Animals, Pickleball and Salmon

Ron has created a monster since we have been here.  There is a Steller’s Jay that is very insistent on his morning peanut.  He will come to the front window and look in and then when Ron shows him a peanut, he will fly to the back and wait to take the peanut from Ron’s hand.  Throughout the day, he will look in the windows, hop on the rail, call and peck at something to get attention for more.  He does not like the dogs and is not fond of the cat but he will sit on Ron’s knee waiting for his next treat.

At the front of the house, two neighborhood dogs wait for the door to be opened to come in and visit.  This is an happening place with birds and dogs.

We didn’t have any big plans for the day and so Ron came up with our agenda.  Now, for those that know Ron you will be surprised at his first idea.  Since his hamstring was still bothering him, he couldn’t play tennis but he suggested pickleball.  I was sure he was joking.  

He has always said that he would never play pickleball. Well, today that never changed.  Ron and Kylie were against Stephen and I.  The rules were different from tennis and the scoring took a little bit to get use to but we played.  Finally, after about a hour and a half, Ron and Kylie won a game.  Stephen and I had won all the others to that point.  It was really quite fun and even Ron reluctantly agreed that he had a good time pickling.

It was lunch time and the pink salmon caught last night had been ground in preparation for burgers.  Kylie mixed up the spices and added an egg and some bread crumbs.  Stephen made the burgers and barbequed them.  They were delicious!

After lunch, Stephen prepared come cages to catch crabs and prawns.  

Ron and him left for the afternoon to drop the cages in the ocean.  They will sit there overnight and then the guys will go and see if they were able to attract anything.

They fished for a while but didn’t catch anything.  It was a bit wavy.

Kylie and I had tea and chatted.  It was a relaxing afternoon.  

When Stephen and Ron got back, supper prep began.  This time we had coho salmon with a red sauce.  Another great meal!  There is nothing like fresh salmon cooked to perfection. 

As we wrapped up our evening, Ron put some YouTube videos on the tv of some dogs.  Beemer and Murphy were quite interested.

It was a different kind of day with an interesting twist.  The miracle of pickle ball happened.  We thought it never would but it did.  What could possibly happen next?  Will Murphy win Ron’s heart?

Another Good Day!

We have been having such amazing weather and since yesterday was a bit of a tiring day, we took an extremely slow start. Finally, we decided that we should do a hike.  I was working up to the Burnt Bridge Loop Trail.

The reason for the trepidation was that a suspension bridge was part of the loop.  Suspension bridges and I don’t really like each other.  We started up the trail and Ron had to stop.  

He was suffering from an old fishing injury.  Perhaps, it wasn’t that old.  I didn’t tell the story yesterday because I didn’t really think it would play into any of our future plans.  So, let me digress…while we were on the fishing boat, Stephen caught a fish.  He quickly handed the rod to his dad.  Ron did an awkward turn and twisted his leg and fell to his knee.  When he straightened, Stephen had the rod back in his hands and had the fish in the boat.  Meanwhile, Ron was in pain.  He had pulled a muscle in his hamstring.  I guess the suspension bridge and I will have to wait.

We came home and Ron rested his leg.  Stephen, Kylie and I took Murphy and Beemer for a walk.

Koda came across the road to join us.  Around the corner, Princess became a part of our caravan.  Another dog tried to come along but Princess and Koda wouldn’t have anything to do with it.  We walked to the river and the dogs played in the water. Koda is very interested in the squirrels and salmon.

When we got back, Ron decided to get his licence to do some river fishing. We drove to a spot where Stephen and Kylie had fished before.  

We walked down through the path with huge trees all around us.  We had to walk through the water to get to the area to fish.  

The quota is 2 salmon each.  Kylie grabbed her rod and said that she was going to show them how to catch a pink salmon.  Just like that, she had one on her line.

 It was so easy that she let it go.  She repeated it again.  The boys kept snagging the fish along their backs or tails.  If they are snagged, they need to be let go.

Kylie got her two and then Stephen got his.  

Ron had one and then he kept snagging them and having to release them.  The sun was setting when finally a fish decided to bite the lure.  

We cheered and the people across the river smiled at our excitement.  The fish were gathered and we made our way back through the trail, across the water and by the big trees.

Once again, the work began.  Stephen cleaned the fish.  Kylie pulled the bones and Stephen skinned them.  They were preparing the fish to be ground to be turned into salmon burgers.

So Kylie may have been the fishing instructor but I was the foreman…

Another good day!

It was a Whale of a Day

We were told by one of the Elders “that the early bird gets the worm” and so we were up and going at 6:00 a.m.  It was a beautiful morning.  The ocean was calm.

There are lots of obstacles in the ocean with tides changing and run offs.  Today there was a whole tree in the ocean!  

Seagulls sometimes try to mark the logs by making them their landing point.

As we crossed the water, Ron noticed a mist rising and then there was another.  Finally the tail of a whale was spotted.  Our day was already a success story.  You will have to take our word for it because I didn’t get a picture.

Kylie was the first to land something.  A Starfish was interesting to look at but was not on our lists of things to bring home.  

Next, she pulled out two rockfish..both a little too small to keep. At 10:43, Kylie got a big salmon.  What is all this talk about the early bird…it is almost noon!  

Fifteen minutes later, Stephen pulled in an even bigger coho salmon.  

At 11:13, Ron reeled another one in.

Not quite a half hour later, another salmon found its way into the cooler.

Shortly after, they switched to bottom fishing and a rockfish was caught; and at the same time Kylie saw a bear on shore.  

Copper Rockfish

Our fishing adventure was checking off so many boxes.

At 12:48, Kylie brought another rockfish into the boat.  

Quillback Rockfish

Two more were caught and the fishing day was coming to an end.  At one point Kylie handed me her fishing Rod but thankfully nothing was biting at that time.  I did net a couple though!

We saw some eagles around and managed to get a picture of one.

We made our way back across the channel and towards the dock.  The wind had picked up a bit but it was still a beautiful day.  Stephen and Kylie loaded the boat and we stopped for specialty drinks on the way home.  Kylie says that good fishing is rewarded with frappes! 

Once home, the work began.  Cleaning, deboning and all that fun stuff.  Of course, I couldn’t help because I was documenting the fish stories.

What a whale of a day…a sighting of a whale, a bear and eagles and lots of catches and bringing home 4 salmon and 4 rockfish and of course, the frappes!

And if you haven’t guessed it… we had fish and chips for supper!

Meanwhile back in Ontario…my dad turned 90!  I’m sure he would have loved to be fishing today but he got to hear the stories and will enjoy watching the videos and seeing the pictures.

Happy Birthday Dad!