QOTD

“If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.” Thomas Jefferson

A little bit of 'reason' from Professor Grinspoon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih7TTPAO61k&feature=related


Professor Grinspoon's website: marijuana-uses.com

Oh my Cod!

37.5 inch ling cod. Kayak caught.

Landfill Guardian.

A mannequin head on a hockey stick body at the dump. Cool!

Summer...

Playing on a log at Montague Park

No need to explain

Pie, Landscapes and my Dad!

Large apple pie and my two sous-chefs

Sunset from the ferry deck

View from Mt. Galiano

Super Mario calling an owl

Hunting Ducks in New Brunswick

Kellar with a few ducks in the hand

Matt in the camo kayak

Happy Hunter

It has been quite a few years since i have had the opportunity to get some hunting done. This year was different. I was back in New Brunswick for the funeral of a very close friend, Matt Sloan, and took some time to reconnect with old friends and mourn my loss. I did much of this reconnecting and grieving while out in the wild, up to my knees in mud and soaked in rain, trying to knock ducks out of the sky.

I did lots of go-karting and a little fishing too, just going through all the old motions of having care free fun. Fireworks and night fishing with spaghetti, beer, and garlic toast on the side. Good times for sure, but missing a friend and the true care free spirit of youth.

We got lots of ducks, and I even got a Canada goose on opening day. It looked a bit like the exploded turkey from Christmas Vacation when it came out of the oven on Thanksgiving, but it tasted delicious. As my aunt said, it just needed a bit of cranberry sauce. Or as my uncle said, cook it with a brick on top, and then eat the brick.  

I spent three days hunting with my friend Adam. During which time we missed around 20 ducks in a row, and feared that all hope was lost. We would surely starve and look like fools to all our friends.

However, redemption came on the last day as we stalked into the marsh and came upon 3 big Black ducks. We rushed towards the ducks in the pond.  Our guns were raised, ready to fire. The ducks flew upwards and the shotguns roared. Three shots were fired, but all the ducks were still flying away. Until Adam fired one last shot and knocked the farthest duck out of the sky. It was a monster North Shore Black duck. I had told him to be patient and aim before firing, which he did successfully. Too bad I couldn't take my own advice. 

That one duck was big enough for his mom to make a stew, but she asked for two ducks. So, as we were walking back along the shore I dropped a nice wood duck over another pond. That was the two ducks for his stew pot, so we called it a trip and drove back to Fredericton. We smelled like gunpowder, vachon cakes, and dead duck, but it was worth it in the end.
There was a few other trips, but I'll save those stories for later. I hope to make lots more visits in the future as well. It was amazing.

Happy Hunting

James in canoe: very happy

Moon-rise on Grand Lake

Grand Lakes Most Wanted old timers

Proper Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance. So clean your guns. 

Harvest Photos from 2011, Galiano Island, BC.

It was a slow start to the growing season this year, but things eventually warmed up and the garden finally produced some excellent food.

Potatoes were the first things harvested in late August. I had a mix of white and red potatoes that were excellent along with fresh cod and beer. I made some potato patties with grated potato and onion mixed together and fried in butter for 6 minutes per side. Very good snack food.


The tomatoes suffered a deer attack early in June, so they did some recovering before finally producing some tasty fruit. The plants from the Saltspring Island market were fast growing and very hardy.

My melons didn't do so well. Those vigorous tomato plants shaded out my watermelons and my passport melons were overtaken by the MONSTER pumpkin plant. Oh well, next year I will give them more space.

As always, I suggest mulching early and mulching often. That means getting out there and tossing on layers of seaweed (kelp), and straw, and whatever else you can scavenge to toss onto your beds. This will protect your soil over the winter and allow nutrients to seep into the ground from your mulch, instead of leaching out and leaving you with barren ground.

Enjoy the Photos.

Hot peppers in oil from the greenhouse, with a pumpkin on my driftwood bench.

First apples from my yard tree and a pie.

Sunrise on my garden.

From the garden into the pot. From the pot into the pie!

Caught this cod from the kayak. The heads get buried deep in the garden. Yum!

special sideways apples

My friend and his daughter with a jack-o-lantern that we carved

chanterelle mushrooms, apples, cucumber, pumpkin, and squash

pumpkins, squash, onions, and sunflowers

shaggy manes and a fairy ring of mushrooms

Chop Wood, Carry Water

"Before Enlightenment all I did was chop wood and carry water, after enlightenment all I do is chop wood and carry water." 

"There is a Crack in Everything"

"That's how the light gets in."- Leonard Cohen

Winter is Coming...

Christmas Prictures! Happy Holidays...

 I always look so happy in photographs!

Recent pictures from Galiano Island.

A few more pictures from around Galiano Island. The first landscape is actually from New Brunswick, so credit is due to the picture province on that one. Don't eat the Black Fungus. It just looks tasty, leave it in the forest.

Wild Mushrooms: Chanterelles

Here are a few pictures of some chanterelle mushrooms I found in the forest today. I cooked them with onions and bacon in some chicken broth and had soup. It was good. 

Pumkin Harvest

Whatevr

You can teach a man to fish, but if there are no fish around he still won't be eating.

If your horse is thirsty and there is no water, where does that leave the two of you?

If your bird is is your hand, then you won't be able to shoot the two in the bush, and you won't have dinner.

Top ten signs your new church is actually a cult:

1. Reverend Smith now demands to be addressed as The Grand Smithillion Master. 
2. One Sunday the chapel  is placed on 24/7 lock-down, as a "terrorist precaution", with everyone inside.
3. When #2 happens, nobody seems to mind and everyone shuffles to the front and gets matching robes.
4. The communion wine tastes like crushed up sedative pills. (because it is ACTUALLY filled with crushed up pills, not just because it is bad wine)
5. Instead of a collection basket, everyone signs over all their worldly possessions to The Grand Smithillion Master, because he said it was best for everyone.
6. Your nanny is suddenly being bound to the alter as an impromptu ritual sacrifice, because "he" said it was best for everyone.
7. The choir has been replaced by heavy trance music and the sedative wine is starting to feel REALLY good.
8. Everyone begins sharing weird collective hallucinations. (This still might be a 'normal' church though)
9. There are helicopters circling outside and Reverend Smith insists they are only spraying for beetles, but that he must be going. (With the deeds to all your houses, of course)
10. Instead of tea and cake after church, you wake up in a psych ward with a team of professionals trying to undo the damage done to your mind and soul. Then again, this could be a sign that you just attended a regular church service too.

This is from the IMDB.com list of top 250 Best Movies Ever. It sums up how I feel about the world. It is mostly violent and full of sin, but at the end of the day we're all crazy and it's still a wonderful life!

25.	8.7	The Silence of the Lambs (1991)	304,077
26.	8.7	Psycho (1960)	173,329
27.	8.6	Se7en (1995)	351,627
28.	8.6	It's a Wonderful Life (1946)	120,835

Fun in the Hot Sun

Lots of great sunshine has finally arrived! The giant pumpkins in my garden are loving the heat and growing massive. The tourists have arrived as well, large herds of brightly dressed people wandering the island seeking food and shelter.

I have been fishing out of the kayak on a fairly regular basis and having lots of success. We have been catching big ling cod by the mouth of active pass. There have been a few big ones break the line, and also one energetic cod that flipped himself out of the boat and back into the ocean. Feisty guy.

Yesterday was spent with Salish Sea fishing charter, trolling for salmon in porlier pass. We caught 5 salmon, but mostly babies, and one that was almost legal sized (3-4lbs).

On the west coast of Vancouver island, the inshore fishing is really picking up. Bamfield is in the midst of a large salmon run and it will only get better as this month progresses. I might try to take a trip out the the seabeam lodge again, if they have a rental boat for me.

Summer is here at last and I'm going to make the best of it!

One Fish, Two Fish

Great 2 minute speech by Robert Kennedy

Click now to hear remarks on why GDP is a poor measure of a nations well being.

Awesome Funny Christmas Video.

CLICK HERE to see the video

Caption Contest 2011. First Five Photos are Up!

Pictures of uncle Ingus from the baby shower.

This is where only the very BAD roaches go.

After years of research, they have finally found a cure!

I think at least one of them is a grapefruit

Cutting more firewood.

Sometimes it is faster and more safe to cut wood using two saws at once. If you are wearing a safety helmet and the saws are razor sharp, there is very little chance of injury.

You can also climb trees by digging the saws into the trunk and using them as climbing handles all the way to the top.

If a bear attacks you there is a better chance of winning the fight if you are carrying two running chainsaws. It just makes sense to be prepared. Right?

That is my safety lesson for today, and if you have a better caption for the photo, please submit it for our caption contest. Contest open to all residents of all ages of all countries and of all the Universe. Offer not valid in Quebec.

The winner will be mailed a Super Surprise Grand Prize from our head office.

Big Ling.

Big cod caught on a 5 inch white curly powerbait grub.

Christmas in NB