What a Difference

What a difference a year has made!

Last year we had a warming spell that gave us open ground on this same date. By the end of this week it appears we will be headed up into the  40's for highs so  the ground will once again be peeking out. Going to be a strange phenomena since we've had snow on the ground since December 9th.


Is it Spring yet? ;)

National Pheasant Fest

This weekend in Des Moines,IA the National Pheasant Fest is returning for another great time for the upland bird game hunter.






I haven't personally attended one of the gatherings,but from what I have heard they have a lot of things scheduled .

Weekend Agenda

Friday, February 26, 2010
12:45pm	Bird Dog Parade (immediately preceding Ribbon Cutting)	HyVee Hall Entrance
1:00pm	Ribbon Cutting - Show Opens	HyVee Hall Entrance
2:00pm	Seminars and Sessions Begin	HyVee Hall Meeting Rooms
6:00pm	Friday Night Sportsman's Banquet - Boasting & Toasting	Polk County Convention Center
7:30pm	Friday Night Sportsman's Banquet - Dinner Served	Polk County Convention Center
8:00pm	Seminars and Sessions End	HyVee Hall Meeting Rooms
9:00pm	Show Closes	HyVee Hall
Saturday, February 27, 2010
9:00am	Show Opens	HyVee Hall
10:00am	Seminars and Sessions Begin	HyVee Hall Meeting Rooms
12:00pm	Conservation Lunch	Polk County Convention Center
5:00pm	Seminars and Sessions End	HyVee Hall Meeting Rooms
6:00pm	Show Closes	HyVee Hall
6:00pm	Saturday Night Banquet - Boasting & Toasting	Polk County Convention Center
7:30pm	Saturday Night Banquet - Dinner Served	Polk County Convention Center
Sunday, February 28, 2010
8:00am	Church Service
10:00am	Show Opens	HyVee Hall
11:00am	Seminars and Sessions Begin	HyVee Hall Meeting Rooms
4:00pm	Seminars and Sessions End	HyVee Hall Meeting Rooms
5:00pm	Show Ends - Thank you for a great Pheasant Fest!	HyVee Hall

(weekend agenda subject to change)

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In taking a look at pictures,number #20 to be exact, from the last event held in Des Moines at the Iowa Events Center back in 2007, I saw a Springer Spaniel from the back that reminded me of my dog Sadie.

It is my understanding that Federal Premium Ammunition will be introducing a new pheasant shot called "Prairie Storm" at the Fest.  Click here to see a review by Anthony Hauck, outdoor writer for the Star Tribune  from Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN.

I have been checking out the website and ran across  some of the forage mixtures that Pheasants Forever have developed to supply the upland game birds and whitetail deer winter food sources. Dual purposes that could fit many situations.

It has been my personal observation that the pheasant population has had a huge decline in our local area and it wasn't by human hunting pressures.Sure would like to see the birds back to the same level of three to four years ago. ;)

The National convention is only a few days away and would make a great break in the monotonous winter weather that has been keeping us all with an eye to the sky. The forecast for the weekend in central Iowa is sun and temps in the 30's.  ;)

National Pheasant Fest
Mark your calendars:
Des Moines, IA

Friday, February 26th 1pm-9pm
Saturday, February 27th 9am-6pm
Sunday, February 28th 10am-5pm

Admission: $10/day

Framed

I know,I know. Blog titles can be deceiving. ;)

When the hard-drive of my old computer wouldn't click out of it's death knell a while back ,I got a Windows 7 Home Premium operating system on a new e-machine.

The Windows Live Mail Program has some really entertaining, positive additions for people who want to keep things changing with their communications. I have found adding pictures to be very easy and giving them character by framing quite  delightful. Yes, it sounds like I'm bored...doesn't it?

Certainly, the capabilities I've discovered maybe possible with other programs, but this is the first I have been aware of them  being associated with an e-mail program that I have had the opportunity to use.

At this point I can see a lot of interesting situations with e-mail and photo editing programs at my disposal. I am the click and learn type individual. Just hope I don't wipe something out in the process. I won't, tongue in cheek, had to throw that in there for good measure.

Here's sharing my take of the Windows 7 Home Premium Live Mail Program. I like it! I like it! ;)

Timber Life Valentines

The  promise of more winter weather on Sunday the 14th, led Hubby and me to go shopping Friday evening after he got off work to prepare for our Valentine's celebration at home. Hubby and I had some ideas of what would be on the menu...so we headed to the fresh meat/seafood counter at our local store.


Timber Life Valentines Menu
                                 Salad splashed with Raspberry Vinaigrette
                                 New York Strip Steak
                                 Scallops (a la famous Boston Restaurant recipe)
                                 Mashed Potatoes with bacon and cheddar
                                 Mississippi Mud Pie Cheesecake

Hubby took over as Chef and everything was grilled, baked, and microwaved in time to catch the start of the Daytona 500. Go Bass Pro Shops Jamie McMurray !

Viewing the movie "Amelia" helped to fill in  time while we waited for the Daytona 500  track repair to cure and get the cars back onto the track.

Ah yes...I can't forget to share what Hubby brought  me this Happy Valentines Day. Recently, we acquired the Wii gaming system so we are starting to add accessories. Hubby and I took turns at being rookie game hunters. It is going to be interesting on how to get the response of the gun to mirror the response of the user better. Yes, probably needs some tweaking of the components. Sure is going to be fun working out the bugs.

OH! I can't forget the basket of sweet treats. Thanks to Hubby I have been supplied  with one of my favorite candies. I like cinnamon....HOT cinnamon. This little conveyor of sweet treats is sitting in a basketful of "Atomic Fireballs", not sure how long it will take me to munch my way through, but it should be well into the next year.

I thought is would be nice if Hubby could go flying at his Aero Club this year since he likes to get his feet off the ground whenever possible. So, the suggestion for him to go ahead and pay his full year of dues was met with a smile.

The snow stopping and the sun shining for a time made for a pleasant end
to the day.

Hope you all got a chance to celebrate with your special
person....;)

Birthday Wishes for a Blog Friend

Today, I want to send special Birthday Wishes to a Blog Friend, Marian Love Phillips, known to many of us from over at Marian's Hunting Stories, etc., etc., etc.

In the picture above she was posing with the car I won in a give-away over at the Deer Camp Blog last July.

My wish for her today is to Celebrate many more years in the great outdoors .... a Dixie Lady Hunter.

Slipping and Sliding

Yesterday brought another round of Mother Nature's whims through the heartland.

The buildup of ice came before Hubby was to leave for work and his foray to the end of the drive reinforced what officials were saying about "Travel not recommended".

Momentary electrical hic-cups occurred through the day...As 6:00 P.M. arrived evening news viewing and computer use came to a halt. The dreaded" no electricity" came to be a fact. We are fortunate,our electrical outage was relatively short compared to others in the state that lost power early in the morning and as of this writing not aware of when it will be restored for them.

We pulled out the candles and the little crank handled radio received as a gift a year ago Christmas. It provided some music to accompany my reading and Hubby's drawing of a new concept plane he hopes to build at some point in the future.


The house was beginning to chill around 9:30 so we decided it was time to head to bed to stay warm under the additional pile of blankets. I was roused as Hubby got up to turn off  the lights and TV in the living room at 10:30. Electricity had come flowing back into the house to make the surroundings comfortable once again .

As we plan for the future in our new home we know what will be included to keep events like this from being a concern...;)

Snow Blast from the Past

I am having a great time going through old family photos.These two have brought to mind how we still haven't overcome the wiles of "Old Man" Winter. The pictures don't have a clear indication of what year they were taken but from some of the others that seem to be from the same time period,1929 - 1930, looks about right.The pictures were taken in the very Southern part of Southwest Iowa, or Northern part of Northwest Missouri along the border of the states.

The work looks to be a bit laborious even with the machine in the background.

We think we have it bad sometimes with high drifts blocking the country roads in our day and age. The only difference in the method is a higher powered, sleeker road grader,a county truck, maybe even a neighboring Farmer with a snow blower attached to his tractor to get things moved aside. Can't imagine guys getting out with scoops...

The work has been completed and the side walls certainly do make the man in the picture look small.Sure looks like some great 4X4 terrain if you ask me... ;)

How Smart Is Your Right Foot

Okay folks! Are you tired of this winter weather yet? Need something to occupy your time? Got this little activity you might try if time at the computer has you wanting a change of pace.

HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?

You have to try this please, it takes 2 seconds. I could not believe this! It is from an orthopedic surgeon............ This will confuse your mind and you will keep trying over and over again to see if you can outsmart your foot, but, you can't. It is preprogrammed in your brain!

1. While sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.

2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction.

I told you so! And there's nothing you can do about it! You and I both know how stupid it is, but before the day is done you are going to try it again, if you've not already done so.

 

So,  how did you do with control over your foot? ; )

Mason Loftus Timber Life Hunting Story

Mason Loftus, the Bow Hunter who was able to bring a nice doe out of the Timber Life timber sent me his story recently. Following is the story of his hunt on November 15th. 

I got into my stand that day at about 2 p.m. and it was a beautiful fall day.  There was a northeast wind that day, so I didn't expect to see much because the area that the deer bed was directly down wind.  But, after about an hour or so I started seeing some movement up wind of me.  The first deer that came over the hill was a small 4 point buck.  He acted like he was nervous of something, but it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was.  Shortly after that, a few does came from the same direction with a beautiful tall racked 10 pointer chasing them.  At first I thought the deer was a shooter, but after a few minutes of watching him I decided he needed one more year to really be a trophy.  He was a tough deer to pass on, but my hope is that he made it through the hunting seasons so I can get another chance at him when he is a year older, wiser, and bigger!  Well, he turned out to be a very fun deer to watch.  He was herding those does around like he was a trained cattle dog.  Eventually he ran the largest doe about 15 yards from my stand, and I decided it was time to fill the freezer.  I made a great shot and she only ran about 50 yards from my stand and expired.  Even though I knew where she was, I went back and got my dogs so they could practice following the blood trail.  It didn't take the dogs long and they were sitting by her side waiting for me to catch up with them. 

With the seasons winding down here and the weather being extremely cold it will be next Fall before the bowhunter will be back to sit in his stand. Again Congratulations to Mason! ;)

Way to Go Orange Bowl Champs Iowa Hawkeyes!

Congratulations to the Kirk Ferentz and his University of Iowa football team the Hawkeyes!




Highlights of the 2009-2010 Hawkeye Football Season

If you caught the Orange Bowl last night you witnessed another bowl win for the Hawkeyes. Last night they were the 10 point winners over Georgia Tech. Final score 24 -14... ;)

Flickr Fun

Flickr has been a fun place for me to put up some pictures that I want to share with others.

In December I was notified that the Nashville Schmap group put my Bass Pro Shop picture on a short list to
be considered for publication in their 10th edition.

Today, I received confirmation that they have used it. A very nice start to the New Year...

I will only be receiving exposure for my pictures, but I am thankful ...

Below is the  e-mail  I got today announcing my good fortune.

You've been sent a Flickr Mail from Emma J. Williams:

------------------------------------------------------------

:: Schmap Nashville Tenth Edition: Photo Inclusion


I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo
has been selected for inclusion in the newly released tenth
edition of our Schmap Nashville Guide:

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World
http://www.schmap.com/nashville/shopping_markets/p=348726/i=348726_2.jpg

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link
will take you directly to your photo in the iPhone version
of our guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see
exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the
iPhone version of our guide at:

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World
http://www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=nashville&sid=shopping_markets&p=348726&i=348726_2

Thanks so much for letting us include your photo - please
enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides

P.S. If you're a Twitter user, please check out our latest
release, a tool for sharing events, places, and local
reviews on Twitter:
www.schmap.it

We also have two Twitter accounts for Nashville, well worth
following:

Twitter-trending Nashville restaurants and bars:
www.twitter.com/nashvillepicks

Live music, parties and more happening right now in
Nashville:
www.twitter.com/nashvillenow

------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: The published picture will not be contributing to my income . It is an avenue for future exposure. ;)

Merry Christmas to One and All

The day has arrived for all of us to step back from out hurried schedules to share with our family and friends, food, fellowship and gifts from the heart.

I wish everyone safety during this holiday season with the weather that has been blanketing the country. A good time to snuggle in at home if you don't have to be out on the highways.

From us at Timber Life to all of you a  Blessed Merry CHRISTmas... ;)