Fish and Firewood ...

August 23, 2014

Well ... Mike and I decided to go out fishing again ... just for the morning ...

the water was a little rough ...

but we were able to catch out limit ...

leaving for home just after noon ...

It was a great morning ... !!!

(This batch was also was processed in the smoker)

We had received a phone call from Larry ...

offering to take us on his woodlot ...

to cut up a slash pile for firewood ...

So off we went in old Blue and hauling the trailer ...

Larry was on his quad leading the way ...

driving 3 km back and up into the mountain ...

to the pile of logs ...

What a beautiful area and view ... !

Mike wanted to turn the truck around and back in closer to the pile ...

when all of a sudden we heard ...

ssssssssssssssss

Oh no ... we had a flat tire ... and no spare ... !!!

The guys started to buck up the wood ... and I loaded it into the trailer ...

then as time was starting to pass us by ...

Larry and Mike left on the quad to go and pick up a spare tire at the house ...

and I stayed out in the wilderness ...

cutting and loading logs ...

The guys came back after an hour with a tire ...

and changed the flat ...

we then continued with the wood until we had a full load ...

It was quite an adventure out in the back woods ...

A beautiful area amongst lots of cedars ... birch ... fir ... pine and tamarack trees ... !!!

Fishing In The Rain ...

August 19, 2014

It was an interesting morning ... started out quite nice and then a rain storm blew in ...

we still managed to stay dry with the canopy and rain gear ...

only a couple hours later we caught our limit ...

Just goes to show you the fish are still hungry and biting ...

when it storms ...

 August 20 and 21, 2014

Another batch of filleted fish ...

ready to go into a brine ... refrigerated overnight ...

and then smoked the next day ...

We were pleased with the taste result of this batch of fish ... !!!

Skidding Out The Trees ...

August 18, 2014

Finding standing timber...

using a long cable ... a snatch block ... and the tractor ...

to pull the fallen logs out from the bush ...

Pulling the logs up unto to the road ...

and using the backhoe bucket to lift them for Mike to buck them up ...

less bending over for us ...

As Mike is cutting ...

I continue to put the pieces into the truck ...

Finding another standing tree ... and a couple already down on the ground ...

attaching the cable once again ...

I was pulling it with the tractor ... up onto the road again ... 

And so the process goes on ... 

It was a good firewood getting day ...

loaded up the truck and the tractor bucket with the larger pieces ...

piling up the large logs to be split ...

and putting the rest into the woodshed ...

a few more days and we should have it filled ... 

Fishing with our Neighbour ...

August 12, 2014

A day of Kokanee fishing out on Lake Koocanusa ...

we invited our neighbour Mike ...

to go fishing with us ...

He was amazed how easy the fishing was ...

that within a few hours we all had our limit ...

We then spent some time cruising on the lake ...

before heading home ...

We decided to fillet and smoke this batch ...

this was my first time ...

taking the knife in hand ... helping out with filleting the fish ...

there is quite a knack to it ...

Didn't take me long to get the feel of it ...

Putting the fillet into a brine then placed in the refrigerator overnight ...

The next morning  ... letting the fish dry on the racks ...

before placing them into the smoker ...

using Apple and Hickory chips for flavour ...

This batch took about 5 hours to smoke ...

Packaging them when they were cooled ...

into small portions sealing them in vacuum bags ...

and popping some of them into the freezer ...

but leaving out enough to munch on and share with others ...

Will definitely make a few more batches ... they were really tasty ...

Guess that means we have to go fishing again ...

Darn It Anyway ... !!!!

Lots of Beans ...

August 11, 2014

This kitchen has been in disarray the last couple of days ...

with the huckleberries ... beans ... raspberries ... swiss chard and cucumbers ...

decided to blanch and package the beans for the freezer ...

 made another batch of raspberry jam ...

and we enjoyed a delicious salad with the rest ...

Harvesting and preserving is getting busier every day right now ... !!!

Luv it ... !!!

Hunt For Huckleberries ...

August 9, 2014

We were invited to go Huckleberry picking with Denise and Rocko ...

a few of us gathering together at Rosen Lake ...

leaving from the cottage to the logging road ...

up the Little Sand ...

After 25 km ... on rough gravel roads ... large rocks and lots of washouts ... 

having to space ourselves ... so we were not sucking in dust and dirt ...

we finally made it to our destination ... high up in alpines ...

where the berries were abundant ...

we picked our bucket fulls ... before we headed to the lake to have our lunch ...

The journey was quite a treacherous one ...

many trees had blown down and blocked the road ...

the guys wanted to keep going onward to the lake ...

so they were the ones finding alternate routes over the terrain ...

then taking  Denises' and my quad across ...

and the girls walked and climbed over the fallen trees ...

Even though it was a rough ride in ...

the view was spectacular ...

we were surprised to see that there was still snow up here ...

we had a lovely picnic lunch ... taking time to visit ...

soon it was time to make our 25 km journey back down the mountain ...

Once we made it back to the main road ...

(having to do the same routine heading bacon this side road)

it didn't take us near as long to get back to our starting point ...

We then spent the evening with Denise and Rocko ...

enjoying a wonderful dinner ...

of fresh Coho Salmon ... fresh stewed broccoli ... buns and baked zucchini ...

It was quite the adventure for one day ... !!!!

We brought our buckets of berries home ...

and grateful they made it as I thought for sure they would have turned to juice ...

after that rough ride ...

Cleaning up the berries on a wet paper towel placed on a cookie sheet ...

rolling the berries around ... for the leaves and debris to stick to the wet towel ...

then placing them on cleaned cookie sheets and putting them in the freezer to freeze ...

after 15 min or so ...

they were hard enough to be put in vacuum sealer bags ...

and sealed without squashing them ...

The berries were pre-measured into 6 and 1 cup portions ...

perfect for a few pies ... muffins ... pancakes ...

or 

just for eating ...

Heading To The Lake ...

Aug. 3, 2014

Today was a day to spend out at the lake cabin ...

the kids were having so much fun out on the air mattresses ...

and swimming ...

But you should have seen them when the big blowup Island came out ...

It was tough to get them out of the water for dinner ...

The other adults were working on the boat to get it running ...

Time for dinner ...

it was quite a crew to feed ...

and the kids were starving ... thank goodness for hot dogs and smokies ...

All the kids went back out into the water after dinner ...

the other group were happy just to hang out on the dock ...

keeping a close eye on the children ... Ya Right ... !!!!

The young children were hiding ...

wanting to surprise Dan for his birthday ...

Arden, Brynn and Carys were jumping up and down ...

just so excited for Uncle Dan to open his gift from them ...

Lucky Dan did not know he was getting a snake and a squishy ball ...

and of course the new set of shades ... !!!

A wonderful time was spent together once again ... 

most of the families were leaving the next day for home ......

Enjoying Time Together ...

Aug. 2, 2014

After the Celebration of Life ceremony for Teresa ...

the kids went to the park to play ...

just what Teresa wanted ...

A Beach Party ...

Ella was writing her name on the ground ...

then she decided to draw a picture of Teresa ... 

saying to Aunt Cindy that she will always be here ...

Back at the Roberts house for dinner ...

salads ... roasted chicken and buns ...

the kids were sure hungry after playing in the park ...

Nathan and Dan decided to do a little leg wrestling ...

the little ones were laughing so hard ...

poor Dano ... the Moose took him down ...

All of us out on the deck ... reminiscing of good times ... and making new memories ...

Later on in the evening ...

the children went inside to watch a movie ...

before going to bed ...

It was a busy ... emotional day .......

Bring In The Ladybugs ...

Aug. 5, 2014

We have had an issue with aphids on our one apple tree ...

I went to the Garden supply store ... 

and they suggested to spray the trees ...

I had done some research and apparently ladybugs love eating the aphids ...

this store just happened to sell ladybugs ...

Purchasing the ladybugs ... heading home ... waiting until dusk ... following the directions ...

Mike and I released them onto the trees ... and on the tomato plants ...

spreading them around to take care of these little pests ...

WELL ...

we checked our trees first thing in the morning ...

and I only saw a couple ladybugs ... all the other ones had disappeared ... 

Guess they found somewhere else to go with a greater infestation ...

Just have to resort back to the other natural remedies to get rid of the aphids ...

Grateful other parts of the garden are doing really well ...

Travelling To The Island ...

 July 31, 2014

Our two families decided to travel to Vancouver Island together ...

to attend Teresa's Celebration of Her Life Ceremony ...

We met in Golden ...

 Craig and Ella popped into our vehicle and travelled with us ...

James stayed in mom & dads car ... keeping Ruckus company ...

plus he had the whole back seat and videos all to himself ...

the other two were quite comfortable with us ...

After hours and hours of travelling ... with many stops along the way ...

we ended up staying in Chilliwack overnight ... 

Aug. 1, 2014

Early in the morning we were headed for Horseshoe Bay ...

to sail our way over to Nanaimo ...

Craig was intrigued with the Portman bridge ...

seeing all those cables ...

With it being the long weekend ... we had a 3 sailing wait ...

we ended up going to the Horseshoe Bay Park ...

to have a quick lunch ...

On the ferry ...

playing arcade games ... reading ... playing on the iPad ...

Grandpa and Ella ... tried to walk out on the deck ...

but the wind was so strong they were almost blown away ...

We were invited to the Roberts household for dinner ...

meeting everyone else there ...

There was plenty for all of us to eat ... salads ... buns ... goodies ...

Jacob was in charge of broiling up the burgers ...

Now ... a crisis had arisen ...

the moose was loose ... he doesn't know his own strength ...

Nathan had just gone in for a beer ...

on his way out ... he pulled the door open ... and it had come off the track ...

so you couldn't open it from the top or inward ...

so Nathan set his beer down on the floor ... to try and fix it ...

 (in my mind I thought someone was going to knock it over ...)

WELL ... Cindy came to see what all the commotion was about ...

and kicked the can of beer over ...

at the same time Jacob had a couple cheese burgers ready on the flipper ...

to give to Maren for the girls ...

and wouldn't you know it ... they never made it to the plate ...

they landed on the floor ... cheese side down ...

Oh my goodness ... what a gong show ... 

it then took 5 guys to figurer out how to get the door back on ...

Mike figured out that there was a speaker wire holding up the process ...

Eventually the door was fixed and back in normal working order ... 

After dinner the kids went out to have a game of tossing the football around ...

loosing it in the thick brush ... sending Nathan down the hill to try and find it ...

Craig taking Jacob by surprise with his martial arts moves ... 

Jacob was a little red-faced ...and out ...!!!

Later in the evening ...

 Craig and James helped Jacob with making Dan's favourite ...

 Chocolate Pudding Cake ... for his birthday ...

Children were tucked in bed ... adults sitting out on the deck ...

visiting and watching the beautiful sunset over the ocean ...

Ripe Produce ...

July 30, 2014

Another day of preserving and canning ...

some of the fruits and vegetables ...

berries were frozen on a sheet then packaged in vacuum sealer bags ...

the broccoli and cauliflower were blanched and sealed as well ...

Having an overabundance of beans ... 

meant that I spent the evening canning ...

just to get them done before we left for our trip ...

 to Vancouver Island ...