Movin' On Down the Line

I am sure you probably have opportunity to watch trains glide through your area...You too might wish that they weren't cutting your path in half.

This was the second time in that week that I had to wait for a train to get through the same crossing. The time of day didn't make a difference. I don't know if they have a schedule that you can set your watch by or not. It was just interesting that the two times I came past that week I got to sit  for a few minutes, and wonder how far they would need to go to reach their closest destination...

Decorah Eagle Cam 2012

                            Decorah Eagle Cam Live Feed

Video streaming by Ustream

The Eagles are setting again...The first egg was laid on January 17th, 2012 and the tentative hatch date is March 25,2012.

Once again The Raptor Research Project is providing the 24/7 coverage for all of us to enjoy Eagle watching - the upbringing of another majestic bird...

Tailgate Art

Yesterday , Hubby and I took off to do some shopping for supplies.

The parking lot was busy with others of like mind, must be the sunshine, and warmth, spurring us all to get started on Spring time projects.

We had loaded our purchase out in the yard, but needed  a couple more things from inside before we left for home.


Passing a brilliantly decorated tailgate on one of the pickups, as we pulled into a parking spot in front of the store,piqued my curiosity. It had pheasants and hunting dogs on 3/4 of the tailgate, and the other 1/4 was painted with a picture of a house.

Rolling down the window on our pickup, I twisted around,pointed the camera in the direction of the tailgate, and took different zoom pictures so I could read the writing.

I LOVE it!

This picture is a beautiful artist's rendering of the Iowa fall landscape  - Pheasant hunting season.

I did some sleuthing ...

What I found for the lindenhouse  and  local attractions... A Lynnville, IA  Bed&Breakfast.

This is what I found for bigsprings at Searboro east of Lynnville on IA Highway 146.

The more I read the more connections I make - Brownells Inc., located at Montezuma, owns  the Big Springs Range to support all aspects of legal gun ownership.  Take a minute and checkout what they are doing  in association with their retail operation.

Ah, for the eye-catching  design on the  tailgate of a pickup  for advertising purposes. Definitely made me look!

Deer VS Car

We keep hearing about cars finding themselves on collision courses with Whitetail Deer on commutes in and around our capitol city, Des Moines.

The rut is over, but for some reason the deer haven't realized they don't need to be in a rush to run across the road in front of the headlights, or for that matter just stand in the middle of the road.

The other night my Hubby arrived home with a new crinkle to his little Geo; his Whitetail collision occurred just roughly 1 1/8th miles from home.

This is his third encounter over a fifteen year period. The first encounter happened during the mid-day, clipped a side mirror off our Honda Accord, the second event took place July 16th, 2008, and left a calling card on the hood,scared the poor deer, most likely to death. It happened after dark in the fog...

The present situation occurred as the sun was setting low. So we weren't able to find the animal in the ditch on our return to the vicinity, darkness covered the scene. I did see some deer standing at a fence line and should have taken that as my cue to where we needed to look.

Morning revealed the location and the state of predation of the unfortunate occurring in less than 12 hours. It makes me wonder who found the deceased first...Coyote,Bobcat, Eagle, Hawk???

Hubby was lucky that the radiator and drive train of the car weren't damaged. He had another hood that fit, but will need to get a headlight shroud, and turn signal cover to get things back to normal.

We are grateful nothing more happened...

Time to Spring Forward!

At 2:00 A.M. Sunday morning, March 11th, we will be finding ourselves with one less hour of sleep. Time to move the clocks up to get us started on longer daylight hours to work and play.

I am certainly getting into the Spring part of it already...

From Morning 'Til Night

The morning started off with a fresh layer of snow on Monday the 5th, and the deer were foraging around the backyard looking for acorns.

Several individuals were caught on camera, but my imagination led me to envision this particular doe thinking,"Shhh, maybe if I hold still she won't see me", as if the wisps of ice laden weeds would add to her incognito mode. Definitely a smile maker as the sun came up for the day.

Deer weren't the only ones looking for food. Squirrels were in the front yard... Squirrels in the backyard,  kept Sadie on alert at the windows. Those little critters have been harvesting acorns off the ground consistently since the drop last Fall. You would think by now with all the acorn eaters in the neighborhood the supply should be exhausted; apparently not. Their tunneling skills has created a symbiotic relationship with some of the birds when it snows - the squirrels loosen the snow for the birds to reach the ground.

After lunch ,walking down the drive to get the mail led to dodging mud, and running water, as the sun heated up the ground.

The return from the mailbox took me to the trail camera ; then a visit to the fence line nearest the neighbor's pond. I was out to catch some migrating birds again.

Standing, watching the birds gave me the chance to watch flocks on the move. A few dropping onto the pond in front of me.

This group of Mallards took off, circled to get into formation, and headed for another pond in the next field.

I stayed around for awhile to watch a bunch of Mallards return over the pond,  they didn't take time to drop down to the surface. It became apparent to me why they were  agitated, and headed away in an extreme hurry towards the Marsh, an Eagle was in close pursuit. From my vantage point I didn't witness any close calls.

This day started around 4:30 A.M for me....heading outside for the first time I watched the moonset;  I tried my skill at catching it before it  totally disappeared below the horizon. No success at that time as it slid swiftly away.

In the evening Sadie wanted to get some time outside as the sun was setting, deer in the field grazing, geese in the air looking for a place to set down; all spurred me to get camera in hand once again.

My attempts to catch the moon led to different settings ,with the best exposure on automatic this time around.

The Canon PS3 IS camera I use has moments when it performs well outside of its capabilities. At those times I can only give God the credit; must be the picture he wanted me to get.

Moonrise at Timber Life 3-05-2012

 So went the day at Timber Life, March 5th, 2012 ....

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The Snow has Arrived

The big flakes began falling before noon and with no wind they floated straight down.

Ah, what a lovely snow we have been blessed with today.

I have become accustomed to the on/off type winter we seem to continue to enjoy this year. It has been about seven years since we last saw similar weather; if memory serves me correctly.

Please forgive the picture quality...gray skies and snow aren't lending themselves to perfect image catching conditions.

I believe however, you can probably discern the object of this shot.

You are correct! That is if you guessed a Robin...
They have been hanging around for some time now, and for some reason unbeknownst to us it always has to snow at least once, or twice after their return.

Visibility varied from minute to minute.

I didn't find it totally unpleasant to be out and about; going from our mobile home to our new house.

Hubby and I are putting some time in today cutting wood and building some wall frames in our new house.

This picture was taken from the doorway of our new house when the snow was peppering down.

A Red-tailed Hawk came back to sit in the same Cottonwood, where I saw one this morning, but this time a lower branch was more to it's liking.

He stuck around during the lull between shots of the fluffy white stuff.

Cardinals could be heard  singing their sweet spring songs, which started the other birds to join in the chorus. Overall it seemed a welcoming to whoever might be close enough to listen.

This afternoon is ending with about two inches of new snow on the ground.

Not a good wet snow for making snowmen I don't think...Maybe I should go give it a try.

I can still smile, because this will all be gone tomorrow.

Spring temperatures are forecast for our week with rain a possibility come Wednesday.

The gardening bug has placed a thought of early crops that might profit from being put into the ground soon. Even if it snows again......

Sunday Morning Walk

This morning I decided to get out to check the farmer's pond adjacent to our pasture for the increased populations of migrating waterfowl passing through our spring  flyway.

                  Light of day was just beginning to rise as I caught these pictures in a valley like setting.

           Coming out of the house I spotted the Eagle across the cornfield perched in a fence line tree.

Then in the opposite direction I caught this Red-tailed Hawk making use of the frequently used Cottonwood perch. It's brilliant white contrast against a darkening cloud bank was awesome.

It turned out I was not alone in surveying the activities of our little part of  Iowa. Sadie and I had company peering over the fence at the opposite side of the pasture. I only became aware of our visitor when I turned to look around before moving to a different location for pond viewing; adding another member of the fauna to put in the daily picture log.Once it realized it wasn't alone it disappeared.

The temperature was extremely frosty just after sunrise - I didn't stay out for long. Snow is showing up on the weather map since I came back to the house, but again not a huge event.

Spring temps this week should continue to add to the return of Timber Life residents that call the south home for a few months. So far I have heard Killdeer, Red-winged Blackbirds,heard and seen Robins during our fluctuating weather.

What really signals spring for me is the return of the hummingbirds,orioles, and vultures. Keep checking back...I will let you know when that happens.

Sadie Says - Mom's Painting

Hi HO all!  If you don't know who I am yet , let me introduce myself! My name is  Sadie Sioux, or at least that is what my Mom calls me.

Mom thinks I need to reprise my once in awhile posts to keep everyone on top of  things happenin' here.

Well, I am here to give a report on Mom's slow as " Molasses in January" painting progress she started ,let's see now... When was it? wink wink

Sorry for the picture quality...it is kind of hard balancing, focusing, and snapping with a busy hind leg.

Uh, I guess I'd better tell you what Mom has added since letting you know what she has done since beginning way back when. wink wink

Okay, from my point of view she has added some trees, put a low sun coming up through the trees, and since she isn't a natural born artist she trying to figure out the colors - shading to make it all work. Let's just say she won't be upset when it hangs high to change the perspective.She is one of these people who learns by doing , and she does that on a regular basis.

My nose is beginning to ache from pounding the keyboard so I'll stop for now.

Be talkin' to you again soon !

Hunting Sheds

One activity that seems to be growing more popular the longer I read the hunting blogs-the search for the prominent adornments of the male Whitetail Deer.

I have taken  some time recently to search for the tine cast-offs of the bucks passing through. They are feeling the pain - taking it out on trees from less than an inch,ripping them totally off, to 4 + inches in diameter. The only thing now is to find those big antlers causing so many headaches.

Since starting my quest for the year I have found four singles; classifying them from good to best.

Sadie,Miss Kitty and me, were out February 2, and walked over a spike shed twice before realizing it was there underfoot. Sadie, was the one to draw my attention towards the ground - her action cued me to tell her to "drop it"! There wasn't anytime to get a picture of it, "as it lies".

After finding the spike , I led the animals back to the house, and went to the other side of the property on my own,  rambling about where a bunch of small trees were being coaxed into a sure death with a complete loss of bark.

February 2, 2012 4:57 p.m.

Spending another hour and a half wandering the trails I looked to my left...

AH YES! There on the ground by a shedding rub was a small four pointer at the end of the deer trail. I was headed out of the timber, resigned that I  wasn't going to find anything over here, when my surprise came.

The shed is laying about halfway between the two trees closest to the front of the picture. Make a triangle and you will find it at the top.

Can you see it?

February 9, 2012

Taking Sadie for a long walk, about a week from our last antler search ,I decided to follow the perimeter fence in a pasture.

Wandering for no more than 15 minutes that afternoon before this find came into view across the field.

Last year I found a small matched pair at the opposite end of this little pasture/crop field corridor.

So far the tally for this year is CDGardens - 3, Sadie - 1.

The active searches should take me into mid March, and passively looking will never end as things become uncovered over time.

Starting left to right -  1.)Third finding - pictured above on 2-9-12. 2.) Spike and small 4 pointer found 2-2-12. 3.) Far right antler was found late afternoon last Sunday, on a spur of the moment jaunt to exercise Sadie's nose and legs. I was glad she didn't see it first, it had already been gnawed by animals...small teeth marks scored the antler with the G2 tip becoming extremely thin and the G4 tip gone.

Are there any other methods to collect sheds other than the time consuming wandering some of  us choose to do?

A couple of ideas have come to mind in order to find some matched pairs of racks around here.


Wire Cages

The first option I might consider for upping my count are tall wire cages that I had initially placed in the middle of my small sampler deer food plots.

After getting the plots sprouted, the cages gave me a good showing of plant vigor. Everything outside the cage was eaten off.

Come winter 2009, on my chicory plus plot, before shed time,my cage got ripped out of the ground, and flattened by a mad buck. He had gotten caught too early...Sadly, no tines left behind.


Handy Gadget

Another idea that came to my attention through a recently received email from  Wildlife Obsession was this Rack Trap.

It looks like a great way to snag an antler or two! Less effort with a big benefit.

Here is what they say about this Bio-Logic product:

Collecting Shed antlers is one of the best ways to identify how many and which bucks on your property survived hunting season. When used correctly the rack trap is a easy way to attract deer and collect their antlers. This easy to install device includes heavy duty camo ratchet straps and can be attached to most trees.

Unlike other shed traps that entangle the deer's antlers causing potential harm,The Rack Trap Antler Trap is designed to simply and effectively apply pressure to the antlers, encouraging the natural shedding process as the deer is feeding.

Whether you decide to walk the deer grounds as I do, set up an antler trap of one kind, or another... Good Luck in your search !

Visit to Habitat for Humanity ReStore Part 2

A week ago I got the chance to make my first visit to the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It had a plethora of new, and used items available that has great potential be incorporated into someone's building plans. 

This aisle is one we spent a good deal of time sorting through the displays.

Des Moines has a couple of areas of large turn of the century homes - once owned by the founding businessmen...I can imagine these cast iron tubs being apart of the modern fixtures of that era, or a little beyond.

I was trying to imagine how one of them might work in our situation. A consideration also made was who would be lifting that tub in, and out, of our pick-up both here and at home. Well, the cast iron tubs remained on the showroom floor for someone else to arrange to take home.

My childhood home had a claw footed cast iron tub which comes to mind - my paternal grandmother's parent's built our two story farmhouse. I don't know much of their history, they passed away before I met them.

Hubby and I were checking out a bunch of things that day. Floor coverings of course are among many things yet to procure off the check-list. We found some linoleum, but decided we would pass it by that day. Waiting to get things in the order they are needed.

This was one of the used kitchen sets available upon our visit.  It created an  interest in me, not being sure of our total area, and almost positive we probably wouldn't be able to find additional matching cabinets, I left it. However,I bet it has found a home since our visit;a great value for someone at the price of $700.

They do carry new cabinets you can order by by style, color and your own configuration. Another option for those trying to find just the right look to fit their creative mental conceptions.

Hubby stopped to visit the ReStore a few days before our joint adventure. He sent me a cell phone picture of this awesome 8x10 area rug. I was glad to see it up close, and one day I believe at least one of similar design will be apart of the decor here at Timber Life.

The theme for our abode will need to encompass both the love of the outdoors and aeronautics; should prove an interesting feat to accomplish.

Eventually we came to some decisions, our initial excursion completed,and plans for return as the need arises.

Happy with our choices, we left with smiles on our faces....A great way to to start the day!

Nature's Happy Valentines Wishes

Yes, I would say this is certainly most often what comes to mind when one thinks of Valentines. A guy or gal with a vision of his/her love, one for the other in their eyes ...


Definitely one of Mother Nature's ways of bringing a quickening to the heart rate of the human animal.



Moving onto another aspect Mother Nature chooses for making our world complete is the wild animals that
bless our presence with color and song..

I was snapping pictures through my kitchen window of this Cardinal couple hanging out eating Burning Bush seeds last year at Valentines.

It didn't take long for me to envision something more...Using Picnik.com I was able to find some photo editing additions that enabled me to put together a nature inspired greeting.

Learning a few things about differences of  web based and print pictures - sometimes the best results for presentation is to keep it online. This one is included in that presentation type. I discovered it to be so recently.

My second nature inspired Valentine came to me January 10th, this year, when I was out snapping some images as the moon rose through the timber.

However, it wasn't until later, extremely early one morning, as I was going through my pictures and noticed that I had a Heart.  I needed to flip it over, but sure enough my hand had jiggled at the right moment to give me two distinct sides.

I want to wish all the lovers of outdoor pursuits,and those that are not so inclined as well, a Happy Valentines from Timber Life!

Here's hoping you will find a way to share what you find enjoyable with the ones you hold near and deer...:)