Archive for November, 2008
During the cold winter months of the 1980’s, I would take my family ice skating and sledding on the reservoir just North of Troy, Idaho. Sometimes we would roast wieners and marshmallows around a campfire just to keep warm.
Ocassionally, we witnessed two warmly dressed fishermen wearing skates, loaded down with fishing gear, folding chair, and carrying a chainsaw. They would start the saw, then place the tip of the chainsaw on the ice. The saw propelled them to their fishing spot on the other side of the lake. When they arrived, using the saw again, they cut a hole in the ice for fishing. It didn’t take long, until we heard the chainsaw start up again, and we could see them using the saw on the ice to propel them back to their fire to roast the white-fish they caught for lunch.
Ice fishing with a chainsaw! What a clever idea. I never tried it, though! I kept my chainsaw sharp enough for cutting our winter’s supply of firewood.
Whether you or your spouse is the hunter, a den which displays trophies as well as wildlife art will serve as a unique retreat for lovers of hunting and the outdoors. Here are a few ideas for decorating your Hunter’s den.
~Add wildlife wall decor—in addition to trophies, it’s nice to have depictions of wildlife in their full majesty, whether through photos, pictures, or silhouettes.
~Put in a decorative rug—if the hunter doesn’t already have a rug, it’s nice to have one with a western or Indian pattern in the room, symbolizing appreciation of nature.
~A desk for documentation and planning—every den needs a desk, pick one made of a rich wood with a wide flat surface good for planning out hunting trips or research.
Whether to chronicle your child’s growth, or just as a fun art project, shadow silhouette art is fun and easy to do at home. You will need a movable light source, a few pushpins, a large sheet of paper, a pencil to trace, and another person if you are making a silhouette of yourself. Have your subject (or yourself) sit down in a chair next to a wall. Move the light source close enough to cast the shadow of your head against the wall. Once this is accomplished, take the large sheet of paper, and pin it against the wall with the shadow of the head inside. Then take your pencil and trace the outline of the shadow against the wall onto the paper.
This process will give you a silhouette outline, which you can trace onto a piece of construction paper, and then transfer to a background of your choosing. It’s a fun project for kids and even adults!
For anyone who loves pet images and especially cats and kittens, you must not miss reading “Mommy Dearest,” an article printed in People Magazine, November 10, 2008. The pictures reveal a 2 1/2 year-old chimpanzee adopting two white Bengal cubs. An emergency arose at the wildlife reserve on the East Carolina coast, following one of the hurricanes. The Bengal mother had to be moved to a safer environment. The Chimp was observing the move, and volunteered to help care for the baby cubs.
Twenty years ago, I held a white Bengal tiger in my lap, and my son Cary held a lion cub in his arms. It was part of a wildlife conservation program. An exhilarating experience I will never forget! Who wouldn’t love these cute and affectionate creatures? But, a chimpanzee? That’s amazing!
Wonderful food recipes are available in every monthly issue of the Southern Living magazine. I now know why Mom’s meatloaf was so flavorful. In the October 2008 issue of this social periodical on page 138, is an article titled, ”Meatloaf Makeover.” This recipe helped me to figure out Mom’s secret.
Mom’s secret? Now I know that she was using ground pork sausage with the ground beef. I’ve added my own individuality by adding two tablespoons of Grandma’s Molassas to my meatloaf recipe.
In addition to our safety tips, any good cook taking that tasty sizzling dish right out of the hot oven, would have a Trivet on the countertop to protect the surface from burning.
My heart sings to see so many large ranches expanding their beef herds by adding Buffalo to their range lands. Almost extinct, Buffalo are not only becoming an important part of nature’s wildlife scenery, but they are also becoming a part of North America’s food chain, once again.
Southern Living magazine, October 2008, page 6, features a panoramic view of Buffalo grazing on 29,000 acres near Pawhuska, Oklahoma. This seems like a large area, but it’s a long way from the 142 million acres that Bison roamed before hunters and farmers killed them off. In our travels through the Western United States, we have seen many small ranches raising Bison.