[wookness]

[email protected] 3rd had I posted on the now extinct flip on this Happy Easter morning. Glad to find the welcome mat out, the lights on and the new old place still here and going strong. It's a bit chilly out; 57°, RH 72%, wind NW 10 G 22 under cloudy skies w/a 30 % chance of some rain before noon.

Yesterday was a busy and long one w the arrival of yet another cold front and very gusty northerly winds. It made the skeeting rather challenging, late. Had originally planned to be shooting a small club shoot the other side of Ft. Worth early, a 12 & 28 ga pair of events. Plans got changed when I needed to get a last and elusive number to my CPA who now resides it FL, so that she could get some tax filing matters in place and under the wire for me tomorrow. Mission accomplished, but it cost the morning. Seems that it is always 'something' but blessed to continue to wade thru most situations. Life has many challenges and ya don't get issued a can of Fix a Flat™ for it upon yer arrival. Faith, friends & determination have gone a long way in helping me to keep moving. Just saying. Of course, YMMV.

As it turned out, it proved a really good day. Not only got the 'magic number' to her but prepaid onerous utility bills enough to hopefully get us past the 4th of July and well into the summer's heat, tossed some accumulated 'junque' of the paper sort as I had need to get some things better organized. Had my FFL call that he had received a pistol that I'd bought from an out of state individual. Had a friend call and ask if we'd care to come over for dinner later. He was 'batching it' for the weekend and had some yardbird that he would smoke, if we'd come. We accepted the invitation. Got a call regarding some powder an individual had for sale who was getting out of the reloading game and ended up buying a new sealed 8# canister of both Promo and Herco plus a new one pounder of RamShot 'Competition' for $325 total! Win-win situation, for both of us! Never thot I'd see the day when I was happy to get powder for under $20/lb.! Yikes!! It's here now. My wholesale cost, if I could find any to buy, are well above that. Headed out to the FFL's and snagged the pistol, that proved another of those 'really good deals' that is going to prove good fun in the summer's sun. Came back by the club and picked up 2K Nobel Sport 209 shotshell primers that I'd ordered and another friend had picked up for me on Thursday. Got in two rounds of self-pulled skeet using the delay and shooting from a low gun position. North wind was wicked. Broke 80% with 7/8oz reloads in a Beretta 12ga O/U w/skeet chokes fitted. Paid out and headed home to snatch the bride and go the our friend's for dinner. Get off the freeway and to the first traffic light where I turn left from one of two lanes. There is a small econo-beater in the lane to my rt. When the light goes green, its moves to make the turn before me, nothing hurried. An older SUV going probably 70 mph comes out of nowhere from the left and shears the entire front off of that small economy car! It was so quick that the small car hit only did a quick 'quiver'. They were not injured, but their car was toast. The guy in the SUV did hit his brakes... after it was way too late w/damage already done. He looks back, decides no one was killed or injured and drives off! Both drivers were Hispanic. Police were summoned. Someone, inclusive of me, could have been easily killed. I was Smiled upon, yano. So was the person driving the car that was destroyed. The smoked yard bird was great and our friend fixed broccoli and asparagus for the sides that was also very tasty... and gud for ya too.

Finding myself with a great deal to be thankful for on this Easter Morning. Planning to go and worry some sporty clays w/a friend this afternoon, as it stands just now. It isn't raining yet. We received some sprinks on & off yesterday and there was a def. haze & mist most of the day. Weird pollen laden light and extremely windy.

Jack is back inside now and I'll finish my wee dram of Never Miss and try and conk... until the dawn cracks. It's lookin' like it may be a wet week around here, but it is April after all and any moisture received is a much needed blessing and we'd much welcome its presence. Like TWH, it's all welcome, regardless of where it comes from.

Y'all have a great day!

 

[wookness]

Slept until 8 A. Coffee is on. 58° and calm at the moment. Weasels are saying the blanket will come off gradually and it will end up sunny w/wind NE 15-20 G 25. Jack says there are no bunnies in the back. I may give him an egg for his being such a good egg. Half thinking to go and try to buy an Easter ham butt to smoke from Kroger's where they will be blowing them out cheap, if they have any left. Last year, got a nice one for 49¢/lb. The one I bought after Christmas or wazzit New Year's(?) was 77¢/lb. Need some pastries, coffee cake or cinnamon somethings for the bride in any case and we are out of banana's, the horror! Will stop at WM on the return from the club this afternoon and score more eggs and dog food. Prices have increased on all, recently. The birds have totally emptied one of the longer tube feeders. They could obviously sense this latest cold front's arrival as the temps gradually moved from a near summer nice to chilly in the northerly winds yesterday. Some are about this morning but it appears that many have chosen to sleep in. Noted two varieties of woodpeckers on the suet blocks yesterday, a small downy and a regular red-head. The former looked very young.

I need to mow but have been letting the weeds present themselves for extrication first. Gaining on that front too but my hands don't have the strength they used to. Moisture makes their removal easier. The lawn, its coming back and we may have a nice looking one once again before the growing season is done for the year. We have a lot of colour in the beds and the iris are blooming in some places. It's a parade of colour that lasts some weeks and things change as well, from year to year. The red-headed wood-pecker was on the suet cage outside the nearest widow looking into the back a moment ago. It just prized a peanut from the suet block. Always happy to oblige a red head.🙂

 

[wookness]

Trying this lighter shade of blue. Will see whot the dark moder's say. It may be not so hard to read & provide better contrast. Call it a trial balloon. New site does not have the old font I preferred as an option. This one is okay, just not as light-hearted. the other was 'comic'.
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Great pic's, Don, cow & 92! That Easter goose looks like it had been goosed... or had a very strong incentive to get out of Dodge! Can easily tell in the others that it's been a very special and fun day, one to be treasured.

Ours was as well. Spent the majority ofvit at the club. Bride & I had a fine brunch, bud that was going to come out to shoot wasn't able to make that a reality, but the light was weird, the winds were strong & gusty, and it remained overcast until well into the afternoon and even then, there was a distinct haze present, comprised of pollen and dust for the most part. I got in several boxes at sporty clays w/a ancient AL-2 12 ga Beretta semi-auto stocked in the 'bleached blonde' French Walnut that was used in some of those guns when they were first introduced. Striking, against their gloss-black finished alloy hand engraved receivers. It has a 71cm [that's within a gnat of 28"] fixed choke 'MOD' bbl. that throws near hunnert percent full choke patterns @ 40 yds. w/the 7/8 oz reloads I was using. Not much room for error inside that range, but impressive 'ink spots' to north of 35 yds. ...when the target is well centered. Figured out how to correctly shoot a screaming rt. to left and outward moving target presentation that had previously stumped me last Wednesday. Only way to break that thing before it went into the brush along the left side of the 'window' about 40 or so yards out was to 'spot shoot' the darned thing; meaning to pre-mount the gun, hold near the point where it disappeared into the brush and take your vision back to the right to see the flash as it sped toward safety. The instant you could pick up that target's flash, pull the trigger! I could break it every time doing that, and not at all trying to shoot it any other way. Had quite the feeling of accomplishment figuring out what I had to do to hit it consistently. Missed it twice trying the old way first w/gun down. There simply wasn't time, w/my reflexes, to do more than shoot behind it. It's not a shot you would ever take in the field, as the target was low. Some sporty clays presentations have little to nothing to do w/field shots and if you wish to post good scores it is necessary to learn how to break them all. I B trying. Actually, shot well above my norm for the first ten stations and was only three targets down at the end of the second box. After ten stations, I was getting a bit tired, and the temps had increased considerable w/the overhead blanket's thinning to high elevation stratus. I think all the junk in the air was also irritating my eyes. In any case, I wasn't quite as lively or quick to make good target acquisitions and dropped a few targets. The 13th station proved my Waterloo. It was a true pair of crossing floppers traveling rt. to left that had little spring on them and tho both were traveling in the neighborhood of 35 yards when they crossed paths visually at about 20 yards out it just played havoc w/my ability to track either well and I was left with hitting one or none. And it pulled my score down to the high 70% range for the day. Background on that station was treed and brushy and neither target ever had any sky behind it at their peak. My poor performance there was due to two things, I was getting tired, and I was shooting above and behind the ill-defined [fuzzy, rather than having a clear hard focus on my part] targets. Still, it was a fine afternoon to be out traipsing around looking at all the flora bursting out with new foliage. Returned to the clubhouse around 4 and chilled a while, where a number of the usual round-table suspects had gathered. Some had been shooting skeet and others helice and some were just there because like TWH, it's where they hang, most afternoons. There was some ensuing conversation about the need to make more NRA-ILA donations and writing our Senators and Reps expressing our on-going concerns and too, the lack of components and general ammo shortages, inclusive of target ammo for shotshells was given some discussion. A few other non-firearms/shooting related grouses had volleys fired across their bows as well. No feathers were ruffled. It's a well weather-hardened crew w/much time at the helm in times of turbulence. Learn the ropes or perish. Plenty of prior combat duty was present. We had some popcorn to gnaw on as subjects were gnashed and some deviled eggs that Luca had prepared. They bore (use?) only their regular colour, but they ate gud. No one thot to ask when an opinion was being expressed if they had Czech'd w/Martha. Such is the nature of that group that that type of thinking/questioning is not considered good etiquette. Heck, it's not considered good for anything, if ya wanna B honest about it.

Looked at the posted results from last Wednesday's beginning week of the sporty clays league. Our squad is in 4th, but only one point out of first. It's a great start and I think we might could win this one. This coming Wed. we shoot ten stations on the orange course. It was the 'green' course's first ten stations last week. Life in the fast lane, eh? It could get rained out, but I'm putting my money on any rain coming being done before we have to shoot. Tuesday afternoon and night will likely be wet.

'The Metropolitan' is next weekend. I've no plans to shoot in it but could waffle come Friday and sign up at the last minute. It won't be sold out this year. It's four guns only on Sat. & Sun. No Friday events or doubles this year. I'll go out regardless, at least on Sat. afternoon just because I know many, if not most, that will be shooting. Find myself lacking the passion I once had for shooting registered skeet. Still love the game and have made many good friends and acquaintances thru the years doing it.

I'm fully paid and signed up for the State FITASC championship that was cancelled and then postponed last year that will be coming up shortly. My time practicing right now is better spent in that direction. I won my class in the inaugural one, had it in the bag on the 2nd one, only to have my wheels come off on the last day and choke to death w/some weird vision bad mojo that I've never come to fully grasp/understand. Finally marked it up to 'stuff happens' and have now moved on, tho have to admit it did linger... for a while.

Skeet was never shot at the White House, contrary to whot some said at an earlier time tho it might well should have been. Shot low gun, it is still the best form of practice that I know of... for a bird hunter.

I think sporty clays can be and FITASC is better suited to dove hunters.

I'm going back to bed. C ya.

 

[wookness]

HAPPY 40TH ANNAVERSARY, Mr. & Mrs Sihler!

It's a cooler 57° early spring temp this morning w/light filtered thru a high elevation thread-worn blanket. Mid-week chances of rain have been revised & reduced by the weasels. Now, according to them it's gonna be rainy and very windy for the coming weekend. Shooting registered skeet in cool or cold wet weather has never been anything I found rewarding, tho I've done it often enough thru the years. Looking like I made the correct call, in thinking to sit this one out.

On hams cooked in a slow cooker, we've done several with throwing the glaze pack away and then just pouring in a bottle of a favored BBQ sauce, either of the red or yellow down south types. One sauce that I like of the brownish/red type for that application is Head's©. It is a thin sauce w/a fine taste and less sugar to burn or clot. Sometimes I'll do that with a corned beef brisket w/o using the seasoning packet that is supplied with them and they really turn out nice for some tender and lean eating. If there is a thick rind on those corned beef brisket cuts and hams too, I remove it when cooking them in that manner. I prefer to buy the 'flat cut' rather than the 'point cut' variety for corned beef. Spiral cut hams can be done in a slow cooker as well, but they tend to sorta self-dismantle and can be messy trying to remove them whole... at least that has been my experience. I've never used one of the assorted liners sold to be used in a slow cooker. Bon Ami™ and a little elbow grease cleans them right up, after letting them sit with some water and a squirt of detergent in them overnight.

Have walked the front & back with the bride to see whot's new this morning in the way of blooms. Coffee is aromatic and refreshing. This morn I used its restorative powers much as the Tin Man did a bit of oil in warming my inners and generally becoming mobile. It helped to get the cricks out. Intensity of light just increased. Errands and yard werk await. Later, I've some spent hulls to sort. Some will walk the plank, whilst others will pass muster for another go at breaking a target before their retirement.

Y'all have a great day.

 

[wookness]

Good looking pups, Lon!

56° again this morning under partly cloudy skies but the NE winds we had blowing at 15 w/G 25 have switched to E 5 and will gradually turn to S something as the day progresses. It topped out at 72 yesterday but it was short lived and had a bit of 'almost cool' tuit. We'll see the winds turn S and set off some showers tonight that will prolly last into Wed. morning and then things will warm quickly w/high in the mid to upper 80's. And winds S 15~20 G to 35 that should make the sporty clays league targets plenty sporty.

Good shooting report, Sails. Interesting, your findings. FWIW, I've had better luck/accuracy w/some hard cast bullets than jacketed in some pistols. Wanna do some serious playing w/pistols testing this summer in that regard in a new direction. Mostly w/the .32 acp's. If the available ammo [it mostly isn't] & small pistol primers were not so hard to come by, I'd be bent to doing a lot of it. As it is, I'm proud to have whot I have and am sorta holding them close. I've found those small guns can spit their spent cases where ya can't easily recover them with alarming alacrity.

Seems that nothing is inexpensive to shoot these days, not even .22's! Just scored some more shotshell components, so back up to adequate on that count. I have a lot of concern, personally, for the future of shooting sports and recreation. Hope that it is misplaced, but with things as they are who knows?

We've some young shooters doing a fine job of representing us in the Olympic World Cup matches. Two from here are competing again in another round of World Cup matches in Lonato, Italy starting next Tuesday, Austen Smith & Vincent Hancock. Both extremely nice young persons and incredibly talented. They are leaving this week. Familiarity & practice there is next Monday. The last match was in Peru where they both won medals.

I'll be pulling weeds today.

 

[wookness]

Nice bass(!)... in that pic, Gerald. I love fishing farm ponds or ranch tanks when given the opportunity. Some contain very nice surprises. Can recall one that was small and deep that held some 'dinner plate' crappie and google eye's & war mouth pan fish that were exceptionally large & thick. Took a couple of very nice stringers from that pond on two dif. occasions. It didn't look like much, in its brushed over setting, but it sure held some good eating panfish. Another was on a dove lease that my dad had. That one was on a hillside and hidden by mesquite. Hard to get to but was fed by an underground spring and half covered with lily pads. It was one of the best places I've ever fished for black bass and it was all top water lures. Hedden Hulla-Popper's, Baby Torpedo's or a weedless rubber frogs were the preferred lures and it was chock full of 2~3 pound black bass. Dad & I took a number of them over the several years he had the place and we would clean and scale several for the owner who was a 92 yr. old lady when he first made a deal with her to hunt on the place. She told us how to get to that tank and she loved to eat those bass, but she didn't have the strength to get back there to fish for them any longer. She was always delighted when we'd do that. We kept and ate some too. I like their taste well enough, but don't kill any over 2 #'s, unless they somehow get hooked in the tongue. I'd rather have crappie or pan fish but the bride likes the black bass best, so these days when fishing at the cabin or taking her on a fresh-water fishing trip, I'll keep a few small but legal ones just for her, otherwise I put them back.

Have a strong hankering to be doing some spring fishing, but have yet to act on it. Need to fix that now that I've some stuff behind me that had to get dealt with. Have a bud that chartered a boat out of Venice, LA for he and his teenaged son and a couple of other family members over spring break. They didn't catch a lot of fish, but managed to land a 135# swordfish that all got turns playing before it was brought to gaff. Fresh swordfish steaks make for some fine eating. It was one of mom's fav.'s when we could get it from the fish market here and she would buy it from the market in Port Aransas when we vacationed there in the summers for a few weeks in a small kitchenette cabin. Fun memories, those. They had a lot of beach sand in them, but some found sand dollars too and fresh flounder and sea trout was plentiful there and easily caught in the 50's. My mind finds it so easy to wonder down many happy trails that only exist there, now. Thanks for the kicking that door open, Gerald. Hope that your coming gobbler hunt is successful!
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On dog names for your new male, Lon... may I suggest 'Jake' or 'Kreiger'? Jake was a deceased friend's pointer that was the best bird dog I ever hunted over and Kreiger [rifle bbl.'s, yano] was a Drahthaar one of my close friends had that was the finest pheasant dog I've ever had the honor to hunt with. He just passed last year, after 17 years of a great life. I don't recall exactly how long Jake lived but it was beyond what most pointers get. Wanna say 13, but I could be wrong. No one to ask, now. There is also an English fotball player of some note by the name of Jake Livermore, who is a stoutly built bloke w/a determinate look and expression and history of being a tough guy to go up against in the field. More idle thot's, eh?

The sun is out now and it's a glorious morning for extricating weeds. 62°, RH 54%, wind SE 16 G 26. Gotta get back at it and hope my hands hold up.

 

[wookness]

Welcome to The Wareing Hole, KP! Glad to have your company. What age kiddo's are you shooting with?

Hope you get your stock issue dealt with quickly & to your satisfaction. The advise on pillar bedding you've received is very sound. Should you get the stock replaced, I would immediately go in that direction, inclusive of the mentioned epoxy; it will pay dividends, long term, in both accuracy and the stock's life expectancy.
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Bride told me that she'd seen the first hummer of the season day before yesterday. I've not seen one yet. We should put a feeder out for them this year. Never got around tuit last year but still had plenty of them about, in the back. I'm sure they were in the front too but I never made that observation. Did see a hummingbird moth in the front twice last summer.
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We B weeded out or izzit we've out weeded ourselves(?)... as in worn out from weeding. Two large contractor's bags worth that I could barely manage. Hands have had it for the day and remain flexible tho grip strength isn't back to where it was some months prior and I still have some on-going numbness in the rt. thumb & first two fangers. I could grumble about it, but to whot end? Think I'll just fix a nice stout highball and be thankful that I/we could do whot we've done today and not worry about it. Purple sage/rain bushes in the courtyard are telling me the weasels forecast for rain is very iffy. They have no blooms and have mostly leaved/leafed out. I'm not going to worry about that either, taking a Kierkegaardian view on the matter; it either will or it won't.
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I've placed an order for another few hunnert pounds of shot, locking in an already high price but can see it much higher in many places... and if things don't improve soon [I'm hesitant to say they will], it will have proved a sound decision. With my interests where they are, I look at adequate supplies of components like some might bars of bullion. We keep cubes of beef, yard bird and t'mater bullion on hand... in jars clearly labeled. The lead shot is costing me more than they did. Life; live it... and grin! 😎

 

[wookness]

G'morning, y'all. We've had going on four hours of light rain/fog & mist so far this morning. 64° @ 8:34 A, wind S 14, RH 93%. Everything is nice and wet. Weasels say it will turn to sunshine by noon and winds will increase to the low 20's w/gusts to the low 30s w/temp peaking at 86. It will be sticky hot and challenging for the afternoon's sporty clays league targets. That's okay by me. At least we will be able to shoot. I'll be loading some more 7/8's oz 12 ga target rounds in throw-away hulls. #7.5's this time and for use today, being one of those folks that believes in using the largest shot size allowed on clay targets that have been rained on. It may not matter a whit, but whot one thinks matters a lot, when shooting. I'm not annal like some folks that I've known of who believe that their cartridges must be oriented 'just so' before closing their guns. Routines are fine, but that borders on being pagan ritual. I prefer to shoot sporty clays from a gun down/low gun position as is required for FITASC and as sporty clays was originally, before NSCA adopted the 'any way ya want to, that's not unsafe' rule that instantly kicked the door open for pre-mounted shooting. I will admit there are some target presentations now, that you are not likely to break if you don't, like I spoke of the other day. There were no presentations like that prior to the rule change. Not a complaint, just saying. Stuff happens and rules are oft dynamic. Birds in the field don't fly thru hoops, like they do in skeet. Adapt to the situation at hand & roll with it, same as we are doin' here.

Bride is going over this morning to do some landscaping and install some plants of colour for an elder GF who is unable to do so herself these days. I'm looking at it like her placing some coloured living Easter eggs for her friend's enjoyment and satisfaction. Coffee is good this wet morning and I'm sending some coffee cake along with her for the both of them to enjoy together sometime this morning. Bride doesn't mind werkin' in her wellies for a friend. It's a good trait and one I'm glad that she has. A bit of kindness can go a long way in making one's day.

So, whot are ya gonna be loading today, Don? And when will you be able to make another range trip? I need to make time to try & find a good mud bank where I could legally do some general blastinating on a summer afternoon. Making big holes in the mud, shooting at sticks, stick-ups, old cans & assorted junk and trapped flotsam was one of my fav. pastimes w/my buds when we were growing up. Dump rats were good fun too, but I don't know of any places that is allowed. Not even the county dump where the cabin is located. Nope, and you have to pay by the bag to leave your trash these days... and can only do that on certain days. Times have changed but the memories linger. Oh, well.

Pull!

 

[wookness]

The sporty clays shooting yesterday afternoon was crazy fun. Temp peaked at 88°, southerly winds were officially measured at 22 w/gusts to 38. Purdy sure we had several that were north of 40 and they were very switchy and blowing every which way where our courses are set. Started out by getting a 1 on the first station! First target was a thin rabbit going straight away w/a tiny bit of tilt to the left running like a scalded cat. Trap was right by the station, not six feet away but gosh, that thing was hauling and for me it didn't jump at all. I absolutely clobbered that thing, tearing up the ground all around it every shot, but never broke it. Those kinds of 'edge on' targets can be brutal to yer ego. Second target was a screaming rt to left coming out of the brush, staying low and diving mini about 40 yards out where it emerged and perhaps 50 when you could get a shot at it. I did break that one, once. For the leagues we shoot the 'A' bird first, using two shots when needed, then a report pair and lastly a true pair. Target settings were tough. Add the winds and they became incredibly tough. I got my ___ handed to me a number of times, hitting only 32/50 for 64%. Wasn't anything remotely easy about any of the targets. I shot low gun w/either 7/8 or 1oz reloads of new hard #7.5's loaded to 1200fps. Had a MOD in the open/bottom bbl. and an IMOD in the tighter/upper one. Loads & chokes were fine when the gun was pointed correctly. Doin' that was very difficult but it was a lot of fun trying. Two of our guys shot 38's. I told them that was a fine score... and it was. We've a number of excellent shots that are members of the club and shooting in this league. Yesterday's targets and conditions beat the vast majority of them... and when the dust had settled, scores were tallied, and the math was done we were in 1st place by 4 points! Woot! Hot dittley dog! Don't know that it will last but it might. Winning it gets us all our bait back. We are a third of the way there. Will have to see how it plays out on down the road. Geezer thrills. 🥴
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Nice looking ride, AL! Izzit too early to tell if the ride quality is a better one for ya? I'd hope that proves the case, in any case. Bells & whistle's aside, it's the ride. No?
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Was informed that another of my shooting acquaintances of many years had passed when I got to the club yesterday. Longtime member, perhaps 30 years. He'd had a successful heart transplant a year or two back. It was the only way he could stick around. He enjoyed a number of fine guns thru the years, was passionate about them but they came and went. His bride was and is constant. He tried best he could to keep shooting as long as he could and did but comes a time when yer time's up. And no amount of money or procedure(s) will alter that. Just how it werks. He was having a hard go ofvit the last time I saw him. Coupla months back? Pray he is less stressed now and all the targets he is presented break. How to say anything? Honestly.

 

[wookness]

Thanks for the kind werds, Gents. My shooting acquaintance got a coupla years out of his heart transplant and a few trips to the sporty clays courses during that time. He held on... as best he was able.

Reading of passing out due to diabetic shock is nothing to play lightly. Comments noted. I know others who have been there. Nothing to fool around with.

Reading of what happened to your friend, GB, is simply heart-breaking. What a tragedy and horror. Perhaps down the road you can take his son to the range w/you and show him what his dad had in mind for the both of them. It is important that they hold the perp fully accountable for his heinous behavior and not the gun. Prayers for all affected and their eventual healing. That's just rotten and nothing in our criminal justice system will make up for their loss.

Was back out to the club late afternoon, last. 'twas still overly warm, very windy and overcast. Can't really do any serious practice in those conditions, buts it's still fun trying to hit crazy targets. Got a coupla boxes in w/more hits than misses and a fair amount of bull successfully shot w/some of the usual suspects before returning.

Bride fixed linguini w/white [clam] sauce for dinner. We were in need of using some of the shallots on hand, before they got old & shriveled, like my hands. Seems like every time she fixes that dish, it is better than the last. She's had a handle on it for decades, knows it's one of my fav.'s and uses it as a successful way to unwind me. It's one of those dishes where one sets the stress aside and just enjoys a foodie's nirvana. It's that good! It's also good that she only fixes a small quantity, otherwise I'd blimp.

In other news; I've read of things you can't make up, stuff that I didn't wanna know, omissions, commissions, horrors, fictions, addictions, nonsense.

Bought a plastic 'can' of Yuban™ coffee whilst picking up an Rx yesterday morning. Stuff used to be a luxury at an earlier time. It was a bargain on a cost per oz basis yesterday, but I was really just wanting to mix it up a bit on the morning coffee's taste. I do that periodically, just because. There is no particular reason. It's the same w/pastries and white wines that I buy for the bride. Variety is good but like RF ammo, some lots or types are better than others. You can't buy target seeking shot shells. Heck, ya can't hardly buy shotshell components anymore, at all.

I received a generic email from Jake @ RMR bullets yesterday, Don, touting their newest development in 9mm PD hollow-point lighter pew-pew bullets. I'm thinking they may be the solution to your 9mm Kurtz project's stalemate. Give him a call, mention me and I bet that he will send you a small sample to try just for the asking. He has always been most accommodating to me. I've zero association w/them, aside from being a hunnert percent satisfied customer. Just saying.

 

[wookness]

It's been another day of overly warm & windy conditions w/wind warnings from the weasels. Decided to let it be and not push it or going to the club today. Can't say that I've accomplished a lot but have made dents in some small things and loaded a few more boxes of 12ga 1oz target-loads in throw-away hulls. Wanting to take a sit and go on a 28ga loading binge w/once & done hulls for use on sporty clays small gauge activity. I have more of them on hand than I need. It borders on embarrassment. It's on the list of stuff to do. I'll get 'round tuit, eventually. First world problem for sure.

Glad to have the diversion, yano.

Lotsa weird stuff going on theses dayz... in the present haze. Mosquitoes have yet to invade here. Whot moisture we get goes right in and the lawn, plants & trees drink it right up. Unseasonal low humidity much of the time recently is also likely a factor. Heck, they could choke and drown on the amount of pollen we've had in the air. Could B some are too heavy to fly, like a plane in need of deicing. Regardless, they have yet to become a bother.

Bride is fixin' yard bird gizzards w/brown gravy and rice to serve it over. Yummy! Y'all up north will just have to take my werd for it, but gosh it eats gud.

 

[wookness]

G'morning, all. 69°, RH78%, wind S 15 G 28 under overcast skies. High is forecast to hit 85 and wind speed and gusts will both increase later. Will prolly ease out to the club late mid to late afternoon and take on the green '13' that was stumping me the other day, then see whot the scoreboard looks like for the Metropolitan skeet shoot. I'm thinking w/the winds any hunnerts will be very hard won. Last werd I had there were only 50 something entries. Pre-pandemic/Wuhan virus times and seemingly forever, it was always sold-out w/a queue wait-listed and hoping for a last-minute no-show. We can accommodate roughly 170 shooters w/our ten skeet fields. Times have changed. I'll probably shoot the Pan American that is coming up and in the state shoot that we are hosting this year, but that will also probably be the last time that I shoot any registered skeet and I'm on the fence doing even that. Will def. shoot the 'closed club' skeet shoot, but it may not be a registered shoot to keep the costs down for those members who are not 'card carrying' skeet shooters. Have been supporting NSSA & TSSA and shooting registered skeet casually since 1963. I'll still shoot it recreationally and, in the leagues, and in the non-registered club shoots the other side of Ft. Worth. Great game, and I still enjoy it, a lot but the costs have gone up considerable for registered targets in both skeet and sporty clays.

State shoot for sporty clays is next week at a site not far removed from the Ft. Worth club I belong to, Travis Mear's 'Defender' in Aledo. They are anticipating over 800 entries. I don't know the exact number of shooters pre-registered, but it will be a very large multi-day event. Forecast looks like the coming rains will be gone by the time they get started. Hope they get that break. I'm not shooting in it, but many shooting friends and acquaintances are signed up to do so. I've never shot there, finding the two clubs I belong to meeting all of my shotgun clay target needs these days. Sometimes I'll shoot at a nearby public facility as well when they are hosting an NSCA shoot or join some friends that routinely shoot sporty clays there early on Tuesday mornings.

I'll still travel to shoot birds or hunt but no longer have the interest doing that to shoot in competitions. Would rather take that money and just shoot more targets, keeping it fun-based. Of course, I'll still stick a toe in the water... for some games.

Just some lazy morning reminisces over good coffee, and glad that I didn't have to be up early to go and shoot this gray and breezy morning. The bride's 'Baboon Bottom' hybrid iris opened yesterday. It's quite striking and also aptly named, and it makes her laugh every time she says its name. I should have snapped a pic ofvit yesterday when the light was better. May duit anyway before a rainstorm gets it. More rain's a coming, beginning this evening if ya listen to them weather weasels. A look outside makes it easy to believe. Time for more coffee and then to draw a hot tub and scrub off the week's crust w/some lye soap. It's all just a manner of speaking, Pard. These dayz ya can't get a hot bath for 2 bits [25¢] and ya can't get a haircut and shave for a dollar either. Room and board is a lot higher too. Outrageous, whot they want for a bag of oats down at the stable. I'm here to tell ya, it ain't what it used to be. Not by a longshot. Set 'er up again and lemme have a double this time, barkeep.

 

[wookness]

That should werk fine, Rhody. Don't see a problem at all with yer leaving a weekly marker; I always like the pause for the cause and your fine way to make the coming week relevant.
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That good lookin' gal should be easy to spot in the field, Lon. I like yer approach to placement as well. 🙂
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I blew off going to the club this afternoon and instead have spent the entire day in the yard, mowing and edging and generally werkin' my butt off. Both were in need. Had to take more breaks than I would have liked but just don't have the capacity to go at it non-stop any longer after this last round of crud that I'm holding the CCP and some others responsible for. Could be related to getting vaccinated and boosted too but I've honestly no way to tell... and for us, it was the correct decision. We R both still here. Several of my elderly friends R not... and it was the Wuhan virus that killed them. Got two more large contractor's bags of weeds extricated from lawn and beds as well. Those that remain, I've christened 'grass' now that they have been given a 'flat-top'. 😉 Hey, the landscapers who 'no comprende engrish' that the neighbors hire duit too. Appearances matter, yano(!), so I got in step. Bride is thrilled as it makes all her flowers stand out w/o some 'weed' or 'stick-up' distracting the viewer's eye. Can't B any more honest than that. Me culpa. 😏

Just finished a very nice 19 oz NY strip that the bride & I split. 'Twas from a much earlier purchase... when they were affordable w/o needing to take out a loan. Had some 99¢ a pound fresh yeller summer squarsh and a can o' English peas for the sides. I never mastered the Britt's ability to eat peas w/a knife. Mom slapped me for trying, so I quit. Much later, I realized they has 'special knives for that. Clever, those Victorians. Used to B a lot of one-upmanship across the channel. Expect there still is... in 2 many ways to count...

c'est la vie!

I like frog legs, but only the ones that come from ponds. They invented nylon, yano(?)! Well, at least DuPont was French. Best stop, it's getting too hairy, for an old goat.

The yard looks nice.










































among other things, yano.

 

[wookness]

92, you should apply for a patent on that! Prolly too late as you've thrown it in the public arena.

I do like it, a lot

 

[wookness]

'morning, y'all. 71°, RH 76%, wind S 24 G 35 under overcast skies. Weasels call it overcast & breezy. I call it pollenacious w/a capital 'Y'... for the yeller on everything. Aaaaaaaaa Choooooo! I has allergy eyes and two hangnails this morning too. Nary a complaint as I've been Blessed with another day by His Grace.

Czechin' the scores posted in the Metropolitan's 12 & 20 ga events yesterday, there was no hunnert straight posted in the 12 and only one in the 20. I'm surprised there was one in the 20, given the conditions, but a number of the 'best in the game, presently' were shooting and one of them did it.

I'm committed to taking the bride out for brunch or lunch and then I'll go and worry some sporty clays. Green thirteen, if it is still set as it was when it was kicking my derriere the other day. I may or may not have that presentation figured out. I've given it a lot of thot; am now thinking I may have to pre-mount the gun and do a 'spot shot' on the first target before moving on the second. Proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that I could not break them both the way I was trying before. That station is in sort of a pocket in the treed brush & scrub and neither target is against any clear sky, so the winds won't affect them that much. Its just a very deceptive presentation that messes w/yer/my visual perception. Definitely a first world problem. Have to give Thanks to have it. It beats a lot of other things I can think about and read of that others are confronted with. I'm glad to be here.

... and the coffee is exceptionally good this fine morning as Jack and I await the dawn to crack. I'll take the trash out when it does.

 

[wookness]

Dunno where my brain went. Need to make a correction about shooting in the state skeet shoot this year. We hosted it last year. It will be in Houston this year and I'll not be shooting in it. I will shoot in the Pan American here. There were only 47 entries in the Metropolitan, quite the low from an attendance perspective. I probably should have shot it, just because, in the one sense and glad that I didn't from the sense of getting my arms more or less back around the yard yesterday.

Your yard looks good, dlong! Sorry the grass doesn't last. Here, a lot of folks sew winter rye to keep their lawns green year-round, but that means having it mowed or mowing it too as it grows like crazy during the cold months.

My eyes were so crossed & irritated from being pollenated yesterday that they were making tears most of the day. Got to the club around 11. Had a shooting bud come out to meet me and we got in some boxes at all the green course stations. Green ten was a real bear with two traps 20 yds. behind the station throwing screaming high elevation targets from a fully elevated tower platform in following winds. Quite the zoomers requiring very quick leads of a Suburban minus its front bumper. Lots of fun, those. Green mean thirteen was conquered! Not like I thot, but with a mounted gun, altered hold point and looking directly in front of the nearer trap and totally locking in on that one target to the exclusion of all else and only after watching it break, allowing myself to see the second target. I had simply not been going about it correctly, prior. And the solution once seen, was simple and easily repeatable. Eyes were tearing the whole time. Returned to the clubhouse for a late lunch around 3. Got out of there around 4 and back to the house in time for a nap. Watched the last 20 laps of the Cup race at Talladega. Keselowski is having a rough go ofvit this season, so far. Needs to reel it in a tad and stay focused on making the podium &/or winning at the end. Today could have been a healing one for him but that last penalty cost him dearly, and he was the best and only chance Ford had in today's race. Oh well, I thot he had better judgement than to do stupid when he did. Tough lesson w/well known consequences. Do not speed in the pits! The Chevy's ran strong all day. I'd like to see Mopar get back in it. I'd like to see Daytona and Talladega's plate restrictions loosened from the present cookie-cutter 190 mph cruising speeds. I'd like to see affordable real gasoline. There's a lot of things that I'd like to see. I was glad to see a reasonable turnout of fans.

There were fewer entrants in the 28ga event at the Metroplitan because some of the entrants could not source any 28 ga ammunition to shoot! I'd like to see that change as well, but we ain't got there, yet. The club's present ammo is limited to sale for the members & their guests. Supplies are skinny and prices are significantly higher... for near everything. Spending a hunnert happens all too quickly, in the moment.

Everything here is greening nicely and spring colours are abundant. If I can but stay focused on that or the target just thrown, I'll be fine and get thru the pollen season. Regarding much of the other stuff I can see the reason, but I can't do squat about it. Colour me pragmatic.
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Glad ya got to the swamp today, Don! And that the spreader met the day's demands well enough. Hope you can get the opportunity to shoot those 16's more and that you get the pew-pew bullet issues fully sorted. I've every intention of sorting a fav. load for some 7.65 pistols shortly, wind or no wind. Do have a nearby indoor facility that I need to look into possibly utilizing, but only if they let me keep my brass. I didn't get on the b/o list w/Starline for their .32 acp brass last time, missed it when they had it by being wishy-washy and now it's on b/o once more. Have come to accept that a certain percentage is simply unrecoverable, even at the club where I'm shooting out of a window, from inside! Only someone who reloads those little devils is capable of having any empathy. They are big fun to shoot! 'Little bees', as it is said the Yugoslavian's called them. Fun is where ya make it! All the rest is an annoying distraction.

POW!

Take that(!), ya target.
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Addendum: it's raining now. We need the moisture, anyway that we can get it.

 

[wookness]

G'morning, y'all. Temp just went up to 60 from 59 a few minutes back, RH 93%, wind Vrbl 6. Back edge of this storm front is moving out in a E x SE direction. It's still overcast. Rain has been worth 1.3", so far. Got an all-nighter good soaking that should have removed much of the pollen and junk from the air The nasty heavy rain missed us. There were some pretty hot cells dumping prodigious amounts of water in this system as it moved in and across the area. Happy with whot we've received and its delivery. Weasels are saying it will remain mostly cloudy today w/wind becoming N x NE 15~20 G to 35. High not reaching 70 and low close to 50. Will do mostly inside stuff today but may make a grocery run to a coupla dif. places for pacific stuff. Slept well and eyes are much less irritated this morning tho sinuses are still somewhat stuffy. Made myself a sardine sammich for breakfast. Jack got the sardine water as an after-breakfast chaser. Bride is sleeping in, snug as a bug in a rug, under a down comforter. Life... in the lazy lane, this morning.

It's going to be a good day for inside 'spring cleaning', but no hurry in getting about it. If the bride sleeps in until ten or so, it won't matter in the least. She's done a lot of running about assisting two dif. GF's, going to the plant growers and nurseries, planting and digging and weeding this past week and it had caught up w/her pretty good [taken its toll] by Saturday evening.

Tomorrow & Wednesday should be sunny and in the 70's and we'll see temps in the 80's again by Thursday w/herds of new Simpson clouds migrating thru on their way to the Caribbean or wherever they summer. Planning to do more sporty practice for FITASC on Thursday, on the orange course. We shoot green course for the sporty league this week and everything target-wise on both courses is being changed today & tomorrow, so it should be interesting to see whot our target setter has in store for us, this time.

The bride just awoke. I can make some noise now and get to doin' stuff. Y'all have a good day.

 

[wookness]

Fun pics of the 'Blues' family, Brent! The bride enjoyed them too. Looking at their nest one can easily see how nature showed early primitive's how to weave baskets. It's an easy supposition to posit, that.
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Still blowing hard from the N. 62° and ya need a shirt-jacket or being really busy, if outside.

 

[wookness]

Good lookin' werk on the backstop, 57, even if it's not quite to yer liking just yet. A bit more tweaking should duit, eh?

Nice 'rangement, sails but I like the car-siding ceiling the mostest.

Funny and fine puddle jumper pics, cow!

Got in a good power nap after my last post. The day was a long one but got a lot of tedium [ducks in a row] dealt with that required multiple tweaks of my own. Felt like I'd been jousting all day and got knocked off my steed, more than once. Back in the saddle now and ready for the flag to drop, so that I can officially... go to sleep. Tomorrow should be much easier.

 

[wookness]

This last cold front has it knocked down to 49° @ 6A, RH 80% wind NW 5 under a few clouds. It'll be sunny and warm to the mid 70's today & tomorrow, but it will remain breezy as things warm, and the winds return from the S. Low tonight is forecast to be 54. Slept soundly, having made some good progress on assorted 'stuff' that needed tackling.
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Friend in Budapest sent me this dynamic link on US immigration over time. I found it rather interesting, so thot to share:

Two Centuries of US Immigration Visualized -- Metrocosm
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Hope the range time is productive in getting that recalcitrant 10/22 sorted, Gerald. W/o knowing didley about it, it almost sounds like it's rebarrel it time or move it on down the road as trading fodder on the next 'gotta have it'. I guess you could try recrowning and possibly doing a 'set back' and rechambering as well, but the cost & time factors would likely be more than whot a new barrel might be had for.
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Time to get that first cup o'joe. Y'all have a good one!