Couple more trail cam pics...

Do ya see the little guy? Took me a bit to see him on the field viewer at first, it's a little easier full screen...

Here he is after he steps out.

Another pic from a different camera on the property, yes, it was 35F degrees this morning at 12 minutes to 7.

Cow Moose with calf

Kind of hard to discern, look low in the first image, under the cow. You may have to click the image to enlarge it in order to make it out.

See the skinny spindly legs? It's her calf with her. Not the best images in the world, my trail cam at the beaver pond picked them up yesterday.

Of Beaver, Bear, & Moose

Some recent images of a short hike through the back of the property, visited my favorite beaver pond, spotting some Moose and Black Bear tracks along the way.

Par for the course

Same thing happened to me back around October of last year. Life and work take off leaving little time for bloggin. Sometimes the doing is consuming, leaving little left for the writing there of.

Guess that went without saying since the last post was about five weeks ago. April evaporated and now nearly half of May, candle is burning from either end. Planting is on top of us now, which will be most of next week. Need to finish the construction projects, did get the coop and wood shed done, as well as my Man Cave for lack of a better phrase.

I had a rather disturbing reflection a few weeks ago. The question, "what do you do in your spare time"? Or, "how do you spend your free time"? Ever think about it in more than a passing manner?

Who owns your time that you must allocate it in a fashion that your "Spare" or "Free" time is the time left for personal actions? I find it ironic that most folks "free" time or "spare" time is almost always the smallest amount. Methinks a wrong turn was made on the civilization road somewhere along the way.

Seriously, it isn't an argument of semantics either, who owns your time? The Bank? The Boss? Just who is it that the bulk of our time is given to?

The conditioning begins at 5, and for the next 12 years at a minimum,  our children are conditioned to accept the fact that they owe time. The spend an average of 40 years plus giving that time to something or someone else, and by the way, you can have your time back when you're close to physically used up.

I'm taking my time back.

Are you?

ML Knives

There are rare moments in life where something slipped to hand simply resonates, the object could be any one of a number of things. A rifle, a bow, a watch, while there are a multitude of similar versions on the planet, there is one that just sings. It's a moment all have felt at one point or another, might have been fleeting but chances are it wasn't. Something inside just sounds off and a connection is made. Many of the things that I have with me most often are of this sort. They are favorite friends carried over many miles, always at hand and ever reliable.

From the looks alone, and along with handling one at a knife show I knew I'd like Matt Lesniewski's knives and placed an order last October.

I received them and while I haven't been able to get much field time in I've been thoroughly  impressed with them so far.

Initially I was ordering only the big Hudson Bay variant but at the last minute I decided to order a Kephart model as well. Man O Man am I glad I did.

I'm a fan of big knives and a bigger fan of old designs like the Hudson Bay. The heft of this knife combined with a super comfortable handle and an incredible edge add up to a great chopper. Bites deep and solid, prying wasn't a problem. No hot spots in the hand at all.

The Kephart is a joy to hold and use, edge is perfectly sharp and the size is perfect for most bushcraft type activities that I engage in. I'm very impressed with this knife, fit and form are top shelf craftsmanship. Matt did a tremendous job on the set, but the Kephart just came out perfectly suited to me.

The sheaths are also first rate, high quality, elegant simplicity, rugged, functional and well executed. I have no doubt they'd last a lifetime.

I've no complaints, they were well worth the wait and cost. There is a very good chance I'll have Matt work up a matching Nessmuk in the near future. I expect to be posting a lot more about these knives over the summer and into fall.