Disclaimer

This post may not be suitable for all readers but Maria wanted to know the details :)



B had a successful hunting trip. He took two. That is the verb used by the locals; 'to take' rather than 'to shoot'. It is hanging in the rafters of the shed, right beside the bikes, yard tools and lawn mower. I was really brave and went to take a look this morning; it is hanging with a piece of wood between the hamstrings and knee joint, belly cut open and guts all removed, neck sliced and tongue hanging out. This afternoon I was summoned 'to get the skinning knife'. Since there is a plethora of fancy knives to choose from around the house, (B is a knife collector and has one for every day of the week and one suitable for all occasions) I was instructed to get the special one on the bookshelf used only for such a task. So now there is deer flesh hanging in the shed right beside the bikes, yard tools and lawn mower... ready to be butchered in a few days.



I thank the Creator for the deer that gave its life so that we may nourish our body, mind and soul. Burgers will be on the grill this weekend.

Buns in the oven

The whole wheat kind: some pizza pretzles and some pull apart bread/buns. So I got to be quick here. Since it has been months since posting I thought I should give a shout out that all is well.
B is off in the bush today with a buddy checking out the hunting situation. It is still a bit early I think to shoot anything, it needs to be cool for the meat to hang (apparently it will hang in the shed beside the bikes which I need to get at almost daily, nice). I think they are going to sight in their rifles and shoot targets. This morning the boys have competed their Saturady chores; bathrooms, sweeping upstairs, chop wood, laundry. After my buns are done I will walk to the store to get some fixings for burgers. Always thinking about the next feeding frenzy around here.

School is going great for the boys. J is right into the grade 8 high school routine with a crazy block rotation I can not figure out and D is doing the grade 7 thing. The kickboxing group has been a bit smaller the past few weeks (about 14 people) but that is good; more space to do new drills. I just finished a 3 week full time stint at work. And I am looking forward to my 2 weeks off in November when I go to Germany with LF and Lucas. So excited! I am refreshing my German from college days with a book from the library. Das ist goot, yah?

And we moved the end of August... that is big news! We bought a stand along PMQ with a huge yard and a great sunny location. This house is so warm compared to our old rental. And the wood stove is a fantastic too! It has been so dry/sunny all summer and now even into Fall. Just that one wild storm last weekend that teased us with what is to come over the winter months. My mom came for a quick visit 2 weekends ago and she filled the freezer with buns and helped me paint the boys bedrooms. Glad to have that done. The big project over winter is to get a fence built. Good thing we have some child labour to help.

got to check the buns!
later,
nicole

busy summer days

Been awhile since posting... we came south end of June to pack up the PoCo house and get B's knee surgery done. All went well. D's buddy Zus came back home with us so there was an extra boy around to take J's spot. J has been in Halifax exploring the east coast with B's parents. They are having a great time and I have been assured that he will come home in a few weeks.

A few pics to show a snapshot of what we have been up to the past month, in no particular order:

Pure Lake. where the wild boys swim.
sushi lesson.

cleaning fish under the eyes of watchful pros.

just need to get it to the boat this time.

a bear out there.

no crabs today, just jellyfish.

girls on quads.

boys on quads.

D is an allstar fisherman!

you catch'em, you eat'em

Today was our first time out crabbing this season. The tide was pretty low and the water was flat; perfect crab hunting conditions. We went out with a few first-timers so we showed them how it is done. They yelled for joy, fear, shock, and/or excitement when a crab swam in front of them. Pretty funny. We brought home 4 big guys and cooked them up on the camp stove outside. It is a much better idea to keep the stink out of the house.

Tomorrow, Aboriginal Day, is a busy one in Old Masset... I think there are 7 poles bring raised. Hopefully I can get to some of the action after work.

B and I are getting ready to come south on Thursday to finalize all the house sale paperwork and get everything cleaned out and up to Princeton. The other day, J made is safely to Halifax to visit B's parents and D has spent the last week with at my parents. This past week has been pretty quiet around here :)

You-Tube Video by J's class about Gray Bay

check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zuZemiFWQo

The boys class had 2 days with these Animation guys from Van to make a video.
I will try to get D's class posted too :)

deer death by knee strike

An odd post title you say. That was our table talk this evening. While having a traditional dinner of fresh fish and rice, B says 'so I kneed a deer today.'

Another lesson learned that only relates to this place. Maybe I should write an island survival guide :)

The lesson is: While riding a motorcycle, deer are of more concern than other vehicles.

B said he was a good distance behind a van, thinking about passing when a deer ran out behind the van and took a dart in front of B's bike path. B knew that any sudden swerving or braking would throw him from the bike. He had time to take his hand off the throttle, check his mirrors to see that no other vehicles were close, see no oncoming traffic, call on his guardian angel and brace his leg for impact. What followed was 'deer death by knee strike'.

The boys asked why he did not go back and bring it home for burgers.

GRAY BAY camp out

The highlight of the grade 7 year is the annual trip to Gray Bay; 5 days with no shower or flush and 4 nights of sleeping in a tent. fun eh?
I stayed Monday to Wednesday and B went down Wednesday to Friday. I had the wind/rain/cold days and B got the warm/sunny/cloudy days. nice.

On Day 1 we set up camp, collected firewood, and got the hang of cooking on the fire.

Day 2 started off with a 'good morning' saranade from James and Ian. I got one of the girls songs on video (sorry, the sound is not good) but it was quite entertaining.

We checked out Secret Cove, a 2 km hike from camp, where we played games on the beach and did some exploring; found a bunch of HUGE muscles on the rocks, discovered some bright red sea anemomes and even saw a tiny baby deer hiding in the rocks waiting patiently for us to leave.
A very tiny native plant called a lady slipper. It is about 4 inches tall.

About 2pm that afternoon, a storm blew in and we set up the army tent to wait it out... it didn't let up. We all piled into the shleter to eat dinner and spend the evening.

That night, as I tried to sleep in my tent with the wind blowing 80km/hr, I wondered if there was a Haida word for 'the sound that the wind makes pushing trees continually while waves pound the beach 30 ft away'. It sounded like a jet plane was hovering overhead is the best I can descride it. And there must be a Haida word for 'horizontal rain that forcefully pelts the side of a sleeping shelter'. Also best described as being a virual player in a Call of Duty Xbox game with the sound of gunfire all around. It was a long night. Thankfully all the tents were still standing in the morning, no huge branches came down over night and in true Haida Gwaii style, the morning sky was bright and clear.

I went home that morning for a hot shower and a comfy bed. I had to get back to work for Thursday/Friday.

It is my last weekend before this darm exam and so I must get back to the books.