Wednesday, September 10, 2008

"To Infinity and Beyond!!!"



In this bear and skunk-ridden country, it's good to know that I have superheroes right here in my own home!

As the boys play I often hear the cry, "To infinity and beyond!" Of course, when it comes out of the younger one's mouth I hear, "Finny be yon!"

As long as I'm bragging...


I'm not a die hard fisherwoman by any means. But Monday night I was definitely the champion in our family. (Not that Eli was all that willing to acknowledge that fact.) Anyway, I was proud to out-fish the boys. I caught the 2 biggest.

We had a good night and brought home 8 walleye and 1 northern pike. This was the first that Kendall allowed us to bring home a northern pike. They are notoriously stinky fish and he hates to touch them. In fact, if he ever catches one he tries to get it off his line without ever touching it and he especially doesn't want to bring it into the boat. They're bigger and fight more, but less good to eat. I guess it's hard to filet them and get rid of all the bones. But friends of ours grind them up, bones and all, and make fish patties out of them. So as an apprentice bushwoman, I naturally have been wanting to try that.

After a long, hard battle with the unwilling fish, I triumphantly won the fight and we got the northern into the boat. (It took a bit of sweet-talking on my part. To Kendall, not to the fish.) I, somehow, was able to convince my husband that we really needed to try a northern pike. You have to understand how much my husband does not like Northern Pike. He really doesn't.

Of course, I didn't want to sully my delicate hands. The fish was huge and throwing a fit in the bottom of the boat. It really was oozing with slime and it did stink even more than regular fish. (You can understand that sully and delicate hands part.) So Kendall, my strong bushman, wrestled that fish. After an especially violent thrashing of the fish Kendall looked up at me with an annoyed expression on his face. However, that was not all that was on his face. He also had a splat of stinky slime across his forehead. Of course I was dying laughing while trying to keep my feet away from the thrashing fish. My Kendall conquered the beast and we will someday eat it. And I was sure to let him know how thankful I was for his knightly ways. It was truly an act of love.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Bountiful Blueberries!


We went blueberry picking again last week. Kendall wanted to take a picture of me with my blueberries. I will admit that this photo is rather deceiving...Even though I was picking furiously and I thought surely I must be keeping up with Kendall...he filled one bucket and then finished filling mine.

Still no bears in the blueberry patch...

By the way, a gallon of blueberries is selling for $35 here. Might be a decent little side job! Until frost, that is. Then they're done. And the way things are feeling around here, frost could come soon. It was hot (well, Northwest Ontario's brand of hot) literally through the end of August. Overnight before September 1 or 2 it got cold. And now it's not hot anymore. Now we're chilly. We don't currently have a working furnace in this house. September 15 is the big day when the repairmen are coming. Until then we will be using electric heaters, a down-filled duvet, and a heated mattress pad. And I'm not joking.

Saturday, September 6, 2008



Well, 2 1/2 weeks of pure fun for the boys has come to a close and now it's just boring old us again. The Lyndakers left this morning. The kids got along really well. (Iris and I did too.) So Monday morning could be a bit of a shock to our systems. I do think it will be good for us to get back into a routine again. But I'm not sure what we're going to do when it sinks in that our new closest friends in all of Red Lake don't actually live in Red Lake...

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Monday, September 1, 2008

Nature Calls

So Saturday morning it was quite chilly in the tent. We were all awake and I was snuggled up to Kendall. (With two sleeping bags between us, mind you.) Eli wanted to go outside with Kendall. When I protested Kendall leaving, he laid it out, plain and simple: "Nature calls. Where there is wood, I must burn it." Yes, he loves building fires.

How To Be More Like a Boy

The other day in the tent I asked Evan for a hug. He gave me a hug. Eli wasn't so willing.

"I'll give you a hug if you're more like a boy."

"How do I be more like a boy?"

"Be cooler. And go fishing more."

Well. Once again, Kendall is the cool one in this family.