I picked the first of our broccoli and peas from the garden today. I steamed the broccoli over the water kettle on the woodstove, with a towel over it to keep the steam in. Even though our days are in the 80s right now, it's around 40 to 45 in the morning, so Steven makes a fire to take the chill off the air. This time of year he uses big pieces of bark and wood splinters from the wood shed and the splitting area.
After steaming the broccoli I spread it on screened racks to dry. I'll dry and set aside some of the peas from this first picking to use for seed next year.
Four trays of Mint ready to be put on shelves to dry. I cut oregano, lemon balm, and thyme and spread them to dry, and I packed up basil and cilantro that was dry and ready to be jarred.
While walking around the yard I noticed the first of the Serviceberries were ripe, so I picked enough to make a pie. While I had the oven on I baked biscuits to have with dinner and I made peanut butter cookies. We had tuna casserole with peas in it for dinner, along with warm buttered biscuits and cold, sweet mint tea. Yum!
Looking down from the hill, there's the 3 timbers Steven and Victor made out of the trees/logs they cut and peeled. They're laying on the foundation pads and they'll be able to start framing the floor this afternoon.
This evening we went fishing. Since the rowboat was going to be pretty full and I was feeling independent, I took my kayak. I launched first and headed out into the lagoon.
The guys used the oars to "pole" their way out into open water, then used the trolling motor to move the boat around. Tristan is in front, Victor in the middle, Steven in back.
The guys get select their lures and get their poles ready.
Steven caught the first fish...a nice sized bass! That's only the second one we've taken out of this lake in the 8 years we've lived here. We normally catch Perch and Pike. Tristan and I each caught a perch, and those three fish were all we got today, though we caught lots of "salad"! (lake weeds)
In my roamings with the kayak I saw a lot of these blue dragon flies.
This dragon fly is like me... near the crowd but not part of it! These stems had lily flowers on them at one point. The muskrats and beaver eat them and leave the stalks.
The sun was glaring, so this picture is milky. When the guys cast their lines it shone brightly in the sun for a second. I took several pictures and got this one timed right, even though I almost cut the boat out of the picture! Steven and Tristan had both just cast their lines. Looks like Tristan is waving good-bye to his!
Speaking of which... Tristan, being in front, was the anchor man, and when they got to the first spot they wanted to fish from, he lowered the anchor over the side and the rope broke! Our beloved (*cough cough*, come on, lets pretend to be sentimental about it!) blue anchor sank to the bottom of the weedy-bottomed lake! We have a couple other anchors and could rig one up, but we had to lean on Tristan and try to make him feel bad!
The view from my kayak as I fished. With scenery like this, it doesn't matter if you catch fish or not!
Some minnows followed my lure to the boat. I have one of those white squiggly-tailed worm thingies on there. I have no idea what happened to the bottom corner of the picture. It was complete when I viewed the picture, and maybe when I hit "post" the whole picture will come up. So if the bottom corner isn't missing, ignore this. I hate going back in to edit.
It's evening now, about 8:30, and we're coming in from fishing. I got to shore first, then got out to help pull the rowboat in. Of course, by the time I was done taking the picture and put the camera in my pocket, they were out on shore!
The bass and two perch. Victor got to learn a new skill... fileting fish!
We floated the river from Eureka to Rexford with Tristan's in-laws. This is only a handful of pictures from that adventure. The rest are on our "Family Fun" blog. Anyone who doesn't have the link to it can send me a message and I'll email it to you.
Our little flotilla of boats heads down the river. It's like being on a log-ride at an amusement park, only this is free!
This is the 'lazy' part of the river. I spent most of it with my feet on the dashboard of my kayak!
The water is cold, so now and then Tristan and Krystina walked the bank so they could warm up. It was sunny and around 90, but the water was almost slushy!
Tristan (Front of boat) and Krystina (back of boat) hitch a ride with Randy's pontoon.
The scenery is awesome the whole way.
Now we're finally getting into the action!
Then another smooth part. With scenery like this... who'd want to live anywhere else! Man, we are SO lucky!
Late in the afternoon. Krystina and Tristan drift together on their tubes. Tristan is a lucky guy. She is so awesome!
Back into the bumpy water. The water has higher than normal for August. Usually these rocks are exposed by late summer.
I'm taking pictures with one hand and using my kayak paddle with the other. There are no pictures of the wildest parts because I couldn't do both at those times.
It was rough enough to be fun but not enough to be dangerous.
Totally awesome day!
Stopped for a rest break. It's 7 miles by road from where we put in to where we got out. The river winds and twists, and I don't know how many river miles it is. It took about 3 hours.
Randy kicks Brent into the river! Actually, it's a set-up. Brent was having a blast jumping in over and over. I was taking pictures, and Randy went over and stood like that! This is where the river flows into the reservoir, so it's pretty deep and calm right here.
Standing on the shore where we took the boats out, looking across and back upriver. It was a great afternoon. Tristan married into a very cool family! They're so much fun, and downright nice people.
