And A Gun Dog

/ Amber / 3 Comments

Fiskeørn got onto the water well before we left for Africa. A much newer development was Nyrkki. I picked him up from the trainer on Monday the 14th. He’s pretty much all done. I got some harrowing texts while in Africa about the grueling 6 weeks he spent on force fetch. My poor trainer- Nyrkki is apparently a highly stubborn guy, who also cannot be allowed to get away with anything. The very evening I picked him up, Trainer had me doing pile work and basic refreshers with him, and he was refusing to do it. He even bit me twice when having pressure applied from his collar. However, pile work in the back yard went just fine. I’ll be meeting with Trainer when I can here before duck season starts. I have an open invitation in his boat on the Mississippi or Wisconsin rivers, since Matt’s gone for the best part of the season. And Trainer is also a guide.

Midway through training in July at a boat launch on the WI River.

Midway through training in July at a boat launch on the WI River.

Backyard pile work, and he got to do it with a dead bird.

Backyard pile work, and he got to do it with a dead bird.

I am considering studding him out, and Trainer thinks this is a great idea, with his pedigree. He recommends I find a more biddable, docile dog to breed him to, however. But now grouse, pheasant, and duck hunting should be much easier.

The Ditchboat Gets a Name and Onto The Water.

/ Amber / 1 Comment

The internet is a glorious thing. Besides cat videos, one thing you can locate there are various boat naming ceremonies. Well, we took one, and we named her. Meet Fiskeørn, the Osprey.

champagne naming

 

 

We’ve had her on the two biggest lakes in Madison, with great success, and the weekend before the wedding, Matt took her on Lake Michigan for a trial salmon fishing run, and a trip to the canal bars in Milwaukee. As the video says, with just the two of us in the boat, we clock about 37mph according to the GPS. When Matt took out my dad, brother-in-law, and one of his Marine buddies, they only hit about 32. She floats and she runs. We have a salmon boat.

Improvements for next year include a new carburetor (we can’t go quite slow enough to really troll- the carburetor’s jets are worn, and it won’t idle that low),  better planer boards, and a stenciled nameplate. Also, a kit so that we can reverse with the big engine, a small kicker motor, and a new interrupter switch. Possibly a new alternator.

Elephants, Sharks, and Assorted Antelope

/ Amber / 5 Comments

Last Saturday (the 12th) was our wedding. Getting past that and into this week (and finally being able to actually do homework for my classes like I’d hoped) was like coming up for air. The last 11-12 weeks have been a whirlwind, to say nothing of the month or so before that.  So I thought I’d spend my morning writing some catch-up material.

So we spent 10 days in South Africa. After a grueling 18 hour flight, plus 6 hours in layovers each way.  We were shuttled around by our PH, Sirk. He drove us all over the place and generally was a babysitter/guide, and he was awesome. He put us onto pretty much all of the animals in our package, and big ones, at that. He set up a day of shark fishing for us with a friend of his, and got us a day of video safari at a beautiful reserve. The only animal out of our original package that we failed to get was a warthog. From what I was told, the weather thwarted us there- it was cool (ranging from low 50s F for a high to a few days in the 60s, almost 70s), and often rainy. Warthogs apparently aren’t out and about in that weather, so I swapped for a different animal, a duiker.

The people were all wonderful, the scenery was stunning, and it was quite an experience to be in a country on a continent I never thought I’d visit. So let there be pictures.

Our last sunset
GE
GE
The second lodge was much more modern
Impala on the game drive
Wildebeest
Nyala bull on the game drive
At the ver fancy restaurant at the end of the game drive. The food was excellent, and there were monkeys.
The surf at Port Alfred
Setting up for shark fishing
GE

As mentioned, we got all of our animals, and with time to spare.

My blesbok, shot at 235 yds

My blesbok, shot at 235 yds

Duiker, shot at about 150

Duiker, shot at about 150

Matt's impala was quite close, inside 100yds

Matt’s impala was quite close, inside 100yds

The kudu was impressive, ad shot at 450.

The kudu was impressive, and shot at 450.

These rhinos were on the farm where we shot the kudu. We were inside the fence.

These rhinos were on the farm where we shot the kudu. We were inside the fence.

Springbok, shot just under 100yds

Springbok, shot just under 100yds

Me following Sirk after some blesbok. He made a good place to hide behind. He was basically a mountain.

Me following Sirk after some blesbok. He made a good place to hide behind. He was basically a mountain.

Matt's big Blue Wildebeest.

Matt’s big Blue Wildebeest.

Unfortunately, I’m still searching for the external hard drive we loaded all of our pictures onto. Once it turns up, I’ll get some more pictures of the scenery and other things we saw up.

If I could catch time in a bottle…

/ Amber / Leave a comment

I’d slow things down and get more sleep. Fear not, though. Life is just bananas right now. This Summer, I decided to knock out the last gen ed credits that didn’t transfer to UW with me. I’m doing them at the local tech college, which is just a few blocks behind my house, and cheaper to boot. Plus, I took on extra responsibilities at work. And back in May, thinking that I was thinking ahead like a smart person, I took on a second job, planning on my hours to be cut in late June and through July like they were the last two years. Said cut in hours is also why I thought I could manage two Summer courses. So, this is what my weeks have looked like lately:

Mon- work, 8 am -2pm, Go out to the dog trainer’s after work. Maybe hit the grocery store. Clean up the house after that and cook a late dinner. Do algebra homework until about 11pm. Sleep.

Tues- Get up at 6:30. Class from 8:30am-10:30 or so. Do algebra homework on my laptop the whole time because it’s basic astronomy, and I watched Cosmos when it was on last summer, also the professor doesn’t give a shit. Get out of class, and, depending on the length of my algebra homework, stay home, clean a little, and do homework, or go to the gym. 40 or fewer problems: gym. 40-80 problems, homework. After either, clean up, makeup, head to work at 2pm. Work until everyone leaves, anywhere from 10pm-1am. Sleep.

Wed- repeat.

Thurs- repeat.

Friday- Actually sleep in until 8:30 or so, because by this time, I’m wiped from getting about 6 hours every other night. Do a little homework, go to the gym. Clean up the house, clean up myself. Head to work. Sometimes at 2pm, sometimes at noon. Work until 10pm at the earliest. Usually closer to 11. Sleep.

Saturday- sleep in again. Then prepare to head to job #2- mobile catered bartending. Drive to where ever it is. Tend bar until about midnight. Fall into bed.

Sunday- sleep in again, but only until about 9. Get up. Clean, have breakfast. Do algebra homework for the next week. Get maybe 2 of the assignments done. Spend 8+ hours doing it anyway.

So that’s a snapshot of why I haven’t posted. The most I’ve done in the last 6 weeks is futz with the Ditch Boat (which we named and will be a separate post), and pick blackberries (wine again).  I clocked out last night with 46.89 hours. I’ve been logging over time (time and a half of $5.50 is how much?) every pay period since mid-June. I have two more weeks of this.

The big news is that our honeymoon is coming up. Talk about burying the lede. Matt and I are going to South Africa in just over 2 weeks. We plan to take lots of video, and lots of pictures. We’re hunting in the East Cape, and then shark fishing.  Posting should return to something resembling normal after that. At any rate, I’ll have weeks’ worth of photo and video dumps to set up.