In the company of friends.

Back home for the holidays and I feel as if I am the great Atlas and have been relieved of my heavenly duties. Not that I have carried a great weight in the last four months, in fact you could suggest that I have carried no weight at all, but the amount of relief I feel to be back home is astronomical. It is apparent that I have missed all my friends, and that these people keep my mind and soul from escaping my body and heading for the loony bin.

How much of one's health is psychological and what is the healing power of the company of love and friendship. If I have learned anything in the past two months, it is that the mind plays very powerfully on the body. I have begun to notice that when I am among friends, my health issues begin to hide from me, even though I stay up late telling lies on bar stools and eat whatever is placed in front of me.

So here is to my friends. Know that I appreciate you. Happy holidays to all! The sun is about to make its fiery return as the days begin to grow longer.

Do you know what this is?

Hopefuly it will show up on your computer. Scroll down to find the answer!
















































This is where a bird has hopped along in the snow and then has taken off like a shot into the air, it's wings imprinting a perfectly symmetrical pattern onto the snow. I took this photo the other day along the back 40 while on a hike with the pup.

Man's best friend

In the border lands of the southern extent of the White Spruce, a man is liable to become lonely from time to time. The companionship of the trembling aspen and a six string guitar only takes you so far when the sun begins to elude the heavens for the majority of the day. It is this feeling of alienation that temps to drive a man within the reaches of neon lights, tumble down watering holes on weekdays and late night coffee shops in search of expression. Often however as soon as the expression is found, a wanting grows deep inside for what is held dear. The poplar trees call to the place where human intimacy hides but the romanticism of the wild flourishes.

So where does one begin to bridge the gap between these two worlds? Does he search the desolate streets night after night, hoping to find a like minded acquaintance? Or does he delve into himself for four cold months when joy is blanketed by snow? Does he simply push forth, waiting for the day when the blossom's of the Saskatoon appear. No this is not the answer. contemplation of the weariness of winter is not the answer. A man must find his place amongst the frosted twigs and occupy himself with the activities not found in summer. Ice skating, hard water fishing, snow shoeing. Winter does have its advantages. The cold is nature's deep freeze and the snow is the night light of the winter's dark. But these joys are not easily shared alone. They are much better with a friend. A friend that accepts you unconditionally. A friend that does not complain about the cold, or that time you hit on his girlfriend. A friend that is part canine part mystic. A mistreated friend rescued from the harsh realities of La Ronge.

I have adopted a four month old border collie cross from a rescue mission in La Ronge. my very own runty Rez dog. I travelled to Saskatoon this weekend intent on finding some fun and ended up finding my new best friend. My friend Jenna's mother runs a rescue mission in the North to help out all the little pups from the reservations and she had a little guy with her on her visit to the Paris of the Prairies. And I fell in love!

I have deemed him Le Petit, his name sake, the rifle shouldered by Gabriel Dumont that nearly defeated a fledgling Canadian military in the North-West Rebellion of 1885. I decided it was a suiting name as he is from La Ronge and will be growing up in St. Louis, both places being historically French..... And the name is hard as fuck...just like him;)

Who needs a hangover?

I don't. I think i far prefer waking up on a fresh Sunday morning in the middle of a forest cooking with a stick, a deer steak that was running around chasing does five days previous. I spent the rest of the day driving around the national park and following wolf tracks on a hike, hoping for a glimpse of the intelligent beast.


The sign is just something I thought was hilarious. I have never seen a sign on a river before. This was taken on the Sturgeon River which forms the South Western border of Prince Albert National Park.

Paying the rent

Who needs money?

Well I certainly do.

But sometimes it is nice to skip that aspect of society. I have payed the rent, hopefully for the entire year, with three hard days of manual labour. Having a trade is priceless sometimes. In exchange for the rent, I have re roofed my landlords house. tearing off two layers of the worst shingles I have ever experienced, and I certainly have not shingled by shop light at 8 o clock on a Sunday evening before. But enough complaining, it is done!

Well well well

well well well. I suppose I have neglected posting for a while. I also suppose that it is hunting season. I might just suppose that these two incidences are related. Anyhow, last week I went over to neighbour Dave's to do some bullshitting and ask him who the landowners in the area are so I could gain permission for hunting. Dave asked me what I was using for a firearm. I let him know that I was rifle less and would be shooting a shotgun. He then offered me one of his 270 and told me to go out with one of his pals the next morning. He would have shipped me out himself but he just got out of a debilitating hernia surgery.... Ouch. So up before first light and into the stand I went and harvested a young buck. Hung before 10AM. Two days later I borrowed the rifle again and went out at dusk and harvested a second deer(we are in a two zone deer). Then Dave let me borrow his meat shop. Dave is the ultimate man's man and four days after a hernia operation I still could not keep him away from helping me. The kind of man that is pained by even the thought of sitting down when there is work to do.

Man it pays to be friends with the neighbour. I owe them dearly. One long long day(sun up to sun down)and my winter meat is all nicely cut and packaged.......... right in time for the return of my ulcerative colitis. After being in remission for probably four years this is extremely dissapointing. Now as much as I want to gorge myself with red meat I have a feeling that it is not the best thing to do at this point in my life. So friends alike... let me know what is your favorite cut of meat and I just might have to swing it your way. As much as this pains me... it is going to pain me either way.

Eight hundred acres of on foot only hunting. Is a two minute walk from my house. This rules. Not just for hunting but for going on walks, pretending I am survivor man and plain old hanging out. Life in the parkland rules.

Wild Boar hunting was unsuccessful... If you call getting in a canoe for a short paddle and spending six hours in a beautiful poplar forest unsuccessful. I don't.

The best part about this program I am in is having instructors that are literally treasure chests of knowledge for everything I am interested in. Yesterday in maps class, instructor Phil was telling me about hunting for wild boar last weekend in my neck of the woods. Every so often a population of farmed wild boar becomes feral. When this happens their status turns from domesticated animal, to pest. Meaning anyone can hunt them, can hunt as many as they want, and should hunt them because they are an introduced species that does an awful lot of damage to habitat. So with some more poking and proding I have found out where a herd, supposedly sometimes reaching fifteen in number, hangs out. Sugar island, accessable by quad or canoe. I have a canoe. I have a shotgun. I have a friend with a rifle. I am going wild boar hunting this weekend. Wish me luck.

The Night Sky

Comparing the aesthetics of the night sky to daylight is like comparing Oreos and oatmeal raisin cookies. Sure they are both cookies, but one infinetly kicks ass. A couple weekends ago I went out to Wascana trails with my friends Mel, Jenna and Ali for some light recreation. Only a fifteen minute drive from Regina, you are out in nature but you are still ever conscious of the haze of the city. When I arrived, the night sky proceeded to enthuse me for the better part of three hours. It started out as a cloudless evening with an absentee moon so the stars were out in full effect. Stars are quite wonderful in their own right but when they start shooting around up there like a heated duel in an old spaghetti western, they take on a whole new level of awesomeness. If you watch the constellations long enough you get to see them move around in the night sky which is also pretty amazing. The North star will always stand triumphant but the big dipper who you can always count on to point you towards this beacon, will do summersaults in the Northern horizon if you keep one eye on it.
The stars hung out for a bit and then the clouds decided to roll in. Brightened from below, the daytime role of the clouds was reversed in the moonless night, as they reflected the collective glow of a million tiny lightbulbs rather than the powerful sun. The bustle of the city, canvassed across a sky of condensed water vapour.
Then my mind wanders for perhaps twenty minutes. I look up once again and the clouds are gone. I take another glance and I am greeted by my fellow Northerner, Aurora Borealis. From East to West she stretched across the Northern hemispher. Simply magnificient. Never have I seen a show such as this. Up, down, flash, subside, dance, inflame, fuck throw any verb or adjective in there and it would fit. Such an eerie green too. If there was a spirit world and this spirit world had a representative colour, it would be the green of the Northern lights. I don’t think I am doing a good job of explaining Aurora here but if you have seen it, you know what I am getting at, and if you have not seen it, get off your ass and get out of the city sometime this winter and you just might be lucky enough to gaze into the heart of a miracle.*

*sorry for the ICP reference but I had to.

Hippies

Are usually pretty awsome.

I had the opportunity today to visit my friend Dean and his aspirations of living off the land. A slow progression is being made here. First comes the house and the learning and hopefully one day a dive into the ocean of self sustainability. It is a goal that I echo within the deepest realms of my being. It was absolutly wonderful to have the opportunity to see someone's beginning attempts at going back to the land.

Dean has found a like minded compatriot in Kenny. Kenny is a retired man who long ago bought a quarter section in an area north of Shell Lake. Deffined by giant eskers left by the glaciers of long ago and bordered by limitless amounts of crown grazing land and provincial forest, this property is a little piece of heaven within spitting distance of civilization.

A few of the notable things that Kenny has created are:
-An orchard bordered by a beautiful fence made of willow.
-A contraption for catching fresh water coming out of the side of the esker to feed his garden via gravity flow.
-An underground fridge. Kenny dug a hole deep enough that maintains an ambient temperature of 5 degrees celsius. Simply amazing, essentially a free fridge.
-The water is free, clean and delicious. Oh and you get from a hand pump!


Kenny is a man who probably has ten thousand thoughts floating through his head at any given time and is genuinely interested in each and every one of those thoughts. As a result Kenny's "mansion" is somewhat of a convoluted mess. One bright summer day Kenny had an old winnabego dragged to his property. After slashing the tires he began the quest of building his freedom. Eight and a half by twelve feet at a time he constructed a building around this trailer. No foresite requires no limitations so the structure has continued to grow into a misconstrued maze. Wild weasels living in the house keep the mice away and the occasional salamander stuck in some plastic will stir Dean from his slumber. Wine and curried vegetables are served by candle light and the comforting glow of a wood stove keeps us toasty at night.

This is a place I must visit often.

Hunting season

It's the best.

I would trade a thousand diamonds for this Indian summer we have been having.
Its October, I go out hunting grouse in a fucking T-shirt with my friends. I come back after a long day of walking. I stuff some birds, put them in the oven, my pals come back over, I bring out the wine(which by the way turned out fantastic), and we feast like barbarians! No utensils allowed at my kitchen table! Seriously though, bird hunting is the best. It is an excuse to get lost in a forest all day long, scare deer, stumble upon a magnificient antler shed, collect wild mushrooms and just unwind. Even if I don't shoot anything I'm still as happy as the day I first discovered I could grow a beard.

Fish of a lifetime.

You know what is fantastic... Living in a city where you can go fishing after school. Living somewhere you can go fishing within city limits. Catching the fish of a lifetime and then being able to have a fire at a public park combined with an epic fucking fish fry. Prince Albert I salute you.

This behemoth was caught from shore last Wednesday where the bastard child of the mighty Red River, aptly called the Little Red River, meets the greatness that is the North Saskatchewan River. It was early in the evening and I was using a five of diamonds tipped with a worm when I got the strike. "I think your snagged on that log that we have been hitting," replied my fellow class mates. "Not unless this log moves," I snapped back. Pretty quick it was evident that I had latched onto a monster. Kevin, who guides up at Wollaston Lake Lodge, an affluent lodge which costs the small price of 1500 dollars a day per person to visit, helped me land this wonderful fish. Weighing in at 11.6 pounds it is probably the biggest walleye I will ever catch.

tonight

Tonight at 7 I get to go to a talk about mushroom of the boreal forest. This will be neat. Does Saskatchewan have an Alice and Wonderland mushroom? Hopefully I can figure out which mushrooms I should have picked to cook up with that Ruffed Grouse on sunday.

Good News?

Here is what I recieved in my e-mail today. I know that I no longer reside in the fair city of Regina but it is still interesting to note how the debate over urban farming is going down there. I still recommend everyone email their city councilors and let them know that you are interested in keeping backyard chickens. The debate is not dead according to this e-mail and the future is undecided! unless of course you have a flux compasitator...but then it is still undecided. But at least you get to see what is going on.




September 21, 2010







Jeff Meldrum

meldrumjeff@hotmail.com



Dear Sir/Madam:



Re:
CR10-97 - Bylaw No. 2009-44, The Regina Animal Bylaw, 2009




Further to your interest in the above report, I wish to confirm the decision made by City Council on this matter.



City Council, at its meeting held on September 20, 2010, considered the report from the Community and Protective Services Committee and adopted the following resolution:



1. That amendments to The Regina Animal Bylaw, No. 2009-44 as identified in this report be approved;

2. That the City Solicitor be requested to prepare the required amending bylaw for consideration by City Council; and

3. That the amendments to The Regina Animal Bylaw, No. 2009-44 come into effect December 1, 2010.

4. The issue of potbelly pigs as livestock be referred to the Administration for a report to the Community & Protective Services Committee to determine if they could be considered exotic pets.

5. The Administration provide a report to the Community & Protective Services Committee within 12 months that provides an update on the review being done by Calgary and Edmonton in regards to urban chickens and how Vancouver is handling the regulation of same, and that this report include the potential impacts on the Regina Humane Society going forward.



Submissions related to this matter were considered by City Council and received and filed for the record.



If you require further information, please contact Judy Moore at 777-7199.

more pics

These pictures were taken by Joshua.

The World of Triple Rainbows.

Thursday Septemer 2- No real plans for the long weekend yet. Possibly try to shake up some work in town or just spend the whole weekend working on my trailer, a task that will take far less time than a three day long weekend. Maybe I should have gotten on top of those plans.

Friday September 3-9AM- The Department head walks into class, “The day is cancelled for you guys, your teacher fell off a ladder so he will not be able to teach you ATV safety for some time.” Mmmm great…. What am I going to do with even more days off…. “Hey is there anywhere around here to go fishing or canoeing.” “Well you can pretty much go fishing anywhere, and I have heard of people canoeing along the North Saskatchewan just out East of the city here.” Daryl walks back to the equipment room and returns with a fifty thousand scale topographical map. “hmm, this looks mighty intriguing” I say to myself, all the while I am left with the question of who I am going to convince to come with me.

10 after nine- I send a text to my buddy Josh who is working away in Saskatoon on a roof. “You need a hand today.” The ever so hung over Josh is more than glad to accept my charity and off to Saskatoon I go.

So I make my way to the “Paris of the Prairies,” the most aesthetically pleasing city in our province. We roof for a few hours, and I convince Josh that maybe canoeing this weekend would be a swell idear. Not one to usually take much convincing… Josh whole heartedly agrees. We decide to spend the evening barbequing with Josh’s friends from Saskatoon. The night is wonderful, vegetables are roasted, homegrown Saskatchewan buffalo is consumed, and I make a slew of new friends, one of whom, Jenna, decides to come along with us on our journey.

Saturday- After a night of drinking wine and singing at a Japanese karaoke bar we are off to our starting point- The Cecil Ferry. It is Four O clock by the time we finally get the boat in the water but that’s no worry. The evening turns out to be lovely after spending the drive fearing what the wind might do to our canoeing… Will the weekend be a repeat of the last time I was out on the North Sask? Right off the hop we are greeted with a slew of rapids, one after the other, around every bend and twist in the river there is fast water. What a great surprise! As the river here nears the watershed of the South Saskatchewan it cuts deep into the surrounding banks and creates a furry of fun. We could not be more pleased. A perfect camping spot on a beach and a hearty meal of garden treats and buffalo tenderloin chased by red wine is our treat at the end of a few hours of dipping the paddle….Oh and a set of bear footprints fifty yards away. We retreat to a sleep spent under the stars, only to be interrupted in the middle of the night by the thunder and lighting. Faster than a one way potash train we whip up the tent, just in time for the rain to start.

Sunday-The day which I’m not sure actually existed- We wake up to a cloudy morning, but at least the rain has stopped. A wonderful breakfast is made consisting of Pine View farm’s free run organic hog slices, mixed with an egg skillet, chocolate chip biscuits, hash browns and Labrador tea.

After packing up all our stuff we head out on the paddle once again. An hour or so goes by and out comes the magic. The rapids get worse the further along the river we get and at one point we get absolutely drenched in the current. We pull over to the side of the river and bail out the boat. An attempt at starting to make a fire is made but it seems we are getting less intelligent by the minute. Finally we put back in the water just as things are starting to take a turn to the awesome.

Two more sets of rapids go by as our eyes begin to bulge and the water takes on a creative form unlike no other and we begin to see the current move swiftly in circles around our boat. Rocks pass by that appear to be the size of buildings and every little wave takes on an appearance of a hazardous death, and all we can do is stare in disbelief.

Then! Away on the horizon, a concrete monolith appears, jutting out half way into the river. An unusual site among the wooded banks and humanless expanse of the North Saskatchewan. It is the Prince Albert Dam… Or what was supposed to be the Prince Albert Dam. In 1912 work was started on this project, only to be stopped prematurely during the wars years due to a number of circumstances, one being that the figure for the power that that dam would generate was greatly overestimated. The project was halted in 1914 nearly a hundred years ago and the city would spend fifty years paying off the debt that it created. The dam reaches partially across the water. A symbol of strength shut down in its prime, typical of Saskatchewan’s historical boom and bust economy. Weathered for nearly a century, this creation takes on the appearance of a post apocalyptical world. Fallen trees crash onto man made rock and metal and moss covers areas once touched by the feet of progress. A lone birch protrudes from the highest peak, nearly fifty feet above the river. Signs of bear clashes against graffiti dating all the way back to the 1920’s, when people simply signed their name in lead pencil, perhaps leaving the profanity in the back of their mind. Or perhaps they came from a time when people were generally happy. More recent signs of humans exist but who wouldn’t want to visit this structure... But that’s just it, not everyone can, the are is only accessible by all-terrain vehicle or canoe…

Welcome to the greatest trip of my life.

We paddle past the dam and then back through it to the shore. It is like one giant playground for grown ups. Multiple levels to explore, pools, chimneys, holes, ladders, slides and the worlds greatest view of the province's most underused river. Words really can not do justice to what went on in that four hours but it was possibly the greatest four hours of my existence.

Have you ever reminisced on the world of double rainbows and shit eating grins, “ So this is what the world was talking about.” Well this was what I would like to refer to as the world of triple rainbows.

Eventually we head down the river once again. Along the way we would spot a bear and come upon another excellent camp site. Dinner is served as Elk call to one another in the distance, chasing the world of the double rainbow. Myself, intrigued at the sound, follow it deep into the forest. Slowly walking, always stopping, on the lookout for the ghost of the forest. Finally I stumble within rifle range of more than one of these magnificent beasts, and just as quickly as the ghosts appear, they whisper into the pine, morph into the birch and disappear into a thicket of aspen. I am left relatively satisfied… I come back to camp, enjoyed by the prospect of a second dinner. Josh has caught a walleye in my absence. Partnered with Labrodor tea, the meal is enjoyed by all and once again the three weary travelers head to the world of sleep.

Monday is no Sunday but once again a skillet is whipped up. The paddles are dipped and this time the end of our adventure is within eye sight. We reach the forks of the two Saskatchewans by noon and we head back to a world that really does not compare. A world where even single rainbows are far and few between.

More upgrades.

So before I moved I spent a solid amount of time going through all my records, deciding which ones were essential and which ones I would leave behind me. My piles of Townes Van Zandt and Johnny Cash were deemed essential while Prince's Purple rain and Shout by Tears for fears unfortunately were not. On the inaugural moving day, I trucked these records out to the camper and low and behold I went and forgot the amp and the turntable. Welp. Last weekend back though I made sure not to neglect this not so minuscule detail and I now have my little haven tucked away across from my kitchen.


I also found myself a little fire pit... And let me tell you, there really is nothing better than a platter of garden vegetables and organic free run bacon cooked over an open flame. By the way... If your a fan of breakfast and good bacon like myself, you have to get on down to Natures Best? I think that is the name. Anyway the little grocery that is just south of Sask. Drive near Cameron Street. You might pay a touch extra but the taste really does not even compare to the crap you pay for at the bigger grocery stores.

If your wondering why there is a picture of a Bear attacking my face. That is because my face got attacked by a bear.... Not actually but this is in the Natural Resources lab along with all the other animals I get to learn about in my course.
Yup... School is pretty tough... Tomorrow I get to ride around on an ATV all day.

The work begins

It is starting to get mighty cold up here when that great ball of fire in the sky travels below the horizon.... And it is only the beginning of September. December is still three months away. To combat this evil we call winter, I have begun to insulate my camper trailer. With any luck it will be livable when the time comes where I can strap on the snow shoes. I should be able to bring it up to an R10 value. R value is the ratio of temperature difference between the inside of the insulator and the outside insulator. With a little space heater tucked beside my bed I should do just dandy. Also my trusty side kick will be beside me during the winter and I'm sure his fur will keep me a little extra warm, even if it is just psychological.

Prince Albert

Well, so far everything rules about my new home. I have been neglecting posting about it though as I have been busy settling in to my surroundings. Hopefully next week I will get around to building a nice screened porch for my trailer and maybe even get out bird hunting already. I believe the season starts September first but I will have to double check on that. No one is living on my fourteen acres of paradise except for me right now which is mind blowing. The family that normally lives there is renovating the house and so they are living in PA for the time being. Their renovating is also to my advantage as I may have struck a deal to roof the house for an entire years rent. I will take some more pictures this week, especially of my neighbours set up. They have a really amazing log house that is heated entirely by a wood burning boiler in the back yard and have a wonderful garden and chickens running around everywhere. And he even has a meat processing shed so I have somewhere to take a deer if I get one. It pays to have nice neighbours.... and to go and meet them.

Home Sweet Home.

This will potentially be my residence for the next two years. I can't really call it home I suppose, as to me, Regina will always be my home regardless of where I am. But that is not to say that this experience will not bring forth feelings even more enduring than that of home. My trailer is located about 3 km North of the South Saskatchewan river and that is very hard to complain about. It is in the middle of fourteen acres of bush and the provincial forest is only a short bike ride away.

I have purchased a re curve bow so I will get plenty of practice shooting apples off of unwilling heads with all the space I am going to have. Hopefully I will get the chance to do a fair amount of hunting while I am up here. "Here" being just North of St. Louis, which is 20 minutes South of Prince Albert.

School, environmental and resource law enforcement, starts Monday. If you can call it school. I'm pretty sure there are classes where I take ATV training and go camping for weeks on end. hmmm... it's pretty tough being in the first world I will tell you.

northern feasting

When I go places I really get a kick out of figuring out what tasty edible wild things exist in the area. I think my favorite place though has to be the Canadian shield in summer time. Fish, clams, grouse if you wait until early fall, wild mint, rock tripe, Labradore tea, raspberries, saskatoons, cranberries and wild blueberries everywhere, you name it really.

Most of these are common knowledge things except for maybe Labradore tea, rock tripe and wild mint. Wild mint occurs in places along the shoreline that are somewhat sheltered, it obviously is delicious in tea and what not. Rock tripe is some sort of black brittle thing that grows on the side of rocks overlooking the waters edge, but it turns rubbery when it gets wet and can be eaten like a leafy green, added to soups or even used to lengthen your flour if you crumble it up when it is dry. But Labrodore tea is the real kicker. You find it in boggy areas and you obviously make it into tea if you could not figure that out. I don't want to sound like a new age hippie but I swear by its affects as a cure all. If I feel ill it always solves my problems, and lord knows I have lots of those. Some also say if you seep it enough it becomes a mild narcotic. Nice.

Here is a couple pics.
One is my lunch bucket for the day.
One has a bag of Labradore tea while the other bag is wild blueberries
The third picture is some wild onions I picked up in Fernie, these can also be found along the North Saskatchewan river for certain.

The old Comealong

I really can not pass up a trip to Fernie every summer, as come August every year I seem to always get a strange itch. It's not the type of itch you get from a night of unprotected sex, but rather it is an "Itch," a hankering, a need to do something, I great fucking desire to go see the rocky mountains. Anyway enough about Fernie for now, other than to say that Fernie even takes precedence over my yearly family fishing trip. Not that I would bail out on that, but I can always come late. Usually everyone flies in together but three years ago I paddled in, last year I hiked in and this year I decided I would try something different. I would come late and borrow my brother's mountain bike. This proved to be really really great. Tons of fun as always on two wheels, even if the quad trail to the lake sometimes resembles the bog of no return.

Now this morning I woke up at five to take the route out once again. All went well, I made it to the car in one piece and my car was still in one together... for now. In case anyone out there was wondering, a Volkswagen Jetta is not a suitable off road vehicle. "But Jeff! I always go off roading in my Volkswagen Jetta," is what I am imagining you are all crying right now....right?
soooo ya I went and got it stuck in two feet of water, I could not get out of the car without water coming inside the vehicle. Luckily though I had my bike. The nearest house by the way is a solid twenty kilometers away, and when you get there, the community is a secluded four house reserve. I approached one man, who only spoke Cree and who directed me to a neighbour, that neighbour also only spoke Cree, but her grandson inside was home and directed me to another neighbour.

Here I met Marshall, A strapping young man of about thirty who would start his truck by coaxing it down a hill and slamming it into gear. I have found just the man for the job. He even had a Comealong that was holding up his tailgate. A Comealong for those of you wondering is sort of like a ratchet strap in a way except it is made for pulling out cars, and it is made of solid steel. So we put that to good use, tying one end to a nearby tree and given er for about ten minutes. My car started, I slapped Marshall two twenty dollar bills and away to the city I went.


Oh, and the first thing I am doing when I get back is buying two Comealongs. One for my truck, and one for my car.

Pictures

Here are some pictures sent to me by my friend John. The fox cubs are the little devils I was always seeing at the side of the road. The fawn was a regular visitor to the yard of the boss and Lumsden in General. You may be able to see the doe in the background, that doe actually ended up attacking my pal Liam's dog when it started barking inquisitively at the fawn. The dog obviously ended up worse for wear from that situation. As well the bat was a visitor in the living room one day when we were eating lunch for work.

Rhubarb raspberry wine.

Will it be good? Only time will tell.

Getting paid in liquid gold.

Is there a more suitable currency? I think not. I went out to help out at the apiary again this week. After finishing up I asked if I could buy some liquid honey. Instead I was given two gallons of it. I then proceeded to start making a wild berry mead with green tea addition. Not only is this bad boy going to taste like heaven, it is going to be around 18 percent for alcohol, and it is even going to be caffeinated. This could be a dangerous situation, but it is a dangerous situation that I am going to dive head first right into.
In the big barrel is where the mead is being made, the little buckets are what the honey came in, The big glass carboy is holding the Saskatoon wine and the two little carboys have the dandy wine in them.

Now thats Fresh!

Sometimes you get a call at nine thirty in the morning-

"Hey dude... I just woke up in a back alley somewhere near your place, can I come over?"

These are the tentative words that will make us glance at the reflection in the mirror. Did I do something wrong? Is my life okay?

Of course you are alright! Everything is just fine. In fact Jason, two hours after this conversation ends I am going to wake you up, ask for your hand in harvesting a chicken and our taste buds are going to take a ride on the gravy train in the Sunday morning sunshine. There is nothing wrong here. All is alright. It's not time to stop drinking, you may have forgotten that there is 100 bottles of wine being processed in my living room.....

NOW THAT IS FRESH CHICKEN.

Wine

Saskatoon/Raspberry wine is currently in the primary. Going out tomorrow to help with bees. hopefully they hook me up with some honey to make me some mead. So good it could knock the spots off a Dalmation . The wine is probably the tastiest thing you can smell right now, but then again...it is not wine yet.

saskatoon jam

Made a bunch of this the other night. Pretty stoked to spread this on all sorts of grain products.

pictures from canoing

NOTE- There is one picture that involves lawn chairs. The second night as evening was approaching, a man hailed us from the shoreline and offered his land for us to camp on. The property involved comfy chairs, a tap, a fire pit and even an outhouse. I may or may not have left this part out of the original story I wrote because it is in fact not very hard.

Garden