Last night on the highly competitve television show Dancing with the Stars, Iowa native Shawn Johnson, and her dance partner Mark Ballas, narrowly won the top prize.
Their high energy freestyle dance kept them on the move from start to finish. It had audience appeal,everyone seemed to be drawn in by the vivacious actions of the young couple.
I would like to congratulate them on their win. A reward for all the hard work they put in to get to the top. ;)
After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. 'Oh,' she said, 'on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together..'
Sunday, Mother's Day, I got to decide what we , Hubby and I, would do to celebrate the day.
The choice to go fishing, to try out my new fishing poles, was at the top of the list. Hubby had been given forewarning earlier in the week since I didn't want to spring the concept on him at the last minute. However, he wasn't aware that the fishing poles were "pink." I had introduced him to my new aquisitions when they arrived. However, Hubby is color blind and I have been told that he discerns pink as gray. So, being the fair woman that I am... I told him just a few minutes before we were to leave on our fishing excursion. ;)
We spent a couple hours fishing off the point by the tree in the first picture where the ground is worn from traffic.The roots provide terraced steps or a place to sit while waiting for a fish to come along. We did see small fish darting along in the shallow water a couple feet off shore just to tease us, not interested in any lure we had to offer at that time of day.
Turns out we had another fishing pole and reel combo hanging in the garage that is suited for the other better half of this partnership. The black "Berkley" rod and reel combo just needed a little tweaking for it to be ready to put the line in the water.
It wasn't long after we left our first fishing spot that the locals moved back in to take over their home again. 
Time to try a different location that had been given as a fairly good place to catch fish by the Iowa DNR weekly fishing report.
We headed to the bottomside of the Spillway from Big Creek Lake into Saylorville Dam at Polk City,IA. It took us a little bit to find the access road which was long enough for other people to get the same idea. Things got to be a little crowded...especially since I wasn't real positive about my casting skills. I know what I need to do now. Go fishing when everyone else is at work,or practice casting over and over.
A very skilled fisherman remarked at how the fish had been biting a week ago in the pool below the spillway. Several boats were taking advantage of the water in the middle. I think they were herding the schools of fish to the northside of the pool because that is where the fisher people were first to start getting strikes.
The picture below is one of the most noted bridges found in Central Iowa. It is referred to as "The Mile Long Bridge", spanning the Saylorville Dam, at the west edge of Polk City. It was the backdrop to our second and final fishing spot for the day.
Mother's Day here at Timber Life was spent with the man I chose to be the Father of my children. It was a very nice day...;)
Ahhh, 4:00 in the afternoon rolled around yesterday. The bird sound went off on the wall clock and Sadie headed for the door to go outside. I pulled myself away from the Office Professional Word 2007 individual studies I have been working on...Away we went!
This week,the week before Mother's Day, is usually the week we start seeing morels here,then it seems to end abruptly at that point, or we stop looking. It took me a while to find them. I went to the place that has been the most productive since we moved here and started searching.
As you can see they are hiding out of view. I removed some vegetation before snapping a couple of pictures.
The timber has been holding moisture, a down slope from the tillable ground has brought the water to the surface .
Sadie and I felt pretty good after our romp in the woods. She found the water and had a good mud-pack going on;I found some mushrooms to put on the table for supper. What a great way to end the day?!? ;)
Find out more about Urtica dioica here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_nettle
It is time to plan a fishing outing now that my "Pink" Roddy Hunter LED Lighted Reel&Rod has arrived.
When I ordered I wasn't satisfied with just one fishing pole so I looked around over at Mik Lurch's website www.miklurchtackle.com and found a ladyfish spincasting combo by Shakespeare that I wanted to try too. One way or another it looks like I will get a line in the water.
Once,I wasn't to sure about using pink on my fishing expeditions,but the idea has grown on me after being introduced to it by Jody over at The Hunter's Wife. I can't possibly let Kristine at Outdoor Bloggers Summit/Hunt Smart Think Safety and Marian over at Marian's Hunting Stories,etc...,etc...,etc... have ALL the fun since they too are proud owners of the Roddy Hunter rod&reel combo.
Last weekend when I visited Gun and Reel Sports in Jamestown,ND. I picked up the beginnings to start filling a tackle box. Son-in-law Justin Schnackenberg gave me some tips on stuff that has worked for him. So,walking the fishing supply isles we found some of the basics in his opinion.
(Thanks to Justin Schnackenberg for catching this helicopter in action) While we were enjoying our visit to Jamestown,ND. last weekend we were keeping an eye to the sky,the sandbag walls,and earthen dikes. Flooding has been a very serious concern in Jamestown as well as the whole State of North Dakota. In good times the Jamestown Dam and Pipestem Reservoir are great fishing spots. However, this year with large amounts of snow and ice,now rain, the ground is saturated with nowhere for the extra water to go except overland. The clean-up at Pipestem is already being planned to get it opened for all the anglers wanting to get back to the important business of fishing. "First time" records are being set for the Jamestown Dam.
After Hubby spent some time with Tex getting aquainted and snapping some pictures we were back on the road again. There was a building I saw when we turned to go to Tex's place that caught my attention. Before we left the area I took a picture to keep it in the same condition forever in my memory.
Today we don't see many one roomed schoolhouses still in this shape. In our west-northwest trek towards Jamestown we saw other one roomed buildings but not in the same condition as this one. You never know when there won't be anymore to mark the passing of our past generations and the community gatherings that happened there...
Later in the day hubby took advantage of some smooth air to get off the ground for a short hop around the patch before the sunset. Clouds had moved in to set the stage for future moisture.
It has been a wonderful day with forays into the timber to see what flora is erupting with the warmer temperatures.
Time lapse photography would have been fun today. The Mayapples are erupting swiftly from the ground. It won't be long until they are blooming,an indicator for us to be looking for the coveted Morel Mushroom.
Gooseberry,Wild Raspberry, Honeysuckle and Multi-flora rosebrush are among the plants
putting on new leaves preparing for fruiting blooms.
The Wild Honeybees have been awake and buzzing for almost three weeks. They would invite themselves into the house when I opened the back door during some of the cold snaps. It didn't take them long to find there wasn't anything they needed andwould head back out the other direction.
It wasn't very long ago there were cooler temps. I was wondering if it would ever end.
True Spring has arrived at Timber Life and the hope to see new life begins anew.
Hope things are improving in your neck of the woods too! ;)
The weather has been absolutely wonderful for Shed Hunting. I have spent portions of three days looking through the pastures and timber areas.
Sadie accompanied me yesterday. Then she went with hubby and I to take a look around the southside of the property today.
Our goal was to find a match to get a pair for #4. I found that particular shed sticking out from under pasture grass, bent from the winter snow,in the north pasture yesterday before noon. It looks like it has already gone through a whole year of weathering to me. Number 3 was the first shed I found yesterday in a very conspicuous location just feet from the fence line between the pasture and the infamous corn field of last Fall and Winter.
Shed #2 was found in a totally different direction. Close to a fence line too...This time along the ravine south of the house.
The chewed shed, #1 , was found last year, behind my big garden. I left it outside on the front deck for decoration. As you can see, the little creatures came to reclaim what they considered to be theirs. The squirrels came to file down their teeth. They were the only ones caught in the act of wittling, but the groundhog tracks left yet another clue to the ever shrinking antler.
If it should be that I don't locate another antler this Spring I will be happy...The collection is starting to grow. ;)
My goodness of all the days that have past since I started exploring the big old wide world.
Yes, on March 18th, mom and dad gave me a little party to celebrate my 1st Birthday.
Just to think it won't be until May 15th, that we will pass another milestone, a year since I made the trip from Madison,SD., to Central Iowa. Mom met Dorothy Sanborn from South Dakota's Countryside Kennels at the Sioux Falls, SD., Pilot to bring me home.
Mom and I have had some growing pains, but we are getting to know each other real well. There is a very strong mutual admiration society happening here. A real plus is that I was house broken by the time I was 5 1/2 months old. Mom has heard it is hard to get a Springer Spaniel potty trained...not at my house it wasn't.
I am a smart girl. My favorite new tricks are to twirl and roll-over,for a treat of course. Mom has started trusting me to run off my leash when we go into the timber. How very happy that has made me! We get to go together now.
There are a couple of small creeks with water running, you should see the M-U-D up to my shoulders. Can't possibly avoid it don't you know?!?
All I would like to say in closing is that this is turning out to be heaven in my book. Just a chance to live the Timber Life... ;)
After the whole of last week without rain,or snow... The weekend arrived,giving us some honest to goodness thunder, and lightening starting off at 1:40 A.M. on Saturday.
I sat down to the computer to do some blog reading around 11:30 A.M. today, it was just raining. I turned around at 11:55 A.M. to go into the kitchen, looking out the sliding glass door, I was Surprised that it gotten cold enough to allow snow to fall for a few hours.
Tonight all the snow has gone, but while it lasted, the white, huge, heavy flakes filled the air with beauty as they rushed to cover the ground...;)
The trip to the Iowa Deer Classic this year came on the second day, March 7th. Hubby and I arrived around 10:00 A.M. to get our tickets and get down to the show floor to see what was available.
My check list this year included getting information on the Shadow Hunter elevated blinds. Given the opportunity that would be the brand I would invest my money on.
The other things on my check list included a ground blind,a bow,some trail cameras, to checkout the deer heads and sheds. I wanted to see the antlers rated from 180-200. 
I didn't take the time to see every deer head there, but I did find one that was impressivly scored at 227 1/2. It was taken in a county just to the southeast of us. Hope some day his offspring will find it's way in our direction.
The crowd developed while we were looking things over,to the point trying to move from place to place became a challenge. A good indicator of the interest of the huntresses and hunters in Iowa. ;)
Wednesday turned out to be a positively delightful respite weather wise. Even the morning temperatures were warm enough only to need a sweatshirt on an outing to check out all the noise from Hendrickson Marsh three quarters of a mile away.
Timber Life gained a different set of 4x4 wheels on January 24th, to help traverse the terrain . Sure do appreciate what a machine can do. ;)
This year proved to be a challenge, even with a tractor to maintain our travel route. The diesel fuel, for the first time in 6 1/2 years of tractor ownership, had a problem providing sure performance, even with winter additives. We were not the only ones to fall victim to the evil malady of "gelling". It is just hard to tolerate when things are so awful cold and the tractor quits working a quarter of a mile from the nearest stationary plug-in. You would think with the piece of iron coming out of Russia it would start in all kinds of cold, but it isn't to be. It sat until a day got up to 25 and the portable generator turned over to get the block heated up so the oil would move.
Encouragement comes now that we can see the end of the drifts that had us driving through the field to gain access to home from forays to the outside world.
Things are looking a bit rutty still, but there are signs this week of warmer temperatures. Maybe some wind to give us some drying. Then the Belarus 572 can once again "Spring" into action to create a smoother ride...;)
