Rod Caster

There was apparently a third lake nearby to Whirligig and Whitepine, but it got killed by acid rain from the Sudbury smoke stack. They almost lost everything due to that stinktown.

Roloff needs skates too! Nice conditions out there. Makes me hate slush even more.

Redneck indeed. You'd never catch me doing stuff like that. How big was that speck you filleted? Looks around 13-14"

Yep! There are capital gain exemptions for disposed farm land, but it may need to be considered a commercial farm.

Elk burgers are ridiculously good. Mad musher in Whitney, ON

I was going to ask this very question. TJ, have all your trees started? Or only some of them

City life can be expensive too! Taxes, water, high housing costs...I would barely be able to afford a decent house in North Bay. I counted 13 cars driving on that road last year (dead end)...doesn't get any quieter. Back to the power consumption question.... am I the only person left in Ontario who is not on time-of-use????

No, single cords. 4 feet high, 8 feet wide, 16 inch logs. Sounds like your piles are 3 single cords? 6 cords for a year is good, if not a bit low for the Ottawa Valley? I use a Pacific Energy airtight. It's a great stove, but we have a tall house with odd angles and a basement master bdrm, so it takes a lot for the heat to warm up the entire house. Also, when we are not home all day, I'm constantly restarting the fire and catching up on a cold house. That, imo, uses up a lot of wood. Another factor is that I gather my own wood, so it's not all hardwood or even good maple. Probably 30% poplar, 20% white birch, 20% yellow, 20% maple, 10% other (cherry, ash..) I have a new huge wood shed, which will help me manage everything a bit better this year. This was only my second year burning, still honing things.

I'd talk to and pay a good accountant a couple hundred $, if there are any tax reductions, they'll find them for you.

Nice, good job keeping it below $100. I average just over $100 for hydro ($98 last month). Propane for my hot water/stove/furnace about 50-60/month Wood stove burned about 13-15 cords this year, about 15-16 last year. Love my house and property for the low maintenance costs.

Haha, I guess the NDP can't afford to pay for net trolls.

Federal Liberals are fairly right-winged economically, maybe not socially. Same as when Paul Martin was Finance Minister, it's the only way they'll ever gain power again too, they know that. The current Liberals agree with C51 and the pipelines. Again, if they didn't act like fear mongering, religious, self-appointing nutbars, with a just as deaf-to-all-other-opinions-fanboy-support base, I'd probably support the Conservatives. I've just had enough of their power-tripping drivel and American-esque style. It's time to take it down a notch boys! No big deal though, in 4 or 8 years, they'll get in power again and very little will have changed other than a minor tilt in the rhetoric.

BC has had a liberal government for a while and they are doing well. It's more about the people in the government and the decisions they make, than the brand itself. If there was a decent and true Conservative option, I'd support them. Harpers government is joke and isn't conservative or even Canadian (in my opinion not Canadian, that is subjective) at all, expect for a few showpiece bills that are nothing more than smoke and mirrors, self-propelling drivel. Hugh Segal should have started up a party of his own... a competing right-wing party is what is needed to keep this side in check.

Ha! He looks just like you already. Keep him away from pike until he can fight back...pike love baby meat.

The Conservative government has done a decent job in their long run, but their are falling apart at the seams; changing laws to ensure their own election and turning to extreme fear mongering about terrorism...this is very similar to the US Bush era... it's getting laughable. Conservative and Liberal governments are so close and interchangeable that those of you who think they are worlds apart and say things like Mosquito has said in the above post are so blind with partisan politics that you make no sense to anyone but your own team. Get real. The Conservatives are more liberal than they want to be, and the Liberals are similarly more conservative This is needed to be elected. It's all about getting into power. Canadians like the comfortable center (which is why NDP rarely have gotten elected) and political parties will sell their souls and change their identities to get elected. For me, it's just time for change. I don't like Trudeau, but the Harper government has expired, Joe Oliver, Peter McKay, Jason Kenny, these guys are ridiculous mindless pawns... We need the pendulum to return to center, this fear mongering and politicking needs to stop, Canadians need a different voice for the next 4 years. Not a huge deal Mosquito and Craig, the sky will not fall if a Liberal or NDP government get a minority. To avoid be called a dumb liberal, I'll say that I got $1,400 in tax return for the income splitting that the conservatives brought in. I think it was a great policy and supports stay at home parents! If the Conservatives lose, I'll likely lose that tax credit. It would be in my personal interest to keep a conservative government in majority power; however, I think that for Canadian interest we need a minority 'other' government.

They'll just do the 'cabinet shuffle'... health minister, you are now finance minister, you do not need a degree or any previous experience. In four years I wanna be being an astronaut.

Right on, thanks. Do you find you have to hammer them in pretty hard, or do they just fit snug?

A bit of advice/feedback needed here: A few of my taps are leaking below the spile, dripping down the bark. I'm still getting some sap, but not all of it. I kind of 'winged' it by using the largest drill bit I had, but it's not really the proper size. I assume that my holes are either too big of too small, or even too deep...?? Should I stop being a cheap bugger and buy a dedicated bit? What size?

That pan is nice! Mine isn't ideal but it was only $20

If they are gonna legalize it, make it a free-market item, just like beer and most every other item you can name. Free-market means anyone can build it, make it, manufacture it, grow it and the market decides it's fate. I can make all the crappy beer I want at home, but I prefer good quality beer, not homemade swill, so I purchase it instead. The market hath spoken.

Good stuff TJ. I was awaiting your updates!

Ya, it was really bad and two of us didn't have waterproof boots...so it was a slow and deliberate escape. Pack a trail ahead of the machine for 30 minutes, move 15 feet and do it all over again. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

Good stuff. Hey, do you use the S.S. spiles, or the plastic ones? If you use the standard S.S. ones, what size of drill bit do you use and how deep do you drill?

The wife saw them last night for the first time ever. We had a good show. I have a great view to the north and absolutely no light pollution.

I agree with this. I guess the pothead vote is an important demographic haha. Still I'd rather see someone voted in for goofy reasons than for fear mongering.