May 2014

Thursday May 29th, 2014

Holy Sky Gators Batman!

Greetings and welcome!

I made all of the way until Memorial Day weekend without a skeeter bite, but that has long since turned around. Now we are really thick with the things. Forget the lawyers guns and money, send Repel..

Apparently our very wet spring has brought a bumper crop of the mosquitoes. Hopefully now that it is drying up a little we will get a little bit of a break, but at the moment they are plentiful. There are a few ticks too, pretty normal for late May and early June.

Beyond the pesky bugs, the green explosion is under way. You can walk outside and see some new plant, bush, or flower every day. The underbrush is starting to fill in, as is the forest canopy.

There are quite a few wildflowers this week. The trillium were really thick in the woods last weekend, making it look like a toilet paper bomb went off in the forest.

There were other flowers including cherry trees, the yellow flowers below, and marsh marigolds. There are also smaller blue and white flowers.

I don’t have any events listed for this weekend, but here are a couple from Chris’s calendar for next weekend.

June 7
Twin Bridge Rescue 3rd Annual Bug Splatter Ride
100 mile motorcycle ride – registration at Lakeside Bar & Grill starting at 10am. Ride leaves at noon. for additional info, call Barb at 715-927-1641.

June 7-8
Free Fun Weekend
Free weekend for recreational activities in the State of Wisconsin. People can fish, hike or bike state trails for free, ride public ATV trails for free, and, new this year, enjoy free admission to state parks and forests on both days as well.

I am looking forward to the weekend and getting the fishing boat back into the water. I have been a busy boy the past few summers, and haven’t been getting any lake time in.

Last week I pulled the boat out of the bushes and got started on getting it going. The fuel system got cleaned, and some parts got replaced, the ignition got fixed ( thanks Craig!), the trailer got some attention, and I even have it registered. Today I pulled it down to Lakewood and pressure washed it, and got some fresh no ethanol premium for the can. Only work tomorrow stands in the way of me getting it wet.

Strictly from commercial..

I am behind on my web site work but there are a couple in process. One is Climber’s Anonymous. They are a tree service here in Silver Cliff that specializes in high risk and difficult to remove trees.They climb the trees and rope them down a piece at a time, and they are quite good at it.

I have some great stuff coming up on their web site. There is a video of a huge pine tree that needs to come down, with a golf green sized landing zone. The top comes flying down, goes right for the house, and the ropes swing it right to the perfect spot at the last second. It was an impossible drop masterfully executed.

Anyway, they are the guys to call for that tree hanging over the house or garage. Visit their temporary site at http://climbersanonymous.com or give them a call at 715-929-0166.

I also told John Feaker that I’d give him a spot on the site for his septic business. He is the contractor that did mine back in ’97, and it is still in great shape. He has been at it for a long time and his price was fair too.

One last mention, we have a good deal on trolling motor batteries at Carquest either in Wausaukee or Crivitz. They start at something like $83.

The rafting should be very good this weekend. Both the Peshtigo and Menominee Rivers are well above normal, and either ( or both) will be a great run.

We have some nice weather ahead for the weekend. Right now it looks like Friday and Saturday will be bluebird days in the low 80s. With lows in the 50s, mostly clear skies, and the new moon being yesterday, it should be a great weekend for an evening campfire and taking in some stars. With the sky dark be prepared to see the sky like you just can’t see it closer to town.

Sunday there is a chance of rain. The NWS has it coming in later in the afternoon (after 1pm). The NAM model agrees, the GFS has it possibly coming a little earlier.

Between the new moon bringing prime time on the solunar tables, and the incoming storm for Sunday afternoon, I am looking forward to fishing this weekend. They should be jumping right into the boat with all of that going for us.

On that note I am going to make my exit. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Sunday May 25th, 2014

Greetings and welcome!

The American Legion Post 66 from Silver Cliff and Athelstane picnic is under way as I type this out. Monday they will be having a memorial ceremony at the Athelstane Cemetery at 10am and the Silver Cliff Cemetery at 11am.

The McCaslin Lioness Faire is today in Lakewood. I haven’t seen any additional info on the Crooked Lake auction, not sure if that was today or yesterday.

The trilliums started blooming late this week, and I was seeing quite a few yesterday and this morning. There were a lot of marsh marigolds, cherry tree blooms, and a short blue flower too. The ferns have sent of their first fiddle heads in the past few days. Changes happen fast at this time of year.

I still haven’t had a mosquito bite here in Silver Cliff, but today could be that day. When I was in Crivitz last night they were really thick. We also hit a mayfly hatch on the way home where we hit a few clouds of them on the road.

I am not sure how the meteor shower turned out the other night. I went out about 3am and didn’t see any. It wasn’t a total loss, it was a great starry sky. The meteor shower was caused by the earth passing through the debris path of a comet. It was a recently discovered comet, so it was unknown if it would be a few meteors or thousands.

Yes the Internet is really slow this weekend. There are a lot of people around for the holiday and the cell towers are well challenged to keep up. Maybe the ATT based towers are doing better, but the CDMA towers that I use are really slow. It happens on big weekends, and there are definitely a lot of people around this weekend.

The weather has been really nice if not a little warm. We are looking at another nice day in the low to mid- 80s today and a low of 59 tonight, outstanding for a campfire.

There is a chance of a shower early tomorrow morning that the TV shows could bring a good downpour to a few spots. It is shown as hit and miss for one little line in the morning, but later in the day we are expecting some more substantial showers.

Well it is a beautiful day and I am going to go and jump into it. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 5-23-2014

Greetings and welcome!

If you are awake later look to the north for shooting stars. We are expecting a meteor shower tonight between 1-3am as the earth passes through debris from the 209P/LINEAR comet. The skies should be pretty clear, so it might be a good show.

RJB

Wednesday May 21, 2014

Greetings and welcome!

Wow what a nice day!

It is 73 in Athelstane and 72 in Crivitz as I sit down to type this out Wednesday night at 5:30pm. We had a high of 79 today and even the wind couldn’t make it feel chilly. Most of our warmer days this spring have been knocked down when a cold breeze would come and put a chill on an otherwise nice day in the 60s. Not today.

The world is finally starting to really green up. By my estimation we are at least a week behind the typical year for the green explosion to really take hold. Surprisingly you can still see a good 50-100 feet into the woods. The underbrush and slower hardwoods are just starting to get leaves. The popples are coming along with their leaves, but they are the early ones. The cherry tree on the west side of the yard is nicely in bloom today, and I spotted some marsh marigolds yesterday. While we are behind what I consider typical, I think that we are to the point where a guy can spot significant new growth daily.

The insect world has awakened, but so far it isn’t bad. I haven’t had a mosquitoe bite yet. When I was working on the car out in the driveway last weekend I got to know a dozen wood ticks or so, but that area is a hotbed for them every year. There were a few gnats too, but again very few. Like the greening of the land, that can change fast, but I am enjoying it while I can.

It is time to cut the grass, but it isn’t out of control yet.

We had some significant rain Monday night into Tuesday morning. The USGS river gauge by Kosir’s measured 0.8″. That seemed a little understated.

The Peshtigo River is going up as a result of the rain, and it looks great for whitewater rafting and paddling this weekend. Right now it is at about +12 and rising. I am predicting +9-10″ for Saturday morning and only a little less for Sunday. That is a good level where you can take a raft or funyak, and it is a very fun river.

The Menominee River looks big right now. It is running in the 5-6,00cfs range. Between 4-5,000 that river gets pretty big for the kind of rafting that they do , and they don’t run it much above that. I expect it to settle down into a happy range for the weekend, but I’d also expect top notch water levels of 3,500 plus. That river will be a great run this weekend.

We are looking at a really nice late week and weekend for weather. High pressure will bring bluebird days in the 70s. The first chance of rain comes Sunday night and there is a better chance Monday.

In events I have the Lakewood Loiness Faire, the Post 66 Picnic and Memorial Service at the Silver Cliff picnic grounds, and an auction in Crooked Lake at the Sportsman’s Club. I will work on the list and try to get more events and details.

Well there are two hours of daylight left, not many bugs, and it is 70 degrees out. Time to head outside. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB