Fish Tails and Tales

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Leigh, this post's for you!!

All others, read at your own risk, no lifeguards are on duty.

Fisherhubby's final vacation fish count was 379 in two weeks. Some of you have asked me what we DO with all of those.

Well - - - I don't do ANYTHING with most of them. Fisherhubby is a "catch and release" kind of guy. MOST of those 379 fish never even came up to the cabin for me to take a peek at them.

This was one exception:


A pretty nice northern pike. Fisherhubby was as proud as a cat who caught a mouse, so he brought it right up to the door for me to snap this picture.

Northern Pike are toothy and put up a great fight. They are also quite slimy, so Fisherhubby calls them "snot rockets."

Don't go there.




This Disney "Sword in the Stone" clip, shows a pretty realistic pike who preys on Arthur.

They are really good eating with very white meat. However, they do have a "Y" bone running through the muscle and you have to know how to fillet them or you have a bone in every bite.


This is a large mouth bass - - - a FIVE POUND large mouth bass. I guess that's pretty big 'cause Fisherhubby wanted me to be SURE and tell you that part.

We NEVER eat these. Some OTHER people eat them, but I think they taste tooooooo stinkin' fishy. YUCK.

They are very fun to catch, if you like that sort of thing, so FH just catches and releases them to his heart's content.


Now THIS little guy is a treasure!!! He is what I call a panfish - - - which simply means they are small enough to fry in a pan. In the above clip, Arthur is a panfish. A TALKING panfish. I've never seen a TALKING panfish in real life, but no matter.

There are several varieties of panfish - - - I THINK this one is a bluegill, but I'm not sure. If you think a biology teacher OUGHT to know her panfish one from the other, well you would be RIGHT. But it isn't quite as easy as it sounds. Take a look at this:

(chart from www.fish.state.pa.us)

Now then, is our little fish a bluegill or a pumpkinseed???? I think he has some characteristics of BOTH. And besides, there are several OTHER varieties too, and they all just sort of cornfuse me!

I can't tell them apart, so I just call them ALL yummy.



Twice during the two weeks Fisherhubby caught a nice little bucket of panfish.


He filleted them right up into fish nuggets.

I dredged them in a flour, salt, and pepper mixture and fried them in about a half inch of hot oil in a frying pan. Very important that the oil is HOT when you start or they won't be a pretty crispy brown.


Yum Yum!!! Northwoods delicacy!!!!

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Eclectic Bits - - - AKA This Blog's Speciality!!!

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EB #1

This is my paternal grandmother when she was about sixteen. Isn't she pretty? I WANT that dress and headband.

I can't get over how much she looks like her youngest daughter, my beloved Aunt Kitty.

EB #2

When we arrived home from vacation on Monday, THIS package was waiting for me in the mail!!!!

I KNEW as soon as I saw it what it was, and let me tell you I was EXCITED about digging into it!!!


Here's a little "sneak peek" into the packaging. Can you guess what it is?????


It's little Miss Makena, and she has traveled all the way from Finland to make her home with me!!!! She is my new love.

One of my bloggy friends, Ulla, who lives in Finland makes rag dolls of all races for UNICEF which are then adopted by families all over the world. She recently posted a photo of her latest group of kids.

I fell in LOVE with Makena.

Ulla, out of the GRACIOUSNESS of her heart, went and retrieved Makena from the UNICEF store, and facilitated my adoption of her.

And here she is, happy and contented in her new American home - - - my dining room. Oh yes, she WILL be moving to Wisconsin with us.

EB #3

Indulge me here for just a minute.

KORIE NAE - - - this photo is for YOU so you can see how GORGEOUS your mumsie is in the lovely necklace you gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Well, maybe I SHOULD say how GORGEOUS the necklace is on your plain little ole mumsie.

EB #4

My first KAMMA KAMP!!!

I noticed on several of YOUR blogs that you have grandma camp with your grans from time to time.

What a LOVELY idea, thought I.


Tuesday evening I had my first opportunity to run Kamma Kamp for several hours.

What FUN we had.

We walked.

We played on the deck.

We ate popcorn.

And we colored with MARKERS. Don't panic - - - they were washable.


Oh, and VERY IMPORTANT, we had STICKERS on our forheads.

Stickers are cool - - - even my high schoolers loved it when I passed them out, and THEY are the ones who taught me that stickers are even cooler when worn on the forhead.


And just see how little Miss Piper WEARS the sunglasses that Kamma gave her at Kamma Kamp!!

What a little ham.

Must tell a Piper story:

Before her mama left her at Kamma Kamp, she felt that Piper needed some discipline and made her stand in a corner. Oh yes, this darling little child has her diva side.

Keri walked her to the corner of my kitchen cabinets and made her stand there with her nose in the crack. As Keri walked away, this precious, adorable, sugar sweet child made the loudest, angriest, "yeeeeehgh" you've ever heard.

Oh yes she did!

She's still adorable to her Kamma.

EB # 5

One of my dearest high school friends, Cindy, with whom I am still in touch, sent me this "view" of the Wisconsin River when she heard that I'm moving back "home."

Perhaps in three months I will have a view something like this.

Oh - - - it's the Wisconsin River in case you didn't GUESS that from the name of the town, Wisconsin RAPIDS!

And that, my dear bloggy buds is all she wrote for tonight - - - -

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Change - - - She is A Comin'

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I knew when I lost my job (well, I didn't actually LOSE it - - - my school closed which pretty much ended my employment) that change would be coming.

I never DREAMED how MUCH change.

I never dreamed it would mean I would return to my Badger roots.

Yesterday Fisherhubby resigned from his job in the Marion ER and after working out a 90 day notice he will begin his NEW job in the ER at Riverview Hospital in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.



I will be a displaced Badger no longer.

I've already blogged about my connection to Wisconsin Rapids here, and here.

My friend Connie was instrumental in helping Greg secure this new position. Strange and wonderful how the threads of our lives keep twining together. You can read about our twining threads here.
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Badger Country

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Yesterday we drove to Madison.

That's Badger Country!


Of course, I was MOST interested in seeing THIS sight.


Camp Randall Stadium, home gridiron for my beloved Bucky and His Boys!!!


Since I've never been here for an actual game, this little pilgrimage during the off season is for me a BIG highlight of our Wisconsin vacation.


I'm always surprised at how SMALL the field looks inside that huge stadium.


Yesterday some kind of girls soccer camp was going on, but when I looked way at the opposite end of the field - - -


I'm pretty sure I saw some of the "boys" playing a little football. Too bad they were so far away I couldn't tell WHICH boys they were.

You know, if they'd just wear their NUMBERS while they practice, it would sure help me identify them. Hehehehehehe


Just inside this particular stadium entrance is THIS fun place - - -


Bucky's own sports shop.


Here red and white are the order of the day.


I had plenty of time to shop to my heart's content.


I came away with a few new treasures - - - this shirt and bracelet amongst them.


And a little Bucky of my own to help me cheer our boys on to victory after victory this fall.

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I Did Not Mean to Deceive!!!

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Nor did I mean to leave the impression that we are HOME in Indiana when I said we are back in the land of WiFi!!!

We DO have WiFi, we are NOT home.

We are, in fact, in a hotel where we have stopped to indulge me in one of my first loves.


I give you THIS photo taken from our hotel window as a HINT to our whereabouts.


And this one - - - which contains a really HUGE hint.

Where in the world is Keepie Da Niece?

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One Wild Animal

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I spotted one of the wild animals on my northwoods sighting list multiple times.

It was the same animal, but I saw him over and over. Here he is in his natural habitat:

Species: Gregorous fisherhubbious

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EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!!

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I am BACK

In the Land of WiFi!!!!


And that is worth a DOUBLE Wooo to the Hoooo!



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"Scene" in the Northwoods

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Things/places I "spied" out and about in the northwoods.


I believe this is what you would call a northwoods logging country plant-elabra.


Very inviting spot to rest, read, or relax after a day of stenuous leisure.


A very inviting spot to sit, eat, and drink after a day of very stenuous leisure.


Three wild turkey chicks disappearing into the grass. These chicks are QUICK. I really tried to get their picture while they were still crossing the road - - - but as you can see, I failed.


"On Wisconsin!!"


"Home" for two weeks.

More faces of Gull Lake:





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Scratch 'N Sniff Blogging

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I just stepped out onto the cabin deck and the aroma of grilled lamb chops wafted to me in such an overpowering way I IMMEDIATELY thought, I WISH I could post that aroma on my blog.

Scratch 'n sniff blogging - - - when do you suppose blogger will offer us THAT option????

I keep dreamin'

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Three Little Bears

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While Kamma and Papoo have been cavorting around the northwoods, these three little bear cubs have been left at home


To play in the sprinkler, chalk up the driveway, and have picnics in the garage.

Papoo and Kamma have NOT forgotten them.

Papoo listens to their little voices on videos on his blackberry about one million times a day.

AND, if you PROMISE not to tell, I will let you in on a great big SECRET.


Kamma has been finding surprised to bring home!!! Knowing how the little bears LOVE to stow goodies in containers, she has found these.

SIDE NOTE: You can see her latest (the 8th) jig saw puzzle being sorted on the table behind the treasure chests. Knowing of her propensity for JIG saw puzzles, eldest daughter and mommy to the bear cubs, INNOCENTLY asked if Papoo is called Fisherhubby on this blog for his propensity to fish, shouldn't Kamma be called Jiggywife???


Inside the treasure chests will be found some new playmates - - -


Colorful reptiles of the harmless northwoods variety.

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