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John and Mona's Year in Photographs Volume II (2013)

Volume II

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John & Mona's Year in Photographs 2012

Some of the photos we took last year.

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John’s Wooden Pens #1

I had a couple requests from people to see some of the pens I’ve made over the last several months. This is most of what I’ve done so far. I would guess there should be over 40 different types of wood.

#	Type of Wood	Origin
1	Teak (1816)	India or Malaysia
2	Taboti	S African Lowveld or Swaziland
3	Rosewood (1832)	Honduras
4	Zebra Wood (1828)	Africa
5	Curly Cherry (1806)	USA
6	Purple Heart (1809)	South Africa
7	Bloodwood	Rockwell
8	Bocote (1831)	South America
9	Red Oak	From Eugene L. Durben
10	Yellow Heart (1829)	South America
11	Bloodwood (1826)	Sourth America
12	Coyate (1813)	Central America
13	Koa Wood	Hawaii (Harvey Neverman Sr. 1982?)
14	Iroko (1800)	West Africa
15	Zebra Wood (1828)	Africa
16	Paduck Wood (1808)	Africa
17	Pink Ivory	Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa
18	Swiss Pear Wood (1830)	USA & Europe
19	Shedua (1833)	Western Equatorial Africa
20	Olive Wood	East Africa
21	Honduras Mahogany (1821)	Honduras
22	Koa Wood	Hawaii (Harvey Neverman Sr. 1982?)
23	Wenge (1823)	Africa
24	Afromosia (1804)	Mozambique

Click on Photo to enlarge

John’s Wooden Pens #2

#	Type of Wood	Origin
25	Paduck Wood	Central Africa
26	Zebra Wood	West Africa
27	Hedge Apple	from a line fence in Central Illinois
28	Mopani	Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Northern Province of South Africa
29	Curly Pyinma	Indochina and extending into Indonesia and the Philippines
30	Butternut	from Eugene L. Durben
31	Walnut	Harv Neverman Jr
32	Olive Wood	East Africa
33	Dark Walnut Burl	GRB
34	Imbuya	(Brazil)
35	Black Wood	Africa or Australia
36	Cherry	Eugene L. Durben
37	Spanish Cedar (1815)	Spain
38	Spalted Maple	Eugene L. Durben
39	Maple Burl	Eugene L. Durben
40	Mahogany	GRB
41	Sapele (1810)	(Central Africa)
42	Goncalo Alives 1803	Central Africa
43	Lacewood (1827)	Australia
44	Bubinga (1805)	South America
45	Grenadillo (1802)	South America
46	Antique Heart Pine (1818)	USA This Antique Heart Pine was cut from a support beam removed from a 150 year old barn in Vermont.
47	Aromatic Cedar (1819)	USA
48	Koa Wood	Hawaii (Harvey Neverman Sr. 1982?)

Click on Photo to enlarge

John’s Wooden Pens #3

#	Type of Wood	Origin
49	Hedge Apple	From Harv Neverman Jr (ILL)
50	Oak	Habitat for Humanity Resale Shop
51	Blood Wood (1826)	South America
52	Paduck (1808)	Africa
53	Rosewood	Honduras?
54	Rosewood	Honduras?
55	Cocobolo	Central America (Rockwell Lg pc)
56	Wormy Chestnut (1817)	USA
57	Cherry	Eugene L. Durben
58	Maple Burl	from E.L. Durben
59	Paduck Wood	Central Africa
60	Mesquite	Mike Durben (TX)
61	Red Oak	E.L. Durben
62	Curly Maple (1807)	USA
63	Santos Mahogany (1814)	(Brazil)
64	Cherry	E.L. Durben
65	Aromatic Cedar	Woodcrafters GRB
66	Butternut	E.L. Durben
67	Apple Wood	From the Green Bay Post Office before employee parking lot was put in - 1984
68	Aromatic Cedar	Woodcrafters GRB
69	Oak	Habitat for Humanity Resale Shop
70	Koa Wood	Hawaii (Harvey Neverman Sr. 1982?)
71	Oak	Habitat for Humanity Resale Shop
72	Walnut	Harv Jr. ILL?

Click on Photo to enlarge

A Few of the Turkeys We Saw A Couple Weeks Ago

As we took a ride around the Lake a couple weeks ago we came across theses Turkeys.  They didn’t seem to be too bothered by our presence as they slowly walked away and crossed the highway in to the woods.

Short Trip to Rochester

Got to Rochester, NH two days ago and it hasn’t stopped raining yet. The weatherman is saying they won’t have sunshine for 5 days yet. Great weather.

Leaving for home at 5:30 tomorrow morning. Hoping we’re not fogged in.

Here is a photo out my hotel room window. Note the nice cloudy sky. The silver building in the foreground is the Rocker Diner (Restaurant). It’s a 50’s era establishment that serve a pretty good breakfast. The Shell Station in the background is our liquor store where we buy a six-pack of beer to take back to the room.

Fire on Ice on Shawano Lake–January 9, 2010

These photos were taken on Sunday, January 9. We weren’t able to stay at the race very long since we had a previous commitment but it’s the largest crowd I remember seeing. I hope to get more photos posted in the future and even have a short movie but also short of time. (You should be able to click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Last Day Fishing in 2010–Shawano Lake

 

We went fishing on Shawano Lake one last time this year on Sunday, November 7. The fish didn’t cooperate but we had fun anyway. (Plus we didn’t have any boat problems this trip for a change.) Mona decided to take it a little easy this day so she brought along a book to keep her busy. Weather was in the 50’s and wasn’t to bad unless we were running the boat at 45 to 50 mph.

 

John takes a break from casting just to enjoy the last outing of the year. It’s going to be a long cold winter until we can get the boat out again. Monday night the boat went in to get winterized and we picked it up and put it back in the garage for storage on Tuesday night. Note the BP Station in Cecil over John’s left shoulder. That’s the corner of Highway 117 and 22.

 

 

Photo of the boat landing and Camp Grounds in Cecil. All of the seasonal campers have been pulled out and put in storage as well. There’s a few seagulls sitting in the calm lake in the foreground. The Washington Inn can be seen on the right side of the photo.

 

 

With a sad feeling within us, we decided to hang ‘er up around 3:00 pm or so. We didn’t even see one sign of a fish that day. No strikes at all, and normally you can see the little ones swimming around the boat, especially on a nice sunny day like today. This photo was taken by John as we started pulling up to the Swan Acre Boat Landing. You can make out our house in the background just over the cars and trailers in the center.

One Way Trip on Shawano Lake on 10/10/2010

Sunday morning we got up and made our breakfast as usual. Hooked up the boat to the van and took off to Cecil to fill the boat with gas before heading out to Shawano Lake.  We didn't want to run out of gas like we did a few outings ago while we were out by the Island. We got on the lake shortly after 8:30 or so. (Click on photos to enlarge)



Mona caught and released this 5 inch Largemouth while fishing for Bluegills.

While heading down the outlet toward the river we spotted a pair of Eagles.

A short time later we came upon another pair of Eagles. One of them flew away before we could get a picture of them.

We fished for about 3 hours for Bass and Northern with little success. Being somewhat bored and needing to put a couple meals of fish in our freezer we decided to fish for Bluegills. Between the two of us, we caught about 20 of them but nothing with any size worth putting in the livewell.

The decision was made to head over to The Lighthouse Bar near the Airport to hit the rest rooms and get a couple cans of soda since the weather was beginning to warm up a little bit. Once returning to the boat we decided that we would head down the outlet towards downtown Shawano. While motoring towards downtown at a no wake speed, John kept on snapping photos of the fall scenery that surrounded us. By the end of the day he had over 150 photos.

After going as far as we wanted we turned around and ran wide open up to the no wake area a few hundred yards from the bridge we go under to go back towards the lake. All of a sudden the alarm on the motor went off indicating the the motor had over heated on us. John shut the motor of right away so that we wouldn't cause any damage to the motor. We had been traveling through a lot of weeds in the water and the motor probably wasn't getting enough water to cool it properly.

We used the trolling motor again to get us over to the marina right by the bridge and tied up to one of their docks and waited for the motor to cool down so that we could head back home and watch the rest of the Packer Game. The motor wouldn't start after several attempts over a period of time. Here we are nearly 8 miles from our van and boat trailer and we can't get the boat started.

Mona had her cell phone so she called one of our neighbors who was kind enough to pick John up and run him back to our vehicle. The marina had a boat launch, however it is not in the best condition. We got the boat on the trailer after a lot of effort but when we tried to pull the trailer out of the water the front wheels of the van only spun and wouldn't move. We had to push the boat back into the water and move the trailer out of the water a little more. The landing has a drastic 6 inch straight down drop that the trailer tires got stuck on.  Now there were no trailer rollers in the water so it was going to be a job getting the boat out.  We were lucky that there was a women who stopped to check out the area for fishing and a guy with a jet ski who wanted to launch showed up. After a good amount of effort from the four of us we got the boat on the trailer and this time the van had no problem pulling it out. (The motor started the next day after changing the spark plugs.)

Starting to Look like Fall on Shawano Lake 2010

We're only three weeks into September and the change in tempuratures and the change of the colors outside is making me think that fall has one foot in the door already. We should have a few days yet before it's official. Below are a couple of photos I took today around the Lake.

Wildlife on the chippewa Flowage was Fantastic...

Above Left this photo was taken directly into the sun of a young Eagle. The Right photo was taken just after this Blue Huron swallowed a fish (looked like a small bluegill). Note the lump in it's throat.

Left - This Blue Huron is stalking some of the little bait fish that hung out around the shore line while in the other photo a mature Eagle sits on a fallen tree waiting for lunch.

 

Above left: This guy just moved over to a different spot as we were fishing bluegills. The right photo was taken from inside the cabin. You can see the side of the window on the left. It appears he got him self a little snack there. Again, into the sun. I wonder if this is the same guy that checked out my boat last year?

This is the same bird from above right and now he has to get a  little

drink to wash it down.

This Grouse was on the side of the road one day when went for a

ride around the Flowage.

Again we went to Hayward one day and this Turtle was on the

side of the road on Hwy CC. I had to grab the camera quick

and snap this picture.  I know that if my Father had been along

with us he would have stopped and picked him up and we would

have had Turtle Soup.

As we were cruising along heading out to one of our fishing spots

John noticed this deer in the bushes keeping an eye on us. A

little while later we saw another deer in the water crossing the lake

coming to the side where this one was.

This little guy was running around when we were up checking our

e-mail up at the Lodge. He had a mouth full of oak leaves and he

was bound and determined that he was going to go around us.

Later he ran right under the table past John's feet to get where he

wanted to go. You can see, there is a lot of wildlife around if that's

what you're into. We are.

Our Cabin at Chippewa Pines Resort

This is the side of the cabin that faces the Flowage. Cottages 5 & 6. We've been trying to rent number 6 for the last 5 or six years now.

Inside Cabin 6. Two bedrooms and enough room for us and our stuff. Real nice and cozy.

Saturday morning Mona puts the last couple of small items in the van before we check the cabin to make sure we didn't forget something. (Still can't find the battery charger for the camera so we hope we didn't leave it there somewhere.)

Last view is from the van in the previous photo looking towards the cabin and the Flowage. We had a lot of fun again this year.

(Click on photos to enlarge - You may also scroll left and right to see the entire photo)

More Fire on Ice - 2010

Here are a few more shots of the Fire on Ice Races on Shawano Lake. The first couple images are some of the vehicles coming off the Lake on January 24th, 2010. We took a ride around the Lake and by the time we got back to the Cecil end the races were over. They must have had a mess though with all that water.

Yesterday, the 31st we got there a little earlier and stayed until the intermission. The crowd is getting larger each week and it appears as though there were more cars this weekend. You can listen to the results on the Radio on FM 100.1.

I've got more photos but I just need time to post a few more.

Route Lake Lodge Vacation (1)

It all started last Spring (2009) when Mona and I worked at the Sportshow in Green Bay at the Special Olympics booth. Our job there was to sell raffle tickets to raise funds for our fishing Club, the Green Bay Area Great Lakes Sport Fishermen.

Money raised from the annual event goes toward setting up our trout pond for a day where Special Olympians are given the opportunity to catch a few really nice trout. The Olympians are bussed in from surrounding Counties where they catch the fish, have them cleaned for the frying pan, and they're given hats or pins, food, snacks and beverages. Naturally, when you sell raffle tickets, you have to buy some too. That's just how it works.

The raffle drawing took place in April at the Club's Annual Smelt Fry and weren't we lucky enough to win the Grand Prize which was a Canadian fishing trip for two for a week at Route Lake Lodge. The Lodge (which is the only one on Route Lake) is located approximately 25 miles north of Dryden, Ontario. The owners, Glen and Shirley Roulston have owned the lodge for 4 years and have given away that many trips to our Club for our Annual Event.

One of the unique things about this Lodge is that when you drive as far as Dryden, you give Glen and Shirley a call and he will be waiting for you by the dock with his pontoon boat by the time you arrive about a half hour later. There he will pick you and your belongings up for the 10 minute or so boat ride to the lodge.

Below are a few of the panoramic photos I took. You can click on the photos to enlarge them. Also note that since they are so large, you may have to use the bar on the bottom of your screen to see the whole thing.

The Lodge is located on a point between two fingers in the lake. This is the side of the point that we were on. The most noticeable cabin in the center is the cabin we stayed in. In the large view, you might be able to see just the top of the Lodge behind the rocks on the right side.

Pictured above is the other side of the peninsula. Starting with the Main Lodge on the left, there are several more cabins on this side. Although they are not visible in this photo, the fish cleaning house and the main dock area are in a small lagoon on the right side where they are normally protected from wind and waves.

This is the inside of our cabin. It's very modern considering the location. Shirley's brother-in-law told us that when the Lodge was built, all the building materials were delivered lakeside by one of the many trains that continually make their way along the winding tracks through the trees. From there they were transported by boat to the final building site. Electricity at the Lodge comes from one of two diesel generators or solar power. If you want to get away from telephones and tv's and radios etc., this is the place to come. (Note: Mona is in the designated Bar making a couple of Old Fashions.)

Walleye fishing was the best Walleye fishing we ever experienced together. We caught and released a good number of Walleye and kept enough for one shorelunch in the cabin and our limit of 4 each to bring home. (We had another meal last night.)

We found Northerns harder to catch because Route Lake is a very deep lake (at least to us - 150 ft. in some areas) and we normally cast in the shallows down to 10 feet or so on Shawano Lake. John caught and released one 30 inch Northern which is in the slot size that had to be released. He had his line bit off once and broke of once. When it was bit off - we hadn't switched over to leaders yet.

I'm guessing we marked a lot of Lake Trout about 30 feet down in the water column but being greenhorns to this type of trolling we had no idea where our lures were running. We experimented between the two of us alternating putting out different amounts of line with no success. On top of that, I tried different boat speeds for trolling but that didn't help us either.

All in all, we had a great time. Even though we were the only guests at the Lodge for the week of Labor Day, Glen and Shirley treated us well. They said the week we spent there was the best weather they had all summer. It was in the 80's (26 C) almost every day and only rained two nights after we had already gone to bed at 9:00 or shortly after.

More photos to come when I get more time to post them.

There's a Few Blue Huron on the Chippewa Flowage

This is the first series of photos presented here regarding the Blue Hurons in the Chippewa Flowage area near Hayward, WI. in northern Wisconsin.

A few years ago a "hail storm" hit the area and damage many of the nests and eggs for that season. It appears to me that the birds numbers are hanging in there for now, but it also appears to me that the trees that held the nests are beginning to deteriorate as well as the nests themselves.

The Stalking Blue Huron on the Big Chip

One day while fishing in our favorite crappie spot this Blue Huron kept coming back to a small bog that had raised from the bottom of the Lake and would stand like a soldier on guard and wait for it's prey to make its' deadly mistake. The bird did this about 3 or 4 times over a period of and hour and a half or so and here are a few of the stills I captured from his efforts.

Any of you who know me know I like to fish but when you have entertainment like this in front of you, the fish can wait. It's really a privilege to watch these creatures in their own environment. Unfortunately for the bird, all of his efforts of trying to survive for the moment were fruitless.