Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Cam went out fishing today with a friend and caught 3 Halibut, 2 Salmon and 1 Coho Salmon. This was a really neat learning experience for all of us. (Sorry to all my vegan readers!) He ate a fillet of the Coho with supper tonight and the rest is headed for the freezer.
We saw a lot of fish parts up close. Gills and roe:
In this female Coho you can see top to bottom: roe, swim bladder, liver, pyloric caeca which absorbs nutrients into the blood. It is similar to small intestine. You can also see the spleen on the upper right of the picture.
Halibut are creepy looking things. These fish are bottom feeders which explains why their eyes are on the same side of their face. They look so lopsided and sideways looking!
Even Oscar got to have a taste of the catch. Not a bad early supper.
You may notice that I’ve joined Flickr and now have a badge on my sidebar that will take you to more of my pictures if your interested! I’m still finding my way around and am trying to figure out how to size all these properly…. these don’t exactly fit at the moment….
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
I’m still a couple days later occasionally feeling like I’m rocking on a boat. I’m not a fan of water, especially water with living things in it! I can swim, although not well and with two kids I struggle with feeling complete safety for all of us. I also get terribly sea sick, so I was a tad worried about the first time out in our friend’s boat. I knew it wouldn’t be the last so how do I get comfortable and make it work.
We headed down to the boat launch Monday morning. I was absolutely shocked at how many truck and trailers lined the road and parking lot to the launch. I knew this place was all about fishing but… Cam ended up parking down the way at a work site and we picked him up at some docks there.
We went out toward some shore across from Prince Rupert and put out a couple crab traps. By the time we headed back in there should be a few for supper.
A flight must have come in at the airport because here’s the tiny ferry… I wrote about the crazy Prince Rupert airport experience one must go through each time they travel here.
We drove (?) through Metlakatla pass past Metlakatla Native Village which has a pretty interesting heritage. It had the largest church north of San Francisco and west of Chicago for quite some time. It was burned down in 1901.
Licorice helps with sea sickness, right? Uh, no. In case anyone was wondering.
I tried the pressure point bracelets, although maybe too late. You know what helped the most on this trip? Being distracted by Hayden who needs to be carried and peed… and is fun to entertain with funny faces and noises. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of sea sickness where we ended up so we headed back in before too long.
Before we went though, Cam did some jigging for halibut. He’s fished his whole life but not much out in a boat on the ocean. Jigging isn’t exciting until you catch a fish, which we didn’t.
Leif fell asleep waiting…
We did end up getting one crab big enough to take home. Looks like one of our traps was poached, either by seal or by another fisherman. I guess that isn’t uncommon.
Next time, I plan to be more prepared for the water. I hear there’s a Gravol with ginger in it and it’s a bit less chemical (?) as the usual stuff. I might have a look into that….
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Maybe my last photo taken with my old point and shoot because….
Sorry for the dorky shot, Cam.
Sunday, June 28th, 2009
Breathe.
One…
And back again.
We’re going through the motions here these days. I think my fasting and cleanse (aka stomach flu) is passing finally and I’m starting to be able to eat again. It’s slow getting energy though to see any real progress throughout the days. I unpack a little, make meals, go for walks, sit and look at our new views, read books, listen to the young eagles soar so near outside our house.
The camera I bought has taken longer than I’d have liked it to to get here. I’m expecting it this week but I find myself hesitating to take any pictures, knowing that soon the pictures I’ll be taking will be sharper.
I’m looking forward to more living… I want to be loving this living.
Friday, June 26th, 2009
We had a fabulous visit with friends before we left Vancouver Island and I really wanted to share some of the moments here.
This cherry tree was the absolute perfect tree fort. Complete with climbing wall, ladders, swing and roped area.
What’s more fun than building a river and lake?
Leif, always with the “psh”, watering the gardens and L eating some yummy rich soil. Mmm? Well, she sure thought so.
Supper was a salad filled with fresh picked strawberries, beets and mint. We also had a really mouth watering dairy free beet leaf and basil pesto on rice pasta and covered with grilled veggies and roasted garlic. It was divine!
This was probably my favourite picture of the night. The kids were all playing while the parents were sitting around enjoying the last of the supper and wine when I saw little L climbing up and down the ladder. I LOVE that no one was worried. I LOVE that no one was screaming “BE CAREFUL” over and over all night. I LOVE that her parents have always trusted and know their daughter’s comfort zones. Plus she’s just super cute, right?
The night ended favourably with a little play acting. A shy angel for once in her life not overflowing with drama, an adorable dinosaur who made the most appropriately scary faces that would turn into huge relaxed smiles right after the picture was taken, and the rock of the evening- the knight in his chain mail and catchers mask.. er I mean knight’s helmet.
Good times.
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
We said goodbye to our house last Saturday. I was excited but tearful as we drove up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy where we were planning on catching the ferry the next morning. I’m going to miss all our friends, the local community, The Thirsty Camel, the beaches, the walks, Morrell Nature Sanctuary…. more than I can list here.
Lily was a little uneasy about all over our stuff being loaded into the truck. She actually spent a length of time hiding out behind a dresser.
Leif stayed busy playing with the “psh” out back.
Port Hardy was breath taking. I sat for an hour outside the hotel watching boats come and go. Right behind me was a fish cleaning station where I watched fishermen take care of the fish they just caught. I met a number of locals and was left with a longing to come back and explore a bit more.
Sadly, the alarm went off at 4:50am the next morning. We had to get to the ferry terminal by 5:30 am. Boy were we all tired! I just had to include this picture of how my kids often end up when sleeping next to each other.
This is the new ferry and it blew us away with how nice it was.
Our state room was so worth the extra cost for this 15 hour sailing. It had two comfortable beds, desk, closet and a bathroom with a shower in it. Cam and I each had a turn sleeping when one of the kids needs needed to.
During our posh supper we stopped to look for bears thanks to a loan of binoculars from the waiter.
The views the whole way were amazing!! Even Leif appreciated them.
We drove off the ferry at 10:50pm and thankfully 3 km away we were in our driveway. We only had to set up our thermarests and sleeping bags and then we hit the sack. Boy, we were tired.
We only just got our internet set up so I hope to catch up with you all soon!
Friday, June 19th, 2009
An impromptu picture with Krista who came to see the packing job.
I’m going to miss this house but it’s so much harder to say goodbye to good friends. 
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
It’s been so busy around here the last week and especially the last few days. I’m about to go to bed after getting the house ready for the pack day tomorrow. I’m not really sure what to expect and I hope that I’ve done everything I was supposed to so it all goes smoothly.
It was a funny experience having the moving appraiser come in to inventory all of our things. It seemed like she kept waiting to see “the rest of it”. Like where’s the tv, the crib, the stereo, the microwave, the play room or at least lots of toys… If I had any illusions that people don’t think I’m weird then that bubble burst with this woman’s visit.
her: “And on this form you put down your dvd and vhs players and…”
me: “Ah, no. No tv so no dvd and vhs player, eh?” Tooth filled grin.
her: “Oh. Right.” What’s-wrong-with-these-people look.
Tonight is the last night we sleep in this house. Tomorrow and Friday night we sleep at a hotel and Saturday we’ll be heading out of town. I can’t believe how fast it’s moving now. It’s like we don’t have enough time to be with friends and see that one important thing one more time…. too many one important things on our list.
Anyway, computer time will be touch and go until Monday or Tuesday. I hate to miss out on all my daily reads. Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend everyone!
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