WHAT A HAUL!!!!

We started the day over at Ron's trying to identify some small minnows they had collected from Chub Lake - they thought they were Pickerel but they turned out to be just some Dace minnows. They left the minnow trap out to try and get some Pickerel.

In the afternoon, Rejean, Rick and myself got all geared up to fish the Mississaugi at the "first stop". There was a break in the weather - read stopped raining - so we decided to give it a go. I headed to the Post to pick up a new flat of worms because we were out. We headed out at about 12:30pm. We got there and Rejean and Rick fished the rapids and the pool - I headed up stream to my "secret" spot. It is about 1/2 mile upstream and I have a two way radio to keep in touch. Almost as soon as I got here I got a call on the radio that Rejean had got a good size brookie. It to0k about 4-5 casts before I had a hit. It just held on to the bottom part of the worm but I had him on for about 10-15 seconds - a good one. I fished around and had a couple more hits and right when the weather was starting to worsen (thunder and big black clouds) I hooked into my beauty - a pickerel. But I didn't know it was a pickerel until I beached him. A nice one.

I called the guys and said I was coming back because I don't think it is a good idea to fish in a thunderstorm. They agreed and I made my way back. Rick had got a nice bass and Rejean had added a nice rainbow to his creel. We decided that Wednesday would be the fish fry day. A proverbial smorg of fish and french fries - yum yum.

All in all it was a great 2 hours of great action. Life IS good!!!

The top picture is my pickerel, followed by Rick's bass, Rejean's rainbow and his brookie - niiiice.

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DO YOU REMEMBER THE TIME...

You have to admit, he was a very talented human being. I remember when Thriller came out and Stacey and Jodie would sing all the songs - they knew them by heart. I enjoyed watching the videos. He could dance!!! And was fun to watch. His music was a big part of my life - I enjoyed singing along with his music, trying to do the "moonwalk" which I never could quite do. His videos which were really short movies. Billy Jean will forever be one of my favourite songs to dance to. He was always ahead of his time.

He will be missed...

BACK AT WORK

Today I was at the Wharncliffe Hall from 9:30am til 7pm preparing for tomorrow's chicken and fish fry. It will be the first dinner at the new hall. There were 5 of us doing all the preparations - Mary-Lou, Phyllis, Vickie, Paten and myself. We should have more help tomorrow. I did the pasta salad, the macaroni salad and the deviled eggs. I had a devil of a time with the eggs. I think they were new eggs. They would not peel properly. Took me and MaryLou quite a while to get them all peeled. 90 eggs!! Poor Paten peeled 50 lbs of potatoes. With a knife!! I like a potato peeler myself. It is really the hardest work I have ever done. And it will be harder tomorrow. When 5pm comes around and we have 100 people standing there ready to eat, you better have it all ready. Phyllis stands at her food mixer and does the mashed potatoes. I usually do the corn and keep everything loaded in the servers. And when someones calls for potatoes, I come a'runnin'. It is hard work but I enjoy it. And it is only during the summer and 1 a month.
I'll take some action photos tomorrow.
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IT WAS A HOT ONE

It got hot here today - very hot. It was the first day we went in the "pool". We found our pool toys and floated in the lake. It was very refreshing. We got out fishing this morning at 7am but only got 2 that we kept and they were perch. We got one of everything - a small pike, pickerel, perch. And we came across this mother duck and her 9 babies - you have to look close to see them. They managed to swim away from us along the shore line. Cute. We went over to investigate the dam on Tunnel Lake - something we had never done before. Nice view.

Tomorrow we hit the links. Tee time is 10 am but they are trying to get me to change it to something earlier because it is supposed to be 29 tomorrow - very hot. We will for sure be packing some cold "beverages" in our cart - our golf cart - yes, they talked me into riding - I would prefer to walk but maybe next time. I have my camera all charged up to take advantage of all the photo opportunities that will present themselves tomorrow. I have my golf beads all ready to go too.

And we will be dining at the OutPost tomorrow nite, on their pork roast nite. No dinner to cook and no dishes to do. I'll post some pictures of that as well.

See Ya By

TUESDAY STUFF

Rolled out of bed at 5:20 (got a wee bit more sleep than the rest of them but I was awake) and we were on Aubrey Lake by 7:15am. Nice Lake but we only got 2 - Chris got a small one that we put back and Rejean got a keeper. We had never fished the lake before and it will take a few times before we find the right places. But it was a pretty lake - nice rock faces as you can see in the pictures. Tomorrow we will fish Tunnel Lake again. We know where to go. But the coffee is set for 5:30 - not 5am - I put my foot down. And on Thursday we will golf. I want to walk but Chris and Egon want to get carts so I guess we will too. I hope everyone stocked up on booze - we spend $450!!! People that are coming up here for vacations wanted us to buy them some booze so that they had some up here just in case the strike lasts longer than expected. You should see Keith's beer room!!!!! Piled to the roof. And his supply of liquor - a lot!!!! Just in case....I need my beer for these hot summer days.

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AN ALL DAYER

Just a few images of our day today. We headed out on our 4 wheelers along the hydro line to the Little White River. Along the way we passed some big piles of bear poop and the bear tracks along with them. I'm glad we never ran into the one that left that pile. It was BIG and FRESH!! I was in the lead because I have been along that route more times than Rejean and I must admit I was hoping that I wouldn't run into a bear - we were in prime bear area - lots of open fields of fresh green grass but we never did see one. BUT I did see a MOOSE!! We were coming along the trail, almost where it meets the logging road and it came out of the bush right in front of me and ran down the hill across the road and back into the bush. But I did get a good look at it and it was big with a big rack. How exciting. We stopped at Chrissy's spot (that is what I am going to call it from now on because she always gets a nice trout - as the picture proves). I got a small trout as well. She kept hers and I let mine go. I got a good picture of Rejean, Egon and Chris at a nice look out spot. We took the highway back to the Trading Post where we all had an ice cream cone - was it good because it was very hot today. I have a farmer's tan on my arms!! I'll have to fix that soon. We ate the pickerel that we caught yesterday for dinner tonite with some french fries and coleslaw - delicious. We are back out tomorrow to Aubrey Lake to try our luck there - they want to get up at 5am!!!! I can't take much more of this. I like to sleep in til at least 7!!! What I'll do to go fishing...

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THE BOAT SHE GO FAST

Chris, enjoying the ride back.

4 FISH AND A ROD AND REEL

Rejean with his catch of the day. He thought he was snagged but pulled up an Ugly Stick and a Shakespeare reel - a little dirty but none the worse for wear. It will clean up nice. We were on Tunnel lake fishing by 7am and back home by 11:30 with 4 fish in the live well. I got 3 (that's my biggest one in the picture) and Rejean got one (+ the rod and reel). Dinner for tomorrow nite. Yum Yum. We may go out again tonite after supper because it is a perfect day for it - overcast and calm. You never know. But tomorrow is the big 4 wheeler day trip - lots of action photos. See Ya By





PS Happy Father's Day to all you Fathers out there - you know who you are.

THE DRAGONS ARE HERE!!

Just when the bugs are soooo bad you don't think you can take it anymore, Mother Nature sends out her troops - the dragon flies. There are thousands of them out right now. On my walks there are hundreds on the road that have smashed into cars - you really can't avoid it no matter how slow you go. Thank goodness on the 4 wheeler they seem to get out of your way. But they are everywhere. They land on the ground and move when you walk near them. They like to sun themselves on the cement and they line up like little helicopters ready to take off. Sometimes there are 20-30 of them all sunning themselves. And they eat bugs!!!! There are so many different kinds. The ones that are out right now seem to have a hunch back and are black and white. Some are florescent blue. Some are big and some are small. They land on you sometimes and it is interesting to be able to get a good close look at them and their big eyes. When I was in Florida last year there was a little arts and crafts display and this man had pewter dragonflies for sale. I couldn't resist and now it lives on my bathroom screen upstairs - I have orders for the next time I go to Florida. They are just interesting creatures.

Rejean and I went for a 4 wheeler ride over to the mine side and saw some big moose tracks along with smaller ones so maybe it is a calf and it's mother. I am still sad about the death of the other moose. It is terrible to loose a creature so big and gentle in such a violent way.

See Ya By

ps - Chris and Egon are coming up tomorrow and I will try to keep up my blogs - it should be a good week - it is supposed to get up into the high 20s!!! Maybe my first jump in the lake...film at eleven.

ONE LIFE SAVED - ANOTHER LOST

On my walk this morning I saw some garbage that I would have to pick up on the 4 wheeler when I was finished. It was a beautiful morning and I decided to do the whole route and not just the garbage I had seen. I was travelling along the side of the road when I happen to see an upside down turtle. He was a good size painted turtle. I thought another one got run over and it was dead. But, much to my surprise when I got closer I could see his little arms and legs moving. And because it wasn't a snapper, I got off the bike and picked him up and moved him over to the ditch where some water was running. I just placed him on the grass beside the little stream. I got back on my bike and sat and watched to see if he would come out of his shell and move. I got tired of waiting and continued on my way after placing some sticks on the ground opposite to where he was so I could find my place on the way back and check on him. When I did return he was well on his way back to who knows where. Who knew how long he had been on his back. I thought they could turn themselves over and how did he get that way? A mystery. But, one live saved.
We went to the Post for ice cream last night and heard that a moose had been killed just up the highway from us. We immediately thought of the moose who had made the tracks along Steve's trail. We knew he wasn't a big one but still big enough. Well, one of the guys Rejean is working with on the nets sent us some pictures of the moose being loaded unto a trailer. And he was about a 3 year old bull moose. And, unfortunately, we think he was ours. He was killed just between us and Limberlost, where our moose travel. It must have happened overnight. And the sad part was that Ute and some of her guests were following the moose tracks and came across him in the ditch. How sad. But that happens. There are more out there. We have seen larger tracks and I saw some fresh ones along the road this morning.
But that is how it goes. Sometimes you win one and sometimes you don't.
See ya By

WHAT I DID TODAY

First thing I went for my walk. My sister-in-laws Anne and (maybe) Lise have committed to doing the Detroit Freepress Marathon in October with me so I am back in training mode. I backed out of the Nike Woman's Marathon in San Francisco when the economy was tanking along with my portfolio so I didn't have a marathon to look forward to. But thanks to a little alcohol and some sweet talking, I have two marathon buddies.
Then I went on a garbage picking run and found a treasure - the waterproof map of Lake Erie - it must have flown out of some one's trailered boat along the highway. I didn't get much garbage - which is a good thing. I came home and cut the grass on both septic beds and then planted some more petunias and a pony tail for down by the garage. I then started washing my car when Rejean came home early from the fish netting adventure. We then went over to the other property on the 4 wheelers and re stacked some of the firewood that had fallen over. We discovered some big moose tracks down the path that Steve had made the last time he was here. I bet he's happy that the wildlife are using his path. By that time it was time for some tanning over on Stacey's deck (no pictures of that). Dinner and relaxation followed. It was a good day.

See ya By

HAPPY BIRTHDAY REJEAN!!!

FRIENDS!! LOUISE AND LINDA

ISN'T SHE LOVELY - SADIE POO

TAQUILA SHOTS!!!!

GEE IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK HOME AGAIN

We have been down south in Windsor for the past few days in a whirl wind of a trip - as it always is. It is so hard to get in a visit with everyone. We were last down at Christmas so it has been a while. We did get some time with Rejean's mom Claire, Stacey and Andrew got us one nite. Then rick and Joan another nite and then Johnny Shotz for a little party for Rejean's 60th. Stacey wanted to have it at her house with a tent and stuff but at Johnny Shotz you just walk in, have a great time and then go home. No muss, no fuss. And they know how to accomodate you. I highly recommend Johnny Shotz for any celebration.
Andrew was getting Rejean to do Yagerbombs(?) a mixture of red bull and Yager stuff. I think he did a total of 4 all night. I was expecting the worst but he did maintain. Actually he woke up early Sunday morning and woke me up to head back home. We were off by 7am!!
All we did was shop and spend $$ - we were at Costco 3xs!!! But we got what we wanted. And now we are back home. And I am back to blogging.
Rejean is out tomorrow helping with a fish count with the ministry. It is a whole week so I will be able to clean and get ready for tourist season which officially starts this weekend with Chris and Egon - and their new boat and new 4 wheeler - should be a blast.
See Ya By

AS PROMISED...

All my deviled eggs and my booty from the party. Note the Big Buck Head.
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THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE

No I am not hung over - I only had 2 Coors Lights. Actually I feel pretty good right now. Had a great time last night. I got my eggs made in just over 1 hour - and I only did 70 - I heard from Linda this morning that there were a few left over so I am glad I did not make my original 100 - but I'll be making that many + for the wedding next month.
Ute and I went together and she drove - which I know is amazing to some people as I am not a good passenger to people I don't know how they drive. But she suggested that that way I could have a couple of drinks. I am always the designated driver so I thought "what the heck - sure". We got there about 8:10 - it started at 8. I delivered by eggs and got down to the business of presenting my tickets at the door. There is a pile of different looking tickets that you can buy for different stuff. First there was the drinks tickets - they were red. Then there were the silent auction tickets - they were red and white. Then, I heard but didn't notice them,there were tickets for the 50/50 draw. I would have bought one but, as I said before, I didn't realize they were available. Sat with Linda and friends. They had a disc jockey and, I must admit, the music was good but loud as usual. Then they called for people to come up with a toonie - so I did. They took my money and put my name on a sheet of paper. It was for the "game". They put a big slice of a log in between two chairs. They gave the two people hammers and the trick is to be the first one to hammer a nail into the, log each person taking turns hitting their nail. Well, it is harder than it looks. I got up there and eventually won 2 games but lost in the finals. Is it ever funny. People sometimes just can't hit that nail. Sparks were flying. It was hilarious. I think I am going to provide that game for the tourists this year. Something to keep them occupied. I came away winning two of the silent auctions and if my camera was working you would be looking at my stash. 2 t-shirts, a $25 gift certificate from Ozzy's, a quart of Jack B's maple syrup and a ball ornament - no, not that kind of ornament. It is for the ball on your trailer hitch. It is a big buck's head with a great rack. It will look good on Rejean's truck - I won't tell him it's there and see how long it goes before he notices it. Don't tell him.
Ute was ready to leave at about 11:30 so we headed home. They had just put the food out but who can eat at 11:30 at nite - not me. I heard my eggs were a hit. they almost forgot to put them out I hear. Thank-you Cheryle for reminding them.
When I can get my camera to unload the pictures, I will get them one.
Sunday, rainy and chilly. good day for planting...
See Ya By

DEVILED EGGS

No pics yet but I promise tomorrow to provide you with a picture of 72 deviled eggs I am making for the Stag & Doe, Buck & Doe, Jack & Jill whatever you want to call the party tomorrow nite. I have heard of Buck & Doe but they say Stag & Doe up here. I have an extra ticket because my date is not here. So I am looking....
I boiled the eggs this evening and the house sort of smells like eggs. And I can't open the windows much because it is raining out. Tomorrow I will be creating. I have chives and parsley growing in my garden so I will be harvesting some for the eggs. I also have little onions coming up - Mary gave me some bulbs because they are taking over her garden - thanks for sharing. I have planted my lettuce (2 kinds) and I will plant my tomatoes and cucumbers tomorrow. I have 2 tomato and 2 cucumber plants growing in the greenhouse. I also have 4 wild strawberry plants that I am coaxing so I may have a good crop coming up this summer.
See Ya By

I also got some news from Stacey that she has committed to the Canada Death Race next year so I am looking forward to that adventure. I have also committed to being on her support team. YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

THE FOX DEN

Just before the Post on the side of the road is about 6 holes dug in the hill - it is a fox's den. And I finally saw one of the little baby foxes the other day. He was rolling out of one of the holes. I just happened to have my camera. Just my luck two big trucks passed by and scared him before I could get a good picture - you can just make out the white tip on his tail as he disappeared into the den. The other picture is, I believe, a big rabbit being pulled into one of the holes - can you see the feet? Dinner!! Yum Yum. Every time I go by there I take my camera - I am bound to get some better photos.

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MY FOUR WHEEL ADVENTURE

The other nite Rejean, Ron, Gerry and I hit the road for a fishing adventure. We used the four wheelers to get there and that little bridge is over a big washout on the trail to the river. Rejean got one as did I. I also caught 3 bass but since they aren't in season yet, back they went after I kissed them - for luck. The bugs weren' that bad. A nice nite. We got ready to leave after dark. Ron discovered that his lights didn't work on his 2 person 4 wheeler. I led the way, Ron followed and Rejean and Gerry took up the rear. We sandwiched Ron in the middle and got him back home safely. It was fun riding in the dark with your headlights lighting the way. What an adventure. A good time was had by all.

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A CHANGE OF HEART

Rejean caught this brute the other nite. He puts the fish in a basket in our lake to keep them alive until the next morning when he will clean them. He woke up in the middle of the night with second thoughts about the fate of the fish. We put it in the cooler for transportation to a nearby lake where it was released. He was none the worse for wear and quickly recovered and swam out to the deeper water. It was a big guy - 25 inches!! Karma.

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THE BASKET CASE

I am going to a Buck and Doe this Saturday nite at the hall for Ashley and Luke. I have volunteered to do my World Famous Deviled Eggs (100 of them) and I also donated a door prize. I got a bottle of wine and two of my handpainted wine glasses left over from a party a few years ago, a box of chocolates, two small candles and some wine charms in a sports theme. I put them in a basket from the dollar store and some tissue paper, ribbon and cellophane and voila - instant romance, as I call it. It turned out great - better than I imagined. If I ever go into business with this I have decided to call my business the Basket Case - how appropriate. I heard that!! No comments from the cheap seats!!

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WARNING - ADULT CONTENT

Yes, my testicle plants are back - in full bloom. I was trimming some branches around my crop and, by mistake, I cut off a bloom. Yikes. These plants take up to 16 years to bloom and I just chopped it's head off. I felt soooo bad. In this month's Cottage Life book they highlight this plant. Very interesting stuff. It is only pollinated by a Bumblebee queen, who visits the plant before her first batch of workers pupate and take over her foraging duties (whatever that means) They are called the pink lady slipper. It also says a colony of these orchids may live as long as the forest in which it grows. I will protect my testicle plants from all preditors!!! When they germinate, the seeds must link with the threads of a symbiotic fungus that provides them with the nutrients they need to survive - sounds like an episode of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine.

I have a bunch of them growing in different places around the property.

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