The second half of this week found me extraordinarily busy so my update will be short and late.
Anyway.. This week was good for the world of green things. The tree leaves, underbrush, and grass are growing at a fast pace. The wildflowers are starting up too. This weekend will be a good one for marsh marigolds, and the trillium are starting to emerge.
We should be in for a nice weekend this weekend. The NWS has us in for about a 30% chance of showers overnight, and that is it for rain until next week. Look for highs in the upper 60s and lows in the low 40s.
Yesterday we had some rain, but only in a very small area. The little line of rain stalled right over us and kept redeveloping wave after wave all day. It was enough to make puddles and have the rain running down the road here. Ten miles north they didn’t get hardly anything.
Other than in the area blessed by rain we should be aware of the fire danger. We didn’t see much rain this week and today the humidity is low. The element missing is the wind. We are not expecting much of it.
The Peshtigo River is finally returning to more normal levels this week. It is still a little above normal running at about a +11″. I consider anything above 300cfs to be the fun zone, and it is 676 today.
Speaking of Mother’s Day, Hilltop Resort is having a Mother’s Day buffet Sunday that sounds pretty good. Other places like Nimrod and Twin Bridge Resort usually have nice buffets too.
Unfortunately I need to run off and take care of some business so this is it for today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
It has been an interesting couple of days since my last update. Saturday people took to the river with Kosir’s and had a great time in the +17″ water. There were some epic flips and pop-ups.
It was windy as predicted, and that probably made fishing a little challenging for opening day. Other than the wind Saturday was a pretty nice day.
I can’t tell you much about Sunday other than it was a little chilly out. Since it was cold out I was inside by the wood burner hard at my web site work. I only went outside briefly to stretch my legs.
I told Chris that I’d take her fishing Monday, and we did indeed get the boat wet. We got a late start thanks to the cold morning. Monday morning’s low temperature record went to Iron Mountain, who marked 19 degrees. The day was going to be 60 later, so the 5am start with temps in the mid-20s didn’t happen.
We did a little fishing but not much catching. That’s ok, it was a nice day in the boat. I didn’t expect much fishing at mid-afternoon on a sunny day.
There was a lot of food coming down the river, and I spotted what looked like a hatch of helgramites or something pretty close to them. There were a lot of them and I figured that my chances just went from slim to none.
I did indeed put us on the spawning beds and there were active fish, they just weren’t interested in our offerings.
Someone commented and asked about Curve Inn changing hands. I saw on Facebook that new people are running it and it is now Trixie’s. The Rapids Resort is also now Barb & Todd’s Rapids Resort.
With spring unfolding the bugs come into focus. I spent some time outside last week and again today. In my travels I think that my tick count is up to about 6. They are present.
That got me thinking about pest control. A couple of years ago I got this stuff for the house that you put in a pump-up sprayer. It kills almost everything, has a 90 day plus residual, and is supposedly non-toxic for humans and pets. It worked great and lasted quite a ways past the 90 days. The best part is it put a total stop to the annual lady beetle infestation. This stuff works very well. http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/d-fense-sc-insecticide
This year I am also going to hit the steps, picnic table and area, the work shed, and the eaves of the wood shed and work shed where the wasps want to make a nest every year.
I have been seeing a lot about this new to us deer tick borne Powassan virus. It sound like a very bad thing to contract. Here is a link to the CDC page about it. So far their maps don’t show it in this area. It is not a new virus, the first case was recognized in the late 1950s.
In the world of green..
The grass doesn’t need cutting quite yet in most areas. The areas that are the fast growing field grass like along the road are ready.
The birch trees are getting catkins, and some cottonwoods are starting to get first leaves. I have seen my first dandelion. On the way back from Wabeno last week I was on the hunt for Trillium. I saw a few just out of Wabeno, but not in some of my spots that get littered with them between here and there. I spotted the first fern fiddle heads Friday, and the Lilly pads are coming in on the lakes. When I was at the boat landing today I saw my first marsh marigolds. The blooms were round buds that you could see the yellow in, but they had not opened yet.
When we were out on the flowage it was a little surprising that you could still see so much of the surrounding terrain with the trees and underbrush not in yet. I think that will change in a big way very soon. I expect both ferns and trillium later this week and a lot of new leaves on trees and underbrush.
That is it for tonight. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
The opening of fishing season is just a day and a half away. I am expecting better than usual conditions with the warmer than normal lakes.
The weekend weather looks OK so far. Friday night there is an early chance of rain that should not last long. Saturday is expected to be in the mid-50s, but there will be some wind. The NWS forecast at the moment is for 9-14mph gusting to 25. Saturday night will be a chilly one with lows around 30, Sunday looks nicer with sun and mid-50s.
One of the NWS updates mentioned that we could see elevated fire danger this weekend between the low relative humidity and the wind. Keep an eye on your fire.
We should have mostly clear skies Saturday night. We have a first quarter moon today, so it should be a fairly dark sky for stars. You might see a few shooting stars this weekend. The earth will be traveling through an old debris trail of Halley’s Comet. This show will be the best south of the equator, but we might still get a few. They will appear from the south sky from near the constellation Aquarius.
Tuesday I got my fishing license at the Red Pine BP. It was a snap with my GoWild card. Yesterday I registered the boat on line. Again it was an easy process with the card. Between those two and a little bait I was into it for $50.
I spent a little time working on the fishing boat yesterday. It was a nice afternoon and I was getting itchy doing my indoor work. I probably need less than an hour and I can be floating and fishing.
While I was out there I encountered a few wood ticks. Usually they are plentiful down by the work shed, so I have to assume that they are just getting started. The main pest was some gnats that came out late afternoon.
While I was out there I fixed the lawn mower. Test running it found that most of the grass in the yard was just getting high enough to be touched by the blades. On the south side of the house where the fast growing northern WI field grass dominates, it was already 6-8” high and in need of a cut.
It is an unusual year when the trees and grass are this far along on the first weekend of May. My recollection is that the big greening starts about May 10th. Well, it’s here.
Whitewater rafting will again be excellent this weekend. The Monday rain was plentiful and between that and the really saturated watershed, we still have abnormally high water. Our typical flow on the Peshtigo River for today is about 500cfs. Today we are running at 1,400. My guess is that translates into about a +22”. That is awesome water, get in on the fun if you have a chance.
Last Tuesday in my update I mentioned a few new businesses. There are two more to add to the list. The first one is the old Tommy’s Corner Pub at Hwy X & Deer Lake Rd. That is now Steve-O’s Corner Pub and their first day in business is today.
The next new business is actually one of my oldest customers expanding their business. Minor’s Construction has a new showroom in Crivitz on Main St, one block south of the village hall. They will be showing off their construction jobs, fireplaces and overhead doors, and new this year, seamless gutters. Good luck to both the Minor’s and Steve-O’s.
The Nebo Transport
I suppose that I would be neglectful if I didn’t mention my own business here too. Last summer I started Work-Sport-Adventure Sales LLC to sell my LED flashlights and headlamps. Things have grown up a little since then. I now also have those cool pop-up lanterns and a gadget called a Nebo Transport. The Transport is a rechargeable flashlight that camps in your cigarette lighter so that it stays charged and you always know where it is.
Athelstane Country Mart carries my flashlights and headlamps. The Red Pine BP here in Silver Cliff carries my flashlights, headlamps, lanterns, and the Nebo Transports. I will also be at Rapids Resort Saturdays after about 4pm, and I always carry products with me in the car. Someday I will finish the web site, but so far I have been too busy working on other people’s to do my own.
One last item, the Piggly Wiggly in Crivitz has Johnsonville brats and Italians for $3 a package, and Sal’s Market in Wausaukee has ground chuck for $2.59 and charcoal for $6 a bag. It is a nice weekend for a BBQ, and now you can do it on the cheap.
That pretty well covers my list for this morning. Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB
PeshFest at Kosir’s was a big success last weekend. There were a lot of people having a lot of fun on the unusually high river. There was food and music, races and rafting, and a petty nice day for it Saturday. Sunday was chilly and overcast.
Saturday I got in on the fun and took a few pictures on the river and sold some flashlights and lanterns too. On the way back from taking pictures a friend and I spotted this eagle. He was pretty patient with us and we came away with some nice pictures. I made this one a little bigger than usual when you click on it.
The water in the Peshtigo was abnormally high last weekend, and with yesterday’s rain it will stay that way for a few days. We have really had a lot of rain in April, so I looked up the rain gauge from the USGS gauge by Kosir’s to see what that measured. We had close to 6″ of rain in April. I am not sure what normal rainfall is, but my guess is that we are about 50% above normal.
There will be some repairs needed to gravel driveways and trails subject to erosion in heavy rains. Likewise the sandy area of my driveway that gets soft at frost-out is again very soft.
Saturday is the opening of fishing season. My take on it is that the lakes will not only be open, but much warmer than normal. We had an early thaw and some nice weather to warm lakes up.
What I think will really add to that is all of the runoff from the rain in April. I can tell you from years on (..and in) the river that runoff is much warmer than the spring water and melt water that make the base flow. A friend told me that his lake nearby had risen really significantly this spring. All of that runoff should warm it up too.
The weather looks decent for weekend fishing. The NWS has both days sunny and in the mid-50s. The morning pre-dawn start might be a little nippy, the overnight lows are expected to be in the low 30s.
The spring greening is progressing at an increasing pace, and the rain is not lost on the world of green. The grass will need cutting and already does in some places. More and more trees are getting leaves, and some are starting to fill in pretty good.
A trip to Wausaukee yesterday found that they are quite a bit farther along than we are in Silver Cliff. Two thoughts came to mind immediately.. First was marveling over how much difference 20 miles can make. The second thought is that we are probably in for a big week of changes as we catch up.
Heating the house has been interesting lately. Recent nights have been in the upper 20s, and days in the 40s and 50s. I could use electric, but why when there is wood ready to go and paid for? The trick is to not overdo it and get it up to 90 in here. It takes a soft touch to keep the house 78 on a 50 degree day.
I am looking forward to getting some outside work done later this week. I have a lot to catch up on, including the fishing boat and the lawnmower. So far in my travels over the weekend the bugs have been very minimal, with the occasional wood tick being the worst of it. Unfortunately with all of the April rain I am expecting a bumper cop of mosquitoes in May. I would like to get a head start on that.
We have some new businesses in town. The Sportsman’s Cafe on Hwy X by Popp’s Resort is open under new ownership. Early reports had good things to say. Dockside Bar also has new owners as of about a month ago. The Rapids Resort will also soon be under new ownership, and Caldron Falls Bar had new owners as of last August. Best wishes to all.
That is going to wrap it up for today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
