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Christmas pictures
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Normally we have a whole whack of snow by now. But this year it’s pretty bleak and barren looking. Somehow Christmas and winter just doesn’t have the magic without the snow cover. The view out my den window is serene but sort of dull and lifeless right now. But it’s still nice to look out when I’m at the computer. The other two pictures were just about this time last year. The plowed yard is pretty nice, but 5 days later the bottom fell out of the thermometer. The next day the power went off. Thank goodness for my wood stove in the living room!
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That looks like a beautiful place to live Daryl, really pretty with all the snow. We had some snow earlier but it’s been in the 30’s & 40’s for a couple weeks and raining for 2 days so the snow is gone. Seems the last decade or so we been getting more snow in late January and February. I’m in no hurry for it. The fire in the stove looks nice and cozy, nothing like the instant warmth of wood heat. I live in town now but grew up with wood heat and my Mom used a wood cook stove her whole life. I still help my brother cut and split firewood. I enjoy being out in the woods during the fall. Great way to live.
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Thanks Tim, and like I mentioned to Chris, we love it here. The fire is such a joy when the temps hit that crazy zone. When I was still working (typically 60 hours weekly) I got pretty tired of the maintenance workload, but now I really enjoy working in the yard again and have a whole list of things I want to do that I put off for the last 20 years. One of them being removing a whole whack of trees (yay for firewood) that have become a bit of a hinderance to both views and appearance. Not to mention the threat of falling damage. Some of those white poplar (you likely call them Aspen) bams are close to 70 feet tall! Lots of black poplar too (otherwise known as cottonwood but still an Aspen) on the lake-bank and they are just getting old and ugly, and they die off fairly young in comparison to the white. They burn OK, but leave a lot of ash without producing as much heat for what they cut up into. The wood is very porous and the centers are often hollow. Plus they leave those nasty sticky seed pods on everything in the spring, can ruin vehicle finishes, outdoor furniture and siding. White poplar is a hardwood and burns very well and doesn’t drop the stickys near so much. But they both run ground shoots from the root system and drop seed that spring up in the lawn. Really hard to control at times. Deciduous weeds haha.
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by Daryl Jones.
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by
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In Michigan, we call them poplar and cottonwood. If you say Aspen to us, we know it’s a tree, but we think you’re talking about a ski resort. 😄
Cottonwood grow really fast which is why they have a lot of those problems you’re talking about, at least that’s what I’ve always thought.
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Daryl,
That is really nice looking at that fire, and looking out over the deck at the lake.
I used to live on a lake near here that looked like that. I liked that a lot. A lot wilder than the suburbs I grew up in. I remember times when I was growing up where the snow piled on the side of the drive was maybe 9 feet in the air or more. Haven’t seen that in a very long time.
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Thanks Chris. While we never seem to cease to complain about the extra work the snow makes, and the bitterness of the ridiculous cold we so often see, I wouldn’t live anywhere else really. Even though our close town is only 3000 souls, it’s still too big for me. I ain’t no city boy and love being in the sticks. When we built over 30 years ago, there was only two of us full time residents in our cul-de-sac. And there is still only seven of the 14 that are full time, the others are weekend and holiday folk. All great people of course and with no through road we don’t get the race track fools from the big smoke tearing around. Just the occasional rubber-necker that I think are dying to get a glimpse of my part time next door neighbor friend and NHLer. Johnny is retired from playing, but still works for the Islanders. Awesome acoustic guitar player!
Blissfully quiet, even on weekends. -
Blissfully quiet, you said.
I remember when I moved from the lake house to where I am now. I’m in a city now, and on a pretty busy road.
It’s funny how sounds and smells can bring back memories. Out on the lake, it was almost totally quiet. In the city, traffic.
The first night I spent in the city, the traffic noise reminded me of being in Bligny-sur-Ouche, (Bligny on the river Ouche), a small town in Burgundy, in France, that I had been in not long before that. It was an old hotel, Les Trois Faisans (the 3 pheasants), which was right on the shoulder of the road.
Funny that it brought me back to that, but that was the last time I had heard that kind of traffic noise. I’ve thought about moving back out to the country, but at this point I don’t think I ever will.
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Sounds beautiful Chris! We hear some highway noise year round, it’s only about a kilometer (2/3 mile) as the crow flies so big trucks noise will carry through and the snow plow in the winter, occasional off road bikes, and of course open piped Harleys and such. Some boat traffic in the summer, but that isn’t really any louder than I get on the deck with my guitars.😉 And snowmobiles in winter, which I used to partake of myself.
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This reply was modified 9 months ago by Daryl Jones.
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This reply was modified 9 months ago by
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This is a picture my niece took of the Rotary Club lights display in Riverside Park at La Crosse WI. I was hoping to get down there this year but that’s probably not going to happen. If I do I will take some pictures or maybe a video. This picture was taken from the Minnesota side of the Mississippi River.
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This has nothing to do with scenery or lights and seasonal views really, but it does have a place in my Christmas. I love making “studnetz” (Ukrainian pan headcheese) and my own flavor of beef jerky (developed the recipe from using venison of all manners) so it’s my kitchen tradition as much as turkey and stuffing. Doggone, the kitchen smells good!
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Daryl,
Sounds to me like that’s a seasonal view. Cooking is one of my hobbies, and I’ve made head cheese before, and I will again sometime – it turned out good. There’s a good butcher in town and he started carrying whole pig’s heads not long ago. At first he wasn’t sure anybody would buy one so he sold them for $5 apiece. I’m like “wow! a week’s worth of food for $5!”
That venison jerky sounds great. I love beef, but would pick venison over beef all day long.
I tried googling studnetz, and did find one recipe, she called it studinetz, and also called it hyshky. My Ukrainian is pretty much limited to Slava Ukraini – so I never heard of either.
https://petroshasblog.wordpress.com/tag/studinetz/
What is your recipe?
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Sorry Chris, I didn’t mean to keep anyone in the dark! I have made it several ways, but have never used the actual pig’s head in the process. There is a favorite sausage house in Edmonton that does do it that way though and I often buy their headcheese when I’m able to drop by.
I have used the hocks and feet, but most often these days I chop up and cook a boneless pork shoulder for the meat and substance. A whole boneless shoulder is often less costly than 3-4 hocks and a couple packs of split feet!
I cube the pork meat 2-3# for an average batch, a couple quarts of chicken broth, two tablespoons of crushed garlic, a teaspoon of crushed ginger, ground sea salt (or kosher if I have it) and pepper to taste but unless you use low sodium broth you need to be careful of the salt content. Bring the meat and broth to a slow rolling boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 hours. If using hocks and feet, then you have to remove them to de-bone and return the meat to the pot after shredding and cutting. If feet are included, there is usually enough of a reduction to get the headcheese to gel, but I always add a packet of powdered gelatin just in case; two envelopes if using boneless pork. I also add a tablespoon of rice vinegar and a pinch or two of dried dill weed. Ladle the cooked mixture into pans to cool and set. Usually the re is a payer of fat that collects on the top of the pans that needs to be skimmed off after the studnetz is cooled and set. Some people serve it with a drizzle of vinegar or will add diced pickle while ladling into pans a la Sulze type.
You can always add some extra spice/salt when serving if needed, but after a time you’ll find the right amounts during the cooking process.
Hope it works out for you. -
Thanks for the recipe Daryl. Sorry – I was joking about hiding it.
That recipe sounds great. It sounds really delicious.
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Hey no worries, it’s not like it’s a culinary world secret or anything.😅
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There used to be a German fellow that owned a bar in town that made some good head cheese. I haven’t had any for years but it was good stuff. As for venison I’ve been trying to get some with my bow but haven’t had any luck. Not sure what the problem is, Lol.
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I hunt myself, and have also used a bow. But I haven’t had an arrow on the string for years now. It’s more of a regulatory thing where I live, hunting period has become a draw license only and that is a period of years between acceptance on applications except for white tail deer. But my significant other is of indigenous status so if we really wanted the meat that bad, we could go at any time we choose. She’s still a bit squeamish on the taking of an animal that means her no harm. Not that I disagree vehemently on that outlook, but I do enjoy having my game in the freezer. I don’t hunt birds except grouse at all anymore, haven’t for decades. Wild geese and ducks are just not something I have any desire to kill. Same with wolves, cougars or bear. Unless they are a threat to me or mine anyway. Nor do I hunt for antlers or records, that’s another discussion for another place and time.
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I grew up in a large family that was quite poor. Hunting was a way to put meat on the table. All the friends and neighbors hunted too and we all shared the bounty with each other. I haven’t hunted for more than 10 years but decided to do it this year. I only hunt whitetail deer and only hunt with a crossbow now and don’t need to get one just for meat. I really don’t care if I get one or not. If I really want some venison I can get it from a number of friends. I just like being out in the forest seeing animals in their natural environment and watching the season change. I use the time in the woods to relax and sort of meditate, to ponder my existence and the state of the world. The deer I’m hunting are pretty safe because my 2 trail cameras say the deer have been getting there between 8:00am and 10:00am and I don’t get out of bed until 10:30. I have a very small cabin I built from pallet lumber and other reclaimed material. I only spent money on screws and paint.
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I hear you Tim. The wilderness is calming and a great place to connect with your inner self. While I do have a group of friends that I often hunt with, I mostly hunt alone and will travel the bush for many miles in search of solitude and away from other hunters. I use my SxS to get to and from specific areas and then go on foot from there. It’s not uncommon for me to go 60-100 miles in my buggy and several hours of foot travel during a normal hunt day. While it’s nice to reap a reward for the efforts, it’s often enough to just be out there and find some relative peace in nature. When you actually do take an animal is when the fun stops and the work begins…
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We have hundreds of acres of public hunting land within short driving distances but this year I’ve only been hunting on a small tract of forest and swamp connected to my family’s 5 acre parcel. It used to be a couple hundred acres but because of development there is only about 40 acres available to hunt, good enough for bowhunting though. Most of the people I used to hunt with are either dead, too old or just unwilling to leave their house when it’s below freezing. I mostly hunt alone except for my brother’s son in law who likes to bow hunt but has his own construction business and is usually too busy. I like bowhunting because you have to study the deer’s habitat, where they been eating and bedding and try to get as close to them as possible. I could spend time in the woods without hunting but I like to support our hunting clubs and programs too. Hunting and fishing bring billions of dollars into our states economy and most of that money goes into developing and maintaining habitat for all sorts of wildlife. Not only does it maintain and even grow the the population of native species, since the 1990’s we have a growing population of turkeys, wolves, black bears and many small game species. We even have a couple herds of elk growing in the northern forests.
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I have never held a gun in my hands in my life. So no hunting for me, but I’ve gone fishing plenty of times. I do like the taste of game meats though. If I lived out in the country I might have gone hunting by now.
I live in a mid sized city, and there are a lot of animals around. Here’s the herd of deer that I’m thinking about charging rent to. The one who’s staring at me, I remember her. But there are at least 5 other deer in the picture too. I have almost no grass in my yard, it’s all wild flowers and stuff like that. If I mow it at all, it’s about once per year when it rains a lot in the spring. I always tell people my yard is the last remaining piece of prairie land east of the Mississippi.
That doe is a little worried about me, but not too much. I was sitting 20 feet away. She’s seen me before, and she only worries if I’m looking right at her. If I look away, she ignores me and goes back to having her salad. And sometimes she’ll even lay down. I know they sleep back there too. You can’t really tell at this angle, but this pic was taken last May 7th, and she was definitely great with child – Bambi – back then. So maybe next year there’ll be 7 of them.
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Same as up here pretty much. Many non-hunters ask me how I can be a conservationist and still hunt. If there weren’t conservation efforts that we as hunters abide by and help promote, the lands and forests would be in far worse shape. And that includes the natural fauna big time!
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Daryl,
A lot of people don’t take the time to understand that. Our state government works with sportsman’s clubs, hunters and farmers and relies on our input to regulate hunting seasons and develop habitat and food plots for or wildlife. The state DNR and hunting clubs buy up abandoned farms and turn them into wildlife habitat. We have many more deer here now than we did when I first started hunting. When I first started hunting as a teenager there were strict laws on hunting and bowhunting really didn’t exist. A few black bear were in the northern forests but I had never seen one near me. Elk and wolves were extinct along with turkeys, cougars and very few bobcats. The only coyote I ever seen was on the cartoons. Once the wild turkeys were re-introduced to the area (thanks to the sportsman’s clubs) in the 1990’s their predators naturally re-established themselves. We now have hundreds of coyotes, bobcats, wolves and cougars. One of our wolves with a radio colored was hit and killed in downtown Indianapolis. This year a cougar was showing up on camera’s in Madison WI. We have hunting and boating safety courses, special seasons and clubs to benefit disabled and youth hunters and discounts for military and first time sportsman. There are some legal hunting practices that I don’t agree with and those that poach game illegally or unethically are NOT hunters, they are criminals.
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An old work friend of mine is spending Christmas in Singapore, she posted some beautiful pictures. I thought I would share them.
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I’ve never been to Singapore, and I know it’s in the tropics, so I’m wondering how the sales of Der Bingle’s White Christmas went there(?). They may believe in Santa, but Idk how they can think they’re going to have a White Christmas.
Those pics look like they could be in a science fiction movie, actually.
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Tim , I’ve looked at that picture with all your camouflage several times…. I looked at the hat… I looked at your mask…. Finally, I looked right behind your shoulder…. Eyeballs!!!!😬🤓
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Hi Tim,
Lol, some of my friends were posting deer hunting selfies on Facebook so I made one too. Thanks to photo shop I made it interesting. I even won a photo contest with it but gave the prizes to a young girl who was second. Hers wasn’t photo shopped and besides, it’s Christmas.
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Good job!🤓
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