Finally A New Post

Saturday, 13 July ’19

For anyone following BTW weather, it’s been very wet. Last night we had three hours of heavy rain with three hours of steady rain as a night cap. Over the last ten days we’ve had at least a heavy shower daily with the exception of a couple of days. Needless to say, it is wet out here.

Today started off like most others out here, something broke and I had no replacement. In this case it was my mouse which ranks right on up there with catastrophes such as running out of dog treats. As soon as I discovered this earth shaking situation, I immediately swung into action and spent an hour trying to talk myself into not going to town. Then I remembered I really was out of treats so I knew that in order to ensure domestic tranquility as well as keep all my fingers and toes, I would have to venture out.

Going to town always puts me in a sour mood. Since I was already in a sour mood I was in the mood for some hard core road rage. Heck, the last time I was in town I saw at least 10 cars and I thoroughly despise heavy traffic. Fortunately there’s not much traffic in Madison on a Saturday.

Max road is in very good shape. A few wet spots easily avoided. County Line is good. There are four spots where water is flowing over the road but 4wd and idle through with no problem. Camp P has a couple of soft spots which you will need 4wd to avoid bogging down. The canal along side the road between Tower and Kelly is over the road in three spots. There’s hard bottom in them so again, 4wd and slow cruise. Tower is good to the gate with a couple of spots being one lane since the water is so high.

With all the rain and water that is backed up out here, it’s surprising that the roads are good as they are. We had an incredibly wet year last year but it wasn’t near as compressed as this year. There’s no doubt that the road repair efforts of this last year have been well worth it.

In other news, it’s now Wednesday. I’ve been having some bad signal days and only able to connect to the internet on rare occasion. With a storm passing today isn’t looking all that great either.

McGuyver was up Saturday for a few hours. He worked on the previously defaced signs. He and Mrs. McGuyver had worked on the cattle gate sign the week before. Everyone keep an eye out for further vandalism.

 

 

Now it’s Thursday morning. I lost signal last night. Hopefully I can get this posted.

No barnyard animals, alligators, pond scum or socialists were harmed in the production of this post. Void where prohibited by law. CAUTION: Choking hazard. Children under 26 should not use without adult supervision.

 

Sign For Sale, Really Cheap

Went to town yesterday. (today is Tuesday) The roads were very good. There’s a bit of washboard on County Line and Camp P but even in my truck it wasn’t all that bad. There are a few soft spots that will slow you a bit but even they were minor. I was in 4WD but I usually stay in it anyway. I’ve found that my truck is so heavy that it handles better if I just stay in 4WD. Also, my clutch is going so I’m easing it along as I can until I can have it replaced.

There is a rather large soft spot developing at County Line and Max. I would suggest going around it as much as possible.

We have had several heavy rain showers this last week. Water is still running off and not puddling on the roads to any major degree.

The Preacher went out Saturday. He took the old way. He reported that West Boundary is pretty wet until Wire but that there was hard bottom in all the puddles. From Wire all the way to the cattle gate has been filled and graded. He said he was in 4WD but didn’t really need it for the most part.

When we go to the cattle gate yesterday we had a rather unpleasant surprise. It seems that we’ve attracted the attention of an extremely untalented street artist.

For anyone who hasn’t been out lately, the old swing gate has been replaced. I guess you can only run over a 15 wide, 5 foot tall gate so many times before it just gives up. For the life of me I can’t understand how people don’t see that gate in time to avoid hitting it. I was legally blind until a few weeks ago and still could figure out when to stop and open it.

Anyway, we seem to have attracted the attention of some ghetto rat with a can of bright red spray paint. As I said, he’s not very talented since he went outside the lines on several occasions and apparently only has one color of paint. Everyone knows that any self respecting tag artist has two or more colors to make their work really stand out.

Also, his message needs a lot of work. “Fuck you!” just doesn’t convey much of anything in today’s society. With rampant confusion regarding gender, bathrooms, and little boys competing against little girls in sports dominating the prime time news cycle, such a phrase just doesn’t have a black or white meaning or the power it once conveyed. I remember back in my day it was either a challenge or a question. Nowadays who knows?

On a scale of 1 to 10 I have to give our street artist a 6 for stealth since I’ve not heard of any accidental shootings, a 2 for talent since they were all over the place with only a single color of paint, and a 2 for message. So it’s back to the ghetto for them.

I hate to be so harsh on what is obviously young and immature talent but I’m not paid to be politically correct. And no, I won’t loan a brother a can of paint.

And Then, It Rained

It’s Sunday afternoon. We’ve had rain off and on since Thursday night. So far we’ve had about 5 inches.

As everyone is aware, we had a very long dry spell. Many of the roads were very soft. Much of County Line was deep, fine sand and rutted in several places. A lot of this was from the fire a couple of weeks ago but also from the simple fact that we had absolutely no rain for weeks to settle the roads.

Starting Thursday night we had rain of maybe an inch or so. I had to drive out Friday morning early and it wasn’t bad. A few spots I started to bog down a bit and had to downshift but good overall. I came back in Friday afternoon and it had obviously rained heavy while I was gone.  I went into 4wd at the cattle gate and stayed in it.

Camp P from Tower to Kelly was a slow roll. They are logging on Kelly somewhere so there are about three football field length areas that are soft and deep.

After Kelly, Camp P was pretty firm except for a few small soft spots. I stopped a couple of places and dug small trenches to drain water that will hopefully help.

County Line was pretty much a slow roll to nearly Gum. I stopped a couple of time to dig trenches but had to be careful. As heavy as my truck is it tends to sink like a rock in soft sand.

On the way in the ditches were starting to fill but still had a way to go before getting to road level.

The Preacher came in Saturday afternoon. He pretty much reported the same experience saying that he was in 4wd high most of the way and having to go to low a couple of times.

At my place, the rain has been draining and soaking in fairly quickly. Today I started to get standing water. I’m guessing that the roads are doing the same this afternoon.

The weather prediction is for rain through Wednesday then tapering off quickly. Hopefully we’ll have a few dry spells until then so the roads drain a bit.

If anyone has an update text, email, or leave a comment.

Quest for Fire

OK, this post is hopefully going to be limited to the wild fire last weekend. I wanted to post some pics for the landowners who have heard of it but haven’t had a chance to see what happened. Maybe if the white Russians kick in I’ll turn into my usual witty and entertaining self.

Click on the small pic for a full size.

The following were taken the next morning.

 

 

 

 

 

OK, worpress isn’t cooperating tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a couple of pix of the flowers I was asked to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve not taken the time to edit any of these pics. Just here for those who are curious to see.

I’ve opened up comments so all you have to do is give me an email address to comment. Might have to moderate since I’ve not looked at this site in some time.

Any link to Amazon on this site will take you to Amazon. Imagine that. If you follow a link there and buy anything at all, I get a small commission. Shop till you drop.

Road Report

This is the first of hopefully many road reports. In the future you will be able to check here for road conditions and other news from out in the swamp. Then follow any Amazon link and shop till you drop.

As of yesterday, April the 21st, County Line and what little of Max I drive was good. Camp P is rough with some fairly deep holes but all seemed to have fairly hard bottoms. Gum isn’t bad to Farr. Farr to Dusty (Connector No. 2) is pretty bad with a couple of holes 4WD worthy. Dusty is a total disaster.

I drove Bat from Dusty to Max about a week ago. It’s in good shape with no major problems.

Of course it’s looking like rain today so all of this could change for the worse in no time.

Worms And Democrats: Eat, Poop, Breed

And yet another post.

The weather recently has been nice so I’ve been trying to take advantage of it and get as much done as possible before summer sets in. I really wanted to clear as much brush as possible this winter but my brush cutter has been down for repairs off and on for most of the winter. Manually cutting brush as dense as what we have here is just plain impractical though I have tried to cut some every day.

I did try burning thinking it would be faster while providing ash to help the soil. I was right. It was fast. In fact it was so fast that within minutes I was running around like a mad man trying to put it out. Note to self: Don’t do that again.

I started a worm bin. After I get a raised bed garden built I want to put in worm towers so I figure I might as well get started and hopefully have extra worms to put in the towers. I also want to process worm tea for fertilizer and insect control. Worm castings will probably be available by this fall and will make a great addition to the greenhouse I want to build.

Building a basic worm bin is very easy. All you really need is two five gallon buckets, 1/8 inch drill bit, and a drill. Start off by drilling a

A gazillion 1/8 inch holes.

gazillion holes in the bottom of one bucket. This will allow the liquid produced by the bin to drain off and help prevent growth of some nasty bacteria. Next drill about a gazillion holes in the side of the bucket for air flow. Worms like a

Another gazillion holes.

very moist environment but not soppy wet. They also need air flow since they become addicted to breathing at a very early age.

The next step is to put the holy bucket in another unholy bucket. Some people like to put a small valve in the bottom of the unholy bucket to drain the “worm tea”. I generally skip this since it’s easy enough to take the holy bucket out, pour out the liquid then reassemble.

Next you add the initial load of bedding and food for the worms. This can be shredded newspaper, vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, some plain dirt and some sand. It’s also good to smash up some egg shells to add in. Newspaper/crumpled

Looks icky but the worms will love it.

paper is for fluffing thus allowing air flow through the bed. This pleases the worms greatly and they will reward you by not staging a mass die off. Vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and eventually the paper will be what they eat. Sand provides grit for digestion and egg shells provides calcium for eggs.

Next step is to add water. I start off with just enough to get everything damp. As the vegetables break down additional moisture will be released so I try to not go overboard initially. I’m letting this mixture set for about a week then will add worms. I shake it up daily to help mix things together and check the unholy bucket for liquid in case I need to add more water.

An adult worm can eat it’s own weight in scraps daily. Worm population, under ideal conditions can double about every 90 days. Worm castings (worm poop) is the best fertilizer known to man. Worms make great pets since they don’t bark, chew your three hundred dollar wing tips, dig holes or bring home dead animal parts.

Next small project is a cloner. Then I’ll be out snatching cuttings from edible plants. I want to domesticate some of the local wild blackberries. I’ve already identified two female wild muscadine vines that I am going to try to domesticate.

Just a quick post. I’m working on the next chapter of “Life On An Indian Burial Ground” and will have it up in a week or so.

Home again, Home again

Internet at last! Golly mighty, internet at last!

OK…..I finally have internet of sorts out in the swamp. Last year I decided that having internet in town wasn’t worth $70 a month since I was only in town about 4 days a month. As luck would have it, about that time, the WiFi where I stay sometimes went down which really made it hard to connect.

Recently I changed my cell phone plan which should enable me to at least post periodic updates. Not sure about pictures but hey, it’s Verizon, you can’t expect anything better than marginally acceptable.

Last summer was a full blown nightmare of rain and mud. At one point my driveway was pure mud knee deep in spots. At one point my truck got stuck and I had to let it sit for three days before it dried enough that I could get out.

The roads weren’t much better. On one of my infrequent trips to town I got stuck in a puddle (lake) that I had easily driven through the day before. After breaking the cable on my 15,000 pound winch I really started to worry. Thankfully John Boy was out at his place so I was able to call for help. (Only had to stand on the roof of the truck and hold the phone high to get a signal.)

A military snatch cable and four attempts later my truck was free at last. On the final attempt he had his truck backed up to the point that his rear bumper was over the hood of my truck. Yeah, it was stuck good.

The next day five of us were out filling the hole and hauling in dirt. Amos bought a nice dump trailer last summer and we gave it a work out. 

I started a deck on the front of my cabin but ran into cash flow problems so it’s sitting out there framed and ready to finish. Hopefully this year I’ll be able to get back to it.

I’m always on the look out for free/dirt cheap building materials. One day, after staring at Amos’s dump trailer for a few hours I had an idea. Rather than take a nap I thought about it some more. Sometimes the motivation scares even me.

Anyway, I began to take the trailer to town with me occasionally and brought back junk tires. I had been wanting to build a berm so I could do some target practice without worrying about where the bullet ultimately went. So far I have a berm about 15 feet wide and about 5 feet tall. The tires are filled with dirt with a dirt and brush fill behind. Eventually I want to get it to around 7 feet high but it’s adequate for now.

We’ve also begun to use tires for road repairs. We put down a layer of tires in a mud bog, add dirt and level. The tires do a great job of holding the dirt in so when all the road hunting vermin get to tearing up the roads the dirt isn’t slung out. Needless to say, roads are a major concern out here. Taylor County does absolutely nothing to justify the high taxes we pay out here so any road work is strictly up to the land owners. Hunt clubs and road hunters simply reap the benefits and threaten the land owners periodically.

Got a lot of catching up to do but I’m going to post this and see how it goes. With any luck Verizon won’t go totally flaky and I can start keeping this blog up again.

BTW, assuming I’m able to post, I’ve had to delete the user data base. I’m working on it so that all both of you can comment but it may take a bit more time.

Just Nod If You Can Hear Me

It’s 4:30 am and I’m getting ready to head out to the swamp. I’ve been up since 1 trying to be sure I don’t forget anything vital this trip. I’ve made a trip to get fuel, visit the big city that has a Walmart and am now gathering all the stuff I haul back and forth.

My last week out was very productive. Amos and Hannah were up for a couple of days which is always a treat. He stopped by one afternoon and helped me screen in most of the first floor porch. I had been thinking about it for quite some time but it was just one of those jobs which require two sets of hands. In a little over two hours we had the screen up and sitting in the shade admiring our work. We were also impressed with how much it cut down on the number of yellow flies stalking us for a free meal.

They left the next morning which always sends the Zigster into a tail spin since he affectionately refers to Hannah as the “Cookie Monster”. After comforting him for a bit I set about framing in a screen door for the porch then tried to build a door. I screwed it up like polio but it was late afternoon by then, I was tired so I set it aside for the next trip out. I’ll have to break out the sawzall and do some major adjustments to make it work. I hope I can make it work.

I visited the Preacher last trip as well. He has a neat cabin built out of some super insulated stuff that is amazing. He and his wife have installed some screen doors, “As Seen On TV” that I fell in love with. A major purchase at Walmart this morning was two sets of screens which will go up later today. I’m hoping to get the shack to the point that I can sleep in peace without having to wear heavy wool socks, a long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Nights are warm now so having to wear so many clothes is very uncomfortable.

My brush cutter is still being repaired, under warranty I hope, so the weeds are having a party out there. I’m hoping for a rainy day soon so I can break out the kerosene and burn some of it back. Not the best solution to the problem but with the brush cutter and mower out of commission it’s about the best I can do. Fire is a major concern out there so setting one intentionally isn’t undertaken lightly.

Time to start loading again. A lot of people think that I just jump in the truck and cruise off into the sunset. (sunrise in this case) I typically carry a 12 gauge shotgun, AR-15, 22 magnum rifle and a bag of pistols. Two coolers, gas cans, laptop, my food, the Zigster food and clean clothes. Sheesh, no wonder I’m worn out by the time I get there and unload.

Well, I’ll add more from the swamp and post this when I get back in about two weeks.

Got out to the swamp yesterday about 9 am, unloaded then spent the rest of the day on organizing and cleaning. Even with a fan last night it was past midnight before the shack cooled to below 80. With all the insulating I’ve been doing the shack tends to hold heat. I really need to look into building a wind tower or a passive geothermal heating/cooling system.

I did get the “As Seen On TV” screen up yesterday, thanks to a staple gun and a lot of duck tape. Since my door is shorter and wider than normal I had to get really creative to make it work. But, it’s up and works fairly well. The Zig is slowly getting used to it though I have to check to make sure it closed all the way whenever he goes in or out.

I spent today working on the screen door for the porch. Not being at all skilled in wood workology I was at decided disadvantage. About 4:30 it rained a bit so I used that as an excuse to quit for the day. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish then put the last of the screen up.

A few days have passed with not much, other than rain, happening. I’m close to lighting off the generator to charge batteries since we’ve not had but a very few hours of sun for nearly five days. On the positive side, it has been pretty cool and temps are down in the good sleeping range at night.

I did finish screening the porch. Building the door seemed to take forever with me making every mistake possible. I still need to put in a Ziggy door since he’s having nothing to do with the door I built for him.

I’m headed to town tomorrow for a short time. I’m planning on only being there long enough to grab a shower, post this, pick up a few supplies then head back out. Speaking of posting, I’m not sure I’ll be able to upload pix but we’ll see.

You might find the following interesting. I’ll be posting 15 “planks” at a time.

THE NAKED COMMUNIST: 45 COMMUNIST GOALS

On Jan. 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr. of Florida read a list of 45 Communist goals into the Congressional Record. The list was derived from researcher Cleon Skousen’s book “The Naked Communist.” These principles are well worth revisiting today in order to gain insights into the thinking and strategies of much of our so-called liberal elite:

  1. U.S. should accept coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
  2. U.S. should be willing to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war. [Note: These encapsulate the Kennan Doctrine, which advocated for the “containment” of communism. Establishment figures supporting the amoral containment policy at least implicitly worked with the communists in scaring the wits out of the American people concerning atomic war. President Ronald Reagan undid the doctrine when he took an aggressive stand against the Evil Empire by backing freedom fighters from around the world that were struggling against the left-wing communist jackboot. As a result, the Soviet Union and its satellites imploded, a considerable and unexpected setback to the international communist edifice.]
  3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament by the U.S. would be a demonstration of “moral strength.” [Note: The nuclear freeze advocates supported a freeze on American nuclear development only. Rarely were Soviet nukes or those of other nations mentioned in their self-righteous tirades. The same advocates now call for reducing American military might, claiming that there is something immoral about America preserving its military pre-eminence in the world.]
  4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war. [Note: Today, there are calls to end the embargo on the slave island of Cuba, there were complaints about the embargo against Iraq, and the U.S., not Saddam Hussein, was blamed for the suffering of the Iraqi people. Would they have advocated for free trade with Hitler and his National Socialist regime?]
  5. Extend long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
  6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination. [Note: Such aid and trade over decades contributed greatly to the left-wing communist liquidation of over 100 million people worldwide, according to the well-documented “Black Book of Communism.” This aid and trade marks a shameful chapter in American history. Without the aid and trade, the left-wing international communist behemoth would have imploded on its own rot a lot sooner and umpteen millions would have been saved from poverty, misery, starvation and death.]
  7. Grant recognition of Red China and admission of Red China to the U.N. [Note: Not only did President Jimmy Carter fulfill this goal but he also betrayed America’s allies in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Iran, Afghanistan, Angola and elsewhere.]
  8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev’s promise in 1955 to settle the Germany question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
  9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the U.S. has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
  10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
  11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. [Note: There are still American intellectuals, and elected members of Congress, who dream of an eventual one world government and who view the U.N., founded by communists such as Alger Hiss, the first secretary-general, as the instrument to bring this about. World government was also the dream of Adolf Hitler and J.V. Stalin. World government was the dream of Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 hijackers.]
  12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party. [Note: While the idea of banning any political party runs contrary to notions of American freedom and liberty, notions that are the exact opposite of those held by the left-wing communists themselves, nevertheless these goals sought to undermine the constitutional obligation of Congress to investigate subversion. The weakening of our government’s ability to conduct such investigations led to the attack of 9/11.]
  13. Do away with loyalty oaths. [Note: It is entirely proper and appropriate for our government to expect employees, paid by the American taxpayer, to take an oath of loyalty.]
  14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
  15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the U.S.

Living the dream.