A FUN TIME ON THE MISSISSAGI

I found out a few things on this day - my keys and camera still work after getting them wet!!  We decided to hit the river for a day of fishing and fun.  Susan was responsible for preparing the beverages which she does so well - we stay hydrated wherever we go.
We arrived and saw a boat with a young couple fishing across the river but up from where we usually fish so we headed to our spots.  I headed off to my secret spot up the river and left Susan and Joanne for a short time.  I arrived at my spot and cast in - nothing.  My second cast produced a beautiful rainbow trout that jumped 2 times for me - I didn't have a net with me (another story) so I had to gently ease him onto the rocks to land him.  He just fit nicely in my creel.  My next cast was into a little deeper water and I hooked into a big bass - what a fight.  He jumped too.  I finally landed him and decided to let him go because I had enjoyed catching him so he was released to fight again.  I made my way back to Susan and Joanne - Susan had just caught a small bass.  We fished a while longer and just as soon as it got sunny, Susan had a walleye on.  It takes the 3 of us to land the fish.  I net it and then we all slowly walk to shore together - me holding the fish in the net, Susan holding onto the rod with the fish still on the line and Joanne making sure we don't fall in the water.  Then we all huddle around watching Susan take the hook out of the fish while Joanne has a death grip on the fish then getting the fish on the stringer.  It is fun - the couple in the boat must have been laughing their asses off (Sorry Mr & Mrs Barr).  Then Joanne gets a walleye and I run over, put my rod on shore and proceed to run out into the water to net Joanne's fish - without my walking stick on the slippery rocks - needless to say, down I went into the water.  But I netted the fish.  My camera and keys got soaked along with me but they both still worked.  Again the 3 of us headed to shore with the catch.  Wed ended the day with one rainbow and 3 walleyes.

Not bad for the Sisters...

PUDDINGSTONES

Joanne wanted some Puddingstones  so the 3 Sisters got on our quads and went to find some - a few years ago we have found some so we found our way back.  It involved some tricky stream crossings - they had to pull my little 250 over some rocks but I made it.  Susan and Joanne had no problems on their bigger bikes.  Susan and Joanne went looking along a dried up stream for some stones - we found a few snakes in the process - a few screams but only because they were startled (the sisters - not the snakes).  We explored a little further and came across a huge Puddingstone boulder - we had brought along a sledge hammer and chisel just in case and they sure came in handy - that's Susan chiseling a piece off which turned out to be a beautiful specimen.  We brought home tons - enough for everyone's gardens.
See Ya Bye

THE SISTERS

Joanne and Mitch arrived in style on Sunday - you can see Joanne riding her new quad on the back of the truck - hard to believe but she didn't ride all the way from Calgary this way but I am sure she would have if she could have.  Toby the camp dog was there to greet them and get his first treat.
After Susan and Jack arrived on Monday we planned our first day together on the Tuesday and we made Stacey an honorary Scott Sister because she came out with us on her new quad.  You can't really see it in the picture but she  "bedazzled" the visor on her helmet with rhinestones and it looks very cool.
We went fishing on the Mississagi mostly for fun because we didn't catch too much but the real destination was the Jacuzzi on a stream in the area.  It has the greatest "mud" around.  We slathered ourselves from head to toe, let it dry and then sat in the pools and let the waterfalls wash us off.  It didn't hurt that it was about 90 degrees out.  It was very refreshing.
I think the guys went fishing that day but I don't remember.

FISHING WITH RON

Sorry the quality of the photo is poor - I guess Rejean was a bit excited with the catch.  It was Jack's last day so the guys went out with Ron and came home with all these fish!!  A pike, bass and walleye - a nice variety.  They were cleaning them this morning and Jack went home with enough for a good feeding.
The next (2) pictures are of their catch from their outing on the Mississagi River from earlier in the week - all in all it was a good trip for them as far as fishing goes.

The girls also had their fun as you will be able to see in later posts :o)

ANOTHER TALENT I NEVER KNEW I HAD

Before they left Joan and Eboni gave Stacey and I lessons in sushi making.  The first one I made Eboni said was perfect - I think she was just being kind but then again, it did look pretty good if I do say so myself.  It is harder than it looks but once you get the hang of it and with someone who knows what they are doing  showing you the ropes, it is pretty easy and fun!!  And even if they don't turn out as firm as they should be, who cares.  You can eat the evidence and no one is the wiser.  They are bringing the fixin's back in August so I will perfect my form at that time.
See Ya Bye

SOMEBODY'S OLDER!!!

Before our vacation we celebrated my friend Linda's birthday at the Out Post Lodge - her husband, John, organized for about 27 of us to have dinner there - Jim and Anne put on a delicious roast beef dinner just for us.  Each day of the week the menu is different at the Out Post and you can call ahead for reservations and it is well worth it.  We have had the pork roast, the chicken and turkey meals and the roast beef now.  I highly recommend it.
The first picture shows Rejean going in for a big birthday kiss - Rejean and Linda have a "special" relationship so I am sure it was a good one.  The next picture shows just a portion of the guests - mostly from Axe Lake.  Needless to say a good time was had by all.
See ya Bye

EVEN I NEED A VACATION

We needed to visit Rejean's Mom and she just happened to be visiting Pierre at his cottage in Barry's Bay so we killed two birds with one stone and went to Barry's Bay - yes, we vacationed at the Lake - how different ;o)  He has a beautiful place on a nice Lake.  There are tall red cedars surrounding his cabin and a ton of property - it's like a park in his front yard.  It takes him 4 hours to cut his grass!!  He made us feel very welcome.  We had fun floating in his "pool" with his Mom in her floatie.  She can't swim but she has a donut around her and a noodle under her legs.  We tied her to the dock (just like we did to Pierre in the 3rd picture) so she doesn't float away.  And we also anchored her so she wouldn't move.
It was very relaxing and a change to be someone else's company.  We left on the Saturday and returned on Thursday to get ready for our next company - Joanne and Mitch from Calgary who are arriving on Sunday and Sue and Jack arriving on Monday.  Let the fun begin!!!

AN ALL DAYER

We launched at 9am for a full day of fishing Tunnel Lake - Jerry and his son Jeff would be following us in their boat.  There was Ron, Mary, Rejean and myself in Ron's boat.  It was a hot one - 90 degrees and just a slight breeze that saved us from dieing out there.  Jeff had an umbrella in his boat that he put up but it was blown off his boat and sank before anyone could save it.  There were several attempts at a retrieval but none were successful so we continued fishing.  About 4 hours later we returned to the same spot and Jeff actually snagged onto his lost umbrella and it was saved to shelter them again.  That's Jeff with the celebratory fist pump by his umbrella.  They did manage to catch more than the umbrella and finished the day with an impressive stringer.  We started off slow but by the end of the day we did ok - see Ron's beauty bass - we just stopped at a site that looked interesting to Ron and lo and behold it paid off bit. 
Ron has 2 lawn chairs in the back of his boat for the extra passengers - Mary and I like sitting back there and on the trip back, we turned the chairs around to enjoy the rear view, as seen in the final picture.  What a great day and I wasn't burned to a crisp - I had tons of sunscreen on and we stayed fully hydrated at all times ;o)
See Ya Bye

NOW THAT'S A WATER GUN!!

As hot and dry as it has been up here, we keep the fire hose connected to water down the trees and shrubs around here and today it was used as a water gun to hose the kids, and me, down.  The kids have water bottles filled with water and were skirting everyone the other day and Rejean had his regular hose out as his weapon of choice.  But he got out the big guns today.  We had a blast and what a wonderful way to stay cool in this heat wave we have been having.

K I D S ! ! !

Hey Hey the Kids are here!!  Gavin, Melina and Jake arrived with Rick and Joan and Eboni on Monday and they haven't stopped!!  So much energy!!  They checked out Uncle Steve's place on the day they arrived - I took them on the little hike over there.  They didn't spend too much time there - too many other things to do.  Grandpa Rick took Gavin fishing today and altogether they caught 8 bass - Gavin got the biggest and the smallest.  The biggest was almost 4 pounds.

More later - Boots is here for dinner.

40 LONG HOURS

We finished cleaning the Hall at noon today - 5 ladies working our collective Asses off (sorry Mr and Mrs Barr).   But the Hall looks great and ready for the next gig - a 50th wedding anniversary dinner on August 6th for 50 people and then the famous Pig Roast on August 12 which should have over 250 people. 
The turnout wasn't as expected - we only cleared about $451.17 but it is enough for one month's bills - hopefully the rest of the functions will do better. 

We had the usual menu for our fish and chicken fry - 50 pounds of white fish locally caught in Blind River, 100 pounds of chicken (legs and thighs), corn, mashed potatoes, home made baked beans (I pretty well made them because I added all the ingredients and they were delish) corn, gravy, buns, corn fritters, veggie tray, devilled eggs (guess), cheese tray, pickle tray, cole slaw, macaroni and pasta salads, 4 kinds of jello salads, ice tea, lemonade tea and decaf and regular coffee and all the home made pies you can eat.  All for $12.
You can see Mary peeking over the bar counter - she cut all he pies for us.  And you can see Phyllis in the top photo checking out the salads for replenishing.
It makes for a long and tiring 5 days but well worth it.

See Ya Bye

PHYLLIS' PIES

A busy day at the Hall getting ready for the big dinner tomorrow nite - I cleaned 100 pounds of chicken - separating the legs from the thighs - 180 pieces - and not a cut on me and the knife was sharp!!   But while all this chicken cutting was going on, Phyllis was working on her pies.  Yesterday she made and baked her shells for the cream pies she made today - chocolate, butterscotch, banana cream, pumpkin, lemon and then she made the meringue - I swear she piles it 3 inches high!!  And she let me lick the last bowl of the day.  Tomorrow she will make her fruit pies - by the end of the afternoon tomorrow she will have made enough pies to feed over 150 people.

She is a master pie maker and I am in awe.

I SAW IT WITH MY OWN TWO EYES...

I worked all day long at the hall getting ready for our Fish and Chicken Fry on Sunday July 8th - even drove into Blind River to pick up the 50 pounds of whitefish - on the way I saw a moose cow and calf successfully cross highway 17 - I have never seen a cow and calf before - what a thrill.  I didn't have my camera in the car but it happened much too fast - I never would have been able to grab the camera and focus in time.
I got home at about 4:45 and Boots was in the yard waiting for me.  I grabbed a beer and sat and relaxed with him.  He just lay down and had a snooze.  I am glad he feels safe enough with us for him to do so.  He then moved to under the picnic table out of the sun to grab some more ZZZZs.  After dinner (both ours and his) Rejean and I walked down to the garage to check out his paint job on the trailer and Boots was there eating the raspberries!!!  I am not kidding.  He was going from bush to bush looking for the red ones and eating the  berries.  I have never heard of fox eating berries but there he was - just picking the berries off the bushes gently.  Then walking on thru the hydro line.

Who knew????  You learn something new everyday!!

See Ya Bye

HOT OR WHAT

Needless to say it has been hot up here too.  Even Boots is hot - he was around last nite for dinner and he was panting like a dog - his little tongue was hanging out and he was breathing quite heavily.  I put some cool water in a bowl for him but I don't think he knew what to do with it.  He took a couple of sips but then went for the other goodies in the other bowl.  After, he sprawled out on the trap rock to cool off - I have never seen him lie down like this.  Later, he was laying under a tree in the shade on the pine needles.  After about a hour, he woke up, stretched and went on his way.  I haven't seen him today yet.  Hope he's staying cool.
We have been in the "pool" today and again after dinner.  It is HOT but not as hot as Windsor or Toronto.  37 degrees and 45 with the humidex!!!  WTF.  We don't have air conditioning up here but it is comfortable none the less.  We close all the blinds and close the windows and keep the ceiling fans on and it seems to do the trick.

Stay Cool...

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

For those who know me, I am a walker - or should I say WAS a walker.  For the past couple of years I have had a toe issue and was finally diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in my left big toe joint.  Every step I took felt like someone was stabbing my toe with a knife - sometimes a big knife and sometimes a small knife.  My doctor told me to take an extra strenghth Tylenol every day but I don't want to take that much medication.  No more marathons for me ;o(
After about a year of feeling sorry for myself and riding a stationary bike over the winter, I dug my old bike out of the garage.  We keep everything.  I won this bike or traded in some points thru Scotiabank about 20 years ago.  I just spiffed it up, oiled the chain, Rejean rigged up a pouch in front for my camera and water bottle and off I went.  I wear a helmet at all times and a blaze orange mesh vest with a big florescent X on the back and stripes on the front.  I want to be seen on that highway - I don't want to end up on some logging truck's hood as an ornament.
On my first venture yesterday - up to FootPrint Road and back - I saw a deer.  Today I rode up to Jobam -no matter which way I go on the highway, I will always run into hills.  But I get the gears just right and I can usually make it up the hills - counting and standing up on the pedals helps too.  I am sure my bum will thank me in a couple of months.  Speaking of which, I must get a more comfortable seat - and an odometer to see how far I go.

See Ya Bye

AFTER DINNER ON AXE LAKE

 

Went over to John and Linda's after dinner on Saturday nite - John had a fire going outside his garage so we all sat down and enjoyed the evening.  Nat and Brent came over after a while and we all spent  the evening laughing and yacking.  John won these cars in town a few weeks ago - they are amazing - each one has every detail of a real car but in minature.  I got down on the ground to take these             pictures and Linda got a picture of me doing that - thank goodness she doesn't have a blog ;o)            

Didn't get home til after midnite which is late for me.                                                                            

See Ya Bye