A day on the lake - Winter Edition

Here's a derrisive issue....WINTER.

Some of us Canadians hate it...

Some of us love it...

Some of us defend our right to freeze our butts off in it...

That's just how we roll.

Our buddy Blaine and his bike.

First off...we live in the Land O Lakes Region.

Check it out here.

Over 5000 lakes, pretty much in my backyard.

(My definition of back yard is fairly broad...but still.)

Second...its good for your health!

I did a post a while back on how getting outdoors 

in the winter time can be a great workout replacement!

It only took an hour to properly pack all of our gear up and head out.

There were 6 of us on this particular trip.

We packed a Thermos of hot chocolate, a few mugs of coffee and tea.

We brought a backpack that folds out into a chair.

We brought some stuff for Owen to do...in between checking lines.

All of our ice fishing and hole drilling gear.

Snacks too...and marshmallows.

A box of newspaper.

Minnows.

Father and son on a borrowed snow machine.

And helmets...can't go far without a helmet.

Riding with Blaine to the fishing spot.

We blazed a trail through the woods across from a relative's house.

We zipped down the frozen creek and lake.

Handsome Husband is also Handy Husband!

He shows Owen the ropes...er...lines...

They have father-son time.

He's also Hercules Husband...when it comes to hand drilling our fishing holes.

"10-12 inches of ice" he reports.

Moose

Clown

We brought some spray bottles filled with water and food colouring.

I had no idea how long they would last before they froze...

but it was only -4 degrees Celcius.

It seemed a great way to keep his attention...when watching a line for a jiggle wanes.

I scoured the shoreline for dead branches.

It seems weird to be walking along the edge of the lake...on the water side.

Owen and I explored up the steep hills to find a deer bed!

They nose up the dry leaves from under the snow.

Some of the beds showed how the heat from the animal melted the snow evenly around it.

(deer scat close by too)

We were pretty high up...but that's part of the fun!

But the best part of the day was the incredible peace that surrounded us.

Calm.

Quiet.

Serene.

Our pal Pepe, who is Uncle Pepe to Owen.

I love seeing him impart manly wisdom to our son.

I love it that Owen has such positive and positively cool men to look up to in his life.

I fix up a fire on the shoreline.

I make sure that I situate it in a safe place.

Owen takes a marshmallow break...

but the fire helps us warm cold fingers when needed.

(You can't keep your gloves on the whole time while ice fishing.)

I am so in love with the rock formations of South Frontenac County.

Takes my breath away.

I'm currently reading "Their Enduring Spirit:  the History of Frontenac Provincial Park 1783-1990"

by Christian Barber with Terry Fuchs.

I'm totally enthralled with the author's description of the geological implications.

Owen loves the rocks too..but for different reasons.

He is at his absolute best when he's outdoors.

A country boy in all his glory.

A 3lb pike!

Now that is a happy country fella!

We ate this lovely pike and gave our blessings.

We live in a glorious part of the world...where we can go out,

be in nature and bring home dinner.

How do you enjoy winter outdoors?

(if you don't do it now...you should seriously start)

If you need some help...here is a list of my favorite things about Winter!

Fishing - feed yer face and have fun too!

There are lots of things to love about fishing...

Sunshine, fresh air, free food...

Our family loves to fish...well...Owen is still trying to find his love of it.

Handsome Husband had a week off in September...so of course...

We went fishing!

Fishing is not just a past time or sport for us.

It is also a way we stock our freezer with protein for the winter.

We aren't hunters (yet).

We always had issues with protein...that is...until we got laying chickens.

But that doesn't mean we'll stop fishing...you have to have variety to your diet!

We still ice fish in the winter...but our luck is pretty poor at best.

Probably my favorite part of fishing...is the lunch break!

There is an awesome island in Desert Lake that is perfect for picnics.

We bring stuff from our pantry and fridge.

Veggies from the garden and home made hummus.

Lemony tuna pasta salad with fresh picked peas.

Tostitos chips and home made salsa.

Freshly cut pineapple we won at a birthday party!

From our camping days, Owen calls it Pirate Island!

(loads of great stories happened here)

Even after a lovely lunch break...some people just can't stop fishing...

Isn't it amazing to be able to feed yourself from a hobby???

How many other hobbies can make such a boast?

(ok except for cake decorating...)

There is another benefit to fishing...but I'll reveal that in a later post...

Seriously!  When I reveal this secret....I'll probably be done as a blogger...

No more secrets to share!

Stay tuned...for the super fantastic gardening secret....

Milkweed capers on fresh caught bass...

So I've been pretty busy, in my non-gardening life.  I recently got a new job, and the hoops I've been jumping through has left me precious little time in our garden.  Luckily, my darling hubbie has had more time in the garden...so it isn't being neglected...but I do miss those sweet hours passing by as I weed and inspect all the plants growing.

Weeding gives you a chance to kill  many hours of your day, but it also gives you an up close and personal view of how your plants are doing, how they are growing and if anything edible has sprouted!  It like giving yourself an excuse to just stare at the wonder of gardening.  Boy do I miss that.

On the other hand, my hubbie was wonderful enough to follow my lead when I picked milkweed blossums one day and he pickled them.  (I left open the browser window that showed the link to The 3 Foragers website where we first got the idea)

  http://the3foragers.blogspot.com/2011/06/milkweed-recipe-milkweed-flowerbud.html

Its a pretty simple recipe...in case anyone was wondering.  The 3 Foragers offer up two different pickling recipes.  Ches did the one where you soak the capers in salt brine for 3 days, strain it, then proceed with the recipe.  Check out the above link for the actual recipe. 

I picked these mlkweeds on the side road that takes us to the mini-park in Verona.  I'm pretty sure anyone walking their dog that day thought I was truly nuts.  Its not a very busy road, so I thought it might be a safe location to forage the milkweed blossums.  Its recommend that you don't forage beside roads...due to the emissions from passing cars getting absorbed by the local plant life.  While I agree...I was willing to risk it on this quiet little road.  When I say blossums, I mean when the buds are still little green balls, not the highly identifiable clusters of pink blossums (as shown below).  

The other night, I came home from a first aid course (something I had to do over my weekend) and found my family getting ready for a fishing trip!  They had packed up a car with lifejackets, fishing tackle and snacks.  Both boys were ready to go and my husband was just getting the last few things together.  I changed and we were out the door.  I wished I had of brought my camera, to document the adventure we had that afternoon.  I feel that the story behind the meal is just as important as the meal itself.

However that was not the case.  I didn't bring a camera and of course we had a blast anyway...it just makes for a less interesting blog entry.  

  

Our meal this evening...fresh caught bass, breaded with homemade whole wheat bread brumbs, fresh picked lettuce and spinach greens from the garden, topped with purslane and homemade balsamic vinegrette, and hand cut, baked french fries.  

There isn't anything very complex about this meal...it was simplicity itself.  The bright shining star (for me and hubbie anyway) was the capers we had recently pickled out of milkweed blossums.  It was their first taste drive!  They were lovely!!!  I really have no idea what REAL capers are...in fact I don't care...because all I know is that we can now make all of the capers I would ever want to eat...right in our own neighbourhood.  That's pretty exciting, especially if you like capers and you don't like paying capers prices.    

Some of us preferred to skip the milkweed capers...and just enjoy the love of fresh caught bass...especially when you were the one who caught the bass....see fisherman below...

Anyone else have any good fishing tales (now that bass has opened) or foraging yarns to tell?