Tuesday 28 June 2011

Food For Thought


A few months ago I went to a friends for a weekend visit and to participate in a field day he was presenting to the community on the subject of wildlife management.
Wildlife used to manage itself very well on its own before our society became a burden on it and now, sometimes, it can use some help.
That day I learned about creating  forest food plots  for deer. 
The idea seemed like a responsible act in conservation.
At the time I talked about it with my friend Brian and indicated an interest in maybe making a forest food plot on my own property. Who better to talk about it with than  Brian who is a farmer/scientist and  is very familiar with what needs to be done in order to plant one of these special food and shelter sources for wildlife.
Well yesterday morning I got a text message from Brian. He was going to be in my area planting an agricultural test plot and would have his tractor with him and would I like to get that plot planted.
My answer was sure!
What you see below is the result....


A driveway full of gear




An overgrown field





The first pass with tractor and discs



Some more weight on the discs 



Soil ready for fertilizer



Seeds to sow






A planted plot and 
two friends....

-Martin






Saturday 25 June 2011

Scherenshcnitte

This is Scherenshcnitte.
(pronounced Sharon-Sh-Net)
A German word, it is the name of an old pioneer craft popularized by
Quaker American settlers who established themselves in the region of what is now known as 
Pennsylvania . 
The word means "scissor cutting" or "scissor snipping"
The frame below measures only 3 by 9 inches.
The wildlife silhouette it contains was cut from a single piece of paper and features turkeys, goats, and geese frolicking in the wild.
I found this amazing tiny piece of folk art in a box of bric-a-brac at a church yard sale.
It now hangs on the wall of my house.
The tiny scale and fine detail make this scene fascinating to look at!


-Martin


Friday 24 June 2011

Flashlight Friday

Another week has past and its Flashlight Friday again!
I'm getting a bit nervous about not having enough flashlights in the collection to sustain my Fridays with new material. We still have quite a few in "the vault" but no new flashlights have been added for the longest time.  
This lantern style light you see below  has no labelling.  It was probably made in Japan sometime in the 70's. It has a light that swings up and flashes. I think that is for using at the side of the road as a breakdown beacon. The cap on the swing up light was missing when I found the light so I fit the red cap off of a spray can on it. 
Did you notice?




Some people have asked me about how I photograph my blog pics.
Below is my complicated studio setup. The flashlight is sitting on the floor on top of a piece of white paper. 


The backdrop is resting up against my refrigerator . A magnet on the door holds the paper up.


It seems to work....

-Martin

Friday 17 June 2011

Flashlight Friday

It's late flashlight Friday. 
The day is almost over after a fine meal of local fish, that I caught on a nearby lake, shared with a new friend. 
This switchmans' railway lantern you see below was made by the Conger Lantern Company of Portland Oregon circa mid 19th century. Its a favourite from my collection.
Enjoy!




-Martin

Thursday 16 June 2011

Funnel Cloud

A few days ago a huge storm came raging through my neighbourhood.  Funnel clouds were spotted in my region. Everywhere you looked there were trees that had blown down and damage to peoples homes and property. 

These are some images taken along my driveway
the day after the storm.





Trees uprooted by their roots



See if you can find my van....


See if you can find my driveway......


It took 4 hours to clear 30 trees from the highway to my house. 
It will probably take me the rest of the summer to clean up properly.
Sometimes I find myself hunting for something to blog about and sometimes.....

-Martin

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Breaking new ground


So where have I been?
Yes the blog has been silent for a while because I have been busy out in the forest.
Below are some morel mushrooms that I found recently. They are a favourite wild food of mine that I find in the forest in early spring.  You have to hunt hard to find them but the rewards for the effort are well worth it. Cooked with butter they are delicious. 





Recently I made a new friend, Grant,  who invited me up to Northern Quebec to assess the moose population in a remote area.  The mosquitos were so thick that I had to wear  a bug jacket for most of my stay. In 2 days of walking the bush I encountered 4 moose in a 5 mile square area with sign indicating the presence of 2 others. Sign (tracks and scat ) of bear and deer were also found.
Below an archery friend Lindsay who came along is sitting on an  abandoned old beaver house. When the beavers were active here the whole area was flooded with water held by a dam they constructed. Once the beavers cut down the deciduous trees in the area they left for new feeding grounds and this once pond became the moose pasture you see below.


Mosquitos feeding on my hand


1500 kilometers of shoreline on this remote lake


Self portrait and Lindsay steering our boat.
This area is so remote you can only access it by water.


Always hunting....

-Martin