Saturday, April 21, 2012

Dutch Oven Cobbler

This little Jewel started the Briary River Dutch Oven craze.  It has been slightly modified over the years but is still as easy as ever.  You can use fresh or canned filling that is entirely up to you.  We started off with canned then evolved to fresh as we grew the fresh ingredients.

See more recipes on the Briary River Recipe Page

PEE DEE Purlow, Also known as Pilaf, Pilau

Don’t demean this classic sportsman’s dish by calling it Chicken and rice.  This ain’t chicken-n-rice, and it ain’t chicken bog either!  This is the real deal, chicken purlow, and it may be one of the best things you ever put in your mouth! See more recipes on the Briary River Recipe Page
            I am going to give you a small recipe for a five quart cast iron pot.  Purlow must be cooked in a cast iron pot Lodge Logic Dutch Oven, 5qt. (Google Affiliate Ad).   If it’s not cooked in cast iron then it is just chicken-n-rice.  If you decide to cook purlow once, you will try it again.  The more you cook purlow, you will learn that it is a subjective dish.  You can substitute any small wild game you like for the chicken.  You can cook larger or smaller pots based on how many people you want to feed.  And lastly you have to cook it often – the more you cook it the better you get at it.  This dish has been called by many spellings it is also often spelled Pilaf, or Pilau.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Buzzard Luck Continues

 

It seems there is no end to our buzzard luck.  Joe got the tractor running again Thursday.  Friday morning it rained, so we couldn’t get anything done, that’s not a complaint by the way, the rain is a blessing.  Friday afternoon it cleared off, and Tracy was able to get most of Mama’s grass cut.  When he tried to crank the tractor today to finish the grass cutting, it was acting up again.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Garden

Last year the Briary River crew decided to grow a summer garden, the main staple of which was beans and corn.  This year we decided to start early with a winter garden then a summer garden.  We have some idea of what we are doing since we all grew up working in our parents gardens but we are also trying to branch out and try new things.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Buzzard Luck

 

It seems that we here at Briary River have Buzzard Luck.  We can’t kill nuthin’, and ain’t nuthin’ dyin’.  We decided a while back that we were going to try to grow some corn to feed the deer this fall.  About a month back Tracy and I turned the field and got it ready to plant. 

Saturday, March 24, 2012

2nd Annual Upland Bird Hunt

BO and his phesant.

BO and his pheasant

Today all the guys at Briary River went on our 2nd Annual Upland Bird hunt at Spring Grove Preserve.  It was Bo’s first trip with us and we had a ball.  It was a chore to get the weather to cooperate with us today, but in the end, it was a great day.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Dan

 

This is the story of Dan, as told by Rufus Lawrimore in March of 1987.

Grand Papa had eight sons.  Blue was Papa’s second oldest son, he owned a horse named Dan, Dan was quite a horse.  Papa was always scared of Dan.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Been a While

 

It’s been a while.  I apologize.  I’ve started back in graduate school, and it seems that all my extra time goes into course work.  What little time I have when I’m not at work, or doing school work we continue to work on other projects we have going on. 

Monday, February 20, 2012

Granddaddy

I know that I have not posted in a while.  I have been trying to write this blog for a month now and have decided to do my best and just do it.   I am scared that I will not due it justice.  If it is a little hard to read, that is because it was hard to write especially through the tears. 

Beautiful Day

 

I do believe that yesterday was the most beautiful day of the year.  I woke up to cloudy skies and a slow soaking rain.  It rained almost all day, never really heavy, just that steady soaking slow rain.  It had been so long since we had a day like that, it was beautiful!  It has been so dry.  All of the ponds around here are as low as I’ve ever seen them.  That’s why we didn’t have any ducks last year, we had no water.  Anyone who was lucky enough to have a little water had some birds, we had none.  The past two summers have been dry, the only saving grace we’ve had have been wet winters.  This winter we have had almost no rain, it was wonderful to see the rain yesterday, a real blessing from God.

Once again this spring we will try to plant some food and cover in the pond for the upcoming duck season.  We had a little rice in the pond last year, but without water it did us no good.  Maybe this spring won’t be so dry, we really need to get some more days like yesterday over the next month.  We need water in the dirt before the sap starts rising.  When the sap starts rising the trees will soak up all the water that falls.  Maybe we will get some rain this summer.  With so little water in the soil now, we will need to get ample water for the farmers to make crops, and the water to come up in the ponds.  Then maybe with a wet fall we will have water in the ponds next year.  Then, maybe, just maybe, you will finally get to know what the Briary River Way is all about!

Yesterday was a beautiful day. 

Buckman

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Cindy Girl

Buckman’s Briaryriver Cindy was born on August 29, 1999.  Sired by Summer Duck’s Doit Hazzard, out of Black Cypress Mandy, I brought her home when she was seven weeks old.  I raised Cindy.  I trained Cindy.  She may have been just another dog to anybody else, but Cindy was my dog.  She was special to me.

 

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Grand Pa and the Infernal Fools!

 

Grand Pa is what they called my Great Great Grandfather.  They say the old man was as mean as a rattle snake.  From the stories I’ve heard of the man, I’ld have to have to say he probably was.  Grand Pa had five children that lived.  The oldest, my Great Grandfather W. A.  three other sons, Joseph, Richard, and Miley, and one daughter, Mary.  When W. A.’s first child, Willie, was born, Miley was two years old.  Grand Pa, not having a baby around, took Willie and raised him as one of his own.

Mary, being the only girl, was something special to Grand Pa, and he couldn’t bear the thought of her getting married.  Most young women do get married however, and sure enough, the day came for Mary.  Now it was harvest season and the corn had been gathered.  Corn stalks had been cut and piled in the field to be burned. Quite dramatic, and in great distress, the old man crawled under the stalks and told Miley and Willie, “I can’t live, my girl is leaving me, light me afire!”  The two young men, taken aback, didn’t know exactly what to do, so they did as they were told and set the stalks on fire.  When the blaze began to spread through the stalks, the old man busted out and exclaimed, “YOU INFERNAL FOOLS, YOU WERE GOING TO BURN ME ALIVE!”

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Briary River Way Paddle Giveaway

We here at BRW are giving away a handmade Briary River Pond Paddle.  To enter simply reply to this blog.  Each reply will be assigned a number and we will use a randomizer to pick the winning comment on march first if we have at least 50 comments .  We will email the winner so please leave an email address.  The winner will have 1 week to reply or we will pick another winner.  Also if you do not wish to post an email address we will post the winner on the blog.

Unfortunately we are limiting this contest to legal residents of the of the contiguous 48 states.  Sorry we just can not afford to ship them out of country(we are broke). 

Also we are not responsible for any accidents or injuries that may occur(like your wife hitting you with it) from use of our paddle.  We also reserve the right to make any changes as we see necessary.

Thank you for participating and remember to check out our sponsors ads.  That is how we are going to pay for shipping(hopefully).

Monday, January 23, 2012

Papa at the Auction

You know, I’m just a poor teacher. I’m rich with family and friends, and I’ve been blessed to have a little land to hunt. I make enough to keep my family fed, but sometimes, especially this time of year, things get tight. Sometimes I wonder how things may have been if my Great-Grandfather hadn’t been such a good farmer.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Drought

There’s no doubt about it, there is a drought. During football season I pay very little attention to the world outside of football, but when Joe and I checked the pond during the first week of November, and we found the mud flats dried out, cracked, and hard, I knew there wouldn’t be a good start to the season. But I still had hope. If we had a cold, wet December, maybe, just maybe, we could get some of the migratory birds, even if the local birds were a lost cause. November had been a cold month, but a cold December was not to be, and even though December is usually one of the wettest months here, there was hardly any rain. The drought continues, and there are no ducks on Briary River.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Why Tonto was so Skinny

Maybe I am crazy, maybe I am to much like my daddy.  I don’t know.  I just like a challenge.  Most guys hunt with a rifle and I like that too.  Sometimes though I just want to use the bow.  Its  the challenge of it.  Anyone can drop a deer from 40-200 yards with a rifle, but to get them close, to draw without being busted and to make the shot where you can watch the arrow fly.  Now that is just awesome.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Legend of the Great White-Faced Buck

I remember it all very clearly, even though I was a young boy, and it has been so long ago now. It was the first year I was allowed to take a stand by myself. It had been so exciting in September, the first time I was alone on a stand. The heavy morning dew soaking through my boots as the mist rose skyward, the sun warming the cool morning. In my hands the smooth wood of a well worn stock and the cold steel barrels of an aged sixteen gauge double barrel shotgun. The gun had been my father’s, and my grandfather’s before, but now it was mine. Pride swelled within me as I stood in the glory of God’s morning, turning my head towards the warmth of the sun.