ANOTHER SHOT OF BLUE

Here's a better shot of the Blue Pickerel.  Rejean wanted a shot with the measuring tape and a picture that wasn't shot thru the basket.
We didn't get thru to the MNR so no DNA samples were taken.

Blue is alive and well and will remain that way...

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN...

Yes, I canned today.  Antipasto.  With Mary.
Last year we sampled Mary's antipasto and I raved about it and plans were made for her to help me with a batch this year.  Today was the day.  Lots of prep.  I blanched (new for me) and rough chopped 12 cups of tomatoes and diced 2 red, green and yellow peppers.  For those who know me, I hate peppers but Mary convinced me that the flavours would blend with the other stuff.  OK.  Mary did the onions and celery and garlic.  She also made up the spice packets while I dealt with the peppers.  Oh to be able to chop as they do on the Food Channel...
You can see the results of our 5 1/2 hour day.
And to tell you the truth, I kinda enjoyed it.  And I know the results are delicious.  I discovered the tools you need to make canning easy.  Guess what I will be asking Santa for this year...

BLUE PICKEREL?

...only the MNR will know for sure.
We headed out with Barry and Sandy last nite for some fishing.  Barry caught this pickerel.  Rejean noticed it was a very different color than regular pickerel which, up here, are a beautiful gold and black color.  This one was Blue!!  We kept it on the stringer and put it in the basket in our lake when we got home.  Ron came over this morning and took a look at it and said in all his years of fishing for walleye - over 60 years - he had never seen one like it.  It wasn't a sauger.  We googled a blue walleye (or pickerel) and they are supposed to be extinct!!  Some fish who resemble the blue walleye are just regular walleye whose color has been affected by the acidity of the water.  But I don't buy that.  If that were the case, you would see more of them.
We decided to let the MNR know of our catch and let them decide if it is worth taking a look at it.  They will be able to tell from the dna just what exactly it is.
Whatever it is it is beautiful.  There is a bluish tinge on it's cheeks and the eyes are very very dark.  I will keep you up to date on the results.

CONGRATULATIONS REJEAN!!!

We headed into Blind river this afternoon to donate blood.  It was Rejean's 50th donation and they took his picture and made him wear a sticker that said "50".  Well Done Rejean!!
It was my 36th time - I sometimes have problems with my iron - when it is low they don't let you donate.  But today it was very high - he asked me what I had for dinner last nite and I said fish.  He said just keep doing what you have been doing.
It was a good donation experience today.

Remember -Blood - it is in you to give...

OUTFISHED!!!

We have had Rejean's Mom and Brother here for the past few days.  They dropped by on the way home to Windsor - I guess they took the long way home.  Peter lives in Barry's Bay and Claire in Windsor.  Claire has spent the past 3 weeks in Barry's Bay visiting Peter and co-hosting the family reunion - they decided to drop by and visit us for a few days.  We wanted to have a fish fry for their last dinner with us but we only had 2 walleye fillets so we had to go fishing on the lake.  After our ice cream cone from the Post, we all got in the boat.  Peter wasn't going to come but we persuaded him to go - thank goodness because he caught the most fish.  He really hasn't fished before but he had the best spot on the boat (that's what I tell myself) - he caught the first walleye and the most walleye - he also got a nice bass that gave him a good fight.  But Rejean's Mom had the best time.  She had a lot of nibbles and did catch a few walleye.  I gave her my rod when I had a fish on. She gets so excited and was so proud of her catch.  Not bad for an 87 year old woman eh?  I got a nice big bass on and it gave me a grand fight - jumped 3 times!!  I hope it wasn't Jacques!!!  We release all the bass to fight another day and after we took our 3 walleye, we released all the others we caught.  The moon was full and the loon was looning at us for quite a while.

It was a perfect evening and we will eat well tonite.

WELL WORTH THE WAIT

 Ron finally got his beautiful 10 pound 11 ounce walleye back from the taxidermist and what a great job he did.  It looks beautiful mounted on a piece of driftwood instead of the ubiquitous  slab of wood.
He caught the fish in February of 2012 and got it back in August of 2013.  He knew it was going to be a while because the guy does such amazing work.
It will look even better once he finds a place of honour in his home for it.  Once it is up, I'll get a better picture of it.
It has inspired me to get out and get a trophy fish to mount on my wall instead of the little honeymoon brook trout I caught 30 years ago.

PS  I have to add that I finally got a doe tag this year.  After years of complaining that I never got a doe tag and everyone else had, I got one.  And so did Rejean and Barry and Sandy.  Poor Eddy didn't.

Now, if I can just spot one in November...

SNAKE IDENTIFICATION PLEASE

I have searched all my books and the internet and I still haven't identified the snake I disturbed in the slate mine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.  The color is very accurate and, as you can see by the leaf next to it, it was small.
Thanks!!

OFF ON THEIR JOURNEYS

There was a family reunion that we attended over the weekend in Barry's Bay and both Stacey and Jodie were able to be there.  Jodie has been teaching in Calgary for the past few years and Stacey has been in London (and St Catharines and Priceville) also for the past couple of years.
Jodie was in town on her way to Abu Dhabi - leaving tonite at 10:30 to join her husband Dave for the next couple of years.  And Stacey on her way to Calgary tonite as well to join her husband Andrew.  They will be living in Calgary for the next few years.  So the reunion was a perfect time to say their good byes.
We'll stay in touch by all the devices we have available to us and I believe a trip to Abu Dhabi is in my future in the year 2015.  I hear they have beautiful beaches and the fishing is good too.  Strangely, I am looking forward to it...

Safe travels girls.  I love you both with all my heart.

TRYING TO CATCH UP

It has been a busy busy few weeks and I have not been keeping this blog up to date.  We had Joanne here for 3 weeks, Mitch for 2 weeks and Jack and Sue for 1 week and we packed a heap o'fun into the time we had.  The weather wasn't the best but we didn't let that stop us.  We got to go on a 4 wheeler ride all together thanks to Stacey and Andrew letting us use their bikes.  We were heading to our secret spot where we know there is a big pudding stone  but the stream that we crossed  was running way too hard to cross.  We ended up at another fishing spot where the guys tried their luck.  Mitch had the magic touch that day.  We then took a trail thru the bush with lots and lots of puddles and mud.  The girls had to have a celebratory drink at the end.
More fun pictures tomorrow.