Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

It's been 3 years since our last vacation, and Dave decided he needed one badly.  We trained up Alex and his friend Cody to watch the flock while we were gone and we headed off to Governor Thompson State Park near Crivitz, WI. It's a new park, situated on the Cauldron Falls impoundment. A very nice park, actually. Except for the rain. Seriously, it hadn't rained in Southern Wisconsin for WEEKS. No rain. the grass was brown, we really needed some! Up North, it rained for 3 days straight. A few hours here and there were dry but it was getting absolutely ridiculous. The first night we were there, we set up and went down to see if we could get cell reception and call home. I took this photo from the boat landing. Nice, eh?  Even the mosquitoes were pretty scarce. We called home, everything was fine and went back to fishing. There's been a fox stalking our flocks. Problem is, we've got a huge flock and the geese are actually bigger than the fox. they'll sto...

Yes, Sissy's death has been a big blow to all of us. We miss her terribly. We suspect she became egg-bound, a condition that is most often fatal in poultry. She had not laid eggs this year and I knew she'd been shagged. There are a few things you can do, but you have to know that she's egg bound to start treatment. My laptop had been shutting down randomly, so I had Dave take it apart and blow out the fan. It's been sporadic since. I've been using Alex's laptop (he has a desktop also) but it's frustrating. His touchpad is extra touchy and if you rest your hand on it, well...the laptop does crazy things. We sold 2 of Molly's babies to a lady who lives near the Dells. She had bought 2 geese from someone and one died. Geese need a flock to survive, so I offered her two of Molly's babies. She said they are doing well and bonding with her gosling. It's good to have a flock of happy geese. There's a good video of what it's like to have ...

It is oh...-12° F here in Wisconsin right now...no wait...-11°. (in order to type a ° sign on your keyboard, hold key and type in 248 at the same time) The outside faucet froze last week and has yet to thaw. I mean, how could it? It's been below zero for what...a week now? Sissy's been in the house for 2 days now. She is not comfortable being around the rest of the flock constantly. It stresses her out. The only goose I know who is not similarly connected to the flock.   She gets to stressing too much, she worries the feathers on her chest. They get wet, then frozen, then she gets sores. So she's inside isolated from the others for at least another day. Dealing with the cold is just draining on my energies. There's nothing for it, but dayum! I'd like it to stay warm for a while. Yesterday, I had to do both morning and night chores plus dig out my car from the end of the driveway. Alex spun the car in the ditch last Friday on the way home from work. Fortun...

I've got 6 geese, 4 ducks and 11 chickens wondering what the heck this white stuff on the ground is.  I mean, it tastes  like water, but doesn't work like water.  Snow and cold makes working with animals and outside just that much harder.  The power is out in the garage, probably due to the high winds during that last snowstorm. But that's something that won't be looked at until spring. Oh and my car is dead. I mean dead/dead, not even mostly dead. Dead/dead.  It will need a new battery. Our lone girl goosie, Sissy is laying eggs.  We're so proud! For that continuing education on Geese and such: Girl Goosies lay one egg about every other day in a nest they create by themselves.  Sissy started on one near the house under the hedge during the snowstorm. I took a chance and moved the egg plus some of the nest material into the garage next to their pen. I had a 60% chance she'd reject the nest, but she accepted it! I think that is because she saw th...

Nice Bar, right? This was taken at the Hubbell Power Systems (HPS) Guest House in 2000.  Back then I was working in Electrical Distribution. It's all that stuff that sits on the telephone poles.  HPS gives newbies a week-long seminar on different products used in Electrical Distribution. You get to travel to Missouri and stay at this guest house, which is actually the founder's original home.  The founder of HPS is deceased.  OK, so this is the bar.   I remember doing a LOT of drinking in this bar that had no Guiness, Yukon Jack, Southern Comfort, MGD Light, nor Jack Daniels.  I drank Miller ~shudder~ for a week straight.  Oh the hangovers! There was not much else to do after the day's selection of seminars, so I drank. The house itself was beautiful, decorated in a great Mod/Art Deco style. There was a circular breakfast nook: And a large area where we met every day to learn distribution equipment, their uses and manufacture: One hellac...

Today's pic came from our 2009 vacation.  We call it, "Great American Vacation II" and it was a trip to Great Sand Dunes Nat'l park, Mesa Verde, Arches National Park and Dinosaur National Monument. All in 2 weeks.  This picture is taken at Mesa Verde. After going through one of tours to a site, we stopped at a park on the mesa and ate some lunch.  This picture was taken at the edge of the mesa looking towards another site. Mesa Verde was very fun and educational.  I recommend it to families with kids around 10 years old. Younger kids won't grasp the significance of the site, and it's just hard to maneuver around with a toddler. Archaeology is one of my interests, and pre-Columbus native America does capture my attention. There is a museum at the top of the mesa that is must for anyone visiting the sites.

Randomly chosen from my family file folder, I give you: My Kayak.   And my sandals, and a plastic bag and my paddle.  Beached at some small island off the Chippewa River last summer. Dave and I selected a week alone as our 'honeymoon' and we camped out at Brunet Island State park.  We were fortunate to get a campsite with water access, so we put our kayak and canoe in on Monday and took them out on Saturday.  Each morning we'd get up, get coffee and breakfast and head on out. Dave would fish in the canoe and I would explore on my Kayak. It was like 102 degrees Fahrenheit that week; never got below 80 at night and the only time it was cooler was when it poured on Wednesday. It was best to get out on the water early, beach them at 1 through 5 and go back out after the sun starting going down. Dave has bad luck with Brunet Island. Both times he's been there they have experienced tornadoes.  The first time with his ex-wife.  They ended up spe...

Ok, so we are back from the In-Laws'.  It was 2 1/2 days of relaxing and celebrating.  My husband's uncle Chuck and Aunt Carrie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  It was great to see them and their family; a more easy-going portion of the Brauners. Back at home there is the same 'ol same 'ol.  Sewing to do, food to cook, knitting to get finished.  Preparations are underway for winter, and I fear it will be a downright cold one.  More knitted socks will be in order, I guess. And, I'm guessing that my next real design will be for me: It's a Red Angry Bird Earflap hat.  I saw one at Kwick Trip for sale.  I just could not justify the $17 for it.  That's when Dave said, "I know someone who could probably knit that."  Yeah............... .

3. Marti and Leslie's wedding: Or The HS Reunion without the drunks. Marti and Leslie were High School friends of mine that met on FB and then got hitched last summer. It was a blast! Many of my friends that I've not seen in a while attended and some of the other people I went to High School were there also. Heck, I remember seeing Leslie dance in the Nutcracker when I was 12............. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. 2. AFC Conference at Chula Vista. Americans for Prosperity is one of those groups that was born from the frustrations with the way Government is run. We joined the group to add our voices and strengths to theirs. At the Conference, we discussed the Global Climate religion with Lord Monckton, Rules for Radicals with Vicki McKenna, Listened to a group of talented singers sing all 3 verses to the American Anthem, and chatted with the likes of Scott Walker, Ron Johnson, Dave Westlake, Rick Richard, and that Neuman guy I didn't care for. That's Vicki McKenna giving us...

6: Trans-Siberian Orchestra Tix Won! Vicki McKenna runs a talk show on 1130 Am out of both Milwaukee and Madison. We are regulars listeners as well as have her on FaceBook. One day she ran a FB contest: whomever could show her a large, ugly mass of Box Elder bugs won TSO tix. I sent over a picture of our mass of Japanese Ladybugs. Yeah, I was never good on details. Well, she was so horrified by my picture she gave the tickets to us anyways! So off to the Kohl Center we went: A visually stunning show, great seats, we had a great time. 5: Lunches and Open Knitting On Thursdays Both of which I miss. When Alex was going to the International Academy, I'd go into Janesville early on Thursday and take him to lunch. We'd end up at places like Subway or KFC, and talk for an hour before going to knit with the ladies. Open Knitting at the Dragonfly is a blast! Whomever would drop by would stop and knit, critique new knitting magazines, show off our stuff, and use some good ol' pe...

I am not the best blogger in the world, since I haven't posted anything new since May. Certainly things have happened in the ruddawg household. We spent two weeks traveling around Utah and Colorado. Dave, Alex and I saw Great Sand Dunes National Park, Mesa Verde, Arches National park and Dinosaur National Monument. We learned that camping one night on one spot then another in a totally different spot just is not our cup of tea. Next vacation we will plan less destinations and more relaxation time. My Nephew was given the task of watching the cats here, but was called to AIT for the National Guard 3 days after we left. He'll be back in two weeks. My sister cared for the furballs. This summer has proven to be a very slowed-down summer when it comes to work. I did not realize how much actual 'babysitting' a 16 year old needs. I liken teenagers to two-year-olds with better verbal skills. You need to be agonizingly detailed when telling them to do something. School will...