Christmas Here We Come

If you're anything like me, you're sitting there wondering how in the WORLD it got to be December already? This year has flown by like a duck with his tailfeathers on fire, leaving me coughing in the smoke and wondering where my time has gone, and why haven't I gotten all these planned projects even started? Ah well, such is life I suppose. Like it or not, while it seems like last week I was canning beans, in a few short weeks it will be Christmas. I've been trying to get myself in the mood. On the way home from Thanksgiving in Missouri to Thanksgiving in Arkansas, I dusted off and popped in my trusty John Denver/Muppet Christmas CD (causing a rather large eye-roll from hubby). Usually that's all it takes to get me in the spirit, but alas, this time it just didn't feel right. Perhaps we will get our tree up in the next few days, and that'll do the trick. Some snow wouldn't hurt, but that's probably asking for too much.

We had very nice Thanksgivings in all our family locations, and I hope everyone else did too. It was pretty awesome to get to see so much family all in one place. It was also pretty awesome to eat so much pie. I hope my butt doesn't revolt and expand to new widths.

And, with the close of the Thanksgiving holidays also came the close of another holiday, modern gun deer season. Hubby and I tried our luck once more before the season closed, but with no results to show. While sitting on a stump, however, I was rewarded with a run-by by two does and a nice pretty buck, but I just watched them pass. Perhaps we will meet again next season, but in the meantime the scene gave me a good idea for a painting.

I aplogize for this boring post...it's been a pretty relatively mundane but relaxing few days. I don't even have any pics to post from Fiddle Day - I am STILL hacking away at the hard-as-a-rock cherry wood I'm using for the back of my fiddle. Once I get the back carved, I have a feeling the sassafras front will be like carving warm butter, assuming my knife survives that long. As far as fiddle playing, I've completed "Down Yonder" and have moved on to the tune of "Red Wing", which is relatively easy to play but very catchy.

I'm still not ready to post a video, though.

Happy Thanksgiving

There are many, many things to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for so many things that it's impossible to list them, but I'll try to list a few: God, hubby, family (both my born-with and married-into ones), home, pets, living in a free country (at least for the moment), and just being blessed with what we need. In a time where it seems everyone is grumbling about the economy, it's a good time to remember that things aren't THAT bad. We can still buy food and clothing. I see people every day still buying luxury items. Jobs are still being advertised in the paper. While the news media is doing it's best to look at the negatives and make us believe that we're really suffering, this is an excellent time to reflect on how lucky we really are, and to think about times in our country's past when things really WERE that bad. There may be rougher times to come, but for now I still go into Walmart and see shopping carts full of Hot Pockets, steaks, frozen pizzas, pastries, specialty coffees, and ice cream. I see the clothing stores full of shoppers still buying expensive clothes and shoes. People are still cramming into movie theaters and buying large cokes and mega popcorns. But like any time in any economy, now is a good time to think of others who maybe ARE in dire straits and need a helping hand - these are not the people buying Pop Tarts and Fruit Roll-Ups and yet still grumbling about how "bad things are", but those who may have lost a job and could really use a donation to the local food pantry. Just a few extra items could really help a family genuinely in need.

I am also very thankful for folks who have a sense of humor, and who post pointless videos like this for us all to enjoy. Smile, and have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Skill or Luck? I Say Both.

My buck is now at the processor, and hubby has been proud as punch, showing off the pictures to envious co-workers non-stop. I'm starting to feel a little guilty that so many people have commented on their admiration of my "skill." I know the truth - it was nothing more than a case of knowing where the deer *might* be, stumbling blindly into that area, and getting very very very lucky. I assume hunting is like fishing - it took me quite a few years to feel I had a good handle on skill, and wasn't just catching only the idiot fish by sheer luck.

Still, it's been a big boost to my confidence. I've been hunting a few more times since Sunday, but with no results. I've seen deer every time I've been out, but now I don't feel quite so desperate to get meat in the freezer and am a little more patient. Still, we'd like to get at least one more to have a good meat supply.

Aside from harvesting big deer (and substitute teaching, which after this week has me wondering if I REALLY want kids), I've been working on my fiddle. I had a GREAT fiddle-day this week, making lots of progress and having loads of fun in the process.

Last week I cut and glued in the double lines, and left them clamped. This week, the glue is dry, and looks amazingly like all came out exactly right. Here is my fiddle so far, with a Violet stuck in the middle.

Next, I had to whittle down the double lines, leaving the outside edges to give me something to glue the front and back on, when the time eventually comes. But, I have to MAKE the front and back first, starting with the back.

I used the band saw to cut out my cherry wood back, and here it is. Now, all I have to do is to whittle it to look like a fiddle back...a task much harder than it sounds, I found out. The front and back both start out as a 3/4" slab, eventually whittled down to a uniformly curved 1/4". This is ESPECIALLY difficult when you've chosen the hardest cherry wood in the state to make it from. After watching me chip away at it like trying to carve concrete, Violet suggested her tried-and-true solution for dealing with hard wood. At first I thought she was joking.

She wasn't, and I reluctantly handed over my carefully sawed-out fiddle back. After a few expert whacks with the EXTREMELY sharp hatchet, she had significantly whittled down the back curves of the fiddle. Then she handed it over to me and instructed me to start whacking. After a few non-expert whacks from me, I was soon working on glueing and clamping a big chunk back onto the fiddle back. *SIGH* I got a bit overzealous with my whacking, and the wood is pretty brittle. I was assured that it was no biggie...seems you can make all kinds of little mistakes that are fixable. And I seem to be determined to make them ALL. I am, however, learning a lot from these mistakes.

As Violet says, "as long as you're learnin', that's all that matters. You're going to be a dandy fiddlin' fiddle-maker yet."

Maybe - like deer hunting - with a little skill, and a whole lotta luck.

Ten Points of Happiness

***WARNING***

If you're in any way offended by a deceased deer (no matter how impressive), you might want to skip this post.

As most of you probably know, modern gun season in Arkansas opened a couple weeks ago. To bring any newer readers up to speed, I'm still a pretty new deer hunter. I introduced hubby to fly fishing (and created a monster), and he in turn introduced me to hunting (in the process creating his own monster). I've never really had a problem with hunting, but just never participated. While always a lover of the outdoors, I always considered fishing the more "sophisticated" sport, using highly honed skill and the powers of keen observation to entice a wily and obviously intelligent fish into biting an artifical bait, while I admittedly saw hunting as something necessary for conservation, but an activity any old schmuck could do (mostly big guys with bigger egos and even bigger trucks) by donning camo, grabbing a gun, and sitting in a tree waiting for some poor critter to happen by. I ardently believed in hunter's rights, but didn't have much respect for the sport.

My opinons have drastically changed. Not only was I a hypocrite for my views on hunting while being an egotistical fisherman, but I had it all wrong. After trying hunting for myself, I found that hunting can be HARD. It does take a large amount of skill, know-how, and a huge dose of patience. But once you have tasted success, it leaves you feeling incredibly self-sufficient and confident, with a healthier respect and intense love for nature (which many self-proclaimed hard-core environmentalists will never have or understand). Not to mention the DELICIOUS results. Putting my own food on the table gives me a feeling of confidence that's hard to describe...like I can accomplish anything, and I can survive anything.

Well, despite the fact that I had beginner's luck on my first day of my first deer season with the 8-point buck two years ago, it's been rough going since. I was totally skunked last year, and this year things were looking to go the same direction. I had started to get concerned, since we've been out of deer meat for weeks, and frankly - I'm getting a little tired of pork. It seemed the harder I hunted, with or without hubby, the worse my luck was getting.

Until early Sunday morning...



Yes, that is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, TEN points on that 'thar buck. Hubby stayed in bed for a much-needed rest, so I went out to the farthest tree stand from the house. One of my first solo trips out hunting on my own. I was actually looking to fill my doe tag, but after spending two solid hours with the only results being a very entertaining titmouse that was determined he wanted to perch on my stand (but he did not want me there), I gave up and climbed down. I decided to walk the perimeter of our property on the way back to the house, when I encountered this bruiser. In my short career as a deer hunter, this is the biggest buck I've seen, and when I was all of a sudden face-to-face with this guy I nearly had a coronary. I was informed that what I experienced was indeed a case of intense "Buck Fever." Long story short, I was luckily able to pull my wits together enough to focus on the task. Looking through heavy brush I had to take a neck shot, and the buck dropped instantly like a sack of bricks.

While deer hunting for me will still be much more about getting meat in the freezer than getting a trophy, it does feel pretty awesome to have an actual Big Buck under my belt. Even though my buck wasn't a "Buckzilla", it's big enough that I can now swagger around with the biggest ego-toting-big-truck-driving rednecks in the area. Yay me!

Lately I've been substitute teaching at a nearby school for some extra Christmas dough, and to get off The Homestead for a bit. So far I've found the experience challenging yet kind of fun, and also a bit surreal. Yesterday I was walking back to class after lunch, and the bell rang - my first reaction was "Oh crap! I'm tardy!" Funny how even after fifteen years, a sound can cut through common sense and reason and evoke such a strong, yet irrational, reaction.

I did quickly remember that I am in my 30's and was in no danger of tardiness.

In an abrupt change of subject, has anyone else found themselves barraged by Christmas music way before they're ready? I was in Goody's the other day browsing through pants, and I was highly distracted from my task by loud strains of "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas." I swear, every year it's worse. Come on, people...at LEAST wait until after Thanksgiving!

Busy Weekend

I apologize for my lack of blogs lately, but things have been pretty busy around the Homestead. I know, that's my excuse every time, but it's the truth! The final rounds of the PBR finals AND the opening of modern gun deer season coincided on the same weekend. We also decided to spend the weekend at hubby's folk's, since they have a lot more land and a bigger deer population. In between hunting, visiting, and watching PBR...it was a whirlwind weekend.

Results of the weekend - one bagged doe to fill one of our doe tags, and Brazilian rider Guilhermie Marchi is the 2008 PBR Champ.

Then, as soon as we got back, it was Fiddle Day! I finally feel I'm making good progress on my fiddle. I now have the sides glued together, and my last task was to add the "double lines", which add not only more support, but add more surface area for glueing on the front and back. On my next Fiddle Day I'll be cutting out the front and back and starting to whittle them to shape. The pic is from the first stages of my fiddle. I started with the side strips - three different length strips for each side, all sanded down to the same thickness and width, then soaked in hot water to make them pliable. (The water is cloudy because of all the red color that seeped out of the cherry wood strips). Once the strips were bendy enough, and the irons hot, the irons (using numerous potholders) are clamped into a vise, and each strip bent on the appropriate hot iron and clamped into a wooden fiddle-shaped pattern.


I feel very confident I'm not only going to finish this fiddle, but finish it in good time. In talking to Violet, I've found out there are a lot more of her fiddle-making students who have given up halfway through than have actually finished making a fiddle, for reasons such as lack of time, lack of interest, or lack of skill. I'm determined to make the time, I know I have the interest, and as far as skill - I'm just being extremely careful, and trying to not get in a hurry. On top of that, I'm pretty confident around a saw and a carving knife. So, my hopes are high, and so are Violet's. She's already given me wood to make a second fiddle with, and best of all, my OWN set of side-bending irons made by a blacksmith at Silver Dollar City. They were actually made for a woman in California who had high aspirations to make a fiddle, but gave up before she started and sent them back to Violet.

As far as fiddle playing, I'm progressing there, too, though not quite as fast. Of course the harder the songs get, the longer it takes to learn them.

I've now added:

Lost Indian

Arkansas Traveler (needs more practice)

Black-eyed Susie

Rose Nell

Down Yonder (in progress)


If I get confident enough, I *might* post a video. But don't hold your breath.

That's No Bull

It's been a few days now since the election, and I've been ignoring politics altogether. I don't even want to see the news, and I'm not even sure it has anything to do with the outcome. I'm sick of politics. I'm sick of politicians. I'm sick of ads. I'm sick of the news. And what's the best antidote for politics? I say - professional bull riding. Nothing will make you forget the pompous posturing of politicians like a cowboy getting slung forty feet by an angry bull. Or better yet, staying latched on. It's cut and dry - either you stay on or you don't.

The PBR finals could not have come at a better time. I've been a fan forever, but this is the first year I've ever been able to regularly watch events and the PBR finals. Ask the hubby - I've been glued to every second that's been televised, and last night was the best night yet. Watch this ride by J.B. Mauney - holy moly...does he have velcro on his britches, or what? I guess I'll have to start rooting for him, even if he does wear a helmet.

We Did It.

We have now elected a president with no experience, who spent more on a campaign than any other president with untracable funds, with radical friends, endorsed by enemies of the U.S., and who has questionable ethics on top of Marxist views. Becuase this is still a free country, I can express these views. But for how long?

To keep our freedom, we have to fight. Loss of personal freedoms can sneak up nearly un-noticed, all in the name of "our best interests." I, for one, do not need a Nanny State to take care of me. Our country was founded on the principles of self-reliance, personal freedom, and making our own choices. I'm afraid we have traded these in for a Nanny. I greet this day with much worry and a heavy heart.

Parenting

This looks like a good idea to me...probably good that I'm not a parent.