in a way that gives them an easy and comfortable opportunity to connect and become part of the experience. You can't create that with a video or movie. Not in the same way.

This is why much of my writing sought to follow the same format over the years. I always opened with a personal anecdote of a hunting experience that connected to the idea I was discussing in the piece. Always tried to keep it local for the guys who didn't have the means to go on safari. Tried to keep it specific enough, but at the same time, not go into a lot of detail as to describing characters so as not to inhibit the ability of the reader to recall similar experiences of their own and to staff the cast of characters in their mind as they reads with dads, uncles, buddies, and the like. Story, make my point, close with another story. My goal was always to make my articles much like a good book, where when you look back to recall my point or the information I was giving, your recall was less a matter of simply recalling facts and more seeing the imagery of what you were actually thinking while reading - the personal video footage in your mind.

To their credit, there's a show on that same radio station I mentioned that runs twice every weekend called, "Fireside Stories" where this woman picks one or two recently published outdoor stories from currents magazines and reads them on the radio. Great way to spend an hour, smoking a cigar, enjoying a good cup of coffee or a cold beer and just kicking back reminiscing while you listen.

Today's world has a serious lack of that sort of thing. Lack of imagination, which can sometimes take effort and work.

Yep. Twenty years late.

At least.

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 03, 2019, 12:25 PM:

Yeah, but. Have you seen the photos of a group of friends or a whole family sitting around a table in a restaurant or at home and every one of them has their nose in their Iphone? Or, my pet peeve lately, at the price of tickets to Major League Baseball, the women, (mostly) are in the stands texting.

I'm not on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, or any of the so called "social Media."

You really think people are going to put their phones away and listen to the radio? Turns out not many of them were born 20 years too late.

Good hunting. El Bee

Posted by Semp (Member # 3074) on July 03, 2019, 06:25 PM:

Leonard, that squeaking door program was called "the Creaking Door" and part of the Inner Sanctum radio show. I was pretty young then but still remember it. Scared the shit out me and I loved it.

Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on July 04, 2019, 04:04 AM:

I have an iPhone for my convivence and not the other way around it spends most of it time in a pocket If you go blu face at my table you are invited to leave !
I loved the radio programs Dick Tracy to the lone Ranger. we had a stand up radio and I sat my little ass right in front ! also had the 6" screen TV watched Howdy Doody ! and Buffalo Bob !

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 04, 2019, 05:24 AM:

Hair bit before my time.
I was Roy Rogers, Sky King and Gene Autry. Then the one with Lloyd Bridges about diving under water. Loved that show. Now you couldn't get me in the Ocean under water.
I have listened to the old radio shows.
On Siris/XM they have a couple of channels that's nothing but the old radio programs.

Started the (Sweet) Pickled beet process. Waiting on the jars to get closer to being done in the dish washer. Then will start the beets and all the cleaning of them. I have a lot to do. Wish me luck.

Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on July 04, 2019, 05:29 AM:

EW that was Seahunt with Lloyd Bridges loved Sky King !and the rest

Posted by Paul Melching (Member # 885) on July 04, 2019, 05:34 AM:

Daughter an SIL were coming up with the kids all seven money got tight couldn't make it we are all dressed up nowhere to go, so sad I was looking forward to my five year old twin grandsons they are such a trip !
Happy Fourth to you all !

Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on July 04, 2019, 08:41 AM:

Sorry to hear that, Paul. Happens. We spent the night being inundated with rain, out of no where. Weatherman said slight chance. We just wrapped up a hundred year flood. Record setting rain in Kansas. Guy down by Wichita said he's had 68 inches of rain this year, and that was last week. Had more since. Reservoirs were all at capacity and being held back as Nebraska is still trying to drain out from under the late blizzard they had this Spring and all that water has been flooding Missouri enroute to the Gulf. Just got to releasing when we had another round of storms two weeks ago that dumped 9 inches of rain and more in some places that re-flooded the low country. Have had the past 9 days or so dry and hot which has allowed our farmers to bring in what wheat survived the flooding. Started raining about 2 this morning and my phone has been blowing up with emergency alerts for flash flooding since then. Sun just came out and my rain gauge shows 1.2 inches, which is great because ten miles south of me and to the west (upstream), they got 8+. Gonna be a sticky, sultry July 4 and all the local plans have been canceled other than the fireworks tonight, assuming it doesn't cook back up.

Staying in, staying cool. Happy 4th everyone.

(Trying to send you this rain, EW. Ain't working too well.)

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 04, 2019, 08:46 AM:

That happened to me last year, Paul. My granddaughter and boyfriend told me they were coming down from 29 Palms for a visit. Had to cancel at the last minute when they figured out that they couldn't afford the gas. That was painful, and sad.

Good hunting. El Bee

PS yes, Inner Sanctum. Hard to believe a stupid radio show could create so much (I guess) fear? With sound effects.

that's another thing. Nowadays, all they talk about is Super Hero's movies. And they do it in front of a damned computer! they don't have to create special effects, with car crashes any more. There is some nerd whiz kid doing wild and crazy stuff with his keyboard. BFD!

[ July 04, 2019, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

Posted by earthwalker (Member # 4177) on July 04, 2019, 09:12 AM:

I remembered the name a little while ago.
5 quarts of pickled beets done, at least 5 or more to go.
Hard part is boiling the beets to take the outer skin off. It all takes time. Hope my back holds up.

Posted by Az-Hunter (Member # 17) on July 04, 2019, 09:44 AM:

I cut the labor....Aunt Nellies whole pickled beets, just a tad smaller than a golf ball in size, I could eat a jar a day, love those little sonofabitches!

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 04, 2019, 11:28 AM:

Hey Paul;
I lieu of the actual grandkids, might I suggest going down to the local Little League field and watching the kids play a game. They play their hearts out and the parents are a hoot to watch, too. Not as good as family, but still something to do.
And ……………. you'll never look at prima-donna pro players the same again. [Roll Eyes]

Happy 4th !!!!!!!

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 04, 2019, 01:36 PM:

My kid was a standout star in Little League, then he quit high school and focused on other stuff. There went Dad's vicarious dreams, out the window. <sniff, sniff>

But anyway, his kid, Robbie the funniest thing I remember of him in the minors when he was 9 or 10. There he was in center field and the coach was yelling at him while Robbie had his back to home plate and was tossing his mitt in the air, and catching it over and over and in his own little world. They already had the 3 outs to end the inning and Robbie was out there in his own attention deficit disorder world. I thought it was freaking hilarious!

Good hunting. El Bee

Posted by NVWalt (Member # 375) on July 04, 2019, 02:30 PM:

No kite flying today but it will be evening soon and then dark thirty and I shall be dragging the mortor out and overloading it with black powder to wake up and rattle the hills here.
Great day for a military parade and fireworks.
Everybody....Happy 4TH of July!!!!!!!!

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 05, 2019, 08:10 AM:

It ain't like the old days. We used to be up at the crack of dawn blowing up a whole box of explosive shit. No M80's back then but we had cherry bombs, and bricks of Peonies. when everything was used up, we would get rolls of caps, if anyone remembers the cap gun? Well, we used to hit a whole roll of caps with a small sledgehammer and anvil, and that makes a decent explosion. The very last junk to light off was "snakes" and sparklers. Somebody had to clean up that shit? You do not want to step on a sparkler barefoot. That happened a lot, at the beach, people would throw them in the air and they would land hither and yon.

Nope, the Fourth of July ain't what it used to be, that's for sure. It's too damned sanitized. Every city has a sign, no fireworks allowed, which Mexicans ignore. That's it, around here, it's the Mexican American neighbors that blow up stuff , of which there are about 3, I think? Everybody else is too scared the SWAT will show up.

Good hunting. El Bee

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 05, 2019, 08:58 AM:

M-80s ???
Up in the Olympia out on the Res the Indians sell tennis balls filled with flash powder and topped with a fuse of questionable quality.
You wanna talk about a big kaboom ??? DAMN !!!!!!

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 05, 2019, 09:23 AM:

Are you sure my brother never sold you a car? He's been up there in God's Country forever. I mean, it's ok, if you like dreary depressive overcast every friggin' day and twice on Sunday. Or, have I mentioned this before? No burn days? The "Suicide Capital" etceteras? ya, I thought I did.

Good hunting. El Bee

PS what provoked you into leaving "God's Country"?

Posted by Kokopelli (Member # 633) on July 05, 2019, 10:32 AM:

Let me sugar-coat just one of the reasons as much as I can;

1
~
8
9 Western Washington is a God-Forsaken corner of Hell that is too wet to burn eleven straight months out of the year.
10
11
12

Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on July 05, 2019, 11:03 AM:

Ah yes! Like my brother told me, Summer up there starts the second week of July and lasts for two whole weeks.

Say what you want about SoCal, but you can't beat the weather.

Good hunting. El Bee

edit: BUT-during those two glorious weeks, the rhododendrons are in bloom and it's deceptively pleasant.

[ July 05, 2019, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: Leonard ]

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.0