Another Freeseman Wedding

I have the privilege of being married to a Freeseman, so with that, if there is yet another wedding, I get to attend with the Mrs. This was Colin and Katelyn wedding in Pella, Iowa. It was very interesting to see a lot of familiar faces from high school right from the get go. The church was beautiful and the ceremony was as it should be, absolutely wonderful.

I got to catch up with a few familiar faces, including Drew Pederson and his fiance Jenny Willms. It was great to catch up and hear about their upcoming nuptials as well.

What made this event great for me was my beloved wife. It was great having her next to me throughout the whole thing. Even when, AFTER we got all the way up into the ballroom for the reception she asked me to go back to the car and grab her comfy shoes. It was great to see her with her family.

I have gone out of my way in the past to avoid the whole dance part of weddings, but this wedding I was going to dance with Rachel whenever she wanted. I made a complete fool of myself, but she didn't care and that is what matters most to me.
Now I have no excuses for future weddings.

This women is my world.



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Spring: Finally

Even though I was able to get out and turkey hunt with Michael, it finally feels like spring is in full swing. Trees are full, flowers are blooming and work is insane. I have been able to get out and fish with Nick the few times he is home for any amount of time.

A couple of weeks ago I got out myself as Rachel was on call and I needed out. I brought the pup with and managed a few carp but nothing much.

After the fishing was nothing special, I decided to give a real run at morel mushroom hunting. I have found a grand total of 5 before this season and I knew with the right location I could find plenty.

Last year Nick found an excessive amount and with him gone, I just gave him a call and asked for coordinates. When I found 'the tree' it was double what I had found; ever.
I just kept adding to the bag.

I even managed to find a few in locations Nick didn't know about.

Ended up being exactly 3 pounds in the end. When I sautéed these little magnificent fungi with some onions and garlic, it was nirvana. 

 

Ok, so over a grilled pork chop may or may not have made it that much better.

This last weekend, I got to fish again with Nick, and Lisa came along. 

After fishing, Nick and I took one last shot at mushrooms. Again, a full bag and a couple huge ones.

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Guided by the Protégé

It has now come full circle. The padawan has learned well. The third weekend in April I was able to get back to the woods. Michael had spent all of Friday trying to find birds for me. I had a second season tag and he had a full season bow tag. Friday evening he was even able to put a few birds on the roost for morning at one of the larger tracts of public land in the area. We planned an EARLY morning start as it was the first weekend available in the state for a gun season and we expected company on this expansive public. Michael insisted we be to the spot by the latest of 3:30am....

I should have smothered the kid....

We got to our spot and there was not a vehicle in site! We never actually saw another person out there. It was rather pleasant.

We waited for enough time to pass before we headed for the roost site. We got close and came to a slow crawl. We inched our way into what we thought was a gobbler bedroom before we carefully and quietly set our decoys and got into our positions.


Nothing.

Not.
A.
Peep. 

Michael was beside himself. I have taught him everything I know and he was trying to guide me onto a bird. He was hoping for a better start to the morning. I suggested we move and he knew that birds roost on a prominent cottonwood point on the river.
We walked another 300 yards, keeping ourselves within shooting range of the river's edge, and then set up again. 
Michael and I sat there and soaked in the morning. A few distance gobbles. A couple of other successful hunters momentarily silencing the woods with their gun blasts. The cardinals. The geese. The smells. This was the kind of morning I had been day-dreaming about since November.

Gobble. And exactly where Michael said it would be.

About 100 yards out in the cottonwood finger we heard this magnificent beast sing his spring-time song.
He gobbled a few times more over the course an hour being taunted by a few clucks and purrs from my slate call and each time sounding a little closer.
On his last gobble I readied the gun and told Michael this guy was making his way towards us, intentional or not.
Twenty minutes later I hear Michael, "There's a turkey right in front of us."
 "What!?" is all I could blurt out.
"it's right in front of us... 3 o' clock... It's a longbeard!"
A great big gobbler was making his way straight at us. He was taking his sweet time as any public land gobbler does to survive. He would take a step and pause to look. Step, pause, look. Repeat.
 At 40 yards he stretched his neck and caught sight of our decoys. He went into full strut and then gobbled. This entire time Michael and I are bantering back and forth. We were trying to figure out whom should shoot. We wanted to see him get into the decoys and give us a show, but he was a wary bird that had seen a few set-ups already. He came to a spot that was partially open in the downed branch that was shielding us from his direct view. I merely clicked off the safety on my gun and he caught it. Full alert. For a full two minutes he stood at high alert. Michael was shaking so bad his arrow was bouncing on the end of his bow. I was shaking so bad the end of my barrel was bouncing around as well. I finally craned his neck back and came out of alert. His full head and neck gave me an opening.

BOOM!

Before I could even think I was on top of him. Michael hadn't even gotten upright before I was able to get to him. He didn't even flop. Thank you Hevi-Shot.

 Michael had successfully guided me onto a big beautiful gobbler. We doubled on jakes last year, but we were both looking for a mature bird this year. We had hunted Big Marsh for turkeys for many years and this was the first time we were able to put one on the ground. It turned out to be a spectacularly colored Eastern turkey.

Again, Michael has learned well, and I came out with the greatest turkey photo to date.

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Rustick Wood Shop Show

At the tale end March I took the plunge and made an active approach at promoting my business. It was at  little cost and at this point I had nothing to lose but gas money. I took a spot as a vendor at the Iowa Taxidermy Association Show in Marshalltown, Iowa. A taxidermy neighbor of Nick's suggested I give it a shot and I went for it. I took everything I had and them some. I made a lot of contacts, and got to know a ton of people. I was even able to make some sales. I was informed by my taxidermy friend that many people were talking about my booth.

 Talk is always good!
I sold a few slabs, a few custom orders, and at the last minute of the weekend, I sold one of the end tables. I was asked to attend again next year, and being a complete greenhorn, I plan on upping my game. I went into this without any knowledge of my potential customer base. I was catering my product to a more public crowd. I figured out in short time that most of the customers were taxidermist. I did my best and have splendid ideas for next year.

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Visit to the East Coast

Through the generosity of Mike Rossi (frequent flier points), Rachel and I were able to make use of her last spring break by flying out to Ellicott City. We did the layover thing at Midway in Chicago and arrived in Baltimore a hair before 1am.

Day 1 already being started, we woke up late morning and enjoyed some coffee and Lisa's homemade bread. Because of this we now have a bread maker waiting for us at Rachel's parents. The weather was a tad dreary but Mike had a few landscape/yard concerns he wished for me to address while on our visit. There was still a fair amount of snow but with the rain and increasing temps, it was nothing to slow progress.

The issue at hand was the run-off from the back yard was running all the way into the doorway leading into their garage. The grade was in the wrong direction and needed altering, and this was something I indeed have some experience in. The other issue was the drainage needed modifying to get it away or around the garage foundation. I merely fixed what the previous homeowners had done. They just had a filter strip that silted shut.

 I regraded the area in front of the doorway to alleviate the water-in-the-garage issue. I then dug out the trench where the original filter strip was and created a rock burrito with weed barrier. With only a few calls to Dad, I had the thing doing exactly what it needed to be doing.

After working on this for a couple of hours, Lisa took Rachel and I out to a spectacular cafe. We had unworldly cheese and some of the most exquisite wine we have consumed. It was like The Cafe in Ames, but on crack and east coast-y. Lisa had an afternoon appointment so I continued to work on the patio for awhile in the afternoon.

Once the boys got home from day care, I was done working! This was the first time Rachel and I met Jacob. I must say, I do like babies. It was fun to hang out with them while Lisa does what we do and that is be high strung and excessively stressed. I can honestly say I understand it. We tried watching the boys while she finished up at few work things. Gabe insisted that I "let him talk with mom". A lot of attitude with this little one. Dinner of a roasted chicken which was awesome!

The second day I continued my quest to move the water, while Rachel and Lisa went shopping. It was peaceful having the whole back yard to myself. I was able to get most of the project finished and was even able to salvage some lilies for future use that were in a planter on the patio.

Almost finished with my yard projects, I was asked to pop the lasagna in the oven if the ladies were not home by 5:00. Well,  being 5 minutes to, I went inside to reprieve the Mrs'. Upon entering the house I heard a noise...The damn alarm. I had 30 seconds to disarm.

I did not make it.

I called Lisa and informed her that the alarm was going off and that the police will likely be showing up shortly.

About that.

As I talked to Lisa, I was informed that her security company was sending over an officer anyway even though she told them everything was fine. . . . .

I waited near the front door and waited for the po-po to show up. It then dawned on me that when I open the front door the alarm was going to go off and we were going to have to do this all over again. I called Lisa back, and at this point she was wrecked and told me she was coming back. I requested that continue their shopping adventure and that I would deal.

When Officer Reed showed up, the alarm did indeed go off again. I already pulled out my ID knowing he would ask for it. He then asked for me to call Lisa so he could speak with her and verify that I was whom I said I was, and that I was allowed to be there. At this point, all that was going through my head was, "This is the moment Uncle Rick would have Literally exploded".

Once all of the details were ironed out, He left and I waited for someone to come home, because at this point if I opened a door for the third time, we would really push this whole scenario over the edge. 

When someone did show up it was Mike. He opened the door, looked at me and laughed. In reality it was funny and it just figures that this would happen while I was there alone.

When the ladies came back, my beloved Rachel consoled my nerves with East Coast cupcakes. Big. Fat. Frosting-covered. Cupcakes. She felt this would be a welcome treat to cap off a productive, and noteworthy day.

This was the evening that I let my nephew, Gabe, have free reign with my camera. After some extensive thinning due to the vast majority of the pictures being Mike, Rachel, or the garbage can, These are some of his best:

On our final day, Lisa had a little bit more work to accomplished, and we thought about all of the fun things we could do with our time. It was decided that hanging out with the nephews is what we wanted most. When Lisa finally called it and decided she was done-done, we picked up the boys from day care early, and had lunch at the kid friendly Red Robin. It was beyond enjoyable! Lisa just let me do my thing with Gabe. I got to be "The Uncle". My goal in life has honestly been to be the uncle to my nieces and nephews that my uncles were to me. They have defined who I am and what I want to be. I love being an uncle more that most people, besides my wife, can understand.

 The next one should be captioned: "I think one more taste is necessary to assess quality".

After a wonderful outing with the boys, a nap was in order. Rachel and the boys slept off either the food coma, or jet-lag.

The afternoon was spent playing with the boys, and when the time was right, Gabe and I went out and planted the lilies I salvaged. We designated a 'shovel' (trowel) for Gabe, and I had him dig a hole, lay in the plugs, and tamp down the soil. We then marked each spot on the side hill that he hand picked. We collected odd shaped sticks in the yard and stuck them next to our newly planted lilies. After planting we played around in the yard for a awhile. I, doing what I always seem to do, managed to rip the rock climbing wall part off of the play set. I can fix almost anything but seriously...

When our time was up we headed back into the house so Rachel could put dinner together so Lisa and Mike didn't have to. It was a wonderful thing being able to spend a day just hanging out with Rachel and the boys.

Our flight left early the next morning and Mike was gracious enough to give us a ride to the airport. We waited in Baltimore for a little over an hour and we were off. A quick stop at Midway again, where we grabbed a bite, and back onto a packed flight to Des Moines. T'was a brutal flight this one. Rachel and I were 2 of the last 5 people to board. It wasn't a big deal that we couldn't sit together, but the plane was smaller, the turbulence was poor, and the landing was awful. We could easily say this was because we just wanted to be done traveling. Tired and more tired, we picked up our pup from one of Rachel's vet-school friends, and headed home.


This is not the kind of opportunity that comes easily or without glitch or expense and I cannot even say how much we appreciated Mike and Lisa's hospitality, and Gabe's attitude. ;) It was wonderful to be able to spend time with my wife that didn't involve splitting minutes with vet school. The adult conversation alone made it a wonderful trip. We don't get to see them often so we tried to make the best of every minute.

I can't wait to see them this summer.



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Shed Walking: just a little more

Been able to get out just a few more times this year to look for some bone. Went home for a weekend of walking only to find our juice spot under water. I was bummed. Michael and I went for it anyway Friday evening of the 14th. There was still a lot of snow on the ground but we walked where we could. Just when we were about ready to run out of area to walk we hit pay dirt.

One of Michael's best antlers of the year and we knew there was something familiar about this antler. We had pics of this buck, a deer I named 'Hangnail'.

We knew he was around and it was great to see he survived a rather difficult winter. Looking around the property we knew there was no where else to go and we would have to come back when the water abated.

The next day, Saturday, we walked a lot and came up with one.

Nothing huge but bone nonetheless.

Fast forward to Saturday the 29th.

Got back from Marshalltown (post to come) and a friend told me about a deadhead he stumbled across this last winter on a public property and I figured the Mrs. and I would take the pup out and collect it.

Nothing huge but something I can turn into a show piece. This one was on public property and died in velvet early in the year. It was really bleached out and I cannot believe it sat where and for how long without someone picking it up.



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