A few pictures

Range report

20 gauge DGS slugs, Cheddite hulls and primers. 23.5 grains Hodgdon Longshot. Roll crimp. 20 yards, open sights. The flier is exactly 2" high. The black dot is 19mm in diameter (the size of a penny). Nice round holes means that the slugs were well stabilized!

What the sights look like. I pulled the choke tube and dry-fired the shotgun three times. Then fired three-for-effect.

The first shot was high. Then next two clipped the dot. Not spectacular accuracy but plenty good enough for 40 yards and minute-of-felon work.

No velocities were recorded. At 40 yards it really doesn't matter if the slug was launched at 1100fps or 1400fps. It will blow through a deer side-to-side regardless. And out to 40 yards, the trajectories will not be all that different.

Scouting out fishing spots

Seventy years old, maybe? Riveted conduit.

Looking downstream, a pool. Just the place to fish for suckers when they are running.

Looking up-stream.

Due to non-existent shoulders on the road, I will have to dump my fishing gear and then park a half-mile away. Then ride a bike back to where I will be fishing. At the end of the day, I will do it in reverse, hopefully with the addition of fish to bring back home.

New door-knob and deadbolt

The property owner of The Property authorized the expenditure for a new door-knob and deadbolt. The owner had handed out keys over the prior decades and who knows how many copies were made.

Somebody can always back their truck through the sliding door to gain entry, but at least we will know somebody was there.

One of my brothers suggested that I take video footage of the contents of the pole-barn at least once a year. Just slowly pan low, pan medium, pan high, each wall. He had his garage broken into and didn't realize that the bikes had been stolen until mid-May when he and his girls wanted to go for a ride and the bikes were not in the garage. Being able to compare the video to the actual contents would have A.) Told them to claim the loss and B.) Been evidence that they were not padding the claim.

Rodent bait

A big advantage of putting the bait in a clear container is that I can see if they have been hitting the bait.

Not yet!

Miscellaneous chores

Several more Black Walnut trees cut and the freshly cut stumps sprayed with herbicide. These walnuts were NOT encroaching on the orchard...yet.

Two large Black Walnuts girdled and the exposed wood and inner-bark sprayed with herbicide. These walnuts were encroaching on the Upper Orchard.

One very large and exceptionally ugly Black Walnut tree bore-cut from two sides and the cuts filled with herbicide solution. This very large walnut was also encroaching on the Upper Orchard.

One Wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) cut and the stump was sprayed with herbicide.

We keep agonizing over invasive aliens from Europe and Asia taking over our landscape but some North American species are doing very well in Europe. Apparently, Prunus serotina and Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) are considered aggressive, invasive alien species in the lower Danube river basin and around the Black Sea.

Fertilizer

I threw some 12-12-12 fertilizer where I intend to plant pears and chestnuts next spring. The numbers represent the percents of Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potash.

The Potash is a chloride which can burn tender, growing roots so the smart money spread the fertilizer in the fall so the autumn rains and spring snow-melt can wash the chloride away or spread it through the soil so it is not as concentrated.

Pruning

I got three more apple trees in the Upper Orchard pruned before I had an equipment malfunction. That is another 10% (now at 40% total).

When I say that I pruned the trees, I meant that I removed the branches from the trees but still have to remove the wood from the orchard floor.

Truck Tires

Handsome Hombre got a pretty good deal on tires from Walmart. They can deliver them to your door...or in HH's case, to the neighbor across the street.

Hey, it is all good. We got a phone call and we are good-to-go.