Fun in the Forest

My friend of some 27 years or so, Laura, came to visit me for a few days. She is always off and about participating in Hunt Tests with her 6 Labrador Retrievers. Fortunately for me some of the locations are in or near my County so she always makes sure she has the extra days to come 'play' in the forest. We always have some 'kick A**' fun. We only had 2 days (actually one and a half days) but we managed to pack a lot in.  Usually anytime she comes we always work her dogs and take a quad ride of course, but this time we packed two of my .22 rifles onto the quads to do a little 'plinking'. Laura comes from the same 'background' as me, but this was her first time shooting a .22 rifle. You wouldn't have known it, that's for sure. I have a great spot that is level yet has hillsides that are behind the targets. It is a really remote area, but safety is still a must. We hung balloons from a fallen log, from trees, and placed a nice little target up.

This is where we were positioned to shoot.  You don't see the balloons? Yeah, well........once Laura started shooting, well....ummm...let's just say that she left me one, I repeat, ONE balloon. Watching her was like watching someone shooting the little ducks at a County Fair booth. Here's a closeup photo of the balloons before she went 'wild'.

Thankfully I carry a handy supply of balloons. We wiped out all of the balloons and then attacked the individual targets placed on the large target.

Then we attacked a paint can we found lying in the dirt. Attacked a blue plastic container we found lying in the dirt. Laura even attacked the pine cones hanging from a large tree. Every time we  thought we were done Laura would say "Oh, let's just re-load one more time".  When you've got a 'brick' of .22 ammo, you can stay as long as you want.

Obviously we stayed there for quite awhile. Wasn't all that warm out, in fact we were literally freezing, but we were having fun. 

When we did finally leave we went back to my house and gathered her two lab dogs 'Shooter' and 'Dakota' and took them to Lake McCumber to work them before their trials this week-end.

As you can tell from the video I should be better at throwing 'marks' for Laura and her dogs, and I have to admit I am getting better, but some of my earlier days I would throw the bumper and it would go behind me or even straight up over my head.  But I won't complain, at least this time I wasn't throwing a dead duck. No complaints. No complaints at all.

After working the dogs we came back home, ate a 7-bone roast that had been cooking all day and watched a movie. A lousy movie I might add. You know - one of those movies that you just keep saying "It should get better any time now", to which it never did. Thankfully we got to pause the movie when my son 'skyped' us. His antics kept Laura and I amused, to say the least.

I think Laura needs to come back - I'm pretty sure she forgot the basics of our old Police Academy days. You ALWAYS clean your guns. But.......yeah.....I'm gonna let her slide this time, seeing how she made some pretty 'killer' fudge while she was here.

Traditions are Awesome!

I think Christmas time is the absolutely 'best ever' time to pass down some 'traditions'.  My late husband had given me a Red Ryder BB rifle soon after we were married. Not exactly sure why he had given me one, after all he did already give me a Colt .45, a Beretta .380, a 30.6....., REAL guns, but I'm glad he did. I suppose he saw the 'eternal little kid' in me. Aha, he knew me so well.

I taught my grandson Jeffrey how to shoot that BB rifle and eventually 'passed it down' to him for his birthday. He was stoked, to say the least. I still have a Daisy rifle, as I had mentioned in my earlier Thanksgiving post. My friend Laura gave me the pink 1938 edition.

My son Sean taught his son Shadwic how to shoot this Daisy over the Thanksgiving holiday. He did exceptionally well. Today, in speaking to my son about what the grandkids might like for Christmas, a BB Gun was mentioned. Nana was stoked! YES, another tradition is to be passed down. Shadwic is really into the color green, so Nana of course thought the Camo edition would be an excellent choice. Not only would it have his favorite color green on it, but it would match Nana's Mossy Oak quad...can you get any more perfect than that? Didn't take me long to get on the Internet to search for the appropriate Camo  BB rifle. Daisy of course, have to keep this tradition on the correct course.  No lever action BB rifles available in the camouflage field. But.....a much better choice....a pneumatic action rifle. A 'Mossy Oak Break-Up' camouflage complete with a 4x15mm scope!  

It's called the 840 Grizzly.  Just a one pump stroke is all it takes to power this awesome little rifle. Better yet, it shoots either steel BBs (350 of em!) or .177 pellets (single shot).  When shooting with the BB's it's a repeater rifle. Because it also shoots pellets, this is a Daisy rifle that will grow with him. Maybe something he can pass down to his children. Shad knows I am totally obsessed with Bears, so the name 'Grizzly' in addition to the Grizzly head insignia is just an added bonus to this rifle.

Camouflaged in Mossy Oak, a repeater, a scope.....oh my.....I can hear it now ~ Nana saying "Can I shoot it Shad, can I shoot it, please can Nana have her turn now?" Plenty of  memories and  fun times ahead. I know what Shad will be asking his Daddy to pack for their next trip to go visit Nana in the Mountains. Traditions. Ya just gotta LOVE traditions. One of these days the two grandchildren, Jeffrey and Shadwic, armed with the Daisy rifles I gave to them (along with Nana and her pink Daisy, of course)  will sit in 'Fort Bear' and start 'plinking' away! Having grandkids is awesome, we always have someone to 'hang' with and have fun with! When the 'girl' grandchildren are older, and their arms are a little longer ~  my little Pink Daisy will go into action again.  This Nana won't stop with the boys - after all, it is 'tradition'.

Gosh, I really hope they pack this rifle really good prior to shipping, you know ~ all sealed up. Not sure I can be trusted with this awesome little thing sitting in front of me! Ok, OK...I'll just ADMIRE it from the box, I promise.  It's so AWESOME!

For all you dog lovers out there

I am not what you would call a 'reader' by any means. I never seem to have the time to sit down and relax enough to enjoy a good book. Don't know why, after all I am retired, just a retired person that always has a list that has to be followed and accomplished. True, I always have to have a 'project' going ~ that's me, and that's my nature. But, when I saw this book I think it called out to me and I am so glad it did. "A dog's purpose", by James Cameron. It's been a very long time since I picked up a book and then had trouble putting it down. After having recently lost two of my canine family members, Sebbee and Kelsey-Mama, this book has made me see their 'passing' in a totally different light. I have had dogs since birth and can't remember even one day in my life when I never had that wonderful 'bonding' between dog and human. They have always been there....I have always had a dog beside me. I've had 12 dog's who have come into my life and when they passed on they left something for me - each and every one of them. I currently have 4 dogs now. I will never be without a canine companion. I highly recommend that if you love dogs and have ever lost one of your best friends, you need to read this book ~ seriously! I'm not one who even recommends books. That should say something in itself. I cried, I laughed, I was comforted. It was the most totally engrossing and most heart-felt book I had ever read. But then - I am a dog lover and have been since day one. After reading this book I know that Shep, Shep II, Buckie, Breezy, Bree, Chinook, Buckie Bear, Lassen, Cedar, Kodi, Sebbee and Kelsey-Mama had a purpose - to be born - to make my life much better.
A review of the book:

A tail-wagging three hanky boo-hooer, this fiction debut by James Cameron proposes that a dog's purpose might entail being reborn several times. Told in a touching, doggy first-person, this unabashedly sentimental tale introduces Toby, (a feral mutt) who's rescued by a woman without a license for her rescue operation, so, sadly, Toby ends up euthanized. He's reborn in a puppy mill and after almost dying while left in a hot car, he's saved again by a woman, and he becomes Bailey, (a  golden retriever) who finds happiness and many adventures. His next intense incarnation is as Ellie  (a female German shepherd) who becomes a heroic search and rescue dog. But the true purpose of this dog's life doesn't become totally clear until his reincarnation as Buddy (a black Lab). A book for all age groups who admire canine courage, Cameron also successfully captures the essence of a dog's amazing capacity to love and protect. And happily, unlike Marley, this dog stays around for the long haul.

 

So there you have it - dang it - go out and 'fetch' this book, you'll be happy you did!

Thanksgiving 2010

My son Sean, daughter-in-law Tammi, and grandchildren Shadwic (Shad) and Kaihla came to visit for 4 days. It's been our tradition for years to spend Thanksgiving together. It's a nice break for them to spend time in 'Nana's Forest'.  As usual ~  we sauna, have a nice meal, and hunt for a Christmas tree. Tammi decorates the tree for me. This year was an exceptional Thanksgiving holiday because as usual Tammi wished for some snow and well.....we got it. She's more or less referred to in our family as the 'Snow Queen' because any time she hopes to wake up to snow - we do.

Since we had so much snow this year it would have required us to have chains to get to where we usually search for our tree so we kept the search a little closer to home, no problem.... we had already previously decided to try another location anyway. This year was the deepest snow we have ever encountered in our Christmas tree search.  

This was our first location, but we quickly decided it wasn't the greatest spot seeing how we were literally walking over manzanita bushes and sinking in the snow.

It got to be too difficult to go any further as you will note by the photo of Sean and Shadwic 'taking a break'

We eventually found a nice area where Shad led the way, braving his own pathway in 'untouched and untraveled' snow.

Nana wanted a Doug Fir for her Christmas tree this year, and we had to shake snow off the trees just to see what they looked like.

We all had fun, as we usually do.

We found plenty of time to build a snowman.........

..........do a little quadding in the snow.............

...........a little sledding...........

....and a little sauna-time.

I've had some pretty severe carpal tunnel symptoms in my left hand for the last week or so and Tammi and Sean cleared my driveway and walkway prior to going home. By that time it was pretty much solid ice. Can't thank them enough.

Sean taught his son Shad the first basics of 'shooting'. He's only 5, so of course we used the little pink Daisy BB gun my friend Laura gave me for Christmas (apparently I had been whining too much about not having my Red Ryder rifle anymore and she got tired of listening to me whine) Shad didn't care if it was pink or not. It was fun watching Sean teach his son how to correctly point the gun when not in use, how to sight it in.....it reminded me of many years ago when Ralph had bought Sean his first .22 handgun and taught him how to shoot. Shad shot all the balloons we set up for him and even managed to get a few shots into the little bulls-eye target I made him.

It was a great Thanksgiving and I miss the kids already!

The 'Discovery' of Fort Bear

I would say that the grandkids discovery of Fort Bear was nothing less than 'awesomeness'. Sean and Tammi took the kids for a walk around Nana's property looking for 'something new ~ a big surprise'.

After walking the entire perimeter of the property they found it.  I should probably rephrase that to say that Shadwic and Kaihla found Nana ~ up in the trees.

By the looks of the kids facial expressions they were pretty excited!

Sean took a photo of Shadwic, Kaihla, Tammi and myself in Fort Bear.

Shadwic wanted to take a photo so he took a photo of Kaihla, Mommy, Nana, and Daddy.   Not a bad photographer for a 5 year old.

By the look on my son's face I think he was just as excited as the grandkids.  

The next day we received some snow so Tammi, Shadwic and Kaihla checked out Fort Bear in the snow.........

while the three young pups played in the snow.

Yeah, I think 'Fort Bear' was a huge success!

*Sorry about the quality of the video - but you get the idea...LOL*

"Fort Bear" Completed !

Couldn't have cut this any closer to my deadline, seeing how my grandchildren are arriving for Thanksgiving ~ but the tree fort is 100% completed. My son came up with the name of "Fort Bear" because, well, simply because I am a Bear fanatic, and my grandchildren know that 'Nana' loves her bears.

This is the 'Hunter Bear' sitting in the SE corner. And of course we must have a weatherproof lantern, right?

This is the NE corner. It has a shelf attached. Underneath the shelf is a 'Sheltie' hanging. There are 4 little wood circles with the names Kelsey, Lakeha, Lassen and Sebbee surrounding the Sheltie ~ in memory of our Shelties.

This is the West corner and it also has a shelf attached.

This is the view from the top of the ladder. I placed an old exterior runner that has a rubber backing on the floor to ensure that the grandchildren don't slip on the floor when it is wet - which by the looks of my weather - should remain wet until spring -

I can't wait to see the grandkids reaction. If they are happy with this little 'Nana endeavor', then that will make all my bruises, cuts, aching back and hands, and the pitch in my hair seem like a faint memory. It was soooooo totally worth it!

The 'Penny' says it all.....