Just thought I'd share...

Last week while looking for more twisted branches for the walking staffs and more firewood for my little camp area, I came across the biggest grapevine I have ever seen. It's about 50 feet from the top of my dads property line and almost directly in the center. I had Mike snap a picture with my cell phone, so it isn't the greatest quality, but you can at least see the size of this giant thing. Remember that in comparison, I stand 6'3" tall. It's hard to see in this picture, but it goes upward from me and turns almost completely horizontal (to my right) before going straight down into the ground. (where it's kinda hidden behind the brush and saplings) At the base, it's at least 10 inches in diameter. I've seen lots of big ones in those woods, but this one definitly takes the prize! WOW.

When we were there, I gathered a few more twisted pieces for staffs and then cut some others to make a display rack for at the flea market. It didn't take long to put together in the garage, though a few days later I added pegs along the top bar so they didn't fall over. If the staffs don't take off and sell well, at least we'll have an interesting garden tool holder, LOL.

There isn't really anything happening around here all that blog-worthy. The garden is tilled and ready, but it's not quite planting time yet. We always get at least one or two more good frosts in May, so we never plant much of anything until after Memorial day rather than chance it. I do have some greens in the small beds, but that's it. I do have the two new straberry beds marked out and ready to pull the sod and till, and the herb bed is almost ready for planting. I'd love to find a source for stones to border the herb bed and around each variety inside,but so far I have none. It'll take a lot of stones to border a 30 foot circle, around the rose of sharon, the azalea (sp?), and around each different herb. I'll just gather little by little and eventually have enough, even if it takes longer than this year. We're in no hurry.

There is still no luck on the job front. I had my hopes up for a job with the local park system but never heard back after sending a resume and making 2 e-mails. (no calls allowed) I filled out an application at a cemetary a few weeks ago, but when I called back I was told they hired someone with previous experrience. I recieved a reply via e-mail later and was told once again that I am "over qualified" for mowing grass and digging holes. UGH this is so frustrating.


We're trying a few different routes with making some extra cash and setting up at the big flea market on Memorial Day weekend. (Friday and Saturday) Lisa has been making some awesome looking jewelry from my lure making supplies that she raided, and I'm making walking staffs and wands. (yes wands) For those that don't know, Lisa is pagan and we visit a few stores now and then that cater to that comunity. The last time we were at one, I was looking at wands with a $30-$80 price tag, saying to myself " I can make those!". Afterall, it's a sanded and finished stick with some woodburned designs, stones, and some other embellishments. Right now I have around 16 ready to finish. Some are sanded, some are stained, but they'll all be ready very soon.


A few weeks ago when I was in my parents woods gathering more vines, I found one small tree that had a vine wrapped around it and had grown with it like that. The trunk had this beautiful twist to it from growing into and around that vine. I cut it and looked for another and managed to find 8 total. They're getting the same treatment as the wands, and I'm also doing some minor wood carving on a few. The pagan community would again have an interest in wands, but also there is a bit of a market from people who walk the local parks. I'll gather some more twisted ones soon, but also look for some straighter ones I can make plain for the park people to stick the little pins in that they get for attending an event and hiking a certain distance.


Lisa is making the fishing lure jewelry, (which she has named Reel-a-Luring Jewelry!), hand dipped candles, and what she calls "treasure candles) with earrings inside that you can wear once you burn the candle. She's also making clay figures, candle holders, and incense stick holders. Though she tends to disagree, her clay work is amazing. I tried once and managed to make the most beautiful little clay ball you've ever seen, LOL. I have no artistic talent like she does. I'll have to take and post some pictures.


Our friends Mike and Chrissy are going to set up with us. Mike has been making some really awesome stone carvings at home using his Dremel tool. He's very big into his family lineage, which he's traced WAY back to early Irish/celtic roots. Most of what he is carving has been along those lines, written in Oogum language. (oh-gum) He's also making leather and stone necklaces with the same similar designs carved in them. They're in the same boat we are, actually worse, since Mike lost his job and Chrissy only makes $7.75hr. We're all trying to find our little niche and a way to make extra cash when and where we can. This flea market is a start, just to see what kind of reaction our stuff gets. We're planning to get a booth and set up at the Mabon Festival this year too, but thats not till September. Lisa has opened an account on Etsy too, so now we just have to get some good pictures of what's made and start posting them for sale. Sure none of this is or will be a steady income, but right now anything will help. I'll take and post some pics of everything we're all making sometime soon.


For now, I'm off to take Lisa to work and go visit my uncle. He called me last night and told me he just found out his best friends wife was given till the end of the month to live, and his friend's doctor pretty much told him to get all his "affairs" handled soon. He's taking it pretty hard. I'll go see my folks while I'm there since they're 3 minutes away. Mom has to have minor knee surgery on Monday, which is an outpatient thing now, but they're still stressed out like she's having brain surgery.

Back from camping!!!

It's now 6:15 on Friday and I just got back from my camp outing. I'm exausted and waiting for some real coffee to brew in the perculator my mom just gave me. I don't mind instant, but 2 days of it has been enough lol. Gimme some real perculated coffee!!


I got there later than expected on Wednsday, but still managed to get into the woods at around 4pm. I had planned to go further northeast, but I heard 4 wheelers and a truck. I assumed it was the loggers back for the spring, so I settled on a small clearing near the edge of my parents woods, right near the old fence to the west side. I cut a small sapling with lots of brances and used it as a rake to clear a spot for the tent, just so I could easily check for roots, stones or sticks.


When it was clear, I refilled the area with around 2" of leaves and set up the tent. Once that was done, I used the small folding shovel to dig a fire pit around 30" wide and roughly 8" deep. There were plenty of stones around to circle the pit with, all from years of digging them out of my parents gardens and carting them off into the woods. The trail that was once there is long grown over, but stones and traces of dads bad habit of dumping junk left me knowing exactly where I was.






I gathered kindling and firewood, which was extremely easy with all the trees that had fallen down around the area. It didn't take long before I had a pile of firewood 6 feet long and close to 2 feet high. I piled small branches for kindling in the front, set some inside and decided it was time for some coffee. Rather than take the easy way out and use my lighter, I opted for the Strikemaster Firestarter I got for Christmas, using the homemade starters of TP rolls and drier lint I had sealed in a gallon freezer bag. The TP-lint starters worked great, and with a little kindling quickly added, I had a fire in no time. Since I had no grill top to use over the fire, I bent over a tall sapling tree, made a stake from a stick driven in the ground, and tied it off over the fire. It hung around 4 feet over the fire, so I used paracord attached to a cutoff section of tree as a hook. It worked great! The water from my canteen was heating over the fire in a small pot as I went back to work gathering firewood. While I was gathering, I tripped and grabbed a tree to catch my fall, only to find out the tree was dead, and ended up having a handfull of very dry dead bark. I looked at it and realized it was PERFECT tinder for the fire, so I stripped the dead tree of as much bark as I could reach, setting it near the pile of firewood on top of a piece of log to keep it off the ground. I found some old pieces of fencing laying in the woods, which I cut with the multi tool and formed into a grill top. I thought it might be handy, but I never used it.



As the coffee water was heating, a strong wind whipped through the woods and into my little clearing, blowing the fire and cooling it down. I decided that a wind break was in order, so I bent and staked over another sapling around 6 feet from the fire, to the southwest, being the direction the wind blew in from. I cut smaller finger size saplings, cutting off the branches, and laced it in a criss-cross pattern along the larger one, tying the ends with the roll of paracord I had in my pack. About 50 yards away I spotted an evergreen with thick full branches, and cut off enough to lace into the frame and tie off. Taaa-daaa, instant wind break. The sapling I had bent over for the frame was roughly 2 1/2" in diameter, and I cut off all the branches, leaving the ones at the top with close to 2" from the main trunk. I used these as hooks to hang my Camelback, jacket, sweatshirt,and gun belt from. So, I had a combination wind break and handy gear hanger. Not too shabby for my first 2 hours in the woods.


I decided on an easy dinner, so since I already had a large pot of water heating up, I went for the Mountain House freeze dried pack of chili mac and some crackers I had tucked away in my food bag. It only takes 10-15 minutes to "cook" inside the same bag it is packaged in, so while it was cooking, I tossed my sleeping bag inside the tent with my bedroll, camera, book, notebook, and anything else small I wanted to keep dry. I took a square light that my dad had given me that has two 8" flourescent bulbs, and hung it on the tiny gear net in the center of the tent. I figured that if I couldn't sleep, I could at least sit and read, or at least make it easier to find something in the night if need be. By the time I had things ready inside the tent, the chili mac was hot enough to eat; so I poured a cup of water, added some instant coffee, and leaned against a tree to have dinner. Gourmet? Of course not. But it was good food, and I was in the woods. I think even 3 day old reheated McDonalds would have tasted good in that setting. I was in total peace, with hot food, hot coffee, a nice fire going, and totally relaxed. Yep...this is why I wanted this trip.



I had forgotten how fast it gets dark in the woods.It's been a great many years since I have camped this way, with no lanterns or giant raging bonfire. I checked the time on my cell phone, and saw that it was only 8:00. I sat against that tree near the fire for another hour, sipping instant coffee and just listening to nothing but nature. I let the fire burn down, and crawled into the tent at around 9:00. I don't have a cold weather sleeping bag. I took my old Coleman with me, along with a fleece summer bag tucked inside. Even though it got fairly chilly through the night, I stayed warm the whole time. I had to laugh just a little bit since here I am, sleeping on the ground in a bag when we have the matress at home that isn't even a week old yet. I curled up my jacket and sweatshirt as a pillow and went to sleep to the sound of tree frogs, crickets, and bullfrogs in the tiny pond not 60 yards away. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......Before I went to sleep, I texted Lisa to tell her goodnight and I miss her, this is what I got back-" I love you too honey, watch out for Yeti's!!" I smiled as I layed back to go to sleep.


I woke wide awake and it was still dark outside, and cold inside the tent. I was warm other than my arm I had stuck out of the bag in my sleep, so I flipped on the light over my head and checked the tiny 2" square thermometer I had taken just to log the whole experience. It was 51 degrees and 4:30.....umm...yea.... I may be camping, but I'm not getting up yet, lol. I turned off the light, layed back down, and fell half asleep for about an hour. When the sun started coming up, I crawled out of the bag, slipped on my boots, and started a fire for warmth and for some morning coffee. There was a lot of dew on everything, which made starting a fire a little more difficult, but not too bad. Once the fire was going well and there was water heating up for coffee, I realized that the heat from the fire was wasted, most traveling straight up into the air. I need some form of shelter to contain the heat. I'll work on that later. I sat around the fire, had a cup of hot coffee once the water got hot, and gathered some basic gear to take a walk. I just grabbed a canteen of water (which I dropped 2 spoons of TANG in lol), my folding camp saw, binoculars, small knife, and .22 rifle. After my second cup of coffee, I headed out for a walk, just to see what I could see, scout for deer and turkey, and take a chance on seeing a squirrel or rabbit for lunch.


I walked about a half mile to the field near where Tammie and I had seen the turkeys 2 weeks ago, pulled back into a line of trees and brush, and just sat, watched and listened. I heard the turkeys off in the distance, in exactly the same spot where we had seen them before. Now I know where they feed. Two deer passed by me as I was sitting there, one of them within 10 feet without noticing me at all. It was so peacefull and serene. Before I knew it, I had sat there against that tree for two hours. I lost all track of time like I normally do when I get into the woods. I don't know if I really lose track or just don't care. Either way, two hours had passed and I figured I should get up and go explore some more. I walked around the fields, staying tight to the treelines watching for squirrels. I did see a few but I never took a shot. I was enjoying myself out there and took enough to eat for 2 days. If I decide to get some game later, I will, but for now I'll just enjoy the walk and the scenery.Of course,of all things, I left my camera back at camp...oops!!


After another hour or so, I headed back to camp, figuring I should gather more firewood and get some other things done. On the way back, I took a different route through the woods, passing through the area that the loggers had started last year. What a horrible disgusting mess that was. I hate knowing that someone is destroying those woods just for a buck. In my mind, they're destroying a piece of my past, and it makes me crazy and mad. While I hurried through the area the best I could, something orange caught my eye. There layed a pile of empty gallon jugs of chain oil. They never bothered to pick them up. They just left them lay in the woods, leaking. I put them all in a pile, to kind of leave them a message, when I found a roll of black plastic that they had left behind. I don't know what they had used it for, but obviously it wasn't important enough to pick up. I stuffed it in my bag and headed to camp, thinking of what I can use it for. When I got back, I gathered more firewood and started gathering more vines for the garden thingymabobs. As I was winding them into wreath like circles for transport, I looked at my fire ring and knew what I would use that plastic for.



I bent over another two saplings that were near my tent and over the fire ring, staking them to the ground with sticks the same as I did the one over the fire. I cut more and used the paracord to make the same criss-cross pattern along it horizontally about every 3 feet.


The frame ended up being rather dome shaped, around 10x10 feet and 4 feet tall in the center. I twisted the corners of the plastic to make a holding point, attached the two ends to the back bottom of the frame, streched it tight along the whole length, cut it, and again twisted the corners and tied it off to another horizontal sapling. I repeated the process 3 times to cover the whole frame, and when I was done, I twisted the lowest sapling tight, cranking it like a wind up canopy and tying it off tight. In the center over the fire pit, I pulled apart the seams, leaving a diamond shape 3 feet long and 2 feet wide, just enough to let smoke escape but trap the heat inside the dome. As I started a fire to make lunch, I found out how well it worked. While the temperature outside was 71, the temp inside the domed structure climbed to 90. The plastic moved a bit with the heat, which actually worked well since it streched it tighter onto the frame as it heated and begin to shrink. I now had a cover that would not only retain the heat of the fire, but would also keep my camp area fairly dry in case it rained. Thanks jackass loggers! I guess you're good for something afterall!!


I ate a lunch of hot oatmeal and coffee, while I sat and admired my work. It's not really pretty, but I was happy with it. After I ate, I walked about 30 feet from camp to get rid of the morning coffee, when something silver caught my eye. I kicked this silver thing that was half hidden by leaves and debris, and out popped a reminder of my youth. There it was, dented and dirty, but still there. That genuine Boy Scout canteen I had lost when building a treehouse when I was about 12 years old. I picked it up and it still had water in it after all these years. It didn't leak at all, that water had been in there somewhere around 23 years. I carried it back to camp and snapped a picture. What a funny coinicidence that I find a piece of camping gear from that many years ago while I was camping. I smiled when I looked at it, remembering making that treehouse when I lost it, remembering how sad I was to have lost it. It took me 23 years, but I had it in my hands once again. I didn't bring it back with me. I left it where I had set up camp on Wednsday. I figured that it had a permanent home in those woods near a place I camped many years ago, and now it can stay where I camped now. It just seemed only fitting.


After lunch, I really didn't do much of anything. I gathered more firewood and vines, and spent a lot of time just sitting. I did wander around a bit, looking for berry patches to revisit later in the year, but I had very little luck. I found an area elsewhere where someone else had dumped off a bunch of junk in the woods, and scavenged a 5 gallon bucket to use as a seat back at camp. I don't mind sitting on the ground against a tree all the time, but sometimes my back doesn't tend to agree with me on that. A bucket seat it is, just like sitting on one at lunch on a jobsite. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that I never really sought out any small game for a meal, but no matter. I know that I know how to hunt, shoot, clean and cook a rabbit or a squirrel. I really don't need a reminder. I came back to camp, sat and watched chipmunks and birds for a while, read a bit, and figured I deserved a small nap. I fell asleep inside the tent with the door open for not even an hour, got up and had a drink from my TANG canteen. I read a while longer and went for another walk, still taking the .22 in case I changed my mind.


When I sat against another tree to scan for game, I looked at the rifle I was carrying and remembered when I bought it. I was 20 years old and bought it at the Woolworth store I worked at for my sister. It was my 16th birthday gift to her. She did carry it through the woods a few times, even though she has never shot any game in her life. That rifle has had barely 50 rounds shot through it, almost always at empty cans in dads backyard. When she moved out, got married and started a family she left it there. I asked her about it one day and she told me to take it since she never used it anymore. So here I am, almost 25 years later, carrying that good old Marlin 25 into the woods. I never appreciated it's simplicity before, but now I do. I'll never get rid of this rifle, never.


When I once again headed back to camp around 5, it was time to start dinner. The Strikemaster and lint starter once again did the trick perfectly, and with the treebark tinder, dinner was cooking in no time. In a pot, I added water with instant rice, 3 chicken boullion cubes, TVP,(textured vegetable protein-a meat substtute), dehydrated onions, and dehydrated jalepeno peppers. It smelled wonderful wafting through the woods as it simmered over a fire. I started another small pot for coffee and relaxed against the tree while I waited.


The tree I always sat against at camp made me laugh to myself every time I looked at it. At some point in time, my dad had dumped some junk in the woods, and this tree grew with a piece of fan belt stuck in it. The tree now stands well over 30 feet high and around 14" in diameter, with that piece of hose sticking out the west side about 4 feet off the ground. Later when I had gotten to their house on Friday, dad asked me if I saw that tree with the belt, which made me laugh out loud. "yea dad, thats where I set up camp". Funny how he remembered one particular tree and that happened to be where I sat up. Coinicidence??? I snapped a picture of it with my cell phone and sent it to Lisa....I got back in response "Stop using your phone, your battery will die, I love you". I had to laugh.


I sat on that bucket and had dinner with coffee. It wasn't really bad at all, it just needed a bit of salt, which I had in tiny containers. I *had* some black pepper, but the container came open and spilled all through my bag, oops. I ate and wrote notes for this entry in my notebook,and just relaxed with some more coffee. It wasn't a busy day by any means at all, but I just sat and watched nothing special. As the temperature started to slowly drop and the sun started to set, I sat under the shelter and added more wood to the fire. THIS was what it was all about. Sitting around doing nothing at all and watching a fire. No noise, no distractions, just me, nature, and the glow of a warm fire. I don't want to leave this. I considered another day and night, and wondered about the forecast. Since I can get the Weather Channel on my phone, I checked and it still called for rain and thunderstorms in the morning around 8-9:00. I was a bit disappointed, but I missed Lisa and a nice comfy new mattress. I had a permanant camp set up now. I can always come back again, and I will, probably several times.


I woke up early again, long before the sun and layed in the tent until the sun started to peek over the hill. I got up, started a fire to get some heat, (it was 54), and make some coffee. As I got light from the fire and from the rising sun, I checked the forecast again, hoping something had changed but it didn't. It called for rain starting around 9am and storms rolling in around 10. As the water heated, and I warmed up under the shelter, I began to pack things up to head back. Of course, nothing packed up as easily as it did at the house. How the hell did all of this fit in that pack anyway??? Arrrrggghhhhh!!!!! The last of the things finally packed, and I sat back for my last cup of coffee in the woods, which ended up being three, lol. I don't want to head back. I want to stay here one more day, or seven. But, I can't. I really don't want to sit through a thunderstorm right now. Maybe on another trip, but not this one. I finished the coffee, smothered the fire, strapped on my pack, and walked to mom and dads at 9am.


I walked in the door to my dad yelling "hey! It's Jeremiah Rambo!" I had to laugh, cause it was kinda funny and normally he isn't. Even though I had oatmeal back at camp, mom insisted on making bacon and eggs. We ate breakfast and sat down in the living room with dad in front of the t.v. that's on all day. For once, something interesting was on, and we watched three episodes of Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey. Great show with a great host. Watching that show got us to talking about guns and shooting like old times again. While we watched, I got in his gun cabinet and one by one brought out all the rifles and shotguns, wiping them down and checking for rust. We talked about each and every one as I cleaned them. When he got them, where he got them, and what he did with them.


I brought out an old single shot bolt action WInchester, and he had a hundred stories about it, everyone one of which I enjoyed. Grandma had gotten him that rifle for Christmas when he was 12 years old. He told me that grandma had hidden it in the couch and he found it, shooting it when she was at work, and cleaning and putting it back every day till Christmas morning. He told me how he would pick and sell berries to make money for ammo for it all summer, and how he would sit in the back and shoot pennies into a tree and walnuts off another one. I've heard from people my whole life that it's impossible to shoot the bore out of a rifle, but believe me, this one is. I shot it once 20 years ago and was lucky to hit a pie plate with it, lol. It's worn out. The bore is gone, the bolt is loose, and you have to hold it closed to even fire it. It's old, beat to death, and basically worthless as a firearm. But as a piece of family history, it's priceless. He told me to take it home, but I didn't. I will someday, but not now, not yet.


We sat around and talked the rest of the day, which turned out to be nice, of course. That 9am rain didn't start until almost 3:00. Those thunderstorms never came. But I had a great time in the woods and a great day with my dad. It was well worth taking those 2 days off of everything. I didn't practice any of the skills I intended to. I didn't try making that solar still. I didn't set snares to catch or shoot any wild game to cook over a fire. I didn't gather and eat any wild plants. I spent my time either wandering around the woods or just sitting and staring off into the trees. None of this is what I expected but it was everything I wanted. I have no regrets on this trip, other than I wish I had stayed longer. Well....there's always next time. And believe me, there will be a next time.


I can't wait to get out there again. I don't know when I will be able to, but I am definitly going back several times throughout the spring and summer, maybe even fall when I want to squirrel hunt. I loved my solo trip, but I kinda wish I had company. Lisa will camp with me, but there has to be a potty (LOL) and she can't sleep on bare ground. My friend Mike had mentioned he might want to go, but I'll talk to him about it for the next trip maybe. I know my bud Tammie would love it there as much as I do, but I don't see that happening again. Yanno....that whole thing with spouses and all. It's silly, she's my bud, but I understand the whole view from her husbands perspective. I'll just show her my camp when we get out for more vines and materials or later in the year during hunting season. For now, I'll enjoy the memories of those two short days on my own, and revisit the new camp area when I get time. The neighbor is giving me a camoflage tarp he has on his utility trailer sometime soon, and I'll use it to add a second layer to the shelter frame for more water resistance. (I won't always avoid camping in the rain!)


I had a wonderful time out there. I cleared my head and came back refreshed, which was the main purpose of the whole trip. I think I am going to do a second part of this entry about the trip, making it a gear review of everything I took with me. Some things I took along were new, some not so new. Some worked well, and others didn't. I packed a lot of things that I didn't use, some things I didn't really need, and some things I forgot or ended up needing. I may start that entry this weekend, but for now I'm going to close this now longest blog post in history. Thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed it!

and I'm off....

Tomorrow (Wednsday) I'll be leaving on my little trek/adventure/getaway/skills practice/clear my head trip. The ALICE pack is fully loaded with gear, minimal food, and 8 canteens and one camelback of water, weighing in at a total of 74.2 pounds. I'm glad I eliminated a few things! LOL It coulda been well over 85.
As if right now, the forecast calls for warm and sunny tomorrow, upper 70's Thursday, and upper 60's on Friday with a chance of rain. My plan is for tomorrow afternoon through Friday evening but if the weather agrees and I'm doing fine, I may just extend it to Saturday morning.
I'm pretty excited about going, so of course everything is ready and stacked, including clothes like I'm some kid hyped up to head off to summer camp. The camera has fresh batteries and a spare set, and I have a notebook & pen with me to take notes the whole time. I'm hoping this trip not only does wonders for me, but makes for a pretty interesting blog post.
'talk to ya when I get back!

Survival/Camping trip plans-Part 2

Over the past few days I have been going over my serious overkill list for my little planned getaway in the woods. I removed a few things that were just plain silly, like 4 different knives and 2 of the pots I had in my cookware set. I have no idea what I thought I would be making in 3 pots, LOL. Told ya, overkill. I reduced the weight now to 44 pounds, not including food and water. I'll be taking some beef jerky, dehydrated fruit, and maybe just 1 or 2 small cans of soup. Afterall, I can't plan on there being a steady supply of fruit/berries considering the amount of deer and turkeys that are in those woods, plus I may be heading out sooner than expected, and berries are barely budding let alone ripe. I do need to get probably 2 more canteens for water for now,since the 2 I have plus the camelback only hold one gallon total. I still plan on getting water from one of the creeks and trying a solar still, but I do want water on hand for this first trial run in case I fail miserably. I don't want to have to sneak back somewhere to get water. I also have the plans to take some food for now just because I may not be able to pop off a few squirrels quite yet. If I plan my trip during the week, there are 2 areas on that hillside that are being logged out, and I imagine that loggers seeing a crazy guy in camo might not be the best idea, let alone having them hear that lone .22 shot coming from somewhere. If it's a weekend, I may be open to the idea a bit more.
This first time out is afterall a trial run for me. It's been many years since I have done anything like this, so I don't know 100% for sure that I still have what it takes. Also things in those woods have changed quite a bit since I regularly hunted and walked up there. All of the old paths are gone, areas that were once wide open are now filled with green briar or vines, some woods have been logged out, one of them being my once favorite squirrel hunting woods ever. Times have changed, I have changed, and the countryside has changed. There were once lots of rabbits and pheasants in those woods, but now that people have stopped hunting the fox, and the coyotes have moved in, the pheasants are long gone and rabbits are very scarce. There are LOTS of deer and turkeys up there, but nothing I would kill out of season right now just to feed myself for a few days. I just won't do that. I wouldn't worry much about a squirrel or a rabbit on this little adventure,but I won't shoot larger game. I wouldn't eat that much over just 2 days, and besides, there's that whole illegal thing. Nope,no large game for me. I'll eat what I take in with me and ration it out, and I may get that one squirrel or two, who knows.
I imagine this all sounds really crazy to a lot of people. Trekking off into the woods by myself for a few days and just living with what I have on my back. This definitly isn't for everyone, but it's something I have wanted to do for a long, long time. Like I said in the other post about this, I used to make these trips when I was younger, and I miss them. I miss those woods and the wildlife. Somehow over the years, that part of me has become lost, and I want it back. My hunting buddies are gone, dad can't go anymore,and I don't live closeby anymore. I just plain stopped going. That one day rabbit hunting trip with my old friend was far more than just rabbit hunting for me. I would walk around, stomp some brush, watch for rabbits, talk to him, but a lot of the time I would just stop and look around. Every square foot of those woods holds some kind of memory for me. I remember this spot where I shot my first pheasant, or that spot where my dad and I once talked while we listened to the beagles run. I remember the old gravel quarry where my childhood friends and I used to race our bicycles. Those woods are full of memories. Those woods were much more to me than a place we would all go hunting, they were my playground as a kid. We didn't have a park, or sidewalks to ride our bikes, we had those woods.
While other kids I knew spent their summer at vacation homes, or off somewhere with their family, or playing basketball on the school court, I was in those woods. Nearly every day of my summers were spent there. I never had a real reason, I just was. My friends and I ride our bikes around the trails that are now long grown over. I would sometimes just wander off by myself with a book and just sit under a tree and spend the day in the peace and quiet of nature. When hunting season rolled around, it was always me and dad up there with a pack of beagles. Sometimes my great uncle Glen would tag along with his dogs, and sometimes the neighbor with his dogs. Dad taught me all those years ago that hunting was far more than just shooting something to eat, and that is still with me today. I appreciate nature now as much as I did back then, and probably more so. Back then I almost took it for granted that I could go anytime and those woods were always there. Now that I am 20 minutes away and can't get there anytime I want just to walk around, I realize how much I still love those woods. I miss them terribly. It's like missing an old long lost friend.
Everything I have just talked about is the main reason for my little trip. Sure, it's a small bit of a survival test for me, but it's also a trip to visit that old friend. Those trips out there lately to gather branches and vines have reminded me how much I miss it. Sometimes when I'm there, I have to push myself to stay busy or I just want to sit, stare off into the woods and think, remembering years gone by in those woods and all of the memories that they hold. This solo trip will allow me to do that all day, and that is the main plan. I'm not going to spend my days foraging for food, I'll spend the time sitting and relaxing, remembering every little moment that I can. I'll walk and visit all the areas that dad and I or my friends and I used to go to all the time, and remember the things we did. Though those times are long gone in the past, they're all still alive somewhere in my head, and I plan to re-visit each and every one that I possibly can.
I need this trip to not only bring back all of those memories of my past, but to also clear my head. This layoff has been pretty stressfull, and has taken it's toll on my mind. I tend to have a lot of sleepless nights, thinking and worrying about things. Not just worrying about money, but of my own feelings of self worth. I've felt like less of a man for quite a while, staying home and doing housework while Lisa goes to her job. I feel kinda useless some days. This isn't how it's supposed to be. Maybe I am too old fashioned, but I still believe that the husband should be the one out there earning a living while the wife stays home. I hate seeing Lisa leave for work while I am sitting here in pj's drinking coffee. Sometimes I stay in bed on purpose, just so I don't have to see that. I know that things have happened that are out of my control, but I still don't like it. I want to be the one heading to work while she stays home to read, or quilt, or spend time outside in the garden. I hate this, I really do. I know something will come along, but this waiting is killing me.
So....this trip out will hopefully do wonders for me. It will let me reconnect with that part of me that is lost,and it will let me clear my head. I can't always just sit and think around here, there are just too many distractions. The chickens are making noise, people honk their car horns, the dogs want in and out, the cat wants attention...just too many distractions, even in my little getaway room in the basement. I need this trip. Hopefully this entry didn't end on a really down side. It's just a cold rainy day and I haven't slept much for days. This was written last night before bed, edited a bit at 1am when I couldn't sleep, and again re-edited now at 11am. Geeeeeeeez I need a job!!

Finally yesterday we got a bit of a break in the weather...again. It was in the upper 70's and sunny all day. A few days ago, I brought home some more old RR ties from mom n dads and decided to go ahead and made the new greens bed right next to the other one. Of course, I had to move the compost bin, the solar dehydrator, and condense down the woodpile about 6 feet. I added the 3 new ties to the end of the other four, giving me a second 8x8 bed. There was one untreated landscape timber in the pile I brought home, so I used it in the center to divide the new bed in half, one side for spinach and the other for garlic.
When the kids were still living at home, I had to make a spot for parking for them and for one of our vehicles. (an older lady lived here alone for 30 years and only needed the one spot) I had surrounded the area with RR ties, and on the upper end, wrapped them around a big oak tree, making a flowerbed at the end. Of course, I later decided against using the space for pointless flowers, so I removed the ties to use elsewhere, but left the soil that was in them, leaving just a 6x4x1ft deep mound. This is where I got the soil for the new bed, pulling the now grass from the top and taking it by the wheelbarrow load to fill the bed. YAY for getting rid of a bad spot to mow around and for using the soil for something more usefull.
Of course, as always, I'm working outside with the garage radio blasting to make my day to better. ( yesterdays selection was a beautiful mix of Yngwie Malmsteen, Rainbow, and Rough Cutt). I work much better with music, though the neighbors must imagine I am crazy singing along and having the occasional garden rake guitar solor hahaha. I got pretty warm around 11:00, so again, as always, I took off my shirt which left me with a lovely sunburn by the time I stopped around 5:30 to make dinner. I ALWAYS manage to give myself a monster sunburn on that first hot sunny spring day, so yesterday was no exception. Ah well, it's not too bad this morning.
Today is going to be another trek to my friends farm for more branches and vines for the garden trellis's/oblesques. I thought the pile I had last week would last a while, but of course I was wrong. I had enough to make 2 full ones and have just enough left to make 1 more. Today I plan on filling the truck as much as I possibly can. I made the first one with just 3 legs to see if it was stable enough. I put together the tripod legs, then started wrapping the vines around it from the bottom to the top, then created the wreath at the top, then wrapped the rest of the vines back around in the opposite direction back to the bottom. I hung one of Lisa's small windchimes inside the wreath, and I gotta say I'm pretty happy with the results. I made a second one with four legs and gave it the same wreath at the top, and put a windchime inside it and a little fake birds nest with plastic birds I got at the dollar store. I was just going for a little more of that "cuteness" that people seem to like so when I get some in the yard to sell they might just have that extra *push*. I still say it's worth a shot, people love that cutesy garden stuff lol.

On Thursday, my bud Tammie and I set off to a friends farm to get more tree branches and vines to make more garden oblisques. I was a gorgeous sunny day and almost 70, a perfect day to be outside. We set off around 11am, got there, talked to my friends wife while she was walking around with two young sheep that she was caring for, and walked off into the woods. It was a perfect day to be out, mid 70's and sunny. We couldn't have picked it better.

We decided to hit the vines first, which were in the far back of their 14 acres, and started walking. I was carrying my fully loaded ALICE pack, just so I could get used to the weight, and she was carrying her saw and some drinks. We got to the spot we wanted, and before long, had a good sized pile of wound vines ready to haul out. We sat down for a few minutes and took a break, just sitting and talking a little while we spent more time just looking around and enjoying the scenery. We heard some deer walking off in the distance, and saw a hawk fly low within 50 feet of it. This is why I still love this place that I have known for my entire life. It's beautiful, peaceful, and quiet being so far from any roads and people. That hillside and all that property around it has always been my escape. I have many great memories there.

We talk quite a bit while we are gathering there, in between the long bouts of total silence while we work and enjoy the quiet. In my world of few friends, Tammie is one of the best I have ever known. Few people I have known understand what Lisa and I do here at home and what we want for the future. Tammie gets it because she wants the same things. I have never had another friend that I could talk to about living off grid, gardening, self sufficiency, and all the other endless topics that we chat about, all of my others think I'm insane, she doesn't. We talked about a lot of things there in the woods the same as we do when she comes to the house for coffee on random days when I am home. (which Lisa loves to joke about, saying we sit around and talk about our cramps and our feelings, LOL) It's somewhat funny to think that I met her through the online group she started, never imagining her place was 5 minutes away. I can truly say that in the 2 years since we met over an e-mail and a bucket of horseradish from our garden, she has become one of the best friends I have ever had. I have to thank her for that, it means more than she knows from someone who has not had very many.

We were able to find one spot that had vines as far as the eye could see, and gathered a LOT of vines to bring back, twisting them into rings like christmas wreaths to be easier to carry...which was a real bonus considering I was wearing that fully loaded pack already, lol. We both had two armloads, and headed for the truck so we could drop them off and get another drink since we had both already finished the large vitamin waters we carried in just 2 hours earlier. We tossed the vines in the truck, grabbed a quick drink, and set off once again to get branches for the legs. Luckily, there are plenty of piles of branches left from the loggers about halfway to where we gathered the vines. We picked through the piles, tossing out the straighter ones, cutting off the small branches, and tossed them in piles. After 3-4 areas of gathering, we bundled them up with some rope and decided to call it a day. We got them in the truck, headed home, then divided them up for her to head home to start more of her own projects. I was tired, hot, sweaty, and covered with scratches since I was silly enough to wear a sleeveless t-shirt. Remind me NOT to do that again!! My right shoulder looks like I was wrestling with a 6 foot raccoon.

I came in the house, got the dogs outside, grabbed a giant iced tea, and headed to the garage to start my own. I decided to go with a tripod design for my first rather than a 4 legged one like we watched Rick Pratt make for the video. I made this one around 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide, which went really quick. Wrapping the vines around it however, took a little more time. The vine I grabbed to wrap around the frame ended up being close to 20 feet long, and I didn't want to cut it quite yet. I started on the bottom of one leg, turning the frame instead of trying to wrap 20 feet of vine around it over and over. Yea....lol...not as easy as I thought. The vines are stiff and don't bend quite so easily. It took me about 20 minutes or more to get it wrapped around once from bottom to top. My plan for this one is to roll the vines at the top to make a sturdy wreath that will stand straight up, then wrap it around the frame again in the opposite direction back to the bottom. I had just started the wreath part when Lisa came home, and I stopped.

Lisa had quite a surprise for me when she got home, she had bought us a new mattress. WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!! We've had that same one since before we moved in this house 11 years ago, and it was getting really uncomfortable and had springs starting to pop up so much that you could feel them. We were wayyyy overdue for this. They had told her it would be delivered on Thursday, and since I have NO patience, I asked her to call and see if I could just pick it up. Of course, the store doesn't even stock the mattresses, and their warehouse is in Cleveland. The best we could do was up the delivery date to Monday, so that will have to do. I hate paying for something and not having it in my hand right then. I hate waiting for something to be mailed, shipped, or delivered. It makes me crazy, lol. Ah well, at least I know it's on the way.

The weather here is starting to make me insane, even though I know it's the typical Ohio spring. 75 one day and 50 the next. Sunny one day, rain the next. Arrrgghhhhhhh. On Monday, Tammie and I were supposed to go film one of her blog videos of someone who plows with draft horses. The forecast on Friday called for rain and storms on Monday, so she cancelled for now, which was really disappointing. We were really looking forward to that one. She'll just have to talk to the people and re-schedule sometime when the weather is more stable.

While we were at the farm gathering the materials, the owner, who I have known most of my life, asked me if I was still out of work. He is bidding a job that he is pretty sure he has, clearing out a pretty large warehouse not far away, and would take 3-4 months. He wants to hire someone to oversee the demo crew, letting them in and locking up every day, while watching them and making sure no one gets hurt. Kind of a job supervisor/safety/security guy. I told him I would be VERY interested, thanked him for thinking of me, and told him I would be gladly waiting for the call. Keep your fingers crossed for me folks.