Right now we have a lot of tomatoes from our. We’ve been eating plenty, and giving away quite a few too. This morning, I decided to dry a batch.
This is actually the second batch I’ve dried this season. I took the first ones with me camping and I can tell you they make great camping snacks.
This dehydrator, an upgrade from the one I’ve had for years for drying mushrooms, was given to me by one of my awesome neighbours across the street. I put the tomatoes in this morning, and now, about 14 hours later, maybe an eighth of the batch is ready. The rest will need to continue drying overnight and should be ready first thing in the morning.
For years, we’ve had a vague plan to add a catio to our deck, an enclosure where our cats can hang out, enjoy the fresh air, climb and play in safety. We’re finally making that happen. Initially the idea was that we would carry the cats from the house to the enclosure. Then Tuffy P came up with the idea of a cat tunnel running underneath the deck to a basement window with a cat door and a ramp to the basement floor. Easy-peasy, right? Right, except it is a 6 metre run from the window to the enclosure.
This crazy project has taken on a life of its own.
Now that the tunnel is in place, next step is completion of the finished trim and the ramp to the basement. I bought a piece of indoor/outdoor carpeting today, and I’ll cover all the shelves in the enclosure with carpet so it’s comfy for the lions, and then I’ll paint all the exposed wood.
Then comes the fun part, introducing the gang to the catio and teaching them to self-serve using the cat-door and the tunnel. Inside the catio there are various levels they can climb and jump to. I’m going to figure out a feline hammock as well.
Last night around 11:30ish, I was sitting at this computer playing online Go with my friend Vox, when a fire truck came rolling down the street. It slowed down as it passed our place and stopped a couple doors down. The firemen got out of the truck and started looking around the street, walking back and forth, and shining flashlights at various homes. It was really strange so I excused myself from the game and went out to ask the guys what was up.
They told me they had received a vague neighbour complaint that somewhere around here, somebody had an illegal backyard fire going. How strange. I would have thought that was the kind of thing a by-law officer would attempt to investigate unsuccessfully days after the fact. The fire folks were clear they knew it wasn’t a house on fire but a neighbour complaint, but that all they knew was it was “somewhere around here”. They didn’t have an address. Wouldn’t a complaining neighbour know exactly who he was complaining about?
One of my neighbours also came out to see what was going on. One fireman cautioned me that since I was talking to him, people might think I was the person who called in the complaint. I told him I didn’t care about that. I just wanted to be sure my friends and neighbours were all safe. There were few lights on up and down the street. None of us could smell smoke. The fire truck left, failing to nab the scalliwags who allegedly had a backyard fire going.
I haven’t posted in a few days because I slipped away to do a little camping. One of the reasons for this trip was to test out some new camping gear. I decided to switch from tent camping to hammock camping.
my hammock camping setup
I’m using a Hennessey Safari Deluxe Zip XXL hammock setup. This comes with a fly, the hammock, straps to go around the trees you’re hanging from and a pair of “snakeskins”. Snakeskins are tubular bags that live on the ridgeline of the hammock. When it’s time to take down the hammock, you remove the fly then simply pull the snakeskins over the hammock, disengage it from the tree and stuff it in the little sack it comes in. Both the hammock and the fly are asymmetrical and when you get in, you lie on a bit of an angle to the line of the hammock. The whole system seems to be very well thought out.
The experience of hammock camping is quite different from being in a tent. Like in a tent, you lie on an insulated camping pad (alternatively, you can use an expensive underquilt, but for summer camping I think that’s overkill), but you’re suspended from the ground and you don’t have a lot of room to maneuver around. It kind of envelops you. I found it to be very comfy. I did not experience the sore back I always get tent camping. There is no crawling about on a tent floor. You sit down on the hammock, swing your legs up, close the bug screen and you’re ready to sleep. I found sleeping on my back was best, although I did try on my side for a while. I did very little moving around once I found the right position, and I slept very well. It rained on my last night camping the and hammock and fly kept me comfy and dry.
Set up and take down are easy to do. I learned not to hang the hammock too high in the tree. You want it to be at a comfortable level to sit down and stand up again. For me, putting the straps around the tree at about eye level seemed about right. I found that instead of using my sleeping bag in the usual way, opening it up and putting it on top of me like a blanket worked best in the hammock. The insulated camping pad kept me warm from below. After getting in and out a few times, it was easy to find the most comfy position for sleeping. This system would not be so good for someone who is claustrophobic, but for me it was an improvement on sleeping in a tent.
beaver lodge, Moore Lake
I stayed in Samuel de Champlain Park, east of North Bay. It’s located where the Amable du Fond River flows into Moore Lake, which flows into the Mattawa River. My musical partner Ted loaned me a beautiful solo canoe, so I could paddle around the lake and do a little (mostly unsuccessful) fishing.
camp breakfast
The nearest town to the park is Mattawa, which is located where the Mattawa River flows into the Ottawa. I know you’re thinking, Mattawa – Ottawa, where I have heard that before. If you came up with Big Joe Mufferaw, you’re on the right track.
Stompin’ Tom performing Big Joe Mufferaw
So who was Big Joe Mufferaw anyway? Joseph Montferrand was born in 1802 and passed in 1864. He was a logger whose life inspired the legend of Big Joe. Eventually, exaggerated folk tales grew around Montferrand, whose name became the anglicized Mufferaw. His folk hero status grew thanks to the song written about him by the late great Stompin’ Tom Connors.
Big Joe for Prime Minister!
Mattawa
Mattawa is a small town with a large French Canadian community. It is situated where the Mattawa flows into the Ottawa.
confluence of the two rivers
While I was in the area, I went scouting for trout streams for future reference.
Antoine Creek near town
Antoine Creek somewhat further upstream.
The Little Jocko River
The Little Jocko is a beautiful trout stream. Below the bridge, it’s slow and deep and you would need a canoe to explore this area. Upstream though, it looks perfect as a walk and wade stream. I pulled out my fly rod and got my feet wet fishing a short stretch upstream from the bridge, but no trout. I so wanted to venture further upstream, but I’m being very careful about doing anything which might damage or slow the healing of my knee, so I didn’t venture past this point. There is a bit of a trail going upstream but it disappears to nothing very quickly. Wading is really the only reasonable way to access this part of the stream. One day I’ll go back and explore upstream.
I’m back home now but it was good to get away for a couple days of camping.
The last 2 sessions, Vox has won 3/5 games. It seems to be getting harder for me to maintain my winning ways giving 2 stones and receiving 6.5 points komi. As much as I want to kick his butt over the board (online in this case), I’m also cheering him on, as I relish our most competitive games.
We’re both finding a lot of value in doing game reviews after each game. It’s given us an opportunity to identify problem moves and learn from our mistakes. Of course it’s easier to see what we ought to have done after the fact. In the heat of battle, while concentrating juggling so many things in your mind, it isn’t nearly so easy.
The new episode of The Agency Podcast is called Lesson Plan. I think you’ll enjoy our special guest today, e-learning and marketing wiz, Stephen Ghigliotty. Listen here or find it in the usual places.
We went out to see a movie tonight. We wore masks in the theatre. There were just a few people at this screening and we were seated far apart. I felt quite comfortable and safe. It was really good to get out of the house. Tuffy P picked the film: Train to Busan presents Peninsula. This is a Korean zombie film, the sequel to the acclaimed Train to Busan.
Just imagine a car chase of Mad Max proportions in a major Korean city and add a hoard of thousands of light-sensitive nasty zombies, and you’ve got Peninsula. We totally enjoyed it. Peninsula has action galore, plenty of zombie killing, an actual plot, great performances, and it’s loads of fun. What a ride.
27th Street 