Eau D'Off

Just as blaze orange is a fashion color up - so is Eau D'Off a fragrance. We went to Pig Pen last nite for fishing and the bugs were pretty bad but if you spray Off on exposed skin and the inside of your hat you are pretty well protected. They really didn't bother me except when they go in your ear - UGH.
There were some guys fishing in their t-shirts and they were just batting the bugs and not fishing too well. I was catching them and they weren't. I like that - outfishing locals - especially guys who think women have no right to be out there and they don't know what they are doing - but I showed them. I got four and was proud of it. Then another couple of older men came in full head net apparel - he thought we were pretty brave to be out there without a head net but I told him it wasn't so bad.
We got our limit of eight - some lakers and some eaters - we put some of the smaller ones in our lake for our fishing pleasure - catch and release - so they get bigger - if the loons don't get them first.
When I woke up this morning there had to be a million (ok maybe 30) mosquitos on the window screen - I am not going outside today.n It is supposed to rain anyway so I am inside straightening my cupboards after the company - I can' find anything!!!
Tonite we may go into Thessalon for the Legion fish fry with Linda and John - awsome fish!!!
Tomorrow I go to the dump to pick up a few loose bags - the summer hours have started Wednesday from 10 - 2 and Saturday from 12 - 4pm. Just thought you might like to know.
See Ya bye

WARNING - ADULT CONTENT

Well my favourite plant has finally made an appearance - I call it the testical plant but it's real name is the pink lady slipper but I think it looks like testicals and that is what I call it. Actually they look very familiar....only kidding to those of you checking yourselves.
They are becoming very rare because they are almost impossible to transplant and people still keep trying. They only grow in certain areas - usually under oak or pine trees and the soil has to be just right. We have tons of them growing around here and they are beautiful. There is one growing just beside the road so I'll have to put a rock in front of it so no one drives over it.
They are orchids.
Today I washed my kayaks inside and out and put them down by the water so maybe tomorrow I'll take the first ride on the lake - I hope I don't fall in as the water is a wee bit cold - we had frost last nite. Today was sunny but chilly and tomorrow should be a bit warmer and still sunny so I just may take a chance - but the bugs are out in force - black flies and mosquitos looking for blood.
We'll go fishing tomorrow nite for walley at Pig Pen so wish me luck. I hear the secret bait is Gulp Alive 3" minnows so if you want to impress your friends get some of that - Canadian Tire $20 - worth every penny.
Well that's it for now - I don't do exciting things everyday you know - just some days - maybe tomorrow.
See Ya Bye

Stacey!!!

CONGRATULATIONS STACEY!!!!

Stacey finished her first ultramarathon - 50 miles - in 11 hours and thirty five minutes PLUS she took second in her age group - female 39 and younger - altho she calls herself a Master Runner because it is 35 and older. I guess that makes me a Senior Runner/Walker - 55 and older. She said it was a killer course - hills and valleys that she wasn't trained for but she did it!! Now after I walk a marathon I am sore for a few days and you do something called the marathon shuffle but Staceys was an ultra marathon crawl. She was hurting and was moving v e r y s l o w l y. Stairs - forgetaboutit - she was down on all fours. I could feel her pain. But she finished it in excellant time - Way To Go!!
Do I hear 100 miles.....
See Ya Bye

Jimmy's got something

I'm Back....

Back from my trip to Windsor for the past 10 days - I am glad to be HOME. I enjoyed some aspects of the trip but I could do without some of them ie traffic, traffic lights, stop signs, parking lots, people etc.
I visited with my friends - that I enjoyed. It is the only thing I miss from Windsor - my friends.
It was nice to sit and talk, catch up where we left off before and plan the next visit.
I visited Rejean's family. His brother Micheal was down from Quebec with his wife, his daughter and her husband and their two kids. Hectic. Anne had dinner and it was for 15 people - shishkabobs, vegies on the grill and salad ala Mrs Pomerleau's dressing Yum Yum.
I was back Monday and today - waking up to 32 degrees F - cold all day - I had on my winter garb and had to go put on my longjohns it was that cold. We cleaned out the other garage - moving the tractor attachments and siding and steel and lumber etc. We saw a groundhog and he stuck around for about 5 minutes - cute. Then when we were putting chiprock board on the walls, a live mouse was climbing down the insulation and went outside. I guess they wintered in there but you can't keep them out of there. He only had half a tail.
We will have a fire tonite because it is going down to 2 C tonite - tomorrow we go to Blind River to pick up Rejeans new tire - he destroyed the other one on a rock or a tree or something.
And fishing tomorrow nite for walley at Pig Pen Chute - shhhhhhhhh
See Ya Bye

An Elected Official

Well I am now a Trustee on the Board of the Wharncliffe Citizen's Committee as of last nite. There was a meeting of the board last nite to discuss the future of the hall which took a beating over the winter - the walls are caving in and it has been closed to any further functions until the insurance company can come in and take a look - also it was election nite and guess who was elected - me. I agreed to be on the board because I feel it is my duty as a member of this community to do whatever I can to make it better - and it is in need of work. There are no younger members of the community any more - they are all moving on and the population is getting older (as I am) so there is no one to do the work and people feel someone else will always do what needs to be done - well I am that someone else. Well see what happens.
Rejean was out this morning helping the Northshore Fisheries release some beautiful brown trout in ----- Lake (a true fisherperson never reveals their spots) They released 480 brooding stock - all 2-6 lb trout and another 400 bigger fish next week (guess where I'll be fishing this summer and fall - I have never caught a brown trout before so it will be an adventure - and me with my fly rod).
Tomorrow I am on my way to Windsor with a passenger - Courtney - I'll be dropping her off in Tecumseh and she'll be travelling back with me as well. I have already got a full social calendar for the time I am in Windsor - can't wait.
See Ya Bye

What A Catch!!

Look what Rejean caught today on Jobam!!!! Not really - it was caught in the net that they were using to net the lake for the Ministry of Natural Resources - they spent five days netting Jobam and counting and taking information on everything they caught in the nets - this was a 17 lb lake trout - that was released to give some lucky fisherperson the thrill of a lifetime. There was herring, one rainbow trout and lake trout. I want to go when they net the brook trout lakes in the summer. Nothing better.
I was busy getting the place in shape for the fishermen coming in on Friday. Rick and his b-i-l Jimmy will be in this weekend - that's why I am getting out of town. Then my brother in law Jack and his friend Robbie will be up next weekend. It's the start of tourist season here. I'll be back on following Monday after Stacey does her 50 mile run!!! I am babysitting the furbabies - Sadie and Satch.
I washed my car and the water comes from the lake - but when it dries on the car there is no streaks or blotches - it dries streak free and very shiny - I just have to vacuum it out - all the sand and dirt - there is no car washes up here so you have to wait until the nice weather to clean your cars.
I also have posted (or will try to post) a picture of a tree the woodpeckers have been having a field day with - by the looks of it, it is the piliated woodpeckers - the big ones - who have been hard at work at this one.
Nice day today but windy - too windy to lay out but I hear Thursday is going to be the day for it - sunny and 18 - so I know where I'll be....
See Ya Bye

Mother's Day....

I received my two phone calls today from my two beautiful daughters - Stacey and Jodie . I am a very lucky person to have these two girls in my life - and that they think of me on Mother's Day makes me happy. They also have their own mother - Mary-Lou in their lives so they are indeed very fortunate.
My mother is no longer with me and I thought of her today - as I do almost every day. Little things come up that only a mother would appreciate. I wish see could have seen my home up here, I wish she could have met Mitch. I wish she could have met Kyle. She is missed.
Well I worked at the dump yesterday and finished the road - it looks great. When I first started going to the dump the road up was like driving down a back road - there was no garbage but over the years it got pretty bad - but I won't let it get that way again. I guess I am the garbage lady up here - I pick garbage on the highway and now at the dump - someone has to do it.
I think Jacques is back - I was down by the fishing rock and there was a big bass swimming around and he "assumed the position" for feeding - but I don't have any worms yet. Also the hummingbirds are back - we rescued one from the garage earlier. I immediately put out the feeder for them because there ain't no flowers up here yet.
Also the BUGS are back - we went for a walk over across the lake last night - with the bear spray - and they were out in force - so no more walks for a while. They had to come sooner or later.
Today we just put branches in the beaver dam - we haven't seen him this year yet so we are just assisting mother nature.
See Ya Bye

Getting Back Into The Old Routine

Today I did my first garbage pickup along the highway. I didn't do it during the winter because my mode of transportation was put away - my fourwheeler. They are stored during the winter because you really can't use them because the snow is so deep. I got 1 1/2 bags full of stuff - usually Tim Horton's cups (all the Roll Up The Rim To Win cups had been rolled up and all loosers) water bottles, pop cans, and beer bottles and cans (I made 70 cents today - supplementing my pension) I return them at the end of the summer and hope I make big bucks to buy a hamburger at Ozzie's. I also found a reflector that I brought home and - believe it or not - it was off of Rejean's fourwheeler - he must have lost it last year because we haven't had the four wheelers along the road since last fall. I should buy a lottery ticket with that kind of luck but I would have to drive 10 K to the Trading Post to do that and I'm not.
I usually do the garbage run on Saturdays but being retired I can do it any time I want!!! With tourist season fast approaching I am sure business will pick up :)
AND Terry and Kim were over today to look at where we want the fill and Kim and I were talking and I mentioned my finger/tendon problem - she said Oh you have trigger finger!!! So I looked it up and voila yes I do. But I can live with it.
That's all for today - tonite we'll go for our walk with the bear repellant we found finally. We are safe!!
See Ya Bye

One Man's Junk.....

Well it was clean up the dump day - got started at 10 am and worked my ass off. It was just picking up the little grocery bags that the wind distributes all along the road into the dump and into the woods. It had rained here yesterday so it was a bit wet - but I wore my trusty green boots so my feet were protected. I had one my turtleneck (of course) and a sweatshirt that I had to take off because it got a bit warm from all the hard work. I have a little stick called the Pikstick that picks up the garbage so you don't have to bend down all the time and it works like a charm. There were some pieces that were so imbedded in the soil that you needed to use your hands that were covered in gloves. It looks great altho I am going back on Saturday to do the whole road from the highway up. I started up near the top so I will have to finish what I started. As you can see from the picture there is an old almost boxcar container we call the store and people put stuff in there that they think someone wlse could use - but the majority of it is junk that should have been put in the garbage pile so we cleaned that out as well. I had the best part - there were boxes and boxes of glasses and dishes that were to go in the constuction pile - well I had about 6 boxes to get rid of and just throwing them in the pile individually and hearing them break was great - someone had bundled about 10 flourescent lights and I threw them down there and heard them pop!!! It was fun!!! Also saw salamanders under the leaves - neat little things.
There is a joke that "you know you are a redneck if...you leave the dump with more than you brought" Well...guilty as charged - I found two little crystal vases that I brought home to clean up and they look fantastic - so one man's junk is another man's treasure - how true.
I came home at three and got about 1 1/2 hours of sunning in on the deck - how relaxing.
Tomorrow - who knows what I'll do.
See Ya Bye

pictured are my friends in dump duty from left to right - Skip, Joanne, Erla the dump lady and Pat - I took the picture or I would be in it - I'll have to learn how to use the camera so I can be in the picture too

What The Heck Was That????

Well it rained all day here and my clean up the dump day was cancelled until tomorrow when it will be nice - figures. Hopefully it will not be an all day event and I do hope to take advantage of the nice weather and sit on the deck. We are supposed to have a lot of help so maybe it will be a short day.
I went into Blind River today to drop off the water sample and do some shopping in the "big town" bigger than Thessalon and the grocery store does have a better selection which translates to having my salad dressing.
On the way home (you do scan for wildlife up here) I saw what at first glance was an ostrich but - come on Janet - there are no ostriches up here. It was tall, and brown and had the droopy wings but I realized it was a Sandhill Crane grazing at the side of the road. Usually they are grey but apparently this one wasn't. I am used to seeing the Great Blue Herons up here but it is always a treat to see the Sandhills - they are quite noisy when they fly over - you can always here them coming.
Well just a shorty blog today - I emailed Stacey and asked for a reservation for next week at the mansion - I get out of Dodge when the fisherman come.
See Ya Bye
ps - just a picture I liked today - nice fish Ricky!!

Nothing Exciting

ssNothing exciting happened today - Rejean was netting Jobam and he just brought home three herring!! I don't think I have had those before. They are in the fridge til tomorrow to be cleaned - tonite is pizza!! Nothing compares to Windsor pizza and that is exactly what I am going to get when I hit Windsor is a pizza - double cheese and pepperoni - yum yum. Can't wait.
I raked my garden and the septic bed as well as Stacey and Andrew's - I have a blister to prove it. Too cold and windy to sit out in the sun - one day....

Tomorrow I go clean the dump if it doesn't rain - if it does it is off to Blind River for some shopping and to get the water tested - it can't be that bad because I am still alive and healthy.

I took a picture of the chairs for you Joanne. Just picture the three sisters sitting out on the dock sipping our cocktails that Susan made and just enjoying ourselves - can't you just feel it???
It's not that far away you know.
See Ya Bye

TIMBERRRRRR

Well I am still alive and I will never question the wisdom of Rejean again. It worked like a charm. I was afraid that the tree would fall on the cable and yank the truck back and I would be killed in the process - I even put my seat belt on and was contemplating wearing my helmut. BUT nothing happened except the tree came down exactly where it was supposed to and my little pine tree at the bottom of the steps was spared - two branches were on either side of it and it was never even touched!! It is all cleaned up and, besides the stump, you would never even know there was a tree there - we also took the little cedar and the other small pine tree down. I got to drive the tractor and work the bucket. Rejean pushed the logs into the bucket and I drove them over to the trailer and loaded them into it. I must admit I am quite good at it now. I put her in four wheel drive and drove down the hill and got the load of logs, drove up the hill and lowered and dipped the bucket into the trailer. I should have been a farmer. The two loons were around today as well - they seemed to be curious as to what all the noise was about - they are used to us by now. They show no fear at all. I am having trouble with Picasa so you might not get the action photos until tomorrow but I have them.
Rejean is going netting on Jobam with the 2 Rons tomorrow so I am going to be raking my garden (what's left of it) and the spetic beds - the only grass I have to cut up here. It is supposed to be sunny and warmER so maybe I'll get some sunning in. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
We went to get our hair cuts yesterday at Robin's - getting ready for my trek to Windsor in two weeks - trying to look civilized I guess. It's my annual trip to the big city when the fishermen come in - I don't like to muck with traditions. It also gives me a chance to visit with my friends, family and the malls - even tho I love it up here I still need a dose of shopping every now and then. Can't wait!!
Now I'll try and get some pictures for you.
See Ya Bye

I'm Still Here

I must address a complaint I received from one of my faithful blog readers that I did not blog on the weekend....well I need a day off too. I have been working my ass off for the past week or two and I needed some downtime. I forget what we did on Friday but Saturday I wne to town for supplies and we threw John from Axe Lake a surprise birthday party at the local Chinese Restaurant in Iron Bridge (not bad food considering it is located in a very small town - all you can eat for $10.99 - but not licenced - all the Axe Lake people sitting there waiting for us and all they could drink was water or pop - not a pretty sight) I had a hard time thinking about what to get him for a present but while I was in town they were repairing the main road and the workers had on their blaze orange work shirts...eureka!!! That's what I got him - a blaze orange work shirt for when he works on his road he will stand out - but actually I got it because when he comes home drunk at night and falls down Linda will be able to find him in the dark (just kidding) He liked it soooo much he wore it to the dinner. We passed some time before we had to have him to the restaurant by going to Red Rock Dam - on the way to Iron Bridge - we do pink salmon fishing there in the fall and usually the water is low. But take a look at it now - I have never seen it sooo high - it was just amazing to see the power of the water coming thru the coffers. And where we fish was totally under water - I bet the water was up 15 feet because all the shore line rocks were no where to be seen.
WOW - after the meal we went back to Linda and John's for cake - he was 63 and Linda couldn't find a six to put on the cake so she bought 3 3s - 3+3 is 6 + 3 is 63 - Axe Lake math.
Sunday we cleaned up all the branches over by the garage where we split the wood and also cutmore wood from a tree that had fallen all by it self - an easy day. Then I got my minutes of the Loggers meeting done - thank goodness - it was pressure - like I was back at work. Remind me never to do that again. It was also dump day!! My favourite day - Erla the dump lady and I talked for a bit and I will meet her on Wednesday at the dump to clean up the dump!! All the little plastic bags get blown all over the place and if you don't keep up with picking them up they get out of hand - I like the dump to look nice (does that make sense?) so we will spend the day there picking up garbage.
So there it is - my weekend. Today we are taking down the BIG tree next to the house to make way for the fill and the addition - I will be driving the truck that is attached to the cable to pull the tree a certain way - I don't think what Rejean wants me to do is safe but - I am insured and life does go on.....if you don't hear from me tonite.....
See Ya Bye

Mission Accomplished!!

Well we are finally done the fire wood - worked all day today from 9 am to 4:30 pm - nice and sunny and NO BUGS yet. We must have done about 15 or 16 cords total - my wood shed is full and Rejean has enough for his garage. We are still using wood for fires - we had one on this morning and we are firing it up again tonite. Still not too warm.
After dinner we had desert and went for our first walk on the mine side - couldn't fine the bear spray but went any way - I can run faster that Rejean :) Saw a grouse - nice and big and me without my gun....and a bat. He must be eating something - they are our friends - they eat tons of mosquitos (is that the way you spell it?) Also Rejean heard an owl and rubbed it in that I can't hear them - they must hoot at a decibel that I am unable to hear - must be from all that loud rock and roll music from my youth.
That's it - just another day in paradise....
See Ya Bye

By the way for those of you who think I had professional help in this blog - I did it all by myself - there is a link on this blog to "Create a Blog" and that's what I did - my pictures on on Picassa and it has a link to "Blog This" and that is how the pictures appear - and I changed the background without help, too. It's easy - if I can do it you can do it - it's fun.