1987 Honda Manga

So the adventure adventure starts restoring a bike. 

Finally made it to catch a fish with out a guide from the ocean.    Five wonderful Mackeral caught off the pier in Lubec Maine

It is one of those winter days that is perfect for staying in the house high north wind and cold temperatures about 2 degrees above here.   I made a venison stew in the dutch oven on the wood stove.   I had a big bag of carrots that had to be used so I did not use potatoes just carrots,  onions,  and celery,    Then salt and pepper for seasoning.   I make a lot so I can pressure can the rest of it for left overs,     

      I did not take a picture of the stew so here is a bunch of crows eating fish guts off my garden

This past year I started collecting Vintage sewing machines mostly singers pre 1955.    Some are treadles and some are not what to do with these wonderful machines that I love so much.    To start with I made marble bags then I mad like shopping bags well there are only so many bags one needs soooooooo

 As i can see I have started making quilts yup a fishing blog making quilts I do not get real fancy just pieces of scrap fabric cut up into pieces and then sewed back together

    This is the first one I completed on this style I made one other that was just green and red flannel done on a 66 singer treadle

This one here is made from 1 inch blocks done on a featherweight

A new hobby I have got into is collecting and restoring classic vintage sewing machines.   It all started by my wife saying how she liked old sewing machines.   All I do is singers I understand them and they are easy to work on.   Very little ever goes wrong with them except time of not being used and improper storage.

Trying to make this work again

I have had some real issues trying to post to my blog for a while kind of frustrating really

On the ice today

Hit the lake today.   When I left the house it was reading 11 below zero with a slight north wind.   I was dressed for it with extra cloths in the car.    I am a bit chicken about ice I do not like cracks and one of my favorite spots to fish had some weird cracks this year.   Last time I was there had a couple spots of open water.  Well I went there to see what it was like I will not walk over a large crack in deep water and sure enough there is a pressure crack about 75 yards off shore 12 feet of water.   I fished in shallower that I care to.     I did collect 27 keepers for the day which is not bad.

The cold

I love the cold it is preferable to the humid hot weather of summer.     The ice has become safe for me to go on again caught a nice bunch of perch today.     It is also a time to use the food and fuel that I have gathered all summer.    We were lucky to have two deer this year also to add to our larder I got a small one and my son shot a good buck with a rifle.    It is not cost effective to live my life style it is what I choose

Dehydrated Soup

I have final done it I made a soup with all dehydrated vegetables.   I used potatoes,  carrots,  onions,  celery,   and mushrooms.     I also added a pint of canned venison that my son shot this year.  (so pleased for him).    Boiled it for about 1 hour added salt and pepper to taste.    It had a nice flavor.    The vegetables had been dried over a year 

Fall is coming fast have been busy the chickens have been butchered and froze since mid July.    Have been canning and dehydrating everything in site.  You can see from the picture they turned into good sized birds in just 8 weeks they all were over the 7 pounds some of the roosters hitting 11  

 A rooster and a hen a few days before butcher

A few of the produce I have grown and processed this year

 

 

The Chickens Have Arrived

     My daughter and I are raising 52 meat birds this year.    We got them yesterday and everyone made it throught the first night.   If what I read is correct in about 10 weeks they should be ready for dressing.    I am running 2 heat lamps as they are in an outside building with out heat and it was 49 degrees last night

  This is them in there new home for the next couple of weeks

 

This is what they have become in one week.    They got a bad start due to the feed we were sold was the wrong type it bound them up and we lost four got the correct feed and the eat well

 

 

Making An Axe Handle

Several years back while rummaging through a scape metal pile I came across a axe.    It was a Collins 3.5 pound double bitted axe.    The handle was broke one side of the blade was chiped some.   I have always collected axes,  hatchets,  and knives.    I brought it home and it has been collecting dust ever since.    This spring I decided to get it out make a handle and sharpen it.

 This is the completed handel working at sharpen  the axe now

 

 

 

The board to the left was the piece of lumber that I sawed the handle from

 

I used a power bandsaw to saw it out and then a rasp and drawknife to shape it.

 

 

My great grandfather was a carver who carved axe handels for people in Canada he got 2.00 apiece to carve and install a handle.

 

It was a Good Winter

It was a great year for me on the ice.   I can not say I was impressed with the ice it was not the best Ice I have ever been on.   Had some great days out there.

First flag of the year ended up being a small Perch.   Not sure why but our side of the lake was good this year.    I did not spend much time on the other side of the lake and the Georgia shore side has never been noted for many pike.  

I started tying some Ice flies this year some days they worked very well other days not so well

 

Doubles were not uncommon at all I used some spoons I had that did not seem to work so well in the summer.    I would remove the hook and use them as a sinker it slowed the decent to the bottom way down.    Also found out the perch in this area are right on the bottom.                                 

Febuary 10,2013 I should be Ice fishing but I have a cold and just do not feel like it.  It has been a good year so far the ice has been kind of touch and go with the weather patterns we have had.   On the good side there has been a lot of sub 0 stuff to keep the ice safe.

 

This was the first Perch of the year to small to keep but it counted as the first one.    Caught on a Northland Forage minnow

This is one of the greatest things it keeps me fishing even in the coldest weather it is a bit bothered by the wind.    Also keeps the market guys from seeing what I am catching

 

Folds up quickly and carries all my gear

We did make a trip to Maine Smelt fishing it was great catching 18 smelt a bit high priced by the pound but worth every cent of it

 Loved this place

This is what they look like very easy to clean to eat

 

These are what we used to catch them

 

Deer Season 2012 and past

Being recently retired I have more time to do things I enjoy.    One such thing is deer season so this year I was going to hunt more.    I own a small parcel of land I planned to put a stand and hunt from.   The land has never been posted and is open for all to use.    It is what is left of my grandfathers sugar place.

This is the tree stand I put up.    It is a nice strip of hard wood kinf of a transition area not too far from here is a southren high point where deer like to bed.

   These are the views looking in the front and to the sides of this stand.    there are more  does in this area than bucks but you will not have one with out the other.    I am using a 700 remington in the 260 remington caliber.   I have a 2 to 7 Leupold scope and is a real shooter.

  This is the last deer I shot in 2008 with the 260 it was in Ontario, Canada

         Have not seen a deer in the woods yet this year.   I do have to addmit I did not hunt very much.   I got a flu and was sick 3 days and ended up with this cough that will not go away.   Kind of hard to take a stand and cough all day.


                                                                   

Catfish

Caught my first Channel cat fish yesterday .   They were not very big but they were cat fish, The brown bullpout  and small cats bit real well wish they had been bigger but what ya going to do

Squirrel Hunting

Squirrel hunting was a past time that we did as children there was more chasing than killing back then but I loved it.   Today I still hunt squirrels because it makes me feel like a child again.    Now being retired I have plans to do  much more of it.

Even though you can not see it there is a squirrel up there

One I got yesterday in the morning

Went back out in the afternoon and got these three to finish my limit for the day.    Most of thr time I don't use a shotgun to hunt with but today i was looking for partridges but came up with these guys instead,    These were the redest I have ever got.  

We are Home

10-9-12     We have arivved home.     It was a great trip I wish we could have done it 10 years earlier some of the drives between towns were long.   We drove over 3000 miles for the whole trip counting getting lost and missed turns.   The people in Ladrador,   New Foundland,   and New Brunswick were great.     The land in Labrador below Port Hope Simpson is Breathtaking.

Taken from route 510 South.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Labrador,  Canada   a wonderful place just some random pics for now

                          On route 500 before Before Church hill Falls

       On route 500 Lichen almost looks like snow

             A wood sled Just below Red Bay on route 510

I found this little guy on route 500 between Labrador City and Goose bay.    It was tied to a tree in a disrespectful manner side of the road.    I took it down and was thinking of bringing it home however I ended up placing this little scull where it could watch the road forever.    I had no right to cut it down from the tree it was tied to but i believe we owe the animals a bit of respect also.