Another Canoe Trip

Bruce and I are taking off for 9 days tomorrow. It is time for another canoe trip with our friends, Tom and Melissa. The spare bedroom has been a packing room for the last week. I really don’t feel prepared but we are leaving tomorrow morning anyway. At 8:00 a.m. we will have a tow up Saganaga to American Point. From there we will be going into the Quetico and up to Mack Lake. Mack has excellent walleye fishing. After that we will gradually head over to Jasper Lake for some more good fishing. I am sure that I will have some good stories to tell you about the trip. We return home on the 26th.

Meanwhile I see that Katie has raised the bar on blogs by including pictures in hers. Even though I am mainly a person of words, I have no shame in stealing someone else’s pictures. This picture was taken by Jennifer Quarberg of Winona, Minnesota, while she and her family vacationed here. It is of the female fox that you have read so much about since last winter. Sometimes it is nice to replace the mental picture of “a fox” with a real picture of “The Fox.”

After I write this in Microsoft Word, I will move over to the blog program and try to insert the picture. It could be interesting. In fact, when you read this blog, try to think back to when I am writing (8:42 a.m. on Friday, August 17th). Was there any unusual static in the air? That was probably me as I tried to insert the picture.

My garden is starting to wind down. Chives and rhubarb has really slowed to nothing. Parsley and basil are still good. Lettuce is still good for the dining room. Fennel is slowing down.

Lots of other plants are still heading toward their harvest. I have about a dozen cantaloupe on the vine. Mine are just big enough for ½ per person but they are really sweet and juicy. The squash (zucchini, summer, acorn, butternut, and spaghetti) are almost ready to harvest. Actually the zucchini has been good the last three weeks but the others are slower. Tomatoes are still very green except for some plants that my friend, Sue Schei, gave me. We have had several wonderful tomatoes from her plants. She has a great green house. Green peppers and jalapenos as just barely enough to harvest, but will be plentiful soon. Cucumbers are giving us a few to eat. Bruce cheated and looked at the potatoes. They are about 3 inches in diameter. Carrots have lots of tops but need more bottoms.

The berry season is over. Blueberries have shriveled up from lack of rain. Raspberries are down to those last ones that are good for a snack as you walk by. But my cupboard is filled with jam and there are blueberries in the freezer. Can’t ask for much more than that.

My next project is to start drying parsley. I can get enough dried flakes for Eva and me to make it through the winter. I am also making some pesto for winter. That freezes really well and tastes great on any kind of pasta. Bruce and I also like it on pizza instead of a traditional tomato sauce. Then we add some dried tomatoes from the garden for a little tomato taste.

Well, I have to go back to packing for the canoe trip. Enjoy these wonderful days of summer.