Old Ironmaker

Rick, add anchovy, toasted garlic sliced paper thin and red chile flakes and you have Spaghetti alia et oilio, (garlic and oil.)

Don't get me wrong I depend on electronics as much as the next guy. I just don't spend my day searching for the exact GPS weigh points. And of course there will be "Ambush Points" areas where structure holds fish 99% of the time, usually where that structure is unique to the area. Sunken Islands, reefs, shoals and ship wrecks even in fresh water. Here on Erie I am looking for the bait clouds in and around my saved routes and weigh points more than going to that exact GPS number. I have too been baffled by that single good hook sitting right on bottom. In Calendar Bay one evening I must have drifted, trolled and even finally carefully anchored above that single, solitary stationary big fish until I was convinced it was a rock. As soon as I decided to head in due to darkness did I hook her, my personal best Nippising Walleye. She measured 29" before I released her. The owner of Cozy Cove cottages was out close by and saw me fight her. He came over and got a nice pic of it that I saw hanging in the office the next time we stayed there, had to be 93'. He gave us 6 nice eaters to take home with us before we checked out to fill our limit. I wish I could remember his and her name. Those are some mighty fine fish there young Akrisoner, mighty fine.

I'm happy you sleders and ATV guys finally got some snow. For the last 2 winters there wasn't enough snow here in southern Ontario to shovel, not once. Muskymatt, the last 2 pics of the trail look identical as our laneway into the property here. Identical.

Zoodles, well you learn something new every day, we all hope to anyway. Pasta is Pasta, something that looks like it, isn't. I have never in my 63 years that I have been eating food have I had spaghetti squash. I hear it's good though.

78 isn't so old to me anymore. I hang with 70 somethings now. I remembering a few oldtimers bragging about their sexual prowess after a 40's and older dance. JB told me "40 is a young girl when you are 50 son." Yep he was right. It's fantastic he is able to fish with you at his age, Savour every moment. My father never took us fishing, anywhere actually so my brothers and I took him every where we didn't go when kids when I was 30. We had a blast every time. All I see one day is the corn stalks moving and him screaming. "Eeeh, eeeh, there's a Bulla chasa me, helpa now boy!!!!!!!!!!!" It's a cow Pa, don't worry she won't mount you." Sure enough that's what he was afraid of.

Believe it or not Limey I have never made homemade pasta. My parents machine from the 60's in mint condition is upstairs gathering dust. My pal in Hamilton who is an Irishman born and bred and I were supposed to make some yesterday. He had to do something called work. I'm no longer familiar with that term. How many eggs per cups of flour,?Semolina of course that I know. I picked up some from the farm down the road Monday. Do you add salt, how long do you let it set in plastic wrap? Mom doesn't remember and I have read online more than a few ways. I trust you guys not irecipes.com. M2B2, I usually make mini meatballs, especially for Wedding Soup because I don't need 2.5 lbs of them but mine always get bigger as I make them. How's that pin of yours?

Yea then when the Gen Xers come along tradition wanes is my experience Bruce. No central home to meet every Sunday once Mom and Dad went to the retirement residence. Too bad. My cousins in the US can't pick out Italy on a map I bet. My 87 yr old Mom is the only of her siblings that can read, write and speak Italian fluently and both my grand parents were born in Italy. She learned when she moved to Hamilton after she married Dad. No Italian was spoken at her home other than Nani and Nono with each other. They were American and they were to speak American. Too bad. Same thing with us, we spoke 100% English at home, no Italian. I learned what little I know by watching the God Father and listening when I was a kid. I speak Steel Plant Italian. 1/2 English, 1/2 Croatian, 1/2 Italian, 1/2 Sicilian. You know a Sicilian or Calabrese can't carry on a conversation with a Friulano. Limey, you are one funny Brit. Not something you see every day around these parts anyway. I've met many that their humour was so dry I would laugh an hour latter. Like your pic. Looks like a guy looking at stills.

If you use Melanzani (Eggplant) using the same ingredients more or less, sort of, you just made Eggplant Parmesan. In any one town there is a different recipe for lasagne in every household. Heck even in the same home Mama makes it different than Nona and she makes it different than her grand daughter, hold on Bubba Boy, or Grand Son. My aunt from northern Italy didn't have any ricotta or tomato in hers all ground veal and cheese béchamel sauce, ask me if that's any good. Of course the right way is Nona's. Remember that Ikea commercial where Nona tastes the succo and yells "tutti fuori!!!", everyone out!!! Ketchinany please correct our spelling if you can decipher it.

Pretty good for a Fin. I'm no better just ask Albert.

That thing might lift a little tinny clear out of the water. Fishin Devil is bang on, dress for it. I might look like a dork with long sleeves and pants on when everyone is shirtless but I stay cool. Always white or tan colours. Wide brim hat and neck scarf, not a ball cap. We always wore long underwear bottoms and tops, wool was best in the dead of summer in the Blast Furnaces to stay cool. Look at how desert Nomads dress in 120F temps, layers of wool. A Lebanese Control Room operator I had turned me onto to drinking hot tea to cool off, sounds crazy but it works.

When I reno'd the little lake front cottage I didn't put enough insulation in. It was only supposed to be 3 season and a few winter weekends. R-13 walls, R24 ceiling and R 40 floors. Up to 40% heat loss is through the floors. Many windows, more windows than walls I bet. Heat loss calculation said 85,000 BTU's required. We have a 45K BTU gas fireplace that did OK for 17 years but needed 2 of those oil electric heaters in the front or is it back, the front to me is the lake side. Anyway I installed duct work and a hi-eff 85,000 BTU NG furnace last winter. Now it's warm during a lake effect storm. Hydro bill is about 60% less now. It really wasn't ridiculous before. 200 bucks in winter months, we have gas stove, water heater and dryer. No stand alone freezers or central A/C, 2 portables did it all, putting in central air next month. You will find out what you will need next winter which starts when? August I am told.

Before or after eaten? If a tree falls in the forest in 2018 and there is no one there with a phone to make a HD video and posted it online did it?

You didn't scrimp on insulation Big Dave. Is the pellet stove your only source of heat?

The umbrella concept does work and is less likely to interfere with fishing, but it still will if he has to stay in the shade and wants to stand to cast which is most likely the case. The only problem if it is windy at all the thing wants to lift off the boat like Mary Poppins. It doesn't take much wind either and you need to take it down and then put it back up every time you want to move. We tried it for my elderly buddy years ago. It was more of a pain than to put the Bimini top up and leave it up. It was a tiller and we had to take it off, move him to the middle so 1 of us could run the boat, then crank it back up and get him back under the thing, it was a huge pain in the backside. We tried it up front but for him to stand on the casting platform the umbrella needed a 10 foot pole. And more than once he almost fell in while standing up. We put in a nice comfy swivel seat under the umbrella up front we found best. We trolled and drifted a lot after that. As long as he could get out was what counted. We found that a good quality Patio Table umbrella worked best inserted into a long PVC pipe attached to the rear bench seat with C clamps bolted through. We drilled a hole in the front casting platform and inserted a length of PVC with locking collar in case the wind wanted to take it for a ride. We destroyed a few umbrellas before we realized you get what you pay for. It is nice to read you want to get the old guy on the water with you. Good luck. Hey what do you consider old?

I don't think it's HTHM's boat.

I went back 6 pages and can't find the Cooking Thread. I must have missed it, I can't find the milk in the fridge either. I haven't made the real deal stuff like Mom nd my Zia used to make so I decided Saturday since I was given a small tub of home made Ricotta a friends Mom made the week before she passed away last week. God bless her soul. Making home made cheese at 89. So I hit Fortino's and buy the fixins' on the way home. 1 pound of ground veal, 1 pound of lean ground beef, 1 pound of ground pork. About 10 balls of imported Buffalo Mozzarella and more good quality Ricotta. And a package of fresh made Lasagna sheets, yes cheated as Mom rolled our her own dough. I had some home made sauce in the freezer. I did not make the hundreds of hand made mini meatballs, no patience and I can't stand that long. Maybe not 100's but it feels like it. I still will make them for soup, people here and in the US call it Wedding Soup. So I just browned the meat up with garlic in the pan with a splash of Red Vino then added the sauce. When the pan was full of meat I figured that was plenty, and I bought too much meat of course. The left over meat is going to be a great Bolognese sauce tomorrow I tell ya'. My wife asked if I was catering an Italian Wedding. Pretty simple. I found the largest Pyrex we have, 4" deep by 12" X 18". Layer of pasta then Succo and meat, Ricotta and Mozzarella, a sprinkle of Parmassiano Reggiano , layer of pasta, repeat. On the top of the last layer all Mozzarella. Cooked at 350 for 20 minutes then finished it under the Salamander until the top was nice and golden. Chopped fresh basil when done on top. The hardest part is letting the thing set for 20 minutes before cutting it. I want to eat it now. We had it for supper, then I had a piece at 9PM, had a piece for lunch today and was looking at it at 4PM. There is enough left for 4 more adults, more really. The boys want me to bring the left overs to the shop tomorrow for lunch. No such thing as left over Lasagna. A quick estimate $80.00. No wonder I don't make it much. Of course my Mom's and Aunts was much better. I bet there was at least 12 or more layers of pasta, 5" high. More like something called Timpani. No Mozzarella and all hand made mini meatballs. I used to help make the meatballs when I was old enough to reach the table in a chair. And I just remembered I forgot the chopped parsley. I asked Mom today how it was in the budget back then. Everything was homemade, all the cheese, the pasta, tomatoes canned in late summer, the meat came from the farmer to the house, the family would split on the whole beefs, maybe 4 pigs every fall, the veal in summer and the lambs they butchered in spring. Even the basil and garlic was from the garden. They didn't go to Fortinos every week shopping, only milk. Bread was from the guy that delivered it. No wonder I am more than a foot taller than my parents. We ate and ate like Kings. Forgot the Ricotta is mixed with egg, Parm cheese, salt and pepper and chopped parsley that I forgot so added a touch of oregano and dried basil. Easy on any dried oregano, much stronger than fresh. One of the only herbs that is stronger dried. The boys are going to eat well tomorrow if there is any left.

The chart is amazing KawarthaAngler. Who started it in the 1800's? I know it wasn't you. I am surprised ice out was so late there last year. We didn't have any ice here on Erie last year, zero all winter and none in 2016 as well. 2014 and 2015 was a real old fashion winter. The last of the ice here was gone this weekend. Thanks for that chart, neat.

Before you know it you will be back on your tippy toes. Tape your big toe to your next (index?) toe. That's what they did when playing ball and you got turf toe. That hurt worse than a broken toe. It is a dislocated big toe.

Lew, I may have experienced the effects of numerous concussions. I may be thinking about a different fishing hole. Getting back up there with my boat is on my list of places to go before I can't. All those days fishing from the rocks on the right side of the falls nearly killed me. Watching guys haul in BIG Walleye, especially in the fall was torture. I still have a nice scar from slipping on a rock, at dark, after hitting the hotel in town, add 1 concussion. That was after I got hit by a Taxi the same day going for dinner, add 1 more concussion and a second visit to the Hospital in Peterborough. That doesn't include the day we thought we could walk across the rapids to get to the island in the centre of the falls to fish/scuba dive, not easy but we did it, no concussion that I can remember. Maybe I better not go back up there, ya think. I have caught a total of exactly 1 Crappie in my life DJ, by accident. So I'm not the guy to ask, sorry.

We fished that exact area for years, Burleigh Falls to the far end of Clear Lake but never ice fishing as there was no ice fishing there. The last time was at least 13 years ago, it was still productive. I might have asked for the gift be delayed for a few months. Lew, I almost cried the last time I was there. Burleigh Falls looks like any other strip of commercial land in any city or big town in Southern Ontario. What a shame. Is Lovesick Lake Cmp still there or did they build a McMansion on it? I know where we stayed on Clear they sold and someone built a 5,000 sqft and 2500 sqft cottage and boathouse on it. DJ, check the regs, most game fishing may be out of season until May, I think it is actually but check for yourself. Have fun.

It hurts like an jerk, and can't do anything about it. I broke my big toe walking in the water fishing on a Friday AM, couldn't do a thing all weekend, of course the first time I could put on a boot was Monday and I limped into the plant at 7PM. . You should have twittled or airmailed me, I could have saved you 5 hours sitting in the Emerg. You are going to live Bruce

Exercise to loose weight is highly over rated. Get the Dr. to prescribe Jardiance (a Type 2 Diabetes med.) I have lost 35 pounds since taking it 15 months ago and have fought to gain back 7 lbs of it. Loss of 10 to 15lbs is normal. My arse hurts when I sit on a wooden chair. They checked me for Bile Duct Cancer, but thankfully 6 months and a gallon of blood, some sleepless nights and multiple MRI's later etc. All results negative. I told my Diabetes Doc if they could isolate the thing in Jardiance that results in weight loss I would invest and make some real coin. She said they already have and a weeks supply is $800.00 USD. POTUS can afford that.

Watching the race all afternoon. Robert Wickens a Canadian rookie on the Indy Car circuit is trading the lead all race, led most laps. 2 laps to go and he is trying to pass race leader Rossi and they touch. Race over and Sebastien Bourdais wins in the town where he lives. The Canuck came close but no cigar. A rookie to Indy, not to auto racing, 28 years old that has been trying to get a Formula 1 ride for many years. Lets root for him in the Indy 500 in May. He is a road course racer though not an oval guy, big difference. Everyone will know his name by the end of the season.

If you have a good one to sell please PM me. Buddy is looking for 1 and has an Internet/PC disability.

More than once I relieved an hour early this day in the spring. Gave me a good chance to have a #1 Special breakfast with my relief. $1.99 for bacon, Ham or Sausage, 2 eggs home fries toast an coffee from the canteen. More than a few times I would pick up the Friday fish dinner for $2.99 and bring them home for supper. Saturdays was Shepherds Pie. Remember those deals from the main canteen next to the Scrap Yard and my Dad's office Fish Farmer? The bonus was they were great tasting and a lot of food to boot. When this was debated more than a few times to scrap it I read that savings time was put in place so kids were not waiting for the bus or walking to school in the dark, or was that in the fall? Yea the Fall. I remember when we didn't switch but the US did. Only lasted 1 or 2 years.