Dead stuff on my deck

After a week of hunting, D returned on Friday evening with a ton of caribou meat. He shot a really nice one with his bow and it was so great to hear his happy voice on the phone afterwards! The drive is something like 16 hours north (one way) so I usually expect that he'll be gone for a week or more. This round took a week exactly.

When I think about it, the amount of work that goes into hunting is pretty staggering -- D shoots the animal, and then has to field dress it and haul the meat ON HIS BACK to the truck or boat or wherever (sometimes for miles and multiple trips). Then at home he pretty much butchers everything by himself (because I suck at this) and I manage to help a tiny bit with canning or freezer packing. The burger-making process is kinda fun though -- I am the designated grinder operator!

Here is the sweet rack off of D's caribou - his biggest one yet. It is outside on the deck so little critters can clean the meat off the skull. The magpies have really been eating up a storm over the past few days. These birds are fearless a-holes -- I'm pretty sure they enjoy challenging Drift and the cats when on the deck together.

Drift wants in, the cats want out. We spent almost an hour driving around and looking for Drift last night after he slipped out of the yard and went exploring. D finally found him not too far from our house.

Summer is coming to an end and I'm pretty sad about it. We had the most amazing few months -- unbelieveable weather, lots of family time, good fishing and an engagement! Best summer ever.

My outdoor plants are still hanging in there, especially the geraniums (my favorite). I've been trying to bring a few in and set them in bud vases before our first frost finally shows up and kills off the plants once and for all.