Finding a home for my Wood Elf...

I found a good home for her! The owners at Culver's have agreed to take her and show her off at their store! They have quite a few carvings inside and when I offered this one, I thought that something like this would be pushing it. You see...most of their carvings are of tropical birds or fish. But after seeing it, She said that they might be able to find a place for it outside in their courtyard. Now all that remains is for them to come and get it with their truck. So if you are in Grand Haven, Michigan in the near future and wonder who carved that Wood elf in the corner...well, now you know!

Moose Antlers for Sale! Check them out!

I know what you are thinking, 'Why would anyone want to sell these things?' Well now is your once in a life time opportunity to purchase a matching set of moose antlers measuring 64 inches across at the widest part. 48 inch shovels, 39 inches straight measurement from bottom of the brow tine to the tip of the top. They weight 41 lbs! How would you like to have those things attached to your head? Now they might not be a record, but they are trophy sized even by Alaska standards! How did I come by these things you ask? Well here is the story, I might have mentioned it once before in a previous post but I love telling it because in this case, fact is stranger than fiction. I was assigned special duty in the Army at Bolio Lake, Alaska, just down the road from Ft Greely. The day before we arrived, two bull moose had a sparing match inside the fenced area! During the fight, they damaged one of the shuttle vans, a section of chain link fence, and broke off several brow tines. After we arrived, we could sometimes see the victor standing close to a couple of cows. I snapped a picture of him one Friday before we were sent back to Fairbanks for the weekend. ( you just didn't see many moose of that size very often) Upon our return on Monday, the bull had dropped one of his antlers! I was excited at this and after work, i put on my skis ( the snow was about 4 ft deep there, you really need skis to walk around in that stuff or else you get bogged down fast!) I skied up to the moose and found his trail and started backtracking him, but after a few hundred yards, it became too thick for skis to travel ( too much brush) My next thought was maybe I could get the moose to drop the one antler left on his head! I skied up to him as close as I dared. You see...Moose are VERY big and are not afraid to charge people. He stood up and towered over me! I thought, "if this guy charges, I'm done for! The snow is deep and I can't run fast enough in these skis." So I looked at the moose and told him flat out, "give me that antler and I'll leave you alone!" He looked at me, shook his head, and with a bone chilling snap, it popped off! I could not believe it! Now I'm sure he did not understand me or anything. It looked like it was difficult for him to keep that think on his head so I just thought I would ask. After he trotted off a bit, I picked up the antler and dragged it back to the barracks. The major told me I had to find the other half so that night I went out with snowshoes and looked for it. I found it, not far from where I turned back with my skis. So..without killing any animal, I was able to acquire a matching set of antlers. Now this is the true story....The story I tell my nephew and niece is a little more dramatic with me wrestling the moose to the ground and yanking the antlers off his head! That one is only slightly less believable, but much more dramatic ( and still lots of fun to tell!) You can find these antlers on Ebay for Auction.

Anyone Interrested in some carvings?

Quite a bit happened over this weekend but I doubt I will be able to fit it all in this one post. But here it goes.... After another sale on Saturday, I met with a fellow wood worker who processes his own wood. I mentioned a really nice Cherry tree in the back where I have been getting my little carving stash from and he was interested. Well, he came yesterday with two friends, a chainsaw, and a large log mover. He managed to get 5 nice 8ft logs out of the remaining trunk. It's cool to find someone as devoted to wood as that. ( and me! I used to comb the neighborhood for small bits of trees) While taking down one of the trunks, we disrupted a small family of grey squirrels and these really HUGE beetle larvae. I put the larvae out for the pilliated woodpecker. I thought that he would probably be the only one that would appreciate the snack! So at the sale, I got lots of compliments but no takers on the log/tree carvings I have had in the front yard for the past 8 months ( or longer!) So if anyone is interested in a couple of tree carvings that you can toss in the back of a pickup, leave a comment. We live in Grand Haven, Michigan.

One lonely bat came back....

A few weeks ago. the neighbors bat house ( which the bats all LOVED!) fell apart. Maybe it was the weather or the design. but it cracked right in two. So I moved an unoccupied bat House over to that same tree. I'm thinking it was the tree the bats loved with its central location rather than the house itself. Well it took a few weeks for them to warm up to the new house, but last night was the first time I've seen anything in it. One lonely bat was nestled up in there. I'm hoping that he will bring some friends. he looked a little different from the usual lot, so I looked him up and there is a chance he could be a Hoary Bat instead of a little brown bat or a large Brown bat ( the usual residence) It's just a hunch and it is rather difficult to tell them apart. But at least we still have a bug eater in the area!

Sleepwalk!..... by the Ventures

This is how I feel since I have not been carving for a while. My days seem to run all together and I never seem to have any energy. There is a perfectly rational explanation for this...but tht will have to be revealed in later posts on this blog. Stay tuned! Until then. Enjoy the summer sleepwalk along a beach...

The Mourning Cloak Assembly!

For those of you who are not lepodopterists, ( butterfly crazies) The Mourning Cloak is a butterfly that is very good at hiding it's beauty. It has rather drab wings with a yellowish or grey outer edge. However! Look closer and you will see DAZZLING iridescent blue spots all along the edge, just inside of the yellowish trim. NOTE how the light hits the butter will depend on what color you see!)They are usually the first butterfly we see around here because they overwinter as adults. But this year Cheryl and I have seen none. But don't right that off as a sad end to the story! I have counted 11 YES! Eleven! Larvae along the edge of the house! I was very excited to see the first one, and then they started popping up all around. Well, after several days, none of them have pupated into the chrysalis. In fact, some look rather sickly. I'm not sure what is wrong or how many will make it to adulthood, but my fingers are crossed to get at least several. As of now they still look like larvae dangling from the siding. I have heard of insects that feed on the larvae, not to mention the spiders that are around here. But if the Caterpillar is not close to any webs, I'm not sure the spider would do anything to them. We'll see. As of now, I'm keeping a close eye on them and helping out any that fall off onto the ground. ( Just a note. These pictures were borrowed off the net. My pics turned out bad and I don't have any pics of the adult at this time. But what the heck at least you know what I'm talking about)

Romantic summer anyone?

Here ya go. A couple favorite oldies. Hope you can get to some form of beach this summer...

Out on a limb!

I know how this chipmunk feels! Have you ever backed yourself into a corner and wondered how you were going to get out? I'm sure everyone has at some point in their life. Well this little critter did just that with Red hot after him. Actually it was not such a bad move. You see the branch was too weak for the cat to go out on it. Red did everything he could to get him off that tip, but in the end, the chipper stood fast. Pretty brave if you ask me. Well, I could not leave this stalemate go on all night. The cat would not come down and the chipper would not leave his 'safe place". So I nudged him a bit in one direction to get him to move towards the tree. Red ( who is NOT a killer of small animals by the way....I never would have messed with the chipmunk if Hiro was there waiting for him) was there waiting, but in the end, the Chipmunk FLEW down to a lower branch and was saved. ( flew as in flying squirrel flew...it was quite impressive.) So Red felt pretty good and no animals were harmed in the filming of this event.

Iowa, Where Opportunity grows!

For the last couple of day I have not been blogging because Cheryl and I took a trip to Iowa. How fun! You see...we live in Michigan....should I go on? ( High unemployment, taxes, big government, etc.) Let's just say we are looking for opportunities to leave this state ( where I was born and have lived the majority of my life might I add) for greener pastures ( pun intended) So we set out on a two day expedition to see what Iowa has to offer. To be honest...Much more than here! We asked about several leads to employment and received encouraging results. The cities we visited looked pretty good from where we were looking. We even visited the 500 year flood plain of Cedar Rapids to look for housing opportunities. The houses looked rather old, and the flood damage was extensive. From the looks of it, most of the people have left the area for better housing. many of the houses we looked at had demolition signs placed on them. However, a few people have decided to stay and rebuild. ( or move into an old house and fix it up.) I don't know what the future holds for us at this point, but I'm hoping that Iowa has a place for us to stay on a permanent level.

What can you tell me about Iowa?

It's simple really, I just want to know stuff about it. The weather, the climate, the landscape. I know Larry is out there reading this and will hopefully chime in. You see...It's time for a change and I don't want to go any farther than that...for superstitious reasons. My wife's Grandfather ( very cool guy by the way, for the short amount of time I was able to spend with him.) lived in Iowa for years, but she was only able to visit him during certain times of the year. So her view is somewhat limited. I also hear that Aquaculture is on the rise there. Bluegills anyone?