A Little Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween from the Snow Chateau!

Sunset

Not having a chance to get out and do any bird hunting yet, Bill and I headed north this past Friday.  Only saw one rooster and I didn't have any kind of a chance at him as I was still in the trees when he flushed and Bill wasn't even set up yet - not that he was any where near where the bird flushed.  Casey got a *L-I-T-T-L-E* hard headed working one field as there was so much scent that she and I butted heads pretty hard...resulting in me searching for my shot gun.  Damn dog anyway.

However, at the end of the day, she worked a bird in textbook manner, even if it was a hen.  Then Mother Nature graced us with this beautiful sight as we started home.  This shot is straight out of the camera...no enhancement what-so-ever.

How can life NOT be good with a sight like this to send us on our way home?  Yep, Life's pretty good!

Pheasant Opener - Not a Bird In Sight

When I took my Mom down to Colorado to see her grand-kids/great-grand-kids, she mentioned to me that she wanted to have a sidewalk put in from in front of her house around to the garage door.  As most of you know, I have had a few dealings with contractors and told her it was gonna be pretty hard to find someone willing to do such a small job.  Of course her response was *sigh*.  

When my folks built their garage many, many, many moons ago, Dad had just laid some palettes down to make a make-shift sidewalk.  As you can imagine, over time, they have become pretty crappy, and rotted, and yucky, and well, just time for them to go away.  I asked Mom if she could wait until spring to have a sidewalk put in as I thought Bill and I could go over and pour then, not knowing if the weather would hold out long enough to get it done this fall.

Once I returned home, I told Bill what I had volunteered us to do.  I have a wonderful husband.  The more we talked about it, the more we both agreed that the sidewalk really did need to get put in this fall so Mom wouldn't have such a tripping hazard with those rotted palettes to cross every time she went to and from the garage. 

Bill and I looked at the weather and decided last weekend was the time to head back to Billings to pour some concrete.  

Steps 1 & 2:  Get rid of those awful pallets and *try* to till that ground up to dig out for the concrete.  NOTICE:  Rose bushes have been moved.

No job is complete without supervision - this job required two.

Rake, shovel, repeat.  Man, is that ground hard.

We had to re-till the ground multiple times to be able to get deep enough to get the dirt out.  Very thankful we took the roto-tiller up with us.  We'd STILL be there digging.  "Slot" dug, forms set, mesh laid.  Bruce came over when he got off work and gave us a hand getting some of the back fill done.

No, there are no pics of pouring the concrete as I was rather busy on the end of the shovel and I didn't have time to get the pics Mom took put on my hard-drive.  Trust me, there may not be any pics of me, but I worked just as hard.  Had the draggin' butt to prove it.

Again, Bruce came over when he got off work the night we poured.  His help was tremendous with the last half of the pour and all the finish work.

Things are cured enough Bill and Bruce were able to go ahead and edge the concrete.  Sure was lookin' nice at this point.

And the almost finished product.  All the edges are done; unfortunately, the mud didn't cure quick enough for us to be able to strip the forms prior to leaving.  Doesn't matter, Bruce said he would strip and finish back filling.  The important thing:  Mom is HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY.  (I know she was happy, most telephone conversations started out with "I'm getting a new sidewalk", then turned to "I have a new sidewalk".)  Thanks for all the help Bruce.  In Bill's words, "Thank God for brother-in-laws!"

While there, Bill, Bruce and I talked about the lack of motion detection light and all agreed that would be a great idea and that it really should get done - sooner, rather than later.  When I told Mom what we all had decided needed to happen, if she was agreeable, she said her only objection is they had one before and it shined into her bedroom.  Well, I'm married to not only a super nice guy, but a pretty handy one at that.  The light was moved around the corner, with new motion detection installed, and set to shine on that brand new sidewalk of hers - where it will do her some good.  Now that it's all done, Mom said she wished they would have done it a couple years ago.  I wish she would have mention it ten years ago - when we were all younger and had stronger backs.  But, with that said, all in all, a pretty successful weekend - even if there wasn't a pheasant in sight.

Elk, Elk, Some More Elk, and Oh, a Buffalo Too

Yesterday Bill and I had had about all we could stand of staying cooped up in the house.  The weather has been windy, rainy, dreary and just plain yucky.  We had a short break in the wind; Bill asked what I wanted to do, so I said, let's go find the elk.  South Dakota doesn't have a huge elk population so they can be kind of tricky to find.......I only know one spot that you have any kind of chance to find them so off to Wind Cave National Park we went.  Again South Dakota doesn't have a huge elk population so it's kind of a crap shoot to find them.........Mother Nature smiled on us.  

We found one descent sized herd; I took a short hike to be able to photograph them.  They were far enough away that I couldn't clearly see their antlers - please forgive the less than spectacular photo's.  As we drove home toward Custer State Park we found a bachelor group of 3 bulls that I was able to get within about 40-50 yards of one of the bulls; then found 2 bulls hanging a little farther down the road.  Just as we entered into the State Park, we found a small group of elk.......5 cows and 5 bulls in total......a couple of spikes, a small 4 point that must have just been kicked out of the group, another small 4 point and the herd bull - who had only one horn.  He may have only had one horn, but he certainly knew what time of year it is and that his hormones were to be raging.  

And yes, Custer State Park and Wind Cave both have healthy populations of buffalo.  One guy happened to be in a good spot with the sun shining exactly the way it should be.  So, yes, I couldn't resist a shot of him also.  I've become a ........PHOTOGRAPHER!!!!!!!

Our one buff that gave me a descent photo op.

The herd of elk when I first found them.  Notice the bull....lounging in the sun.

He did stand, take a walk over the edge, just simply turn around to watch over his harem.

And with a grunt the girls gather to change real estate.

Surveying to ensure everyone followed.

The magistrate has successfully kept his harem together.

One of the three bulls we found along side of the road.

Not real big, but he sure was handsome.

Can you not hear him saying, "Did you need somethin'?"

These two were far more camera shy.  The big one of the bunch is the closest to the camera.

A 'silent' bugle.

Handsome.

So, he finally stops for a photo....in the timber.  This guy is smart.  Notice how wide he is.

The last group we saw.

He knows exactly what time of year it is.

Indeed....a great day to be on earth.  A great day spent with my Husband.  Life. Is. Good!