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Borrego Springs, CA

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A pot-luck post

Pot-luck, to me, means a variety of things thrown together without special preparation or coordination.  My dictionary says it should be a meal, but I think it could apply to a post as well.  I’ll include a couple of things about meals, but the rest is just some of my experiences today.

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I picked up this little magnet a couple of weeks ago at the Minnesota Fishing Museum.  It’s message seemed like a good idea to me.

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So, last night I fried up a batch of small sunnies and perch that I had caught on Lost Lake for dinner.  I just dipped them in some breadcrumbs for a little crunch.  They were very tasty.  Since I don’t have a boat, I only fish from shore with worms, so far, and don’t really expect to catch anything very big.  I just enjoy being outdoors, and the excitement of reeling them in.  I must admit that I need a little more practice on my fileting skills though.

young marsh wren

I headed out early this morning to work on my assignment of painting all of the refuge posts.  My first stop was that tall sign at Chippewa lake that I was too short to paint all the way without a step stool yesterday.  I had a step stool with me this morning, but it sure didn’t help much on the tallest downhill post.

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As I was getting everything set up, several young marsh wrens were hopping about in the reeds along the Otter Tail River.  Forgetting about painting, I grabbed my camera to try to get a couple of shots of these little birds.  It had been a foggy morning early on, and the dew was very heavy.  The little birds were quite wet as they busily made their way through the reeds looking for tidbits for breakfast.

Altogether, I ended up painting 28 posts today.  That was an improvement over yesterday, but it still only scratches the surface.  By noon, I was a little wilted, so I stopped back at the rig for lunch and to enjoy a bit of air conditioning.

73 Tamarac NWR, 201323

After lunch, I decided to take a little detour and see where Steve has been working this week.  There are three old cabins that were moved to a location on the refuge by the Becker County Historical Society.  I think they were originally located on lands that eventually became the refuge.  The Tamarac NWR Fall Festival is held in this location, and Steve’s job this week is to help prep things for that.

IMG_9298 IMG_9299Of the three cabins, this is the only one with information printed about it at the site.  After paying to have them moved here, the Historical Society has done nothing further to restore them.  So here they sit, crumbling into oblivion.  I think that’s too bad.  They are a real piece of Minnesota history. 

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On my way out of the site back to paint some more posts, I came upon this pleasant scene at the top of a little rise.  What a peaceful setting.  I think I’ll try to come back here in about a month to see what magic Mother Nature does with the colors of the deciduous trees.  It could be spectacular.

As I was sitting outside with Emma this evening, I watched a little coming of age drama unfold.  That male red-bellied woodpecker that I’ve pictured in recent posts has been feeding two youngsters waiting and begging in the nearby trees.  Tonight, one little one came to the Hard Rock Bird Café with his father.  As dad loaded up on seeds and suet and took off to feed his sibling, the remaining youngster clumsily hopped about from hanger to hanger until it landed on the suet feeder.  There it stayed for a full five minutes figuring out how to take advantage of the feast before its eyes.  Dad came and went, but was now ignored by this youngster.  It won’t be long before that Dad will be experiencing empty nest syndrome.  Winking smile

I’m pretty excited to report that Gypsy will be arriving in a couple of days to stop by on her journey from Sacramento to New York.  I’ve persuaded Steve to fix some ribs on his smoker for a celebration dinner for Thursday.  We are going to get down and chow out along with Gypsy!

IMG_4191                                                          Time to head out of here for now…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

24 comments:

  1. it looks like one of the cabins could use a little vertical adjustment:)

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  2. So sad they will let these cabins go to ruin. Love the little marsh wren.

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  3. Judy, you bring a whole new meaning to the term "posting" now, with that ladder and all, eh?
    Love your photos tonight.

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  4. A nice way to start today, but the travel agent post above has got to go.

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  5. Jim says the smaller fish taste better so big ones go back. Those wrens are so cute with their wet feathers. I want you to do a before and after picture post when you go back and take the fall picture of that beautiful site. Have a great time with Gypsy. She could use some good ribs.

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  6. I'm happy to see you've actually caught fish. All I ever do when I fish with my grandsons is drown worms and get snagged by hooks when they cast. :c(

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  7. Don't get carried away and paint this 'pot-luck post'.

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  8. Loved your "pot-luck" post. At least you've some photos of those historical cabins. That's something. I just left Sacramento on my way north - wish I could stop by for ribs - sounds wonderful. Again, I'd love to find out what your camera and lenses are; the avian photos are fantastic.

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  9. Can't wait to see what you and Gypsy get in to. I'm sorry too that the cabins are being neglected. It costs a lot more to go back and fix them than to do it right away. Hope they don't just let them rot.

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  10. I'm so looking forward to seeing you again as well as the Refuge!

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  11. How does your shoulder feel after painting all those posts?

    Cool header photo.

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  12. Those fish look mighty good to me!
    You never know what you might catch fishing
    from the shore...my brother caught a
    very large Muskie from shore while fishing
    for perch and crappy ...when I get back to
    Florida I will do a post about it with a pic will let
    you know so you can see just what you might hook!!
    donna...

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  13. Yep, I think you have job security--that's a whole lot of poles to paint!

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  14. 28 poles is a LOT - no wonder you needed a break. I took a picture of a magnet for you!! It's on my last post.

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  15. I like pot-luck! Every picture and word!

    How neat to catch supper...sure looked yummy!
    A month and then fall leaves...time sure flies.

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  16. Don't know how this post got by me but I'm getting caught up. Those fish look DELICIOUS! Love the pics of the wren... one of my favorite birds.

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  17. When I was a little girl my dad always took me fishing in the Wisconsin lakes. We caught little sunfish and perch. He always did the cleaning and filleting. Many a Friday our family of eight was fed by our fishing trip hat week. I didn't really like fish then, but I sure do now.

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  18. The fish fry looks yummy. I'm not much on filleting skills either, but I like to fish and catch them for someone else to clean.

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  19. Sounds like they have you real busy! I can only imagine what Northern Minnesota will look like at peak leaf peeper season...spectacular, I'll bet! I love fish, but only if someone else cooks them...

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  20. I agree, that is a very pleasant scene at the top of a little rise. It would be a perfect place for a picnic.

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  21. Great pics of the marsh wrens..glad they cooperated for the photographer!

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  22. Wow. It sounds like you could paint posts for a long, long time. Great pictures of that little Marsh Wren.

    Mark

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