It'll Be Hard To Say Goodbye....

Well the river is raging and I don't think there is a chance that we get fish again this year although my knucklehead friend disagrees.

4 Days for it to fall into shape...we'll see. If I don't get another fish this year it won't bother me all that much. I ended on a good one and I got my fair share in my opinion.....but one more would be cool...

;o)

Merry Christmas Bitches!!!

Well ,..
It is very unlikely that I will be fishing again before Santa Claus comes to town.
The kids are feeling better and that is a very welcome Christmas miracle in the Norland house.
I may sneak out and fish the outflows tomorrow just to lower the blood pressure but even that is bordering on a pipe dream...
..Too many things to do.
With the forecast calling for massive amounts of RAIN...it could very well be that the season is over for me.
It kind of snuck up on me and in a way it makes it less painful..lol.
I enjoyed this season....even though the weather tested my patience at times.
I am a whiny bitch and thats fishing after all.
I think that 2006 destroyed all of our minds.
After all... There were some beautiful fish caught this year and that is all anyone can really ask for.

A very public and sincere thank you to my good buddy Morin for being such a good friend and fishing partner.

Merry Christmas.

Gene

Chow Down Cock-a-Roach ...

Well Morin and I went fishing today even though it was 'Snowmaggedon' outside...

There must be something wrong with our heads but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I was 0 for 3 which stings for certain.
It would've been cool to get a hero shot of me with a fish in that shit but it wasn't meant to be.
I am sure we could've flogged the water until I redeemed myself but I am also sure that if we'd stuck around I wouldn't be typing this from the comfort of my cosy warm home tonight and I would be holed up somewhere along the Huron shore waiting out the storm that eventually shut down all the roads and dreading the welcome my Wife would give me when I finally arrived home.
Instead we cut it short and rushed home to driveway shovelling and snowball fights...


..And relieved spouses.


I hope I get out a few more times before she closes but it is becoming crunch time...and I am wondering if I am up for it anymore.


I got some good shots of Morin fighting fish in the blizzard and we both got a great look at the Bald Eagle that calls the river home now.


That is worth the price of admission right there in my book......and caution to the wind is part of this sport....even with the full knowledge that it will catch up to me some day.

Flotsam and Jetsam

So here is my poor old fishy....dislocated and abused...hanging haphazard over my spawn tying desk in the furnace room.
For shame...
This mount didn't come with a back piece which at the time didn't bother me. I originally had the big fella on the pine walls of my basement and that seemed to look just fine.
Now with the new basement I need something. I would love to go with something black-ish?
Wood painted would probably be the easiest but there is a granite remnant place in The States that has fueled my imagination a bit.
I certainly have no time for it now as the real fish have priority and we are rounding the corner on Ho Ho...
Sounds like a New Years project.
Til then he'll just have to stay where he is. It isn't really that bad of a spot anyway. Less tempting for the kids. Owen had Obi Wan Kenobi in the fishes mouth the one day..LOL....
I didn't even have the heart to get mad at him,... I mean he is seven...how could anyone resist?
:O)
The cell phone is history and the camera...although working....is showing signs.

I am hoping that I have enough dough left over for a possible Boxing day upgrade.
It will have to be just a Point and Shoot dummy job and the two cameras that I have been looking at are the ,

Canon a1000
or the
Canon a590

I don't know squat about cameras and just about anything that you review on the net will have something bad attached to it.
I was at my Daughters Christmas concert yesterday and had a chance to use my wifes Canon S5 IS.
Aside from the 12x zoom I really wasn't that impressed.
I mean the photos were good but they weren't good enough to justify the bulkiness on a fishing trip and besides... I am going to destroy anything that I buy within a matter of months.
FACT.
Some of the reviews mentioned 'Noise' from too many Megapixels on a small camera. I have no idea what that means but if I upgrade to a 10 MP camera and have crappy pics I am going to be really bummed.
Oh well.
I have been pretty lucky so far and the Canons are tougher than Whale shit. For the price anymore there isn't that much of a risk anyway.
I was thinking the other day that since the advent of Digi Cameras our household has gone through at least 5 different models.
The population of Sarnia is right around 75,000 (I think)...
Lets say 10,000 households....
Even if we are above average,...and I don't think that we are...that is right around 40-50,000 cameras in a land fill somewhere.
Can that be right?
Now I am not exactly Green Gene ,..but it does get you thinkin...

I Was Overdue Really

...Today I ignored Morins advice and tried to cross a river that was really truckin at a spot that was less then friendly.
I almost made it.

Almost.
I used to go in on a regular basis when I used to fish Sauble Falls...but I was younger then
The digital sign we passed on the way home had the temp at a balmy -8...without the windchill and that water was cold.

Three quarters of the way across and up go the feet and I am swimmin. It was a pretty wild feeling with that cold water coming in over the top of the waders....
Not funny really... I should be more careful...
...and I should put the camera and the cell phone in Ziplock bags..
DOH!


As you can see from the pics ...my camera made it....but the cell phone is still DOA. I was secretly hoping that this little mishap would've forced me to get a new camera...and I know Morin was too.

Aside from that madness we did pretty good. One of the fish we got today had been attacked by an eagle or something. We took the photo from her good side as the other side was pretty gruesome. I don't like her chances but who knows...these fish are remarkable.




We fished some new water today and when you do that you always waste a little time searching but this is something we should do more often. I will be in no hurry to rush back to this little section but it is always nice to have spots like this in the back pocket when things get a little stale.
I wasn't sure if I would even be going today until the last minute. The baby is better but poor Ella is still running a fever. She does seem to have more energy though and her spirits are up.

Hopefully she'll get another good nights sleep and we'll see some improvement tomorrow.
Morin managed to land a stellar fish today that just put the boots to him!!

It was an epic struggle between man and fish and for once he didn't lose the friggin thing...LOL.
I am sad for him.
Watching that POS negotiate log piles ..cracking ice...overhanging limbs and submerged timber was absolutely priceless......
Must be hard hiking with that horseshoe up his ass.
Anyway...surprisingly enough today took a lot out of me ....so I will cut this one kinda short....
and maybe one more tea before bed..
Brrrrrrrr.



(laugh it up Wallace)

Otitis Media..

...My old friend.

Well last night the rod is tied and all the gear is loaded in the car. Permission to fly has been procured from the Warden and the water graph looks good.

A few minutes of Monday Night Football...which was one helluva game ..then off to bed to fortify myself for the next days riparian adventure.

Hit the Brakes

Both girls are sick...

Poor little Avery woke up with what is obviously an ear infection...nobody got any sleep.My Wife god bless her insisted that she could manage and told me to go anyway....Then Ella woke up with a fever...?Time to pull the plug....sorry Brian...I am Daddy first.Regardless what my Wife suggests...fishing is no fun when you are worrying about the kids.

Especially Ella...That kid is never sick.

Oh well the Steelies will catch a break from me today...with all this rain the river should blow apart ...I hope Morin doesn't get stuck on the far side....actually I hope he does...lol

Avery is very tough ...it appears she takes after her mother. I hope we can get this medicine into her...

Ella...well...as you can see ...she is very lethargic this morning.

BTW.. yesterday I made it official. I return to work on Feb 5th...
:o/

Eggs Benny

It is fun walking through 2 feet of snow.
Sincerely..

The thing is...even now in my decrepit state...if someone calls me and suggests that we bundle up and head out for a long taxing hike in the fresh virgin snow I am in!

I love the outdoors and I always have and in the winter being outside is really a blast if you are dressed for it. I don't even mind working in it, again, provided you have enough gear.



Morin and I are on the phone hm-hawing back and forth about whether or not we should even try when suddenly my wife pipes up out of frustrating and says "Oh for Gods sake just GO!!"

OK.
:o/

I think she is having an affair...or it could be that she is just sick of me. I have been home since June after all.
I think today is the day. I will grab a shower after this and a shave/haircut and head into to work to set the ball rolling for my return to the real world. My leave slip saw me through 'til late March but I think that I have had enough. I am thinking maybe the second week of January would be good....after all ...the seasons closed,...most the other rivers are locked up...and really ...what the hell else are you going to do....fish the outflows every day?
...I would rather look for bad guys.....and grab some OT $$.
;o)
So off we go yesterday through a blinding snowstorm in winds that threaten to flip the car...and temps that freeze the snot to your whiskers ala glazed doughnut...
The walk through the woods was gorgeous and would've been worth the trip alone....except we had our fishing rods ...which had us crossing the fine line from admirable outdoor enthusiasts to fucking meatheads...
:o/
The river was frozen...go figure.
Water freezes at the Big 0 so it only makes sense that at -13 all things riparian are less then friendly.
Oh Well...(I have been typing that a lot lately)
On the way home we stopped at Aunt Gussies where I lobbed one in to Morin by ordering Eggs Benedict.
Apparently I am gay because I like eggs benedict...which is strange because it is one fluffy dish that embraces the redneck.
The sauce is almost pure butter death and there are enough egg yellows in it to drop a Rhino....I even ordered a side of bacon to ease the tension.
lol
Oh well...I really wanted a beer to wash it down but I figured the milkshakes with the hairy eyeballs would have called the police.



I just heard my condensate pump kick on and I am filled with pride...maybe there is hope for me yet?

BTW...I have a foul mouth....and I am sure that at some point BLOGGER is going to catch up with me and give me the sack. Whatever.
I read a qoute once from Kurt Vonnegut that went something to the effect of "Profanity gives people an excuse not to listen to you".....
Fuck him.
Here is the thing about Blogger and I will try to be as sincere as anybody can be with themselves or others.


I do this for myself. It is my fishing journal. I share here because I enjoy reading other Blogs and this is my offering. Generally I am a miserable cunt and fishing is a way of calming my restless soul and offering me a respite from a stressful life. I've read a ton of books that I have enjoyed and probably barely understood but I don't pretend to be wicked smart. I cannot spell and my gramm'e'r is terrible. My thoughts are hackneyed and cliche. ....But I will continue with this. It provides me with something. It is not a place for me to brag about fishing ....trust me...I am useless out there. Yesterday I made four casts and had to retie twice...once pulling my line from a tree.
Here is the thing...some of you guys I know..some I don't..you are all welcome here but friends and strangers be advised,
I am not about to start policing comments like some sort of Draconian Blogger NAZI..
Feel free to attack each other all you want...I don't give a shit.
This doesn't mean that I endorse any of it but the thing is ...we are men...silly men....but men.
I take shots at everyone, in jest for the most part, but it was my hope that the latest round of pugnacity was more about the friendly jab?
If not ...so be it.


I am not Dad (at least not here) and the boys can work it out on their own....
..But allow me to say just this one thing.

It's Christmas.....
for christs sake.

A Face Only A Mother Could Love..

I suppose I could be talking about Morin....
Greg got me thinking about some of the uglier fish that I have caught over the years so I thought that I could dedicate a post to those unfortunate little fishys that are breathtaking in a whole nother direction..
8O/

Here is a Brown Trout from NY that stopped growing!!
Nice colour but WTF?
lol
If my memory serves me right (and it seldom does...I mean lets face it I am a fisherman)..Morin caught one that was picture perfect just before this abomination hit the beach.
That is just about Par for the course..

Here is a great example of the kind of sport created by our local hatchery.
I picked this thing off at the Outflows a few winters back.
At the time I was so stir crazy that anything with fins was beautiful to me...and that is how it should be really.
It is like setting up on a wet blanket most of the time with these beauties.
If you can pick up a pellet head that has been swimming all summer in the pond outside the hacthery before it dies of starvation out in the Lake ,you have a legit chance at a 20+lb fish...if you can call it that.
The club keeps them around for PR sake and the soccer moms will lob pellets in to them all summer long only to have them released to 'wild' in the fall....lol

This fish was caught few years back when the river saw a weird run of hatchery uglies... I don't know what was up with the gills.
I do remember distinctly releasing this fish only to catch the same fish again on the next drift...not too bright

I have no idea what this thing is....and the fish is kind of ugly too.
Gotta love cape Croker..
Oy..

Thought this post would be a good idea to bring some levity to what has been at times a rather frustrating season....might be cool to follow up with a post of dimes
...but for that I would probably have to borrow some of Brians photos.

Everybody and Their Brother...

I slept in a bit this morning.
Had a case of the Lazys..whatever.

I didn't expect too many people on the river today anyway...after all, twas a bit frosty and it was also midweek in the second deer hunt.

Turns out I didn't need to worry too much about getting shot unless it happened to be a through 'n through

I have never seen the river so busy...it was just beyond belief. I don't think that I fished anything but second water all day...oh...and I just love that. The great thing was that it didn't look like it was just today either. The place was trampled.



Ah well.

Oddly enough it didn't send me over the edge. Most of the people I ran into were surprisingly decent.



A couple of meathunting shitrats here and there but it wasn't like walking into an abattoir. I have seen that act before and I don't care to see it again.

Tough fishing with that much pressure. I had some Neophytes saddle up next to me at one point and completely screw up a piece of water. They might as well've been throwing rocks into the water. Frustrating...but even that might've saved lives.lol



Oh well close but no cigar. Water looked good....looked good to all fifty of us.
:o/
I was flying solo on this trip and kind of glad that Morin missed this shit.
He would've blown a gasket.

An Act Of God...

I remember that in the not too distant past a 1 for 4 day , with quality fish, under less than ideal circumstances, would've had me grinnin ear to ear.
Well... I have come to expect more.
This speaks to the quality of our fishery as well as to my skills I suppose even though I am more than willing to acknowledge that I am hovering right around mediocre...lol....especially lately.
I kinda miss the good old days when a 10 or 12 fish season would fill me with pride. There seemed to be more mystery to the game then.
There is no going back of course but I have been struggling to maintain a philosphy about this little pastime lately.


This season is wearing on my nerves ....and yesterday around 10:00 I was right prepared to call it a complete write-off.
I have today regrouped and can laugh about it a little...very little.
Dig this...
Yesterday I arrived at water and found hope....in a season bereft of hope....I found hope.


The Giant Niagra like river that our river has become had dropped to a level that was almost recognizable and had right around 12" of visabilty. With no real precipitation in the forecast I also knew that not only would it continue to drop throughout the day but it would also warm and clear even further and right around noonish I could expect to, excuse the vulgarity...beat the living shit out of them...


My gameplan was to circumvent the GBO/FFnet spawned dirtbags and hike way up and start at the top. Crossing the river was tricky to the point of stupid and looking back I regret the risk but we've all been there .
By the time I reached the starting point the morning was well underway.
First drift...Bang..fish on....
It was a strong take and the fish fought very well and even jumped a few times...very impressive considering the temps caused by the melting snow.
Slid the fishy in for a quick photo-op... walked back up for the next drift.
Bang fish-on...


Here I slide into a very Morin-esque fit of uselessness...
The next three fish were all winners...lol....good for them. It didn't even bother me at the time and it served me right really for teasing Morin so much lately for being useless ....and he is useless!!
...After all ... I had an entire day of easy pickin's ahead of me.
Then the water starts to turn...
:o/
Slowly at first...
I tried to hike above it but that didn't seem to help so I turned back and tried to get to the a spot we call the wintering hole before it all goes for a turd...
I stopped at the sausage run to fish the tailout and I witness something that I have never seen before.
The water goes from 12" to ZERO....like I mean pure MUD in an instant!!!!
I look upstream and can actually see this wall of mud coming downstream and ruining everything.
Unreal.
It looked like someone had dumped it into the river.
I can only assume that one of the clay banks upstream must've had a slide or something.
My luck is running....
WTF...
I could've hopped in the car and tried to get above it but I had neither the time nor the energy so I called 'no joy' and turned towards the hike out with my tail between my legs.
I must've wronged someone at somepoint...Maybe God is punishing me for hangin around that shitrat Morin??
Oh well...
Today after Hockey my son and I made our annual donation of toys to the Salvation army...Ho Ho Ho...maybe I'll get some bonus points with the big fella for that one. If nothing else this very small act seems to help get me into the Christmas spirit.....no small feat sometimes.Morin is out today...and of course they will hammer them....
MFers'..
BTW...If I ever run into the POS that is leaving his crushed Busch Lite cans on the river I am going to open his fucking head.

Mud

Sometimes you just have to see for yourself I suppose.
So off I go in the wee hours of the morning to a river that by all rights should be destroyed by rain.
I don't know whay I do these things but I will say this ....I don't regret it. At one point on the way out I sat down under a tree and just stared up at the sky.
There was a soft rain coming down through bare limbs and it covered my glasses until I couldn't see anymore. I could feel the rain find its way down the back of my neck but still I sat there....thinking. You can think out there....and I need moments like these. This is the only place I can find them.
I go there to fish but anymore I really don't give a shit if I catch fish or not. It is fun to catch fish ...particularly these fish and if I am fishing with another I am still vain enough to be bothered if I can't keep up but I have noticed that I have lost that sort of maniacal predatory edge that we get once we have reached a certain level. That is gone. I remember it though. I remember getting to the river an hour before sunrise and listening to my heart pound and watching the water for any indication of fish.
Now I just want some peace and quiet.

...And I like watching Morin lose fish.

Because he is a POS.

My Mother In Law Loves Me...

..and I am sick of winter already.
It seems Morin and I had some people in a panic over our decision to fish yesterday. On the way home we just missed the closure of the highway.
My Mother In Law called me first thing this morning to give me a blast of shit about how concerned she was yesterday. She said that the radio had claimed that at times you could only see 1 car length in front of you....
....It was way worse than that!
Morins wife called and suggested that we should just stay over...now that is something
..My wife would have me abandon the car and crawl home...lol



Winter Steelheading has arrived early and I suppose I should be happy. The increased hardship getting to and from the fish is usually enough to filter out some of the Shitrat contingent and that is always a bonus but I can't seem to shake the feeling that we got ripped a bit with the fall weather.


There is no end to the Nerdiness between Morin and I and our new thing now is using the movie mode on the cameras.
There is one video we have made this fall where I am fishing a wee piece of water we call the 'stick' and in the background the wind is blowing the trees back and forth. The fall colours were in peak and it looks like a Tom Thompson painting come to life.
I have watched that video so much over the past two weeks that it actually concerns me a little bit. I love being in there when the colours are up...and we had very little of that this year.
The forest is smashed now. ...and that has its own special charm.
I just wish that we could have transitioned a little more gently.



The plan this week was for a back to back Thursday Friday assault but 'common sense' (courtesy of my wife) and road closures have shut us down....well at least me anyway....I haven't heard from Morin this morning....could be he is en route with the dogsled...that OCD POS

Oh well...we made it home alive....caught some fish...and the best part was when I arrived home to find out that everybody is now healthy in the Norland infirmary.



Here is hoping that the river will shape up at some point and I can fish it without having to take my life in my hands at every crossing and I won't have to tie my roe up in bags the size of grapefruit...


Enough already...

..Oh Yah...BTW...
On the way home we stopped at an awesome Bakery where we bought, among other things, extra spicey Oatmeal/Raisin cookies...they were delicious in a burn your throat kind of way ...but they tasted

like my Grandmas house smells

....
WTF
...is there a lethal level of Nutmeg?
I have had a headache ever since and I can't wait to have more.

W T F ?????

So... I figure that I have wronged someone or something...
Maybe my lack of recycling zest has offended now even the fish gods??
I had better start scrubbing those yogurt cups out so that I can save the world along with all the other victims....
Look at that snow... I mean come on...
Mid November and we are literally snowed in.
This is getting depressing.

Morin and I are fishing tomorrow regardless of any of this shit so look out....
Chances are it will be a fruitless slush-fest and I will end up even more depressed than I am now...

But the bottom line is ...I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!!!

...and who knows...we just might get lucky...

Genesis 7:19

....It just keeps coming...and I am getting very irritable.
:o/


Just when things were starting to shape up fish wise we get enough rain to last us 10 seasons all at once...
I was hoping to fish this week but even if the rain stops right now...which it hasn't....it'll be at least a week before any river ...particularly my favourite ..is fishable.
Lord..

When the water gets this high...and it is really friggin high...I can't help but wonder if all the fish that have loaded up don't just bounce back to the Lake?
It would be one helluva a trick to hang in there while the river tears trees down.
Oy .. I am bummed.
Oh well at least the Pistons are playing well.
Damn
...I really wanted to fish this week

My legs hurt

Hiking is cool...
But it was way cooler when I was younger.
:o/
I fished with Morin a few days back and we did alright but I am seriously thinking that I am getting too old for this shit. These trips to the river whip me into shape just about the time when the season closes and until then it is a test of sheer will.
My favourite moment is when we pull into the driveway and I try to peel my pain riddled body out of the car. My legs are still cramped up.


The fish were difficult and the weather was cold. I had forgotten that this is a cold weather sport. I actually broke out the hot pockets.
Most the leaves were down and the forest is taking on that wonderful stark look that I really dig. I would like to get out a few more times this week in order to savour this stage but it looks like the river is going to blow again.
I think my weatherman must die comment has cursed us a bit but I will take too much water rather than too little water any day ...and so will the fishies.
With this high water I think that a lot of the fish are just shooting through and not holding up at all...


I don't pretend to know a ton about these fish...in fact I am quite stupid most of the time....but when it means so much to be able to tangle with these little silver monkies you do pick a few things up out of necessity.
My day started slow and I blew the first fish which can always test ya but luckily there were a few dumb ones kicking about.


Now I find myself praying for no rain.
Steelheaders are crazy people.

Weird week...

My father in law and brother in law are hunters.
They live for the deer season in particular. Two weeks out of the year they disappear into the bush in the hopes of filling the freezer full of Venison ....but more importantly to get away from it all.


It took me a while to to get on board with this whole delio as I was very much under the influence of the Bambi vibe...
Poor wittle things..
...that is until I tried Venison chops on the BBQ with Montreal Steak spice.
Bambi can lump it...besides the population of deer here are very good and we don't need a situation like northern MI where you are taking your life into your hands driving on the highways at dawn and dusk.


On our first run to the Cadillac Michigan area Morin and I added a significant amount of travel time to our fishing trip just having to slow down because of the abundance of deer. It would be a helluva thing to have one come flying through your windshield.
The getting away from it all thing is something that I really dig...


Generally there is a crew of four that take advantage of a sugar shack that isn't being used this time of year. They will roll back into town a week later quite often with nothing to show for their time and effort other than facial hair and stink.


Sounds like a blast.
Card playing drinking and bad food. Sign me up.
The boys hunt very close to where we fish this time of year and this year they were kind enough to extend me an invite. I am not a hunter but I am a drinker and a card player and there is nothing like the smell of a wood burning stove....
I was there for two nights.
I had to clear the mouse turds away in the loft to make room for my sleeping bag.
LOL
The first night rained so hard that I had to sleep in the car. The sugar shack has only a tin roof and shortly after midnight the joint began to sound like a snare drum. I am no Mary but WTF!!!??
I got up that morning to a stiff neck and a blown river. Not a good way to start the week. The hunters too were a little down in the mouth so rather than hang around camp and be miserable I bolted for a river a little farther north.
When I got there I was surprised to find that the water albeit high and fast was quite fishable. I managed two strong-backed Steelies that this river is known for and a confused looking Lake Trout???
My friend Dave filled me in that they are actually quite common for this particlar river.
Hmmm...
I would've liked a pic of the Laker at least for the memories but my camera was right next to the empties on the table in the shack.


I was a wee bit hungover. Nothing like a combo of Scotch ,Red Wine and English ale to put you against the ropes...
After I fished that river which shall be nameless I had to scoot home for a dinner party we'd planned with some good friends.
The plan was to return the following day early in the morning and fish my brains out...Sugar Shack it...then fish hard the following day with Morin.
Ah November ...
So I pick Owen up from school and he greats me with Daddy ....my throat is sore...
Of course it is ...why wouldn't it be....Jesus H Christ....
I love my kids more than life itself and my son is a low maintenance angel from heaven but I cannot remember a Fall that has been without a steady string of bugs in the Norland house...sometimes it can get very depressing.
So we have a look in Owens throat and it looks like a grenade went off in there. I whip him in to the Doctors to find out that he has Hand Foot and Mouth disease.
WTF!!!!!!!!
"yes...we've seen quite a run of this this year"....
WTF!!!!!!!!!
After having fifteen heart attacks the doctor manages to assure me that it isn't that big of a deal other than the fact that it is very painful. It is a virus that is common and should clear up on its own in 7- 10 days.
ugh
..Oh well..I tried to pull the plug on the trip but my lovely Wife assured me that it wouldn't be neccessary. God I love her....and my kids...
...and fishing...
So...early the next morning I am forcing it on a river that I know well enough to know better...handicapped not only with high water but with a guilty conscience.
It was only fitting that I had my ass handed to me...
6 solid hrs and nary a tug...rotten fish.
Back at camp the boys were celebrating over two deer. My brother in law got himself a Buck that weighed in at the butcher at right around 3 bills. They were beside themselves. Good for them.
:o/
The next day was better. I hit a fish right off the bat and I could exhale...


The river has been a wee bit tight so far this year.


Hardly worth the effort ...unless you are in love with it.
The deer camp thing was fun and will surely become a tradition with me.
I bought Owen some Lego today and it put a smile on his poor little face...
I hope he is feeling better tomorrow.
When my kids get sick it just breaks my heart.