From river to plate: catching dinner

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Russ Anthony

Well I guess it’s no surprise as to what the content of today’s post will be – at least not to any of you who follow us on Facebook.

A few weeks ago, Vanessa and I enjoyed a series of six weekly “get to know you” evenings with our pastor and a few new couples at our church. One week we were asked: if money were no object, how would you spend the “perfect” day off? I knew exactly how I’d respond: I’d be sitting by a stream – fishing rod in hand, enjoying a beautiful day in solitude, enjoying the beauty of nature around me. Actually catching fish would be optional bonus.

With an endless array of freshwater streams rivers and ponds, there is no shortage of fishing opportunities for us in PEI. Most of the rivers are short, spring-fed streams that originate from cool freshwater springs providing a near-constant flow of 6 to 7 degree water throughout the year. As a result, these streams support a good trout fishery. In particular, it’s said that brook trout can be found in nearly every stream on the island.

In addition to the brook trout, Atlantic salmon can be found migrating on a few of the larger rivers on the island, and rainbow trout (a non-native species) have taken to a number of rivers and are now a self sustaining fishery.

We had previously fished a couple of ponds around our house without any success so we decided to try a river just minutes from our home. On Sunday, we had scouted an area of the river when we took Murdoch for a run. It wasn’t long before we saw big shadows just under the surface and a few fish rising. That’s exactly where we headed on Monday morning. And like Sunday, the fish were there to greet us.

We tried the go-to presentation for river fishing: drifting worms. Nothing. Then I switched to artificial trout eggs with the same success. Perhaps a nymph fly pattern? Nope. And to top it all off, our presence likely spooked the fish – they were now nowhere to be seen.

The one thing about this location was the deep pool just upstream from some fast-flowing rapids. Any fish heading upstream would take some time to rest in the slower moving water of the deep pool. That’s what I was telling myself, anyhow.

I figured the fish were there – we just weren’t offering them what they wanted. So, I tied on a lure I had some success with back in Ontario – a tiny streamer I tied on a 1/32 oz jig-head. On the first cast, I had a huge trout chase it into the open. My heart was pounding. Another cast. Another follow. I could hardly believe it. Another cast. I saw a flash of white as it swiped after it….and missed. Fourth cast. BAM! Fish on!

My first PEI trout – a 16″ rainbow trout. I noticed the yellow tag on it’s dorsal fin. The University of PEI is undertaking a rainbow trout study to monitor it’s habitat and possible expansion into other watersheds. Rainbow trout were introduced to the island accidentally when a hatchery malfunction resulted in the mass escape of a steelhead strain of rainbows. I noted the tag number and released the fish.

There is a UPEI hotline to call when a tagged fish is captured. Simply note the tag number, the size if the fish and the location of the capture. Your report is even eligible for a reward.

Fishing continued for another while, but this was the only fish that little jig would catch today.

Time to regroup. Clearly the fish didn’t want worms or eggs. I did get one with a minnow-imitating streamer, so let’s go with that. I tied on a small floating Rapala plug, tossed it downstream swam it over the deep pool. This time it only took three casts.

My second fish – and probably the biggest river-trout I’ve ever caught – a 22″ rainbow. I didn’t want to keep it. Vanessa did. We kept it, but to be honest I wrestled with that decision. I hate the thought of keeping the big, brute, breeding-stock.

It was a male – not a female capable of still laying thousands of eggs. If it were, there was no question – she’d go back. And it was a rainbow trout – a non-native species, said to be pushing out the native brook trout and Atlantic salmon residents. So, I agreed. It would become dinner that night.

Fishing continued again for a while and we didn’t have much more luck with any of the other lures we tried. It was getting colder and I really wanted Vanessa to catch one before we left so I tied on a spinner with rainbow trout colors. I figured if the fish got annoyed by a little trout buzzing around, we might get a strike out of anger.

On her very first cast with this spinner, Vanessa had her first island trout: a perfect pan-sized rainbow.

And that’s where it ended up – in the pan. No hesitation. In fact, given the option, I’d rather keep six of these little guys over one of the big ones. The big ones may be more fun to catch, but the little ones come guilt-free when eaten.

So that’s how our fishing trip went. A rousing success, I think. And being only minutes from the house, a place I’m sure we’ll frequent again and again.

So once home, I cleaned both fish and the little one went right into the fry pan. We split it as a snack while I prepared supper.

Very few of you know that I really enjoy cooking. I love it actually, so I wanted to be sure the big trout we kept was enjoyed to the fullest – the fish deserved that at least. It can also be a real challenge when cooking for a non-fish-eater. I’ll give credit where it’s due, though – Vanessa has eaten more fish since coming to PEI than in the previous twenty years we’ve been together.

I froze one of the two big fillets. The other was baked with a lemon-dill butter and served with an apricot and almond pilaf.

So just like the fishing, it too was a success.

A Change of Plans

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Russ Anthony

So the demolition is underway on the back addition. Initially, we thought we would simply remove and dispose of the structure altogether.

What we didn’t know at the time was that the addition was near-original to the house. A covered walkway/wood shed leading from the back door to an “indoor outhouse” was it’s original intent. Past owners insulated and finished the space, and it’s current condition and use is not practical for our needs.

So once we removed the interior finishes, we both had a change of heart. We’ve decided to carefully dismantle the roof and walls to relocate and reassemble it near the rear of the property.

I think I’ve settled on nesting it under the trees and use it as it as a woodshed/garden tool storage. We do need (and planned on building) some garden/outdoor storage – and in using the original structure, we get to maintain it’s character and save some serious moolah since the material for the structure is already here.

I will have to build new footings and floor, but the majority of the walls, roofing – and even sheathing – is reusable.

We’ve never wanted to just ignore the historic significance of this old home we bought. But in the same breath, we also recognize that it’s current condition necessitates a full gut and renovation. It will be our dream-home after all, so it still needs to meet our needs. In relocating this structure and repurposing it for our needs, we can keep its historical ties and fill a need we have by reimagining it for another purpose.

As part of our desire to be more self sufficient, we will eventually have laying hens for our egg needs and the new shed will be modified to incorporate a coop. All in all, it seems like a win-win scenario for us.

Another week and another disposal bin in our driveway – although this will be the last one for a while, at least. We spent a good part of today cleaning up around the back of the barn. I just don’t understand how people can use their backyard as a dump. Earlier this year (before the winter really settled in) we cleaned up as much as we could at the time. Windows, flooring material, mattresses, a piano, wire, tarps, cans and bottles, Styrofoam and countless pieces of wood were left there over the years. And now with the warmer weather and the grass having died back, we’re able to finally get rid of the last of the junk. And wow – that feels good. The only things left there is the oil-drum fire pit and the remains of an old tree trunk – now hollowed out and housing little critters for Murdoch’s enjoyment.

In fact, while we were cleaning up, he flushed out a vole and quickly dispatched the little guy. No, no sympathy here.

We also burnt away some of the tall, dead grass around the back yard. The house has been though two summers without much garden care, so when we arrived in the fall, the grass was waist-high in places.

Burning off the dead stuff seems to be the most practical option. Either that or rent some sort of brush cutter before we put the lawnmower to it.

We also uncovered our driveway. We had “patches” of asphalt showing through our dirt driveway. Turns out, our driveway is paved – just buried under years of grass, dirt and pine needles.

Now cleared away, we have a nice, clean parking pad. Raking up the old tall grass, we’ve also discovered a few spots of garden plants poking up.

Looks like we’ll have at least a few beds of lilies around the house in a short while.

And finally, fishing season opened here on Tuesday. And yes, I did wet my line. No, I didn’t catch any fish. On the weekend, our temperatures soared to nearly 20 degrees and severe runoff from the snow pack thawing, combined with rain on Monday, caused quite a lot of flooding around the rivers. All of the watersheds around our home had gone from babbling brooks to raging white-water rivers. Needless to say it was difficult fishing.

It wasn’t all for loss though – Vanessa saw and took this beautiful picture of a heron in the river behind our house.

We’ll give it a try again soon as things settle down in the rivers. But I like the way my wife thinks. She says the sooner we get the demo done, the more time we’ll have to go fishing.

OK. Where’s my hammer?

Distractions…..and extractions

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Russ Anthony

Another week and another unexpected and unwelcomed delay.

Not that it really made much of a difference with the yesterday’s rain and all, but an stray sliver of bone in last night’s dinner resulted in an emergency trip to the dentist and an extracted tooth today. So as per doctor’s orders, no heavy lifting, bending or straining that might cause the socket to bleed. That puts our demo on hold again for a day or so.

The weather has been in our favor this week otherwise and we did start demolition of the back porch. We also got most of our storage out of the rear addition – readying it for demolition too. I’ll have more of that to write about shortly.

So while sidelined, we distracted ourselves by starting some more of our vegetable seeds.

We’ve been germinating our seeds in trays set up on shelving in our kitchen. A space heater on low below the shelving provides the perfect temperature to get the seeds started and the newspaper pots reduces the stress of transplanting later – the pot and all will be planted.

Most seeds don’t require light to germinate, but once they’ve broken through the soil, the energy stored in the seeds is used up and the small plants start reaching for light – this is when we move them to our “grow-op”.

Upstairs and out of the way, we have another set of shelves equipped with fluorescent lights on a timer to provide 15-16 hours of light to the newly germinated seedlings per day.

The seedlings need sufficient light to keep them from becoming too leggy and spindly. We have the lights suspended from short chains and are able to raise the lights as the plants grow upwards.

Ideally, you’d want to keep the lights to within one or two inches from the seedlings. The lights are timed to turn off around 9:00 in the evening – and it’s quite a sight to see the upper level of the house lit-up like a greenhouse at dusk.

In addition to the asparagus and peppers started a couple of weeks ago, we’ve now started two flats of onions and the remainder of our tomato seeds – five varieties, totalling about 80 plants.

As spring approaches we will also be starting some of our other plants – squash, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce. And with the majority of the snow gone from our garden area, we’ll soon start preparing the beds for planting by the end of May or beginning of June. That will be around the time our foundation is underway, so we’ll have time to tend the garden.

The spring thaw couldn’t have happened soon enough. Next week, fishing season opens and I’ve already told Vanessa, regardless of the weather, I’ll be wetting a line when it does.

Until then, demo will resume as planned tomorrow. And a little free advice: be careful of little bone fragments when eating ribs. You’re welcome.

‘Weather’ or not – it’s time to start outdoors

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Russ Anthony

It’s been one of those weeks. You know the ones: you start with great intentions to get lots done, then something happens out of your control, derailing your plans – and before you know it, you did half of what you planned and some things you didn’t plan.

For example….

Between my last post and this one, we had some more severe winter-weather: an ice storm, to be exact. Close to an inch of ice accumulated on everything: the cars, trees, the house – everything. Well, the east side of everything anyhow.

I have to say it was pretty spectacular to look at. It reminded me of the prehistoric insects that got entombed in amber – only there were no insects. Or amber. Well, you get my drift.

Not pictured: insect in amber

Anyhow, regardless of the weather now, we’re under the gun to get several things done before the new foundation is installed. The rear addition (that we’ve used as a temporary storage area) has to be removed – which means we’ve been moving all of our unpacked boxes and items into the barn or the upper level of the house.

The chimney has to be taken down. I’m just waiting on a nice, warm, ice-free day to venture onto the roof to get the upper portion removed – the rest can be done from inside the house. I’ll have to patch-in the opening somewhat – but nothing too fancy right now.

And lastly, the front porch needs to come off. I’ve already stripped the trim, soffit and fascia from the roof structure and removed the deck railing. I figure the roof can stay on until we’re ready to start the foundation since it’s providing some protection from the weather as we come and go from the house.

The weather has taken a turn this week: it’s been quite mild the past few days – and the long term forecast remains the same. The snow is quickly melting which is good for us in hopes of getting the excavation underway for the foundation – but it’s making for a terrible muddy mess around the house. Not unexpected – just another source of aggravation.

The plan is to have the rear addition mostly removed this week. A pretty ambitious plan I admit, but hey, even if it takes twice that long, we’ll still be ahead of schedule. And I really want the garbage dumpster gone before the ground softens too much. At least the weather looks to be on our side for a change.

Our Old Island Home

Sharing our adventures in Pleasant Valley, PEI

Monthly Archives: April 2014

From river to plate: catching dinner

A Change of Plans

Distractions…..and extractions

‘Weather’ or not – it’s time to start outdoors