May 24, 2007  Hummers and Flowers, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
 
The first group of hummingbirds arrived early last week. I have three feeders out for the few that have arrived. I have a maximum of five feeders that I can put out when the rest of the hummers arrive and develop their territories. They've travelled usually from Central America. Their five month stay in the Northwoods is a special treat for those of us that enjoy feeding and observing them.

 
I always read the articles by Allen Bell, who has written for the "Tomahawk Leader", a local newspaper. This gentleman has been writing about birds for decades and is enviably knowledgable in their behavior. Most of our hummers are ruby throated hummingbirds.
 
One tip from Mr. Bell that I'll have to try is to provide a water mister. It appears that they love to fly through misted water vapors.
 
These critters need to refuel every 10 to 15 minutes. The proper mixture is one cup of sugar for every 5 cups of water, although I may use 1 to 4 mixes for early arrivals and go back to that mixture in September when I know that they're fueling up for their flight south. The 1 to 5 ratio is closest to what the get from flowers. You heat it until the sugar is in complete suspension, but not so long as to cause a heavy boil which will take the oxygen and freshness out of the sugar water. If the hummers don't deplete your feeders in three to four days, drain, wash and refill the feeders with a fresh batch. I make my batches in 15 to 16 cups (that's about a gallon) and I keep the unused sugar water mixture in a sterilized plastic jug in the fridge. Heat is what causes this mixture to ferment and spoil.
 
Although the hummers arrival is an uplifting event, my planting project has become a disaster. The little teensie weensie seeds are the only ones sowing so much as a sprout, The encapsulated pansy seeds seem to be dead in the dirt. The packet claimed 7 to 12 days germination. I'm thinking that's enough time for the Walmart execs to grab your cash and head for Venezuala. I won't be shopping plants at Walmart again. I'm pretty sure that their seed is totally old or permanently dormant.
 

 
Until later.....DKHT

May 15, 2007  10-4 Good Buddy
 
Years ago my dad and I were heavily into CB radio communications and technology. We each had top quality dual sideband radios with huge Moonraker beam antennas and amplified microphones (not to mention the illegal modifications that gave us 3 times the channels, 20 times the output power before hooking into the 1000 watt linear amplifiers!). But it was neat to while away the cold winter days and nights talking to most states, Europe, South America and even a few far-off US military bases whose radio technicians enjoyed talking to folks from back home, even though they were technically forbidden to slide down to these lower frequencies.
 
Eventually the sunspot activity trashed long distance "skip" communications, and "dirty" Mexican stations ruined what little was left (many Mexican operators also used high-powered linear amplifiers, but their design was so poor that they would bleed over into several adjacent channels).
 
My vehicles were similarly equipped as my base station except for the antennas, all 108 inch to maximize reception and handle that little extra output. Driving north after a work week near Wausau, WI, I often talked to a gal driving a school bus in Alaska. Returning to the south I'd hook up with an operator in Colombia, SA. In my 4 cylinder Willys Jeep on top of Engineer Pass in Colorado, I talked to a guy in his tractor, farming his land in North Carolina.
 
I turned down the power when talking to local traffic. It was a handy tool for travel since you'd get reports about road conditions and "Smokey" locations, usually from OTR truckers. Many of us 4-wheelers learned to mainly listen on channel 19 because we respected the fact that it was the trucker's channel, just like they had their own areas set aside in many diners and truck stops, and rightfully so.
 
The old 10-4's and Good Buddy speak is no longer used. The shortwave CQ calls are pretty dead as well. Most of that old CB-speak sounded more like hillbilly talk than anything else. Thankfully, on our alternative frequencies we were able to talk like intelligent people.
 
For years all the CB equipment has been packed away in boxes down in the basement. But my last few trips to Texas and Florida had me wishing for the ability to tap into road information. I usually look for weather conditions on the internet prior to a long drive. I also have a database of state DOT info centers that I check out for construction and other delays. But I still miss that immediate information available from CB communications.
 
Geo-Truk is so full of GPS, routing equipment and cell phone stuff that I've used up all the convenient and reasonable mounting places for extra equipment.
 
I wanted to get back to CB capabilities, and after a little research I found the Cobra 75WXST combo 40 channel CB radio and weather radio. And, it's all contained in the microphone handset! I'm not concerned with the output power I used to have since I mainly listen. The weather channel scanning is a super feature. The advanced "Sountracker System" promises to reduce noise from far-off transmissions and other interference.
 

 
So now all I need is a radar system and in-motion internet satellite system! How cool will that be?
 
Until later.....DKHT

May 14, 2007  Spring Thunderstorms
 
The day began with me driving a friend and a fellow Northwoods hermit into the Clinic for a colonoscopy. We hermits rely on each other in times extreme of need, and the clinic required a sponsor driver. I'd been through this stuff a few years back and was used to the drill.
 
The temperature today reached 85°F, which is the same as the temp 1200 miles to the south in Wichita Falls, TX. It was a bright and sunny day in these Northwoods, until about 6:00 p.m. when the wonderful Spring thunderstorm moved in with it's promise of much-needed rain.
 

 
Until later.....DKHT

May 02, 2007  Spring Planting
 
I've always had three baskets of geraniums hanging from the cabin deck on the lower level. It's been a signature thing that passing boats admire. I've been lucky with getting planted baskets from Menards the past several years. But the cost increases while the quality is usually good, but always a risk.
 
I tried buying baskets from Walmart several years back, but they tend to ship plants too early for this climate, and they were poorly never really developed.
 
This year I'm trying something different. I have the old plastic baskets from previous years, so I've "recycled" them ....I'm using enriched potting soil mixed with vermiculite to host multi-colored Pansies and a smattering of Forget-Me-Nots. And I planted up six baskets, three for the lower level, two for under the lanai off the master BR, and one I may put out back.
 
Why these choices, you ask? The pictures on the seed packets looked neat. And the price was right at a whopping 97¢ per packet. However, being a greenhorn at this business, rather than a green thumb, I initially bought a packet of Forget-Me-Nots and a packet of Black-Eyed Susan, which is almost a native plant in this area.
 
I was surprised and shocked to discover that these seeds were smaller than fly poop! The entire packet contents could fit on a moistened thumb. The directions said to "sow" the seeds over the soil. Sow them? I can hardly see them! And they have very little mass, which means one accidental sneeze could launch seeds into cracks and crevices that conjure up terrifying images in this addled brain. So, when I went back to the store I made certain I could actually feel substantial seeds through the packet paper. The Pansy seeds, I discovered, were "pelleted", being roughly the size of mouse poop, a great improvement over fly poop! Maybe I've been working too close to the fertilizer.
 
But, I really got into the spirit of this planting business, at least until I saw the prices. I bought six Daylily plants (yellow) , 30 Gladioli bulbs (mixed colors), 30 Acidanthera (v. Murielae- white/ purple centers) corms. and one Dahlia (v. Thomas Edison - a rich full purple) tuber. Then there's another packet of Pansy seed (about 90 plants - Giant Swiss- mixed). I purchased these at a local lumber store and some at Walmart. My only criteria was that they'd grow in very sunny locations, 'cuz I have a south-facing bank to the lake that has dry soil, slightly acidic soil with tons of sun exposure.
 
The pine trees drop their needles which have a lot of acidic content. The needles don't decay like other vegetation, but ultimately turn to a layer off duff that has little nutrient value.
 
I have been fortunate to explore one of the last great stands of virgin white pine in a special Michigan UP Forest. The pines are tall and straight, and their branches block out the sun on the forest floor. It's 15 to 20° cooler in that forest, and walking through it is like walking on thick mattresses, caused by the hundreds of years of pine needles building up on the forest floor. Their density and acidity prevent any other vegetation from growing here, so walking through this forest is like walking back in time...the dark coolness of the barren forest floor is almost erie. You can only imagine what it was like for the early Native Americans to roam and hunt through these forests. I you try to maneuver through cutover forests in Michigan or Wisconsin today, you have to do battle with out-of-control undergrowth and rotting brush piles left from logging operations. They say that this is good for the soil, if you have a few hundred years to wait for the results! But I digress.
 
The hanging baskets are admittedly a simple project. The embankment plantings sound simple, but involve extra planning. I'm not of the inclination to carry buckets of water on an incline that would challenge a Swiss mountain goat. The original planting would require some soil improvement, some weed control. But this dry, dry soil will need irrigation when Nature fails to provide rain. I cobbled together a water pump system just for lake water irrigation. It's unproven. But I have to make it work if these flowers are to survive the dry embankment
 
I'm worried about the deer feeding off these flowers, and I'm not nuts about all the work and expense in order to provide the deer with a tasty salad. The moron neighbor continues to feed the deer so his kids can see them. Normally they should be foraging in the woods by now, and avoiding human areas. The deer, not the moron neighbors. I apologize to the good people I know in Illinois, but the idiots from Hellinois don't understand the difference in aiding the deer through difficult weather vs satisfying their desire to create their own personal zoo. Anyway, the deer come in daily in large numbers. They are becoming a real menace, since they've lost their fear of people and of vehicles. It does the deer no favors.
 
On other fronts, pal Paul has been on a Linux campaign for awhile. I'm interested in moving to an open source operating system for the very reasons he espouses. If you're not sure about taking the plunge, try getting a copy of Knoppix, cheap on ebay. Knoppix is a cd bootable Linux operating system...all ya gotta do is make sure your computer can default to a cd drive for primary boot. Usually, it comes with an Ultra Linux cd which provides a bunch of utilities that replace Windows-based junk. What's nifty is that you can try out Linux without having any impact on your windows system. The initial scan will identify any unique hardware problems so you may have, and you can then research availability of appropriate drivers. A great way to wiggle your toes in the Linux pool without diving in head first. Take out the bootable CD and you're back in $M windows-land.
 
Until later.....DKHT