A Buckless Deer Season

My 2012 deer season ended with out a filled tag. :( I logged 34 miles on foot, down train tracks, along old logging roads, and up and down hillsides. I'm still kicking myself in the butt for not taking a shot at the one and only shooter I came across all season, I guess ya win some ya loose some right? On the final night of deer season I decided it was time to take little miss out hunting with me, I picked her up from the bus stop and as she got in the truck threw her camo clothing in the back seat next to her. She had a less than thrilled look on her face at first because it was cold and raining be she sucked it up and got dressed as I headed for the hills. Once we got out there though and on top of a unit her attitude changed completely, she was beating me out of the truck to glass it all over. Didn't take long before we spotted some movement but it ended up being a doe, she didn't care though, she was totally excited to see the doe, we hit a few more units before sun down and saw 3 more doe that night. I was really hoping we would find a buck but no such luck. I will say that, that final night out there in the woods was by far my favorite, it was mother daughter bonding at it's finest! I loved watching her get excited when we would spot something and listening to her talk about how she can't wait until next year when she can hunt for deer with me! It's the little things in life that mean the most!

Till next time

Opening Weekend Deer Season 2012

Well this past weekend was the opener of my deer season this year! I have been looking forward to this since I took my buck opening morning last year but seriously counting down the days 3 months prior to the start of the season.  I was hoping the closer opening day got the colder the weather would get, but that didn't happen. It has been unseasonably warm around here. Usually by now we have gotten some rain and the temps are about 10 degrees cooler then they have been. Someone mentioned today were on day 80 something of no rain. Come on this is the Pacific NW we are known for our rain! With the way the weather conditions were I knew that the hunt was going to be challenging but that wasn't stopping me! I did as I do every year, rolled out of bed at 3 a.m. and got ready to go!!! I picked up one of my girl friends who despite not having a tag wanted to tag along any ways and we headed for the hills! I might also throw out there that because of the way the weather has been it has closed down a TON of the land around here to hunt on. The only thing open for hunting at this point is US Forest land and BLM land. When we arrived to the area I wanted to hunt it was about 4:45 in the morning and we still had 2 hours till sun up, around here if you aren't staking out your spot hours before the sun comes up someone else will beat you to it. The land I really wanted to hunt was already staked out (by a friend of mine none the less) so I headed for my 2nd choice. When the sun started to make an apperance I started my trek in and thats when the coyotes started howling. We covered 8 miles on foot and never even saw signs of deer. I found elk droppings, tracks and even a carcass from bow season a few weeks ago, and tracks and droppings from the coyotes I'd heard at sun up but not one single sign of a deer having been any where in the area. Despite not finding a deer it was still a great morning, I was in one of my favorite places, the middle of no where, listening to the crickets, birds, frogs and coyotes and even stumbled across some old barns!!! 

I really hope that the weather changes soon but looking at the next 10 days in the forecast I see zero sign of rain :( If the rain keeps holding off guess I will just have to wait for the rut when they start acting like retards and my chances get better!!!! Luckily I have until November 2nd to fill my tag and I will be hiking miles in and out of units, up and down the steep terrain every weekend between now and then! 

Happy hunting!!! 

Maybe It's The Weather

I love fall and all it has to offer! The weather (most of the time), Halloween (my favorite holiday), Salmon season on the river, Deer and Elk Season, and my favorite part of my wardrobe, boots, hoodies, and jeans!!!

The last few days I've kind of been in a rut, and not the kind of rut where bucks let down their guard and act like an idiot and run wild in the day time so they can try and score a piece of tail! I'm talking in a gloomy, moody, I need some drastic change in my life rut. Id much rather be in the other kind of rut though LOL.

Usually when I get like this as I do every fall for some reason, which has got to be due to the dreary weather that I beg for all of September so I can have a better chance at harvesting a deer I make physical changes. Well Ive already chopped about 4" off of my hair and dyed it dark a week ago so can't really change that. I mean I could I could go pixie short and bright pink but that is definitely not happening. I'm in the mood for tattoos and piercings. Ive got 6 tattoos already and 1 piercing other than my ears and I feel like more. I think piercings are a smarter prospect as they can easily be taken out but I LOVE tattoos and I am ready to start a 1/4 sleeve. I want it to be girly yet reveal who I am. How do I incorporate hunting, fishing, horses, lace, and pink into a girly tattoo??? If any of you who read this happen to be a good artist throw me some ideas! There is only 1 problem to this whole wanting a tattoo though, my artist lives in freaking Texas. That's a long ass ways away. Gives me a good excuse for a trip to my favorite place in the world! But it also makes the ink that much more expensive. Maybe it's time to find an artist closer to home. Hmmmm.

In the mean time though I just arraigned an appointment to add some more holes to my ears. I'm hoping this helps me get out of my funk and stop wanting to change things. Because quiet honestly I am itching to move back towards the city. That is not the best idea. A. I know I will hate it once I do it, B. No way my guy would ever live there, C. If I want to go hunting, fishing, or 4x4ing  Ive got quiet a ways to drive for anything decent.

Oooooh maybe some online retail therapy will perk me up. This girl needs some new binos!

Dreaming of some leupold gold ring,

Spooktacular Weekend

I LOVE Halloween! It's the 1 weekend a year you get to dress up and act like a jackass and no one cares! Friday night the beau and I went out to a Halloween party at a friends house and it was a damn good time. I knew it would be a good time just because of the people that were going but when the hostess posted a picture on FB the day before of the 330 jello shots she'd made it only reaffirmed by belief!! So the beau and I dressed up and let me tell you what I think out of ALL the Halloweens I have ever dressed up this year was my favorite!!! We were the trailer parks finest!!!

Now tell me this isn't bad ass?!?! My hunting pants, a John Deere wife beater, a fake prego tummy, and Keystone Light rollers!!! Oh I also had a Keystone Light bracelet on that you cant see in the pic.

The trailer parks finest!

Never leave home with out your beer koozie! LOL!

Next to our costumes these guys were my favorite. B and P gave Daisy Duke a run for her $$$$!

Classy!

I think we crawled back home somewhere around 3am Saturday morning and slept most of the day away. I don't even know how many beers, jello shots and drinks I consumed but it was a damn good time and not much in the way of a hangover!!!

Decided to stay in Saturday night so that Sunday I wouldn't be so unproductive like I was all of Saturday. Took my daughter to a Halloween carnival at her school and had a good time there and as an added bonus since her school is 35 miles away from home on the way back we took a detour up through the hills for a good ol mountain run! Added an extra hour to the drive home but it was totally worth it!

Yesterday was Hippie themed at the salon. Not my cup of tea I was gunning for a 50's (pinup) or 80's (top gun) theme but I lost :(

I realized yesterday that I'm the tallest one their. Never realized it til this picture.

Once mini me got home it was time to get her all done up and go get some candy!

She's not a diva or anything.

I absolutley LOVE this picture

Again with the poses

My mini me and my guys nephews!! Love those little boys!

I am already planning next years costume and let me tell you what it's going to be BADASS!

Tricks and Treats

Fish On

I love living in Oregon, we've got it all! Living on the coast is even better! I've got the dunes, river, mountains, and a handful of lakes all in my back yard! I can fish and hunt within minutes of my front door step!!! And this weekend Fall weather was at its finest this weekend! Clear blue sky, sun shining, no wind and the water was calm! I took full advantage of the weekend and went fishing Saturday and Sunday morning. There's something very peaceful about being out on the lake just before sun up with the water smooth as glass and the birds chirping and an occasional frog croaking! Sun up and it was fish on! Weekend tally for myself 4 salmon landed, 1 lost, 2 trout, 2 large mouth bass and a perch! The boyfriend went out 3 days this weekend, lucky sob has 3 day weekends. He landed somewhere around 10 salmon, a couple of trout, perch and a large mouth. Mini me went out yesterday with us and she reeled in a large mouth for me then she hooked into her own trout and hooked into her first salmon, she lost it right at the boat. She was so bummed. shes wanted to catch a salmon so bad. We didn't let her salmon fish on the river this year it was just to hard. We figured when they moved into the lake we could get her one, so when she heard he had caught some Friday she told him to knock it off and leave some for her. She cracks me up. She was less than pleased when I went Saturday while she hung out with grandma and found out I had caught some. So Sunday morning it was up long before sunrise to beat the crowds to the boat launch. Getting the little one up that early when its the weekend is not always an easy task but when you say it's fishing time she flies out of bed with energy I wish I could posses even after 3 cups of coffee.

I was excited when we got to the boat ramp and there was only one other person there, Saturday was a completely different story, it was insane, there was no parking left you had to find and make your own spot along the side of the road. It soon became apparent why, there was a bass tournament going on, the lake was packed. It was almost like fishing on the river with all the "flat landers" people from the valley with their big expensive boats who have no common courtesy and think they own the river. They are such a**holes! I don't know how many times I have watched them just plow through and cut peoples lines. HELLO there's a whole other side of the river for you to motor back up AWAY from all the rest of us still trolling down. Ugh, I could rant on and on about how I feel about "flat landers" and the way the fish the river. The bass boys really pissed me and the beau off Saturday. They apparently have no respect or know what common courtesy is either! Oh wait that's right cause their "flat landers" too. We along with quiet a few others would be fishing in one of the arms of the lake and it was fish on! They'd be biting left and right, someone was usually landing a fish that was until a bass boat would come flying up into the cove wide open and scare everything off. It'd take an hour or so before anything would bite again and just as the action started back up again here comes another damn "flat lander".  I'll get off my soap box now.

Sunday was great, no bass fisherman, the water was calm, it was still dark when we put in, and it was blue sky and sunshine once the sun rose. Fish were biting at sun up!  It was great getting in good fishing with my loves! I love watching her fish and the excitement she has for it! When she hooked into the her 1st fish she was so excited she started reeling and reeling and when she got it in and realized it was a trout she was still just as happy as when it bite and she thought she might have a salmon. She unhooked it and threw it back, put her line back in and within a few minutes had another fish on. It gave her a bigger fight then the last so we got excited realizing she had a salmon on, she fought it and got it up to the boat when it popped off the hook. She was bummed she didn't get it in but still stoked she had one on. So she set the line back out and said she wad going to catch it again. Some time went by and nothing, then I hooked into a fish got it in and it was a salmon. She wasn't pleased. She is convinced that it was the salmon she had lost earlier and wasn't happy I caught it. Ooops. She hates loosing, and she hates being out fished. It got to the point when I was with her dad they'd leave me at home and go fishing because they'd never catch anything and Id have fish after fish on!!! I've got quiet the competitor on my hands, I hate to see what happens when she gets into sports and looses. Lord help me.

Early morning out on the lake! And just behind the fog bank and over that ridge is where I got my deer this year!

Fishing at 7am like its nothing!

Mini me and a large mouth!

Proud of her trout!

Perfect Fall afternoon on the lake!

Fish on!

I Love Surfing

Now that it's Fall things slow down drastically at work. Tourist season is OVER. Thank the Lord! I have a love hate relationship with tourist season, I love it because it's how this small town survives through the winter, but I hate it because our sleepy little town gets inhabited by rude, inconsiderate, a--holes for 4 months out of the year and makes my summers a little less enjoyable. Anyways like I said things slow down drastically so it's gives me lots of down time. Which means more time to discover fun new things on sites like Etsy and Pinterest, as well as discover fun new blogs! I found lots of cool (or so I think they are) new things today! Not only do I like them just because, but a few of them will work with one of my Halloween costumes!! And even when Halloween is over there is a good chance,  90% chance actually, that I will use them often! And so for todays discoveries:

 It's cute, it's PBR, and well I just love it! Check it out HERE

 Love, Love, Love this tee! You can find it and other cool things HERE

It screams girly and redneck all at the same time!!!!! See it and more HERE

Here's to Humpday

Titleless

So yesterday I blogged about the dinner I threw together in my badass camo crockpot. I love that thing like it was my kid! I know I'm ridiculous but come on now its awesomeness is well just that awesome! I mean really who doesn't want one for them selves? It will cook you a complete dinner with little effort on your part and its my favorite color, Camouflage. That's right I said color. Camo becomes a color when it's a big part of your life and its a HUGE part of my life. My daughters room is done in Pink Realtree, mine in Mossy Oak Breakup and the living room is in a transition from country western to hunting lodge so it to will have camo accents! Back to the crockpot. I said if it turned out good I was going to post the recipe and it did turn out really well but I want to make it again and tweak it just a smidgen more to where its PERFECT and then I will post it. But for now you get to see said awesome crockpot!

Wait there's more!

There's this restaurant up in Portland called Fire On The Mountain, it's a hot wings place that I absolutely LOVE and miss dearly. Not only do they have like 12 different versions of wing sauce but they have deep fried desserts! Twinkies and Oreos, I am not a Twinkies fan at all but I did try it once and it is much better then a plain old regular Twinkie, but then again everything seems to be better fried. I always order the Oreos when I go there, the trip isn't complete if I don't. They are AMAZING!!!! Well last night I decided its been a good 8 months since I have been up there and that I wanted to try and recreate them at home. I figured they'd be good but no where as good as F.O.T.M's. WRONG! Watch out F.O.T.M I'll give you a run for your money with my Oreos!!!!I actually think I one upped them, there Halloween style! I'm actually kind of scared that I can make them just as good because I'm going to want to make them all the time and my waistline is not going to like that at all. Good thing it's hunting season and theres one more tag to fill which means tons of miles left to hike up and down the sides of massively steep units!

Tell me they don't look AMAZINGLY AWESOME!

I just realized I used amazing and awesome way to much. Awesome. Maybe I should expand my vocabulary. Then again maybe not.

I will share the recipe with you so you too can enjoy these bad boys! I promise you won't regret it, well maybe your waist will but your tase buds wont!

DEEP FRIED OREOS

2 quarts peanut oil for frying (you can use vegetable but I prefer peanut)

1 large egg

1 cup milk

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 -1 3/4 cup pancake mix

As many Oreos as you'd like. I made 6 with plenty of batter left for at least another 6-10

Directions

1. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Whisk together the egg, milk, and 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a bowl until smooth. Stir in 1 1/2 C of the pancake mix until no dry lumps remain. You want to make sure your batter is thick but not to thick, you want it to coat the cookie completely to form a nice outer shell. If needed slowly add in the remaining 1/4 C mix. Dip the cookies into the batter one at a time, and carefully place into the hot frying oil. Fry only 4 or 5 at a time to avoid overcrowding the deep fryer. Cook until golden brown, about a minute and a half to 2 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Transfer to clean plate dust with powdered sugar and ENJOY!!

Deep Fried Love,

Storm Season Is Here

One thing I absolutely love about living in Oregon is the fall storms we get. They can be pretty wicked! The first official storm of the season came over night and waking up to the wind and rain this morning was actually peaceful to me. I wanted so badly just to stay in bed and listen to it blow, unfortunately duty called and that meant getting out of bed at the wonderful time of 5:30 a.m. When summer reached to an end and school season had returned I was dreading the 5:30 mornings that came with it. It was so nice to sleep in a few extra hours during the summer, it was almost like I was back in school. Unfortunately it's not me, (I didn't time warp back but how cool would it be if I could) it's my mini me. She started the 1st grade this year and so far is still loving it! I believe a good education is vital, hence why we get up so damn early to get ready for school. I chose to send her to a school 35 miles away because of their academics. If I could afford the commute I would up and move to Elkton in a heart beat. The town is so tiny but the members in the community are amazing and everyone gets involved with the school and its going ons! Amazingly I don't have to commute there at all unless I want to. They are a charter school so they have kids that come from all over and there are enough kids between Elkton and Reedsport that there is a bus that comes to town at 6:40 am and brings them home at 4:45 pm. Not only is she getting a great education (did I mention shes at a 2nd grade reading level) but it works great with my schedule. She doesn't always ride the bus either, my neighbor whom is also a close family friend is a teacher up there so she takes her and brings her home for me most days. She has come out of her shell so much since I transferred her up to Elkton and I have been so pleased with how much she has grown I hope to be able to send her there until she graduates and if for some reason they ever change their boundaries I WILL move just so she can still attend.

I love how I initially started blogging with the idea of storms, fall, and comfort food and got side tracked into going on and on about Keelie's school. This however is nothing unusual for me I will start a conversation/letter and talk about 10 million other things before finishing what I originally started to say. I have dozens of "ooooh look something shiny" moments in a single day, keeps my life interesting I think. So back on to what I initially set out to blog about. I was uber excited about the weather this morning and decided it called for soup for dinner. I first set out to make clam chowder but realized all the clams we had dug over the summer were frozen as a brick so I decided I will make that this weekend, my next idea was venison stew!!! Ive already eaten a good portion of my deer so why not stick with it and make some stew! I haven't had venison stew since I was a little kid at my grandparents house. Which reminds me forget using a recipe out of a book I'm calling grandma! I'm glad now that the venison too was frozen because I want my grandmas recipe!!! Comfort food with a dash of nostalgia! Then came idea # 3. Chicken and Dumplings. My mother makes the best ever and so I picked up the telephone and dialed her up, unfortunately for me she was sleeping. I brought her home from the hospital this weekend and she is still working on recovering from her whole ordeal which could be a book in its own. I decided my mom is one of the best cooks ever and has even worked as a chef in a 5 star restaurant and shes been self taught no schooling, nothing, just trial and error. I hardly ever see that women use a measuring cup either, it baffles me how she can make things over and over again and its always just as good if not better and never use the same measurements. Anyways back to what i was trying to get at, since I'm her off spring I'm hoping the cooking skill is in the genetics! I already know I can bake up a storm, I love baking and am awesome at it! Just saying! I decided to be like my mom and just throw some things together! So as we speak I've got chicken and not yet the dumplings (that will happen when I'm finally home) cooking in my awesome camo crockpot at home! If all goes well and it turns out as good as I am thinking it will I will post the recipe. If it takes like hell I am taking no claim to it, the garbage disposal will get it and "take out" will be waiting before anyone knows i even attempted to create a dinner!

Oh and one more thing, y'all have to try this!!!! I love anything pumpkin and when I saw this in a magazine at work I had to order it! Pumpkin Pie Liquor!!!!! It is trouble in a bottle!

Hugs,