It was blind shooting again. After seeing the mother leave to gather food, I set the camera for full-auto, held it as high as I could and fired away. I think I got pretty lucky with this one.
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I have a couple of road runners living in the yard and have for some time. They are usually skittish but have been hanging out on top of the chicken coup this spring. They built a nest under my carport in some vines growing there and I finally got a peak at the chicks. The mother goes out and brings back lizards and that’s when I snuck in. She caught me the second time and did a great injured bird impression.
The nest is kind of high so I just set the camera for “auto”, raised my arm up as high as I could reach, and just fired away. Most of them were no good but this one I liked well enough.
As a follow up. This was under the nest a little while later and I’m sure it was looking for a snack of baby bird. I hated to cheat it out of a meal but I took it a ways from the house and think it will do well on rodents.
It is a harmless bull snake so I wasn’t concerned for my safety. Even the chickens were relatively uninterested.
I am double posting this from my professional blog because I think it is really remarkable. A cave find from southeast New Mexico.
From time to time, we receive donations from private individuals. After a few phone calls back and forth, I arranged to meet with someone who wanted to show me a dart she had found in a cave when she was young. We have agreed to accept this remarkable find and intend to display it in the near future. The preservation is beautiful, although it has apparently been handled over many years. There was apparently a spear-thrower (atlatl) found with the dart but it was unfortunately lost in a house fire.
Click the image for a larger version
foreshaft separated
The foreshaft/point is hardwood and fits into a socket. the hind shaft is split in order to contract when seized with sinew (still attached. The barb is lashed on with more sinew. I will put more description and better photos when I get time.
I took this photo last week. I didn’t have a telephoto and I was just shooting some wider overviews. This was mid-afternoon with the sun at her back.
Not that dramatic with the world of exciting media but I was glad to get this. I had to walk up on her slowly and hoped to not spook her out. Not as sharp as I would wish but I had nothing to brace against an she was farther than it looks here. I was using a 18-55 mm zoom on a digital SLR.
I am all about the DIY. After making a pair of sandals for Winter Count this year (I arrived with only work boots) I got re-interested in making shoes. I have made many moccasins for woods walking, especially when I was into mountain man and F & I re-enactment and decided to make some new ghillies. I like these because there is almost no sewing and I think they are cool. Much of Europe wore a variation of this theme for millenia. I then took it as a veritable sign when I saw this on the Instructables web page: http://www.instructables.com/id/Viking_shoes/. Even though these are listed as Viking style, I think they are commonly associated with their Celtic cousins in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. I made a set of these years ago with little instruction and they were great. These are a little more thought out and I will likely make a better pair based on what I learned here. Click photos for larger picture.
pattern and finished
rear view
sewn heel
lacing the toe
after wetting and shaping
drying before oiling
I’ve been making folding camp furniture. The stools are sometime called “pea-pickers”. They were somewhat difficult to figure out without a plan but some photos of others and experience making other furniture helped.
They’re not as easy to make as I thought they would be. The holes must be very precise and dowels tight-fitting. If everything isn’t square and precisely cut, the stool just doesn’t work.
This is their beauty. They fold flat and have an integrated handle. They can be made just about any size and out of any straight lumber. My first one is made from scraps from around the workshop. These later ones are from premium pine.
Seventeen pieces, twelve holes. Stick ‘em together. Sit. Mine are sturdy enough to use as a step stool, with some caution due to the narrow width.
A table of similar construction. The top is about 22 x 46″. I made it 2 inches lower than a standard table to fit the stool height. A combination of pine, poplar, and oak. Definitely strong enough if it is well-fitting.
More changes to the Gypsy. 16 gauge galvanized sheet metal covering the sides, to make it more weatherproof and a complete re-make of the bed to make it lower profile.
Winter Count was another highlight of the year for me. We met some new people and renewed friendships with old. I have put up some of the photos on the web page this week.
These are sandals constructed from the narrow-leaf yucca. These designs are based on specimens preserved in caves. These might not be much to look at but they are remarkably impervious to the many sines, spikes, and other poky things found in the deserts of the west. These are two and four warp designs and the yucca is only slightly processed. The leaves should be dried prior to use and then re-wetted just before weaving. This prevents the normal loosening associated with shrinkage during drying.
These are being diplayed at the Blackwater Draw atlatl and Primitive Technology day 2008.
I intend to continue to research these and will try to compare types through use.
I took this photo about two years ago. It is an amazing and enormous caterpillar on a willow shoot. It was longer than my finger and I think it is a Luna Moth.
