Archives for October 2014

Immersion

The tree lines have become a collision of bright colors as their mighty boughs of shade turn yellow, gold and red. The air has shifted from a still dry heat to a soft, bath water warm breeze, coupled with the sound of crisp, rustling leafs. Fall2014Warm sun shines through the canopy of foliage, as an eagle soars overhead, searching for fresh quarry. The rhythmic “thump thump thump” from a distant grouse pounds through the clinking of dried leafs dangling from trees.  A flock of turkey crest the majestic oak ridge, foraging for tasty morsels on the ground.  Squirrels chase back and forth, defining their turf, then stretch out across the tree boughs, basking in the golden sun.  The heartiest of remaining insects buzz about the drying wild flowers and weeds. Small furry critters scurry up and down heavily worn animal trails through the brush.

Nature’s celebration.

The sun drenched sky begins to pale into pink and orange shades of nightfall earlier and earlier. A group of Blue Jays flutter to a clearing on the ground, hoping to discover a last meal of the day.  Met with an anxious chipmunk, they team up to scavenge for a moment before disappearing into the brush.  The mad dash for dinner before dark creates a countdown–the woods come alive with wildlife running, clawing, and cawing to find that last bit of nourishment in the moments before days end.  A deafening silence unfolds across the landscape, sporadically broken by the cry of a blackbird, or squawk of a squirrel.  Suddenly the quiet is disrupted by the chatter of the woods and fields calling out “time to sleep!”  A final scurrying across the forests leaf-blanket is heard as the last squeaks of ‘goodnight’ subside.

Thankful for this day.

The black velvet, star filled sky spreads a twinkling magic across all creatures, big and small. Some are tucked away into tree boughs, hollow logs, cracks, and crevasses of safe keeping for the night.  Others, like the skunk, porcupine and raccoon, are just waking up and rustling across the ground in search of breakfast. The night is protected by an amplified stillness.  Bats and flying squirrels flit about through the trees, barely visible in the dark sky.  Slow, deliberate steps snap a branch or two on the shadowy ground.  Off in the distance, a lonely howl, joined by a chorus of followers, cuts into the stillness of dark like a knife.  All is quiet, yet a presence is felt in the night air.  Predators and prey.

The night hunt is on.

The pitch black air is heavy with condensation. Dead silence resonates through the trees.  Not a sound or movement to be had.  Thin sheets of darkness slowly peel away, shedding micro degrees of light to the forest floor, creating ominous imaginary images in the fallen trees.  A startled doe scrambles to remain unseen, cracking branches like an alarm. Nearby shadowy stumps become clearly not her as the forest slowly becomes less dark.  She stops and sounds off a loud blow through the trees in her defense, followed by more cracking branches and her pounding hooves on the soft dirt ground.

Too late, you are busted.

A chain reaction ripples through the woods, as squirrels begin to chirp, mice and chipmunks bound across the ground stirring the leaf blanket searching for a tasty acorn breakfast. Fall2Birds flit from tree to tree, peeping and quenching their thirst on dew covered leafs.  The night creatures lumber down the forest trails, back to their dens.  The first crack of blazing, brilliant light rips across the horizon in a thin line.  With each degree of increased light, so do the sounds of the forest increase.  The bold cry from one black bird, initiates a choir of calls from all feathered beings, eager for the rising sun to energize the woods again as it greets natures children with golden rays of warmth.

Welcome to a new day.

 

What are you most passionate about? What makes your soul sing? For me, I love to break it down and get ‘wild, rugged, and dirty’, so to speak. You can get up close and personal to the great outdoors through my observations and experiences in my “Words From The Wild” blog category. Please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in the outdoors from this outdoorswoman’s perspective, and PR Brady AdVentures.

 

Windows To The World

The basic purpose of a Toy Hauler is to be able to carry transportation with you-the back door drops open into a ramp that allows you to drive an ATV, Golf Cart, motorcycle, or even a very small car up into the trailer.

I don’t have transportation to haul, yet. So, one of the coolest things I do with my Toy Hauler is drop the back door down part way, and prop it up with “legs”, creating a walk out deck that can also become an enclosed porch.  A heavy white vinyl panel wall with screen on the top half that zippers open and closed in the center, closes off the back of the Toy Hauler from the outside, and a tent is attached that stretches out across the “door” that has opened down.   On the inside are two white vinyl flaps that can close across the screens.

The good news is, the tent provides a whole extra “room”, and the big screen window of the tent provides an amazing view (if you’ve got an amazing view at your disposal, that is). Being able to have that extra space makes a huge difference in long term stays.  The bad news is, the tent is thin, not very sturdy, and if it’s chilly out, the cold comes straight in through the vinyl and screen wall that close off the toy hauler from the porch–unless you drop the heavy white vinyl panels down to cover the screens, thereby, closing off all the light from the porch, and giving the inside of the Toy Hauler a feeling of small space again.  Well, the other day I decided to do something about it.

My latest DIY improvement to the Toy Hauler—crafting seasonal windows! Tools for the job?

One roll of 8mm clear vinyl (48” wide by 25 feet long)
One 15 foot roll of white industrial Velcro
One roll of white Duct tape
Scissors
Tape Measure
Pen

First I measured the screen window part of the heavy white vinyl panels at 4 foot wide, and about 5 foot long, and cut 2 slightly oversized clear vinyl covers for them. I attached them by securing industrial Velcro to the tops of the clear vinyl, and then placing them about 4 inches above the screen area on outside side of the white vinyl panel wall.  Then I covered that attachment with two rows of white duct tape, both for cosmetic reasons, and to add strength to the Velcro bond.

The clear vinyl covers several inches below the screen, to ensure blocking of any air movement, and reaches beyond the outside edges and slightly over the zipper sides of each of the two sides. I selected several places along the outside edges of the clear windows to secure to the wall using Velcro, so there is no chance of the clear panels flopping open in wind. WindowWallAs for the center where the windows meet – they overlap just enough in the center to hold them together, but I still reinforced them with several 1” spots of Velcro attachment along the zipper and one side of the very bottom of one panel. They completely block all air flow!

If I don’t want to close off the screen with the clear vinyl windows, I can easily roll one or both of the clear panels up and secure them at the top of the white vinyl panels with a ribbon. When total privacy is required, I can just drop the inside short white panels down, covering the screen area from the inside, with or without the clear vinyl windows on the outside.

But when those clear panels are down and the wall is zipped up, I must say, the wind and cold stays out, and the design is sturdy enough to hold in the heat even at 34 degrees! (so far, that is…still unknown how cold we can go….)

My little DIY project works slick!

And more good news—now that I have the clear windows attached to the white vinyl wall, I will be able to bring light into the back of the Toy Hauler even without a tent extending out across the dropped door. The vinyl windows will work just fine being exposed directly to the outside (although I hesitate to test them in a torrential rain storm). If the tent falls apart, I can still enjoy an open “deck” as well.

The same situation exists with the door into my Toy Hauler. The main door has just a small, heavily frosted glass window, so when it’s closed there is very little light that can get in.  When the door is secured open, what’s left is a screen door, which is just that…screen….so again, it gets pretty darn cold if you try to secure the main door open and just use the screen door.

And Leech Lake in October? Well, it can get chilly, indeed!  The fix for this situation? Craft another seasonal window, of course!

For this project, no duct tape was needed, just white Velcro and clear vinyl. DoorI was able to cut the 28 ½” wide by 35” long top screen and 28 ½  wide by 24 long bottom screen panel needed in about 10 minutes, and have them attached to the screen door on the top and sides in less than 30 minutes.  I cut the Velcro to half its width along all 3 sides of the door and made sure to attach the soft side of the Velcro ON the screen door so stuff doesn’t stick to it.  The clear vinyl windows completely block all wind, but give me loads of additional light.  Another added benefit is that the clear vinyl will prevent the no-see-ums from getting inside (yes, those pesky biters can squeeze through normal window screens!)  My intention is to leave the clear vinyl on my screen door “most” of the time unless I’m camped somewhere where it is warm enough to not worry about it.

And there you have it. Another simple DIY solution is achieved!

Here’s to lighting things up with my windows to the world!

 

You can read about all kinds of products, places and services I’ve found to be exceptionally great, or exceptionally not great under my “Whats New” blog category–I look forward to your comments!  And please feel free to share this post with others that would find value in learning about this information, and PR Brady AdVentures.

Stuck On The Bad

It was my great fortune to meet Sally (not her real name) years ago through an outdoors workshop program. We taught workshops together, and became friends.

Sally was extraordinary.

I’ve never known anyone else so artistic, expressive, and truly gifted.   Watching her come up with an idea was like watching magic unfold.  She had an eye for color, for concepts, and for creativity like I’d never seen.  I’ll never forget the day she showed me her multicolored hand painted chairs.  Crazy cool!  As was often the case, they were works of art.KateStuckOnTheBad

And what an adventurer–a lover of the outdoors. Sally was a woman of the earth.  So natural.  She was someone who you could paddle out in a canoe with and simply breathe.  No words required.  And, it was a priceless experience to work side by side with her, teaching outdoor skills to others.  She sparkled when she taught–she was so excited and animated.  Her love of the outdoors spilled onto everyone she came in contact with.

She was so very proud of family—so intent on being a good wife and mother. Her creative energy flowed to her family, and her unique ways of bragging up her kids were all over the house.  She was so very proud of her kids.  The way she talked about them, I wished I had a mom like that growing up.

And she was such a loving soul. So caring, and giving to others.  Even when we weren’t able to stay in touch, she still thought of me.  I treasure her Christmas cards—especially the one containing the photograph filled with their litter of puppies! I am honored to be able to say I know Sally. I think of her often when I am in the woods, especially if I am lost. She was an expert in orienteering.

Was.

The last time I saw her was years ago, because, well, Sally ended her life.

I share this story with you for a very specific purpose. Although extreme, it serves as an example of how important it is to be aware of our behaviors.  Especially potentially destructive ones; how important it is to recognize and own them, reach out for help, and make the effort to modify them when needed.

Everyone saw Sally as the amazing woman I did, except Sally. Perhaps you, too, know someone like Sally, someone who has made that fateful decision–lost a battle to the invisible demons that rattle inside their heads.

We think we know people.

But sometimes, there is the person that we all see on the outside, and a different voice sneaking around their mind on the inside, unseen.  Some people, like Sally, truly struggle with self-worth and validation on the inside.  That is something we never see.  In fact, all of the praise in the world could not ever make up for just one micro-small criticism in her mind.

One simplistic example:

Perhaps her manager celebrates her excellent performance with a long list of all of the things she excels at as a teacher. He thinks she’s great—the best even, and goes on about how pleased he is with her for 30 minutes. Then he suggests she may want to just tone down the time spent on little Johnny, it would give her more time for the other kids. Sally listens to all of the praise, but then disregards every bit of it after hearing the suggestion—hanging onto how she should have been toning things down.

Just think how a lifetime of storing up those criticisms could weigh on a person if they let them!

Why is it so hard to hang onto that positive piece? Why toss the compliments out the window and obsess about the bad stuff?  Interpretation plays a strong role in focusing on the negative.  Psychologists refer to it as a survival skill. We humans are all pre-programmed to give more attention to negative than to positive incoming data.  We’ve done it since the beginning of time, as a mechanism of self-protection.  For some, even if that negative piece is less than 1% of the overall data they receive, they are glued to it. And goodness knows we are splattered with good and bad data all day every day.  We get it at home, at work, with friends, and in public places.  If all you retain is the bad, it can become paralyzing.  It can affect your relationships, work, and jeopardize your overall success.  For some people, like Sally, those tiny negative bits can accumulate, and develop into a force that completely takes them down.

How can you protect yourself from letting criticism dominate your life?

No one is exempt from getting knocked down from time to time. It’s how you handle the getting back up part that counts.  Real people seek counsel.  There is no shame in seeking professional help to re-program from a deep rooted thought process or mind set.  But before you ever get to that point, here are 4 simple steps of preventive medicine that have worked for me—perhaps they will work for you too.

Live a Life of Gratitude

Being able to open your eyes, look around and fill your heart with everything that you have to be grateful for, leaves little room for negativity to creep in. It also attracts other like- minded people that will keep that momentum going.  Being thankful, grateful and appreciative all generate positivity.  What goes around, comes around.

“Act As If”

Make a list of the things you are really good at. If you find yourself being sucked into negativity and criticism, pull out that list, remind yourself of things you are good at, and think about how you want to feel about yourself.  Just as your self-talk can bring you down, self-talk can bring you up.  Recite your positive list, and “act as if” you are all things positive, amazing and wonderful until you actually believe it yourself.

Consider The Source

It’s a fact. Not everyone wants, likes, approves of, or chooses the same things that you do.  If a person criticizes you for your personal choice, take a good look at them, realize it’s about them, not you, and discard their comment.  It’s ok to agree to disagree.  Their opinion isn’t going to make or break your pathway to success, right?  With that said, there’s usually strength in numbers.  If 57 people all approached you on Tuesday saying you could have gotten your point across without dumping lunch on Louise—well, re-wind the scene–maybe you did overstep a bit.  Being humble, and open to addressing a true weakness will shift your brains thought process from one of negativity to one of empowerment and progress.

Be Positive

Surround yourself with all things positive—all things. Begin each day with a positive statement. Write yourself uplifting sayings on sticky notes and post them around the house.  Set aside time each day to do something you love.  Initiate positive feedback towards others. Practice describing situations in a completely positive light.  Walk away from the people and stories that drag you down, and spend your time with people who are enthusiastic, energetic, and generate a positive energy.  Remove all the toxicity from your day that you have the power to, and “Act As If” the rest of it isn’t there.

Criticism, even positive criticism, can be hard to swallow, yet it’s something we all have to endure throughout our lives. Recognizing you have a tendency to cling to the negative is the first step to ending it’s potentially dangerous effects.  If your life is filled with positivity, there’s just no room for the negative.   If you’ve experienced this type of behavior more often than not, choose to do something about it.  Create a plan today for kicking negative feedback in its proverbial butt.  Clear the way for empowerment, motivation and positivity in your life.

 

PR Brady AdVentures is always ready to help you get there. Message me today to begin exploring your full potential with a Personal Power session or Custom Retreat. Feel free to share with others who may find value and interest in exploring limitless possibilities with PR Brady AdVentures.

 

Field Crawl

One good thing about being a female bowhunter, I guess, is “women’s intuition”. I frequently pick hunting spots intuitively, out of the blue, that immediately bring me onto deer. Trouble is, I don’t always listen to the blaringly obvious signs. I often doubt myself about it all, especially when just starting to learn a new piece of land.   Last night I decided to go about 100 yards beyond where I had been sitting for the last couple evenings. Stood on a giant fallen tree in a clump of scrub brush and small trees along the edge of a corn field, just south of the main tree line. It was a beautiful couple hours, “It just felt good there”. Lots of tweety birds, and a dead still evening. But then came that doubt, about 20 minutes before sunset…

I’ve not seen anything here for 3 nights. Maybe I’m too close to the edge of the field. Maybe I’m too close to the creek. Maybe…maybe….there are no deer here.”

I’d been eyeing a spot another 50 or so yards southeast of my natural treestand for two hours. I finally decided to sneak over there, just to see if it would be better for the morning.

As I was sneaking along the edge of the field, suddenly a silhouette popped up over the tip of the weeds on the horizon of the field, north, about 80 yards out. And then another silhouette, with horns.   A forky and a nice lookin’ doe, out for an evening stroll along the tree line.   After scoping out all directions and realizing how limited my options were, I froze in place. Here came the deer, meandering toward me, and I had nowhere I could quickly disappear to. The closest area that was taller than knee high field grass was over 60 yards away.

The doe stepped forward, the buck lagged behind. She would turn and signal him, he would then trot ahead to catch up. They would graze, gaze, then survey the direction they came from, then come closer yet. Although I was standing there in the open, they had no idea I was there. But good old Murphy’s Law whispered if I tried anything, anything at all, I would be immediately busted. I finally did the only thing I dared to do—I slowly sank to the ground.

The next 30 minutes were the most fun I’ve had this season.

We played hide and seek through the tall grass for what seemed like hours as they closed the gap of distance between us. Over and over I desperately tried to situate and raise my bow for a shot as I sat there, but didn’t want to risk the movement. They continued toward me, the doe, to what would have been a 10 yard shot. That’s where they stopped. And stood. And stood.

How could they not realize I was sitting right there? Are they blind? Surely they can smell me? Hear my breathing?

Can’t they hear my heart pounding in my chest for crying out loud!?

The sun began to drop out of sight, but they still stood right there. Although my feet were totally numb from sitting on them, I was diligent in being “frozen in place”. I knew that now there was no way I could pull my bow back if I did have a shot. And we were so, so, close. I could see their nose hairs twitching, their eyelashes, the liquid film across their big black eyes. The dirt grains on their chins and bubbly saliva on their tongues from foraging on that field. I could smell their warm, earthy bodies. The buck shamelessly dropped poops as he yanked more tendrils of grass from the ground.

Clearly they had no other plans for the evening. But I did, and I was losing light, and was still unfamiliar with this new area. Knowing I’d not find my way back flawlessly in the pitch dark, I decided I had to make a move.

My body was tight and aching. My left hand had clenched my bow so tight for so long, I had to flex one finger at a time until they came somewhat back to life. I knew there was no chance of standing up—I couldn’t feel my legs. Each moment no eyes were on me, I carefully leaned backwards a little more, aiming to gracefully land on my right elbow, one inch at a time.

At best, I’d have 10 minutes before dark. They looked my direction. The doe raised and lowered her head, sniffing.

OH! Does she finally see me?FieldCrawl

She glanced away.

What??

I began my attempt to crawl away through the grass. If I’m careful, I won’t alarm them and cause a stampede. Unfortunately I’d been frozen on the ground in a human lump too long to feel my legs under me. Still, I tried to crawl away, pulling myself along on one elbow, dragging my bow, attached to my tingling numb hand.

To my surprise, not only did I not spook those deer, but somehow I had managed to intrigue them enough to follow me.

What? What were they thinking?

As I crawled along, they shuffled along behind, chewing on the field grass, keeping a solid 20 yard gap between us. As I inched away, they followed—an agonizing 20 or so yards they trailed behind me. It wasn’t until the sun completely disappeared and I reached the edge of the field grass where the ground dropped a good 4 feet that I was able to actually drop away from their view, and wind.

Finally. I ditched them! After laying on my back for a minute, watching stars slowly appear across the sky, trying to take mental count of my still slightly numb body parts, I was able to crouch over and scoot into the trees with some sort of clumsy speed. I didn’t look back to see where they were.

As delicately as possible, I proceeded to crash through the unfamiliar woods in the pitch dark, getting hung up in branches, tripping on stumps and whipped by prickly weeds and vines until I stumbled and “felt” my way to a trail that finally lead me to my vehicle.

Out of breath, out of strength, and out of energy, I sat on my tailgate, pulling twigs and leaves out of my hair, and smiled. What a great evening hunt! Needless to say, it took an act of congress to get my butt out of bed the next morning. I hurt in places I didn’t even know I had! But now I have a prime hunting spot. Perhaps this evening, I’ll once again be visited by those two deer.

This time, I’ll be ready and won’t get caught in the open field……

What are you most passionate about? What makes your soul sing? For me, it’s any time I can be immersed in nature! I love to ‘get wild, rugged, and dirty’, so to speak. You can get up close and personal to the great outdoors through many of my observations and experiences in my blog category, “Words From The Wild”.  Please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in the outdoors from this outdoorswoman’s perspective, and PR Brady AdVentures.

 

Buddy—A Series Of Adventures—Mine, All Mine

I’ve hit a milestone. Saturday I was able to say it out loud, and not cry.  I was able to hear it said, and not cry.  I was able to keep it together without a meltdown.  It’s been 43 days since you passed away, plus pheasant season opener.

But I didn’t go hunting. No, I was home, trying to get over some random horrid illness that’s kept me horizontal and miserable for seven solid days.  The girls took good care of me, though.  They took turns curling up on the futon or lazy boy with me, guarding me while I slept, escorting me to my many visits to the bathroom, and alerting me to their morning and evening mealtime needs.  Thank goodness for that dog door!

What they didn’t do, however, was remind me it was time to turn the furnace on. After several days of being cold and wondering just how bad of a flu this was since I was shaking all the time, it finally occurred to me we need heat and I turned the thermostat to 68.

The heat didn’t come on.

I turned the dial to 75. Nothing.  Oh no, I’ll have to call the gas company.  I groped my sick self into the kitchen and it all came back to me.  Remember the last time the gas company was here, boy?  I’m sure the service guy will never forget it!

It was our first year together, that first winter, around the end of January. It was cold, and I was cooking in the oven frequently to keep the kitchen extra cozy warm.  Your sisters stayed in the kitchen and your kennel was at the bottom of the stairs.  One morning, the stove stopped working, and I couldn’t get it to start. Same with the oven. I tried to light the pilot lite with no success.  Detecting the smell of gas, and not wanting to test my fixit skills further, I called the gas company to send a tech out.  “He’ll be there before the end of the day.”  Great, that gives me time to pick up a few things, get the dogs situated, and shovel off the steps.  To my surprise, he was knocking on the door within an hour.  I was completely unprepared.

“I was in the neighborhood, and the last call wrapped up pretty fast….”

OH BOY, were you excited! You were spinning circles, getting your sisters all excited, everybody was barking and jumping and wanting to be the first one to greet the gas company service man. I thought I had you all contained in the kitchen while I let him in—but somehow you’d gotten out, and burst through the main floor to the front door like a tornado, your sisters right behind you.  The service man was a tad overwhelmed with the three of you jumping and barking.  Me too.

“Are you ok with dogs? Here, I’ll round them up, Angel!  Sunny!  Buddy, whoa!”  We were just starting obedience school.  I hadn’t really been awarded “pack leader” rights yet, so no one was listening to me.

“Oh, don’t worry, I love dogs!” the man smiled, while you had your keen nose glued to his thigh, sniffing him up and down. As he tried to navigate through the house with your sisters underfoot and you trying to suck his leg up your nostril, he began noting the various animal mounts on the walls, and commented that my husband must be a big hunter.

At that instant you stopped in your tracks and darted to my side, allowing the man to enter the kitchen. I grabbed you by the collar, apologizing.  I didn’t reply to his comment, but noticed he was kind of cute. The girls were still dancing around his feet barking.

“So, where all has he hunted?” The service guy asked as he began opening his tool box.

“Excuse me?”

“Your husband?”

“Um…I……” suddenly you pulled away from me and about tackled the service guy. I felt terrible!  You stood on your hind legs, pushed him back several feet, burying your nose into his armpit and chest.  He was laughing and trying to pet you while you were on your intense investigative sniff and search.  You were not fooling around.  You were in his face.  The girls were barking like mad and I was beyond the limits of embarrassed at my total lack of control.

“Oh, gawd, I’m sorry! Um, it’s just us, it’s still all new.  I am so sorry!” I responded while nervously trying to scoop up dogs out of his way.

“Not a problem! He’s a beautiful dog!  I bet he’s great in the field!” He says as he looks straight into my eyes.

Oh my, is he flirting with me?

Nervously smiling, I couldn’t respond, it’s not even reasonable to think about if he may be hitting on me here. I just wanted to stop the chaos and give the guy some room to work.  Managing to capture the girls and send them to the living room — two down, and just you to go. You would not leave that man alone and come to my side, despite my stern commands.

“Oh, really, don’t worry about him, he’s fine. I seriously don’t mind!” the service guy assures me as he removes the stove top. Way to a girls heart is through the dogs? But he doesn’t know the situation.  We don’t see many men around here.  Only Don The Duck Man comes around to visit once in a great while.  You are the man of the house.  I don’t think you should be hanging all over on the guy while he’s trying to work.  I just don’t trust you.  But he insists it’s okay.

Well okay then. Against my better judgment, I will leave the kitchen to check on the girls.  As the guy gets down on his knees to look inside the oven I can’t help but look.  Well….how refreshing……no butt-crack!  He’s a keeper!

You know how sometimes, a person just gives up, even though they know things are going to go a certain way, because they just can’t convince someone of it? Well, this was fast becoming one of those times.  I barely sat down in the living room with the girls before it happened.

“ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” from the kitchen.

I jumped up and ran toward the shrieks.

There was the service man, standing up with his arms straight out, back arched and legs spread.

“ARGHHHHHHHH! He PEED on me!  He PEED on me!!”

You most certainly did. Drenched the entire back of his shirt, and onto his pants.  Yup, that’s the other thing I didn’t have time to do before the service guy came to the house—I hadn’t had a chance to let you guys out to pee, so it had been hours. MineAllMine2

He was wet. Very wet.  The floor was wet.  There were no words for how embarrassed I was, yet I was also quite distracted.  Wow, I’m thinking, it seems that with that wet shirt, he sure did have a nice body—Oh! OMG that’s horrible!    My face turns beet red.  Flustered and mortified, I was babbling apologies, offering to launder his clothes as he stood there, bewildered, asking for a towel and a mop.

You came bounding over to me, turned and looked at him and let out one big low bark, as if to say;

“There. I think we’re clear now.  She’s mine, all mine!”

Yeah, that pretty much destroyed any chance of me getting a date out of that deal. Well played, Buddy, well played.

Buddy Boy McBrady
Gone Forever Bird Hunting as of Monday, Sept 1st 2014 at 3:30
“Find us some good fields up there, boy, and I will see you again soon.”

 

You can read all about my boy… there are lots of stories under “Buddy – A Series of Adventures” in my blog category, “Words From The Wild”. Please feel free to share with others who may find meaning and value in our journey together, and PR Brady AdVentures.

 

Sloppy Deer

This is a perfect make-ahead meal (or meals) when you want to come home to something good after being out in the field, and don’t have the time or energy to cook.SloppyDeer

1 lb ground venison
1 large onion, chopped
2 T mustard
1 16oz can tomato sauce
1 T garlic powder
2 t dried parsley
2 t oregano
2 t basil
1 t salt
½ t pepper
1 package whole wheat or onion buns (usually 8 count)

Brown venison with the onion. Mix in the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 30 minutes or in the crock pot on low for the afternoon. Serve on buns, or cool and freeze in a container, or serving portion baggies for later use.  Works great to thaw and quickly heat when ready for dinner, or place frozen in a crockpot on low for the day while you are away.

Serve with pickles and chips

Makes 8 generous sandwiches

Sound yummy? If you try it out let me know what you think!  Check out more great recipes under my Killer Cookin’ blog category, and please feel free to share with others who may find interest and value in PR Brady AdVentures!