Bye Bye Rotted Deck

Before...

Step #1...( this step dislocated a family of Mice that found their way into my BBQ..MFer!!!...didnt have the heart to kill em)...

Step#2

Step #3 

Step #4

Step #5...starting to sexy up!!!

With any Luck tomorrow or the next day will have the finished product posted....

..just in time for me to go back to work,

..and get some rest...locking horns with vermin.. 

Dr. Doolittle , Forts..and What-Not

So it has been and interesting couple of weeks that are worth documenting.

Kim has been working quite a bit and I have had quite a bit of time off...which puts me with the kids.

As shameful as it is to admit there was a time when that would've bummed me out as in 'Hard to do the things you want to do' when you have to watch the kids.

... Well ...now what I want to do more than anything is watch the kids...be with the kids to be more accurate.

Owen and Ella are still in school so Avery and I have had some real quality time together.

Here is a cool Fort that we built in the living room.
You cant have a Fort without snacks....and a Beer for Daddy!!!

( I almost got tossed from the Fort for spilling my beer....sigh...rules are rules )

We have also had a real string of luck with the Critters!!

Avery loves animals and she is not afraid of anything. We were at the childrens animal farm the other day and I happened to mention that I had a pet snake when I was a kid...well..off we go into the bush to look for one.

There used to be tons of snakes down there but I had a tough time finding one... we finally happened across a beauty!!

He ( or She..???) became a temporary resident at the Norland House and for some reason Avery named the snake rainbow.

We had all the neighbours kids coming by for a peek. My kids felt like rock stars.

The snake was really cool and man did that thing eat!!

Polished off about 8-10 dew worms a day. It got to the point where it would almost eat from my hand.

We released it yesterday to all kinds of tears but the kids know that it is the right thing to do.

Even I kind of miss the snake.....lol.

We also have had close encounters with a Giant Snail, Mama Mouse and babies living in the BBQ, a Toad, and a beautiful Necropia Moth.

Fun stuff...

The kids get a great kick out of these little natural gifts and I think that its important to expose them to these things.

In the midst of all this I finally decided to tear out my shitty old deck.
The wood was so rotted that I was falling through while BBQing....not good.

Kim and I saw some Patio stones in a LOWES flyer and all of a sudden I was off!!!

Here are some before and now pics...should be finished tomorrow provided Avery doesn't throw out the Anchor ...lol

Bye Bye Blackbird

Here is the Miles Davis version of this tune.

 It is one of the hokey-ist standards going but sometimes the melody just gets in my head ...tis one of those... It always makes me happy...kind of like Happy Birthday or some shit...lol...

 The Miles version is classic...and when Coltrane arrives at 3:25 it always gives me a rush. What people must've thought back then about the way he approached this music.


 So commonplace now because of him.















  Anyway... I took the day off today...

 I've had a chest cold that I have had a tough time shaking and woke up after a rough night and decided to burn a sick day....fuck it...
I don't feel like playing hero for a place that doesn't give two shits about its workforce.

 Anyway ...over coffee I made a recording of my own version. Very Hokey...but sometimes Hokey is just what the soul needs..

 Bye Bye Blackbird

I used my Boss micro BR which allows you to multitrack.

I lay down the chords and then go back over and record the melody and improvised parts on top.

This is a fun little exercise that really makes me pay attention to things like metre and note choice.

Sometimes when I listen back to these types of things I want to kill myself...lol..but this one wasn't too bad.

This style of music is not for everybody but I will never get tired of these great old tunes.

So...

Well there always has to be something....

And it never hurts to dream...in fact it is probably essential.

The guitar is great and I have have been playing it silly style now that fishing has faded into the distance..( although Morin and I are talking about throwing some feathers tonight...if he can get his Vagina out of the midlife crisis / MILF gym )..

Now I want this ...right around $3000.oo give or take a little pain...lol...

Boutique amps...handwired...all tube construction...NO printed circuit boards anywhere...very sexy..

I love how you can see the tubes glowing through the front of the amp...kinda like sitting in front of a roaring fire... that is singing to you!!!


It is called a SWART Atomic Space Tone super 30 and if I win the lottery I will have one in every room.

This one is nice as well..and it comes in Alligator or Ostrich coating (shown) !!!

This is the CARR Rambler and is supposed to be the living end of Fender Blackface style amps..

In other words right up my alley..

...dream away....sigh....

If we weren't yearning for things to be a little better...or at least different in a tasty way we would probably shrivel up and die.

Alligator....SWEET!!!

I am thinking that two would be nice... One Ostrich..the other Black Alligator...and run them in stereo...

What an Ass..

Two posts in one day...

:o)

Back to Normal

Well today it was family guy...a role I dig.

I kind of missed Avery with all the fishing I'd been doing soon when Kim informed me that she was teaching today I was pretty happy.
Avery and I have our little routine...

..well more of a list of options to choose from.

Animal farm, Push her in the running stroller, picnic, beach walk, swings, build a fort in the living room with cushions chairs and blankets, feed the trout at the hatchery pond..etc..

After I whipped up a quick breakfast for us I was ready to hit the ground running...

I hadn't noticed that it was pouring rain out.

I had promised Ave a trip to the animal farm...and hey a promise is a promise...she doesn't mind the rain at all..and really neither do it...so off we go.

The picnic had to be in the front seat of the car but we had the whole park to ourselves.

Go figure.
We'll always find a way to have fun.

So we get home from the park to find that a Biblical plague has hit my house!!
I always knew that god hated me but this is weird tactic...
My driveway was completed covered with worms...WORMS!!!

Very weird...like there were thousands of them....and all over the grass too!!!

...AND IT WAS ONLY MY HOUSE!!!!


wtf?


I bought some heavy duty Scotts fertilzer this year that seems to be kicking ass on my dandelions so I am wondering if the worms are attracted to it in some way??

Pretty freaky... I think Avery was traumatized...and certainly my wife was....lol

I had a few minutes this morning while Avery watched TreeHouse and ate breakfast so I made a quick video of my new guitar.



Still crazy about it.

It is a weird feeling being satisfied..although now I am thinking about swapping out the pick ups...lol...

My playing is a little forced but it always seems to be when I am being recorded..that and my hands are still hamburgered from all the downriggin..

It was strange not getting up at 04:00 this morning.

Four more days off work and I am determined to enjoy it...it looms like a black cloud...

Final Day...Final Thoughts

Yesterday was the last day and we ended on a good note.

Owen and I had to sit out the last two days....which to be honest stung a bit.

It is Gerrys boat and being dad /Grandpa/ and friend sometimes puts him in the middle, and having a good heart and a strong moral compass at times can be a major hindrance to your own personal happiness.

I feel for him...I mean ... I truly believe that everybody 'gets' what they want in life whether they realize it our not but what I have come to realize also is that 'Happiness' has many layers ...

I think that is about all I will say in that regard...except maybe that Owen has really come to love this sport...which only Gerry can offer him...and he was bitterly disappointed that he wasn't invited out on Saturday..
LOL

The Derby started off grim...the weather kept us off the water the first day and should've kept us off the second as well but after the water settled and cleared people started getting into fish.

We ended up, despite the slow start with right around 25 fish... all of which weighed in...two right around 12lbs and a few that  were 8ish ...

Kettle Point was the hot spot and it is continuing to get hotter. It should fish well right through til the end of June depending on the water temps and I am hoping that we'll get up there again before too long.

I really enjoy this sport, especially now that the fish have started to show up again in fishable numbers and with sizes that are respectable.

The last I checked the leading fish were 24lbs and 23lbs respectively ...those are good fish for our waters.

 A great mixture of Salmon, Steelhead..( and yes I know that Steelhead are salmon )..and Browns.

The only thing we had on the board going in on the last day was a ten pound Brown... I have to believe that it will take some kind of prize  ....ah but that really isn't the point ...

The point is fun and getting together with family ... and I had a blast!!

Getting together with family can test you...and that is as it should be I suppose...

Every year I think to myself that ...boy,.. it would be great to be able to approach this game with my own boat ...my own tactics ..my own way of doing things...

Too many deck hands really gets on my nerves...

..But really ..in the spring ..I would be fishing with Gerry anyway..by choice....


Erieau would be the same...and the fall would have me getting giddy over the rivers.

Same old theme of not enough time..not nearly enough time...'the word time makes me angry'..but there is time enough for some things and watching Owen catch two 12 lbers this week with big smiles and fishing with three generations of fish junkies is a really special thing that is not lost on me...not in the least.

This was a great great week..very great...and I was fortunate to be part of it.

2 days Later

Well... the fishing has been so so...

Yesterday we were 5 for 7 which is pretty good for two guys.
We did as good as anybody in so far as hookups but unfortunately they were all between 4 and 6 lbs...
Great for the table but not so great for the leader board...

Today was worse.

The forecast called for thunderstorms and Gerry and I found ourselves staring out at lightening across the lake when we showed up at the marina.

Gerry prides himself on being the first one on the water so it was still pitch black out  ....we weighed the possibility of being killed by lightening  against the possibility of wasting a fishing day doing yardwork or some shit...
...no brainer..out we go...fuck it..

The lightening stayed out to the west of us for most the morning ...but finally the nastiness forced us off at about 10 am.

1 for 5 today...nothing would stick.....

Why do I do this Morin asks??...

I love it... I must...it is fun ..the suspense of waiting for the rods to pop...or my favourite..The screaming dipsy 
I love that.

So does Gerry...and it is a great chance for the two of us to hang out and shoot the shit.

Even during periods of inactivity , looking out across the water, fresh air, rocking of the boat...it is peaceful.

It doesn't touch a great day on the home river in the fall...but it is close some days.

It could very well be be that the remaining three days will have the boat filled with kids....Owen is one thing ...but this could be the end of the fun and the beginning of debt payment.

That is fine...totally cool...but it would've been nice for Gerry and I to get one more big fish.

God give me strength.

Owen strikes again...

Finally a decent fish!!!!

Yahoo...!!

So I decided to keep Owen out of school today...his teacher was cool with it and even Mom started to come around.

It is really hard to place a value on the time spent with Dad and Grandpa out on the water chasing fish... and not to be too morbid but you never know how long these types of things will last.

Neither Gerry nor I are getting any younger...and Owen is still interested...who knows when the window of opportunity will close??

So we hit er pretty hard again today...Fog on the water but pretty calm..great day for pulling lures and hanging out just being guys.

About an hour in one of the rods goes off and starts just screaming...big fish...finally!!!

Owen is big enough now that he can fight the fish all by himself and it was a real hoot watching him go toe to toe with this thing.

At one point his touque got tangled up in the reel.

 It jammed up the drag and no line could go in our out...yet still this nasty hot fish was pulling...I thought for sure he was going over board!!!!

Complete shitshow... but after ripping his touque apart we were back in business...and shortly after that fishy is in the boat..

Nothing can ever be easy...he is my child after all...

Great day... resulting with Owen in first place in the kids category again

:o)

..... and ending with a salmon feast at the Norlands with Grandma and Grandpa.


..did the Salmonfest trifecta of..

1. Rocky Madsen fishcrisp  Cajun salmon nuggets...(favourite..better than Skeeters Wings)

2. Grilled Salmon with garlic, Sea salt, Olive oil and pepper...(Ellas Favourite)

3. Broiled Salmon in tinfoil with butter, garlic, tomato, onions, ollive oil and cilantro...(Mommys Favourite)

All washed down with chilled Chardonnay and Ice Cold Moosehead...

Heaven..

Got the sea legs silly style...

Back at er tomorrow...dodging thunderstorms...

Tried to get Morin out as a deck hand but his Vagina is still full of sand