Friday 8-23-13

Greetings and welcome!

Storm reports continue to come in. From what I can tell there was a lot of tree damage from about the Red Pine BP down to Thorntons along Parkway Rd. South of Thornton’s on Parkway looked like there wasn’t any damage at all visible from the road.

The house by Bella Riva about a mile west of C and the Peshtigo River lost a few trees, and there were some down between there and the BP.

Additional reports came in that there were some tree tops taken off on Richard’s Lane just west of the Peshtigo, but it was specific to a couple of tall trees. Silver Cliff Camp looked intact driving by.

There were reports of damage by the old Borderline store at Tower Rd and C at the Athelstane/Silver Cliff line, and some wind damage a mile and a half east of there.

Finally, there were some trees down on Benson Lake Rd around Northwoods Bar, but I haven’t pinned down exactly where.

When I checked the McCaslin Mountain and Old J & Harper Rd areas yesterday they looked fine, as were some places a mile east of C and Parkway south.

The storm damage appeared to be very area specific. One house would lose trees, and the next would be fine. Oaks seemed to be the tree of choice.

This weekend is the Marinette County Fair in Wausaukee. Here is a link to their web site with the events and information.

This weekend is also the Oconto County Fair in Gillett. Again, here is a link to their web site with events and information.

The bees didn’t get me last week, life did. I had planned a late week update but a flood of things came up that prevented that. My apologies.

As far as the hornet’s nest, I won on that one. I went out there at 4am on a 39 degree night, crawled under the steps and let ’em have it from about 3′ away. Not a one came out, they never knew what hit them.

One last item, the black raspberries out in the yard are becoming abundant. There are a lot that aren’t ripe yet, but I had no problem finding plenty to snack on.

Last year about this time I went out to the abundantly fruited canes in the front of my land expecting to harvest a bumper crop. I went out and there was not a single berry to be found. Huh? I started looking for tracks- deer, bear, people? I found no tracks at all.

As I am sitting out there contemplating this mystery I saw a chippy run up a cane, tip it to the ground, and start feasting on the unripened berries. Ah ha ! Mystery solved.

Last year I had a big chippy population, this year not so much. I have a barred owl that hangs out in the back, and he is the prime suspect for keeping that population down. Maybe this year I will get some berries.

I will be checking a few more places over the weekend, if you want me to check on yours let me know.

I will also consider helping clean up people’s places with oaks down in exchange for the firewood. I have a good sized chain saw, truck, trailer, and straps. I even know a couple of guys that do stump grinding.

That is about it for me today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB