Oct 18/19 - days off

Let's see ... on Saturday night I took a 'day off' from fishing; on Sunday I took a day off from blogging !

Retracing my steps ... on Saturday morning I went fishing and got nothing but a a couple of bites. It seems that evening fishing is best from an number of standpoints and that would prove out on Sunday too, but I'm getting ahead of myself. During the day on Saturday I didn't do anything notable (translated = don't remember what the heck I did). I went to Mass at 4:30 -- the last service in Port Loring until Christmas Eve -- and then we had drinks at Jason & Lorraine's when I got back. For dinner that night we had pickerel again done on the griddle on the barbie.

Sunday zipped by. I went fishing, natch, and got two pike in the morning -- did I say that morning fishing was not very good ? In the evening, however, I went out and got 9 crappie. The two small pike added up to less than a pound of meat and the 9 crappie came in at 1.5 pounds. I'm looking forward to ice fishing where a) I can just stay inside and b) the fish are bigger !

In between fishing trips Jason and I moved his boat into the barn and juggled my two trailers. Jas & Lo left for Brantford around 2pm. After that, feeling guilty looking at Lorraine's leaf-raked lawn I did some leaf blowing down the driveway and around the beach.

Back to the fishing -- on Sunday morning I was getting constant nibbles and I know what's happening down there. My minnow would be surrounded by little fish who are too small to actually bite on the hook but are chasing my minnow around and pulling at it. When a pike swims by ... yes, my minnow is the only one that cannot flee and it gets caught. Both pikes were caught on snelled hooks without leaders -- had the pike swallowed the minnow its sharp teeth would have cut the line on the snelled hook.

On Sunday evening the action was constant. I missed a few, lost those minnows, but was basically pulling them in until dark. The last minnow that I put on was too large because bite after bite would just pull out of the fish's mouth before I could reel it in. The crappie are better caught with small minnows. One of the crappie that I'm counting was actually a sunfish. They are the same family but sunfish don't get as large, at least around here. To put in in perspective, had I caught nine sunfish I probably would have less than a cup of meat ... hardly worth the effort. The only reason that I kept the sunfish is that they keep coming back and stealing minnows. The daily catch and possession limit on sunfish is the same as crappie -- 30. It is considered a game fish and they actually give a good fight, for their size. Oh -- I just checked wikipedia and not only are crappie and sunfish part of the same family -- Centrarchidae -- so are largemouth bass ... interesting.

I think that my hands have a permanent fishy smell. I hate cleaning fish although I have to admit that I'm getting better at it.

Sandy used up her three gallons of paint on Saturday and will be going into Sudbury today to get another couple of gallons, taking Stef and Lauren. Yesterday I attached the already-stained baseboard on the walls where she's completed two coats and moved the bookshelf back into place, replacing the books. Today I'll re-hang the pictures.

Today, it's raining, so I might not get out. Perhaps that's a good thing. Don't worry, I'll find something else to do.

I was talking to Bonnie late yesterday -- Jim and Bonnie got back on Saturday from their trip to Newfoundland. Hopefully we can get together this week and hear details. It sounds like they had a great time. Bonnie was saying that she opened up the Globe & Mail (national business newspaper) one morning and checked the obits and found that her orthopedic surgeon had passed away ! 53 years old, in excellent health, on vacation with his family in Denmark, he had a massive heart attack. She was due for knee surgery shortly ... that will be pushed back several months I expect until another doctor examines her and puts her in queue.

Bonnie was also saying that a load of gravel had been delivered to Stan Worosz (sp?) and Jack Robinson -- split between them, and in the process the culvert on the shared driveway between Stan and Jim was crushed by the truck as it made the corner. Jimmy was agitated about that, naturally.

I filled Bonnie in on the goings-on with Jack's health. We're all worried about them ... they will call Bonnie when they get out west and Bonnie will let me know that they've arrived safely. She also said that they received three anniversary cards from Dolores ... she really is losing it ... they are long overdue selling the cottage and moving on. Although they both drive, apparently Dolores' driving is pretty bad and Jack probably won't pass the mandatory driving test when he turns 80 next year, but then again he might -- he still has his wits about him. They cannot live up here without being able to drive. Well, I take that back -- cannot is a strong term. They would need regular transportation to/from Port Loring and Sudbury. That could be problematic since there are no taxis here ... Getting old is the pits.

Huh ?? -- I'm looking at a typical 9-volt Duracell battery on my desk and I see a small cylindrical object poking out of the bottom. I lift it up and my immediate reaction is that someone has tried to pack little 1/4" cylinders into a 9-volt housing ... then I realize that this battery has exploded !! This would not make for a great Duracell advertisement !! The battery is made up of 6 little 1.5 volt cylinders -- that makes sense, and one of them has exploded, pushing the plastic bottom off the battery and exposing the little cylinders. Perhaps I should send the picture into the copper-top people and claim bodily harm !! I guess that they'd send me a new battery !

Enough ... time for breakfast. Notice that I don't say "time for breakfast for me and Abby" anymore -- that's because as soon as I get up Mya goes crazy for her breakfast and I feed Abby at the same time.