Nope, in case you are wondering, I didn't put this together!
Love, Harley
Monday, May 23, 2011
Walking back
Dad and I walking back to our car after the March of Dimes. Wow - I think the weather is different up here!
March of Dimes
On Saturday we went to the March of Dimes walk in Lewiston. Thanks to all you guys that donated to our team! We walked 5 miles and had a great time!
Eating Lunch at March of Dimes
After the March of Dimes walk we got to eat bananas and hot dogs in the park! Yummy!
I'm a big girl!
This is a big step for me - eating out of a bowl without dumping it over. And, no playing at the table - see, I'm serious about eating!
In the Park
The weather has been so nice that we went to Orofino to play in the park. I decided to pick up all the bark shavings - who would leave such a mess. This lady was nice enough to hold them for me while I cleaned up......Everything was going well until I looked back and realized this wasn't Mom!
In the Newspaper!
Dad sent our picture to the Clearwater Tribune newspaper and they published it! We're famous now!
Dad Watching Me
Dad!!! You are supposed to be playing with me! Okay, I look like I'm asleep too......zzzzzzz.......
Aunt Alanna
Aunt Alanna and Melissa came to visit us. I was still feeling a little under the weather, but we had fun anyhow! Aunt Alanna said I should come visit Disney Land - I don't know what that is, but I want to go!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Planting the Garden
Mom and Dad planted the garden this weekend. Dad is giving the garden a one in five chance of surviving. Jeez, Dad, stop being the glass is completely empty, smashed, been swept up, and taken to the landfill kind of guy!
I'm not sure if we are planting this one or pulling it out. I think I'll taste it before we decide.......
Baby Birds
A mommy robin made a next above our camp trailer. She has three babies. Jetta hasn't bothered them yet, but Dad is worried what will happen when they come out of the nest! Don't worry, Dad, Jetta likes birds..........
I'm Better!
I got sick last Wednesday, but now I'm better. I even gave my cold to Jetta! Sorry Jetta!
Now that my tummy is feeling better I have two more teeth coming in! So much for sleeping Mom and Dad!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Rick's Taxidermy Shop
Mom and Dad went to Rick's (our neighbor) house after I went to bed. Rick helped them mount the tail feathers from Mom's gobbler. Rick was pretty excited about Mom's turkey. He measured the beard (10") and tail span (30"). "Yep, bigger than yours or mine," he told Dad. Way to show up the boys, Mom!
Mom's Turkey
After I called for turkeys for awhile and ate my entire ration of snacks for the afternoon, Dad and I decided to go for a walk. We left Mom back in the blind (where I had done all my calling).
Dad and I found a great blue heron skull. He told me we had to leave it in the woods - fish farmers get in trouble for things like that!
We sat down next to a large tree and realized that it was a heron rookery - Dad's turkey calls didn't make them happy and he was quickly drowned out by the raspy wails.
"Ka-boom!" What was that? Dad loaded me back up in the backpack while the herons flew every direction. We walked back to see Mom.
"I missed", Mom said. She didn't look very happy. Dad tried to cheer her up, but it wasn't working. I decided I could help, so we crawled back in the blind. After about 20 minutes, Mom told us to leave. Dad took me home and gave me a bath. Just as we were getting ready for a bedtime story, the phone rang - it was Mom!
Just after we left, Mom had a hen turkey walk right up to the decoys. Then, from behind the blind, a gobbler flew off the hill and landed right in front her. Mom, was nervous (she'd already missed one turkey), but she held it together and shot the big tom at 10 yards right next to the decoys. After the shot, the turkey rolled down the hill and Mom had to shoot one more time so he didn't get away.
Congratulations Mom! Good thing I called them in for you!
Calling Turkeys
Mom, Dad, and I went turkey hunting on Saturday afternoon after Dad got back from work. Dad showed me how to call turkeys. After he gave me the call, I wouldn't give it back - I already know how to do it, Dad!
My Favorite Blanket
Mom was just reading about favorite blankets in her baby book. She said, "good thing you don't have a favorite blanket, Harley." Guess what, Mom, you're wrong! When Dad gave me a different blanket, I cried all morning (Friday) until he gave me my favorite white one back. I hope Mom learns how to sew soon, I'm planning on keeping this one forever!
Dad Looking for Turkeys
We went for a "walk" on Thursday night with Jetta. When Mom wasn't paying attention, Dad tried to get a turkey to gobble. Hey Dad, this is a hunting trip!
Uncle Will's Turkey
Uncle Will got a turkey in New York. Dad told Mom and I all about it. He's really excited - looks like we'll be going turkey hunting again! Here's Uncle Will's story:
I got my first NY turkey yesterday. I was getting a little worried that I may have left my turkey luck in Idaho as it took me longer than usual. Here's how it happened:Spring turkey season in New York opens with a bang. It seems like every up-stater and even some from down-state head to the woods with calls and decoys in hand on the first of May.
In April, I spent considerable time driving the back-roads near my my house "windshield scouting" and stopping in at dairy farms to ask for trespass rights. Unfortunately, the back-roads didn't prove very fruitful, and the two farms I was granted permission to hunt were along highways with fields in plain site of traffic all day long. The operators of both these farms were not up for granting exclusive hunting rights, instead the response to my plea for access was "go ahead and hunt my land, everyone else does". In the final two weeks of April I had seen exactly one gobbler on each of "my" farms.
The night before opening day I made my final scouting drive, and to my dismay I saw more binocular-toting hunters than turkeys. I talked to one local who was glassing what I thought was the better of the two farms and he informed me that he had not seen a tom on the farm all spring. He said he'd leave the farm to me, but that I should expect company.
On opening day I headed out extra early and claimed my spot along the giant hay field where I had last seen a tom. I kept a keen eye for flashlight beams around the field but never saw sign of other hunters. I had hoped to hear some roost gobbling, but that never happened. Finally, at about 6:00am, I spotted a bird soaring out over the field. It continued past the field and across the road. Could that have been my Tom? A few minutes later a line of birds appeared above the field, soaring after the first. I yelped frantically and was surprised to see the lead bird bank and come my way. She dropped into the field at 100 yards along with 4 other hens. They were mingling in the field, casually eying my decoys when I spotted two more birds walking purposefully toward the flock. Could one of these be my tom?
I answered my question with my binoculars, both short-beards. They joined the hens, one strutting and playing the dominant role over the flock. They started to drift away so I made a few clucks, then a couple yelps, then some hard cutts (oh yes my infamous "bark-lika-dog" cutting). The lead jake couldn't resist and led the flock my way. As they entered my decoy spread I thought I heard a gobble in the distance, from the whence the jakes had come. Was that my tom? I was straining my ears, hoping to hear a clear gobble, when the report of a twelve gauge answered my question. It wasn't "my" tom anymore.
The rest of the morning was uneventful, I never heard a gobble but counted three more gunshots. On day two, I had to work the morning shift at UPS. I was expecting to be the only one in the morning-shift turkey pool without a set of spurs to measure. To my surprise, none of the 4 other self proclaimed New York turkey hunting experts' had killed a bird. Still with every package I picked up, all I could think was "wish I was hunting". Finally, at 9:00am I got out of work and made a run for the woods. This time, I headed to my "back-up" farm and set up in a pasture. When the noon bell rang (season closes at noon each day) I had not seen or heard a single turkey but had counted 4 different hunters who stopped to glass my decoys. I was beginning to think there weren't any toms in New York, just a bunch of Tom, Dick n' Larrys who spend all spring "hunting".
My luck changed on the drive home when I spotted a fanned-tail poking out of a swale in one of "my" hay fields. I double checked with the binoculars, yes indeed, it was a real tom! I didnt plan to hunt day three, despite having finally spotted a tom the day before. After my UPS shift I headed home and convinced myself that I should go to my second job, rather than hunt. But when the drizzle turned to rain at 10:00 am, I couldn't resist. Cool rainy days are my favorite for chasing birds in the spring. I practically ran up the edge of the field where I had seen the tom the day before, and was set up by 10:30am, just as the rain stopped. "Perfect", I thought, "the birds should be out to dry their feathers any minute". Unfortunately I had run out of the house so quickly, I had forgotten my coffee, and mid morning drowsiness kicked in. Only 30 minutes after getting set up, I was slouched and head bobbing, so I let myself drift off. When I woke, I picked up my head and was looking straight at a hen, 50 yards away, staring me down. She was nervous (it could have been my snoring) and eventually ran off the far side of the field. I called at her, hoping to keep a live decoy on the field, but to no avail.
I checked my watch, 11:25am, time to get aggressive. I started with my standard series of yelps, then went to the barklikadogs, and finished with a combination of cutting with a diaphragm and calling back with a box call. By 11:30, I was panting and out of breath, when a gobbler sounded off in the woods on the far side of the field. I was elated! My first gobble of the year! I waited about 5 minutes without hearing another gobble, and started into my crescendoing series of calls. This time the tom answered back during a pause in my barking. Then, two red heads appeared on the far side of the field. They hesitated, and one turned back toward the woods, before I made a final, irresistible, set of three sharp clucks and 5 yelps. The two toms gobbled their way across 150 yards of alfalfa and into my decoys before the strutter fell to load of sixes, at 11:47.
I'm currently leading the UPS turkey pool, with a couple of solid 1" spurs. I caught a lot of guff from all the "experts" when I told them I called incessantly until the birds answered and then came in. Wise New York gobblers, they say, dont respond to over calling. My only response, an un-wise tom tastes a heck-of-a-lot better than tag soup. One more tag to go, hopefully another story to come........Will
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Not yet
I can stand and walk with help, but I'd rather crawl! Mom and Dad keep trying to help me walk, be careful what you wish for!
Turkey Hunting with Dad
I went turkey hunting with Dad today. He was disappointed this morning that he didn't get one. He roosted a gobbler on Saturday night and had his blind set-up before daylight this morning. However, the gobbler ignored Dad's calling and even the stuffed jake and hen decoys. The turkey flew out of his tree and sashayed over the hill before Dad could get a shot with his bow. Better luck next time, Dad!
Mom, Dad, and I went hunting again this afternoon. We saw a gobbler while we were walking to the spot for Mom's blind. We left Mom there, but she didn't see anything. Dad and I went walking around and jumped three hens, but didn't hear any gobblers. I even helped Dad try to call them in! Dad was really happy when I was quiet for several minutes, until he found out what I was eating! This stuff doesn't taste good!
Packer's Flag
Dad's co-worker from Wisconsin gave him a Packer's flag to decorate the house with. Mom only wants it up on special occasions (she said something about the "never" occasion), but I helped Dad put it up anyhow. It looks nice to me, Mom!
Happy Again
Its been a long week! I've been teething again.....now I have 8 teeth showing - 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Just to make sure Mom and Dad knew how much it hurt, I started waking up during the middle of the night this week.
I also had my one-year doctor appointment recently. Mom just about got carted off to the mental hospital when they wanted to draw blood by wrapping surgical tubing around my arm! The "What to Expect When Your Expecting" book told Mom it was only a finger prick. The technicians compromised with a heel prick, but both Mom and I were in tears anyhow!
My blood results came back that I was slightly anemic (10.9 compared to 11-13 as normal). Mom had a rough week. The doctor suggested some diet changes. Some were easy (like blueberries - yummy) and some were a little tougher (prune juice jello - yuck!). We have another appointment in 6 weeks to check my iron levels again. Let's hope they improve - this jello is horrible!
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