bigugli

Used to get it from the old Suomi Aitta in Toronto. Can only get it by mail order now. Our family always used a loofah sponge for scouring the skin.

And nothing makes you feel as clean as a wash with real sauna saippua followed by a good steam. Before we had running water in 1970 we had sauna. Even after the running water was put in we would always go for the sauna instead of a shower. The family sauna held 8 at a sitting with 3 benches. It sat on a ledge hanging over the lake with a dive door from the sauna to the water Beside the sauna was a screened sunporch to relax and take in the sunsets after a good sauna. It was a huge Sunday ritual.

When you get that sauna up to that desired optimum of 200F, you just toss 2 cups of water on those rocks. Your pores will explode. You only stay in for 60 seconds and hit the cold. Then you go back and do the long steam and wash.

I do miss the days when I did not pay for heat. For 20 years I heated our house with wood. Baseboards only kicked on at 45F when nobody was home and the fire out.

On the subject of dinner. A late night pot of Gramma's "fish head soup". With more than enough left over for a couple more solid meals.

Judy tain't no Betty Crocker neither. Lol

Sounds interesting. I guess it depends on how far west you are coming out.

Wimmens just never understand until it comes to a cake,pie, cupcake/preserves contest at the county fair. It would bug them to no end to know a man was beating them out for the blue ribbon repeatedly. Lol

Bigger chips and chunks for smoking. You also know how old they are. Some packaged stuff has been sitting on the store shelves 4 and 5 years or more.

We've got apple, pear, apricot, maple and hickory ready to go in 5 gallon pails. just need to soak the chips for a couple of days before smoking.

We have the 2 door master chef that burns propane or charcoal. Took a few months to get the hang of it, especially when firing with charcoal, but I love it.

Equal billing on the gas at $120 month, but they just dropped that by $20 this cycle. Hydro over winter has leveled at $100. We did have to replace the rental gas hot water heater last month. It was 30+ years old. Worst week of winter and it died. Took 2 weeks to get a crew in because of the backlog of work orders due to extreme cold.

You're in for it now!!!! The wild ride that never ends. Be afraid of one particular phrase. " Oh Daaad" It either means I want something, or I've been a baaaaad boy. I still cringe 26 years later. Lol.

Finally finished packaging the last of some 5000 jigs for a northern outfitter. Now I can have a little time for crappie before planting season gets into full swing.

I was taught that leftover wine and booze is never the same once you crack the cork. Leaving any in the bottle is just wasteful. At least that's what Zio Tonine told me when he cracked open that 1 gallon jug of 10 year old Marsala.

That and it don't sink. Nothing else matters.

My cockapoo, Casey, loves hunting down mice and voles outdoors. Touch wood, there have been no signs in the house either. Smallest opening you can imagine is as good as a welcome mat for most rodents.

Yeah, Yeah! Sure, sure! Blame the fishing gang for trying to be helpful. It's like me blaming the hangover on my son because he cracked the case open. Lol.

I like your tin boat.

We tend to fire up the smoker once or twice a month. Might do some smoked trout next week. The son left a nice 8lb bow in my freezer. Time to smoke it before it starts getting old.

That whole folk music culture had a big influence as I grew up. When Mary Travers died of cancer I thought I had lost a dear friend.

I've a great baked bean side dish to go with any meat dish. Great variation at camp too. Hawaiian baked beans 1 large onion, chopped and lightly saute'd to soften 1/2 lb diced bacon 1 can pineapple tidbits and juice 3 cans maple(my preference) beans 1 tsp crushed garlic 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp crushed hot pepper flakes (choose your poison) Mix together in a 10 x 14 pan and bake in moderate oven til cooked through. I like to cook these casseroles at a lower temperature of 300F so they don't dry out too quickly. Then you can have a good old "Blazing Saddles" campfire.

For any of you older types who might want to relive a little innocence WNED is running a Pete Paul and Mary special as I type.

Yes there is more construction cost, but that is more than offset on heating costs. Wood is as cheap as you want it to be as a fuel. Hydro heaters are anything but a cheap heat. They take longer to build heat and don't hold it as well, nor do they hit the higher temps desirable for producing a heavy steam. Further, under heavy use, an electric sauna heater does not have as long a life expectancy as the wood stove.

Electric just does not work right. The heat is different, and I know very few electric saunas that reach ideal sauna temperatures (by Finnish standards). Nothing like that good wood stove buried under a mound of hot rocks when the water hits it. I hope you are building a 2 bench style of upper and lower bench. Upper bench for those that can take the heat. Lower bench for those less hardened.