Time to Wind Down

Good Morning!

If you’ve been following me for any time, you know that I’ve begun weaning my readers from the weekly blogging that occurs during our season.  The weekly blogs are fun, but I begin to run out of fodder as Camp life comes to its seasonal end.  The three of us have been busy!  I’ve been closing cabins for over a week.  Gruper and Murray have pulled and serviced nearly all boats, put snow guard on roof tops (a lesson learned from last winter), and were able to cojoin the two sets of docks yesterday morning.

Who’s that out fishing this morning?  Gruper of course.  He and I went out one day last week.  We had a blast!  I caught first and had caught many before he hit his stride.  My secret weapon was a 1/4 oz. watermelon jig and, of course, a minnow:

It was a smart-looking rig!  I was all over the walleye with it.  Gruper was using a 3/8 oz. because we were fishing so deep (34+’); however, there wasn’t much wind so I felt comfortable with a lighter jig.  I caught a nice 15.5″er for dinner and several of these cute little seeds:

I took the variety point as well.  I caught one 22″ish northern and this 10″ piggy:

Much to his chagrin, Gruper caught a PERFECT 27″ northern for his wife to take home and make ceviche with her girlfriends:)  That leaves the biggest point.  Once again, he came through:

That boot just doesn’t slow him down

He’s joined the Red Hats and is getting quite out of shape:

Looks like all of them need to spend more time at the Y this winter!  (P.S. to Jim:  your belly button in the solo picture was absolutely nauseating.)

The guys pulled the trail cameras.  We caught a couple of intruders posing:

This is a whiskeyjack:

Frank and Bender dropped in for a visit last week!  They are great guys and we enjoy fishing with them and feeding them!  We enjoyed a lovely spinach salad with warm bacon dressing (low fat, of course):

In the middle we had roast pork and homemade creamed corn.  We finished with Gruper’s favorite:  raspberry pie.  The only things missing were Gilky and Newton, and we even had enough pie for them.

Bender released a lovely 24″ walleye that I added to our Conservation Page (www.tallpinescamp.com).  I posted him on fb as well (Tall Pines Camp, Ontario).  Quentin’s 27″er is on both pages as well.  Here it is on the tape:

While we fished with the guys I took a couple of scenery pics:

It was a beautiful day!  Actually, the weather up here has been great all week.  Temps are around 70 by day, 60 by night.  The fall colors are unbelievable.  I’ll try to get some pics to post before I head home.  Speaking of which…I’ve accepted a long-term subbing position for a 1st grade classroom.  I’ll begin mid-October and finish at Christmas break.  If you don’t hear from me, don’t panic:  I’m just drinking heavily and resting up from a classroom of 7-year-olds!  Just kidding, of course:)  Anyway, I’ll try to keep you posted of any happenings.  Look for newsletters just before Thanksgiving.  They’ll arrive via e-mail for most of you.  Be sure to check your “spam” folders in case it lands there.  I’ll post our sports show schedule in the  newsletter AND on our website (bad belly button, good idea).

Let’s close with two pics from Frank.  He caught this eagle “fishing”

Most notably, he caught something we haven’t seen:  colorful northern lights!

Just A Quickie

TUESDAY??? Yes indeed, it is Tuesday and I simply don’t have much to report.  Fishing has been very typical for fall:  deep water; 2nd, 3rd and 5th Lakes; some nice-sized, puttin’-on-the-feedbag fish!  Neal & Marji, Ron, Bob H., and Bob H. have all returned some 22″ers and larger during the last couple of weeks!  Bob H. (birthday guy) returned a 24ish during the week, only to be outdone by Bob H.’s 25.5″er!  You can see the fish–but not Bob–on the Conservation Awards page (www.tallpinescamp.com).  Here’s Bob H’s face with a nice northern:

His wife Ann has a little too much time on her hands…

Andrew was here with his dad and cousin.  He released a FAT 37-38″ northern.  I still need a photo of that by the way (hint, hint).

We’ve been seeing lots of perfect-eater northerns (24-27″) as well.

Grouse season opened yesterday.  I saw Pat cleaning a bunch and Mallah reported that they brought several back as well.

Around Camp, Gruper and Murray are working on projects.  They are hanging gutter and downspout on Cabins 9 & 10.  Houston…

I believe blueberry season is about done for me:(  A few of us picked last Thurs., and I’m not sure I’ll have time to go again.  I made some muffins with random apples, blueberries and black walnuts for guests yesterday:

We held our last Scarf Party of the season yesterday.  Once again we had beautiful creations!  I attended a 2nd glass fusing class two weeks ago and am pleased with my latest creations.  The Picasso-style fish in the corner was simply for fun:)

 

Steve and Suzie were here mid-summer.  He made super wine and picked out incredible melons.  They raise their own eggs, too!

If you look closely, some of the eggs have an X on them.  I wonder how the chicken does that???

Freya is still here.  She has become very nocturnal–leaving in the evening and returning in the morning to rest up and eat.  She is still a handful but very pretty (the only card she has, Folks):

Speaking of pretty, check out this camouflaged moth:

Look who showed up this morning for the first time in ages–ELDON:)

I could hear him chirping and knew where to look!  He hung out above the main dock for quite a while before returning to his family.

Gruper is getting around fine on that broken foot.  We hope to have another x-ray today to make sure he’s healing fine.  Hopefully he’ll get that cast off soon so he can get some grouse for me!

I’ll keep my eyes open for fodder this week.  Take care.

 

 

Our First Guest Blogger!

Hi!  My name is Hanna and I’ve visited Tall Pines Camp several times with my family.  We were here last week and had a great time (again).  Let me tell you all about it.  We caught perfect eater walleyes!

Jim released a beautiful 19″er.  Andrea said, “Thank you, Jim.”

We caught a hat!

My people caught a dog!

Mary made a lovely silk scarf

and hunted blueberries with Andrea and Bob.

Bob wore blaze orange for berry hunting!

We had delicious blueberry pancakes!

I practiced my retrieves (I’m very good)

and pretended to waterski!

Mary takes a lot of pictures everywhere we go.  Here are some pretty flowers:

Cool moss!

Doggone rocks;)

Here’s a rockin’ reflection;)

Andrea loved this photo:

and this silver sunset

and this sunset:

I hope we get to return to Tall Pines Camp; I love it here!  Now a word from Andrea:

Thanks, Hanna!  Good job.  I’m glad you enjoyed yourself (again)!  We did have an awesome week, didn’t we???

I realize the blog is late (again) but I had a fishing date yesterday!  Gruper and I sneaked out to 2nd Lake for a couple of hours.  We tried three new-to-us places and caught walleye at all three!  We were around 25′ deep.  I was able to use a 1/4 oz. jig fine and still feel bottom (not much wind out there, eh?).  I was hoping for an advantage–given his aircasted foot and all.  I have to say, though, that he caught first, biggest, most AND variety:(  We had only one non-walleye, a northern, and Gruper caught it.  I caught my own dinner, a nice 16.5″er, as well as several others around that size and smaller.  Gruper caught a bunch of nice-sized ones, including this FAT 21″er:

which is happily swimming around in Wabaskang again!

 

A Most Wonderful Week

Hi there. I know this Monday thing is becoming a habit, but I honestly needed to rest on Sunday. We had a fantastic week of friends and fun last week! Let’s see if I can tell you all about it.

Fishing was good!  The walleye have gone deep and have transitioned to their fall spots.  We saw lots of nice eaters.  Tom added a 24.5″er to the Conservation Awards page (www.tallpinescamp.com).  I may have told you that last week but I really can’t remember…

Tom and Charlie were our only two bear-takers this season.  Kraig and Dave both saw plenty but chose to pass.  Tom sent me a couple more pictures of his from two weeks ago:

Tom brought his son Grayson for a visit.  They had a great time and promise to return.  Here are a couple pics from their stay:

Nathan and Cassie are newlyweds!  They were catching nice perch right off the dock!  They wanted to thoroughly enjoy their honeymoon experience and were open to all offerings presented by the social director (me).  They picked blueberries like professionals!  OK, they were slightly dirty pickers but made up for it in shear numbers:

and they made beautiful silk scarves (Mike Dove may have started a trend):

Scarf Party (that’s what Gruper calls it) was outstanding!  We had new colors for fall and cucumber mojitos for a summer send-off.  My fellow attendees decorated me with all the scarves I’ve created:

My Canadian friend Patty finally joined us:

Jenny’s 2nd scarf reminded us of Starry Night:

Cindy and Sal were visiting from home!  They had a blast creating personal souvenirs!

I took them to the falls for some photo opps:

They were able to see lots around Camp!  Cabin 10 finally got its lid:

and roses were blooming right outside Sal’s door!

 Did I mention my birthday was last week?  I try to forget but that’s impossible around here;)  So many people remembered me throughout the week!  I am truly blessed.  Cindy made breakfast for us and baked a cake:

Sally made one of her beautiful flower arrangements.  Rikki found a lovely nuthatch picture.  Jenny made sure my wine glass was beach-ready:

Yes, that’s a flip-flop for a wine glass;)

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the presence of my “other” guys, the Red Hats.  They were here and made sure everyone felt comfortable.  They adopted a couple of green-to-Wabaskang guys, Brandon and Devin, and even attended Scarf Party:

 

We had to take our annual photo:

Here they are without me:

Thank goodness only Jr. and Rich drink:)

Here’s one for Dawn E. at home:

We even had an evening of fun and laughter at week’s end:

Everyone may have been a little buzzed…

and Sal didn’t want it to end:

but it was probably about time for this photographer to call it a night;)

’cause these four girls had had a blast!

and one of us had to go to work early in the morning.  We did catch an incredible sunset, though:

Thanks to everyone who made it such a FANTASTIC week!  I realize how blessed we are and love sharing it with family, friends, and guests!  Sometimes, random acts of kindness make the experience that much sweeter: