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

Paddling the South Saskatchewan.

I have some pictures to add to this later but here goes the story anyway.

Day 0- Jeff and JJ have not yet joined the procession. Jim and Joe, the brothers, paddle from the damn at Diefenbaker to Outlook, grasping the beauty all the way through. Spirits are high, beer is plenty and food everywhere. A six point mule deer is spotted swimming across the river. The duo paddle up in an attempt to pet the deer but are outsmarted by this cloven footed creature.

Day 1- Spirits are high, Jeff gets off work at three, picks up JJ and away into the yonder they go. The friends cut a deal, Jeff buys the gas, Jeff drinks JJ's beer and eats his steaks. The duo greet the brothers on the mean streets of Outlook, The spirits of the brothers are low after having to sober up on account of waiting for the late bloomers all afternoon and evening. the group paddles across the river to the camp that the brothers had set up the night before. Conveniently the camp is located across the river from the pay for a site RV park. Beers are cracked, spirits are raised. Quiet time passes at the RV park to hoots and hollers from the foursome across the river. Fireworks are set off and O Canada sang at the stroke of midnight as spirits rise to unprecedented heights.

Day 2- The friends must paddle across the river to grab the trucks and drop one off near toon town. Voices are taken to their threshold in singalong without a working radio as the trucks stumble along, barely reaching a hundred even when the peddle is pressed tightly against the floor board. The troupe stumbles across an extremely ritzy golf course along the shore near Toon town. Mildly out of place in cow boy boots and wrangler jeans, Joe and JJ park the dusty old 400 dollar, two door, light blue, 1990 Ford Ranger Pickup between an Escalade and a convertible Cadillac. The four then sandwich into the bench seat of the other truck, the one that no one is sure of how it made it there in the first place. Joe picks up the MP3 player in the exact right way so that it properly works and the jams start off with Steve Earle's Guitar Town. Spirits are back at last nights level and the troupe sends themselves off to outlook to the soundtrack an outlaw cowboy.

Canoeing for the day goes off without a hitch except when the rain begins and JJ has to improvise a slicker out of a garbage bag. Jeff and JJ spot a lone coyote crossing the river. As it reaches the shore and scampers up the bank, they can't help but wonder if the coyote is following them, watching them with intrigue and perhaps a slight amount of hunger. Camp is made, spirits rise once again, coolers get a little lighter but no one goes hungry.

Day 3- A day filled with lazy river paddling and naked sand bar bathing. Cliff jumping takes on a new level and Jeff discovers the wonders of making Saskatoon berry chocolate chip biscuits, cooked in bacon fat over a bed of hot coals. The last night on the river raises toasts to the trip all evening long as the group vows to not bring any beer home tomorrow. They do not disappoint. Spirits rise, then plummet as the environment mimics the mood of the drunkards and a thunderstorm rolls in to bring a force down upon the beach where the group has camped. Coolers become empty, self respect drops and meat becomes scarce.

Day 4- Spirits are low at the prospect of returning to careers, wonderful but time consuming families, and empty houses. Thoughts are thrown around about throwing it all away and paddling the water ways all the way to the great Hudson's Bay. An excursion that would knock the socks off just about any grizzled lumberjack. Paddling down the river with anticipation of reaching a destination of sorts, JJ routinely scours the banks for a human that could let us know our location. Gazing off into the distance he spots someone, just as Jim spots the naked man, leaf covering his genitals, standing on the side of the bank holding a friendly wave. Spirits rise slightly at the hilarity of the event. Finally the troupe arrives to interrupt a Sunday morning golf game just as little white balls come flying purposefully in their direction. Hauling the canoe up the side of a valley through thick bush is no easy task, but the men tackle it with pride and resourcefulness. The smell of man is thick in the air, you could cut it with a six inch bowie knife, and luckily, JJ has one strapped to his left leg.

The trip is over. Back to life it is.

Updates

The Garden- Is growing faster than an awkward pubescent girl. Raspberries are getting eaten, so are peas. Carrots will be big enough to chow on soon and green tomatoes are starting to pop up. I must take pictures tomorrow on my day off to put up here. In comparison to most gardens I have seen so far this summer, mine is miles ahead.

Methane Digester- Was a bust, but it did yeald some compost tea that was both smelly and a huge kickstart for my tomatoes.

Dandelion wine- Is still fermenting, I think this may be a pretty potent batch. Looking forward to drinking it when it is actually ready. Me and some friends may have gotten silly earlier this week and drank half a bottle of unfinished wine. WOops.