WINTER WONDERLAND

[NorthernWinos]

+50* Warmer today than yesterday morning...


Decided to go to the lake and set up camp at a nearby farm pond....We fish there in the summer and have angled there a few winters ago...


Figure it is so close by if we get stranded out there we can come home and get a tractor to pull ourselves out.


Found a spot and drilled a bunch of holes...

Ice is getting pretty thick...don't need an extension on the auger...yet.

Saw out between the holes...

Then pull out the ice chunks...

And set the house in place....


Water was very clear....

Only pan fish and Perch come through the hole...Hence the name....Perch Lake.


Tried a different decoy for a change....

Did get one small Northern Pike....


Home Sweet...Shanty...

Will go back for the early shift in the morning....

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[rgecaprock]

How long does it take to make the hole?
Has Jim ever fallen in?
Could you show us the inside of your Shanty?
How do you get it there....wheels or sleds?

Very interesting. I love your pictures.........Ramona

 

[NorthernWinos]

How long does it take to make the hole?


PROBABBLY TAKES A MINUTE OR SO TO DRILL A HOLE....DEPENDS ON THICKNESS OF THE ICE...AND...SHARPNESS OF THE BLADE...
Has Jim ever fallen in?

HEAVEN FORBID THAT EVER HAPPENS....

Could you show us the inside of your Shanty?

NOT MUCH TO SEE INSIDE...A HEATER, 2 SPEARS, A COAT HOOK AND US.....IT'S DARK IN THERE...AND A REALLY BIG HOLE IN THE FLOOR IS OVER THE HOLE IN THE ICE...

How do you get it there....wheels or sleds?
WE DRIVE OUR POOR OLD JALOPY ['87 DODGE 4X4] AND HAVE IT ON A TRAILER...TOUGH GOING SOMETIMES...

Very interesting. I love your pictures.........Ramona

 

[NorthernWinos]

WINTER WONDERLAND IS BEGINNING TO SUCK!!!!


Tonight will be the coldest night of the winter...so far...possibly -30*F...myFrontenac grapes may be doomed..at least the elder vine hanging on the wires...the young ones are safely covered with a thick blanket of insulating snow....It may get above -0*F by Thursday....
*Note to self..."Stop whining and drink more wine!!!!"


The Great Backyard Bird Count is over...my darlings waited for sunrise in -21*F temperatures.

On the bright side...The sunrises and sunsets are moving Northerly on the horizon and we have gained a couple hours of daylight.


Had the regular visitors at the bird waterer today...

And a surprise visitor...must have come over from the neighbors to check out the vittles over here...

Now I am truly sulking....I haven't worn out my new camera...BUT... noticed a strange sound inside it yesterday when the Zoom was extended to 15X...so I called Sony and it is on it's way to Connecticut for a Diagnostic Checkup...I miss my lovely baby....

I'll be fine tho...will be house bound for a day or so due to weather and can continue some paper work, rack wines and play house...Someone should play house around her once in awhile....


Till next time....Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[hannabarn]

I wish you would keep that ferocious weather up there in Northern MN. We are supposed to get -20 again tonight. I'm sick of this winter. Hoping for an early spring!!

 

[Wade E]

Phone is coming all the way to me? I never knew Sony was located in my state! Maybe that woodpecker that seems like it is inside the camera pecked at 1 of the gears.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Good Morning?????

Sorry for the blurry photo...got to getuse to the old camera.... again.Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

This winter for you is going to be a true test for the hardiness of all your vines over there. You are approaching critical temps even for the Frontenac. Did you lay your tender varieties down like usual this past autumn? Thank goodness we haven't seen any temps like those here and hope we don't.


As a side note- what brand and model weather station do you have there? Some day I hope to pick one up that will record temps, humidity, wind speed, etc. I would like to trackthe weatherbetter in the vineyard.

 

[NorthernWinos]

This was a gift...it is a AcuRite...


Check out this company...order one of their catalogs, theyare awesome.


http://www.windandweather.com/welcome.asp?cm%5Fmmc=Tagged%2D%5F%2DNA%2D%5F%2DNA%2D%5F%2DNA


This model 'Weather Girl' might make your day more interesting..

<DIV align=center>


You could probably fine less expensive models...try eBay or Google.


Yes...I did lay my tender vines down last fall....They are hardy to -30*F, I consider them tender....Frontenac I believe are also only hardy to -30*F as well, but wanted to let them grow as a hardy vine...Time will tell their true hardiness.Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

I have an AcuRite myself but it doesn't do the wind or anything like that. The prediction part is also no good on mine. It always shows lots of clouds, although glancing over at it now, it shows a few cumulous clouds. I've never seen it change before, but then again I tried resetting it yesterday. Maybe I finally got it right after 2 years!

 

[NorthernWinos]

We have been on a real Weather Roller Coaster this year....Yesterday morning was -32.9*F...Brutal to say the least....hung real close to the hearth and home.


Now we have strong south winds bringing in warmer temperatures....+7*F feels pretty good, but the wind still has a bite to it.


Went over to the spear house at the farm pond for a few hours and stared at the bottom of the lake...

Did bring home one Northern Pike...[Slough Shark] It will make a nice meal.

Only a few more days of spearing left on this season...will take the morning shift tomorrow and hang tough for a day...Then hit is again on Sunday and bring home our 'lake Home' for the year.


Life is Good!!!Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[mississippi mud]

Nice catchNW!!!Never done any ice fishing ,do you get to watch the fish come up and take the bait?

 

[NorthernWinos]

In our situation we watch for the fish, they come to our decoys, which are hookless things you put down there to attract their attention...Once they are watching the decoy......then we spear them.


I don't think many states allow spearing...It is a fun sport, some may think a little brutal...while we are allowed to do it, we will continue to spear fish.


It is called selective harvest....you can see the fish plainly and decide if it is big enough to take....


It is a real adrenalin rush when you haven't seen a fish for awhile and one comes up to the decoy.


The Northern Pike has nice flaky meat, tho they carry a lot of bones...Jim has mastered the art of removing the bones.

 

[mississippi mud]

Sounds like fun.

 

[grapeman]

Since we are all still in the middle of winter-hoping for spring in the North Country it can get very depressing looking at snow and feeling the bite of cold weather all the time. To relieve some of the mid-winter blues I went down to my brother's greenhouses today. They were getting ready for cutting arrivals in a week or so and were busy filling 10 inch hanging baskets with potting soil. He had gotten a used pot and flat filler last year and has gotten it all set up. It chops up the potting soil from the big bales and elevates it to the flat and pot filler. There it runs the soil mix up and fills the pots. Someone needs to feet the baskets in and someone takes them off the conveyor. They are then stacked onto a wagon for moving to the greenhouse being filled. I did a few of the operations taking turns. You get to feeling like Lucy on the candy assembly line........ In the couple hours I helped, we filled about a thousand 10 inch hanging baskets and moved them into one of the greenhouses. He needs about 5000 filled in the next few days to be ready for the first plantings.


It just feels good being able to do something in the soil this time of year(even if it is just potting soil). Being in the greenhouse was great. It was a sunny day and the temps in there were about 70 degrees even though it is only in the 20's outside today. Gave the spirits a good lift- which I need . We are expecting a major snowstorm the middle of this coming week!


What has everybody else been up to?

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

That would be something to see. I started a few plants in an old aquarium just to maybe get a jump on things and see some green. Ready to get the hands dirty here too!

 

[Joanie]

We have been on a real Weather Roller Coaster this year....Yesterday morning was -32.9*F...Brutal to say the least....hung real close to the hearth and home.


Now we have strong south winds bringing in warmer temperatures....+7*F feels pretty good, but the wind still has a bite to it.

That must leave you folks with a 15 minute growing season, right?

 

[jobe05]

We have the same problem here Joan...................

In the 60's one day and down to the 50's the next..................

Horrible..............

Tree's are starting to get bud swell here, so spring and constant temps is right around the corner........

 

[mississippi mud]

Thats just mean jobe. 65 here one day 75 the next

We won't be laughing when its 101 this summer .

 

[Joanie]

We have the same problem here Joan...................

In the 60's one day and down to the 50's the next..................

Horrible..............

Tree's are starting to get bud swell here, so spring and constant temps is right around the corner........

Just shut UP!