Seize the Day

Carpe diem, said Horace.  We did.

Corn growing yesterday early morning, with the help of Gene's green thumb and God's good sun and water:

And, later in the day, it was eaten an hour after cutting it from nine foot stalks:

(the cosmos and coreopsis are now in full bloom)

A trip up to the mountains for lake fishing:

This scenery was behind me at one spot where I fished. A bearded "mountain looking" guy came by on the trail and said that he had been angling directly across from us, near where beaver had cut down trees for a small dam.  He said he moved because he could hear pups nursing in the brush beside him but decided to quietly move on because he did not want to disturb the mother and pups.  He said he figured it was beaver pups, but did not even try to get a peek.  Now that is a considerate fisherman.

breathtaking trees with the reflections mirrored on the lake

This little chipmunk kept crawling over my shoes and assortment box, trying to get into my trail mix.  Never did let him get a bite, though.  These creatures were seen frequently and had no fear of humans.  I suspect many people feed them, although it is not a park-approved practice.  This baby chipmunk was about six inches long.  He may have been the one to have stolen the top piece of bread from a bologna sandwich in a baggie, unbeknownst to Gene until he reached into the Ziplock to take a bite of lunch.

Total catch for the day: two fish. One was a splake (a cross between a lake trout and a brook trout) and one was a rainbow trout. The splake is an oilier fish with redder meat than what a rainbow trout sports.  It was delicious, tasting somewhat like salmon.

Besides the corn and the fish, our dinner was completed with tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden, along with cilantro butter from Kepanie's Pinterest pin::

That was our seizing of the day.

Wednesdays Are For Fishin'

Got me a new Fishing Shirt with all kinds of bells and whistles on it that includes loops and pockets and more loops.  It is a man's shirt, all cotton, and of course I was glad I had that big one ordered, knowing all too well the properties of cotton being tumbled in a hot dryer.  Oh, and it is pink and white striped.  It takes some king of macho guy to wear that color fishing.  But for me, pink is great.

Gentle readers, don't judge me, but I failed to report that last week I caught seven rainbow.  This easy, quick aioli sauce is my favorite to use with trout: no bottled tartar sauce for me, thank you.

For the sewists:

Look at the Tessuti site from Australia that was recommended by a friend.  Boy, was I glad to find this shop.They even have free downloads, so of course this shirt was a must:

The Fave Shirt found here and free:

source

Downloads are about 40 pages long, but only have a few lines on each page, so the printer ink is minimal. Then you fit the pattern together like a jigsaw puzzle, ingenious.  Be sure to get the A4 paper, not the American paper that comes in 8.5"x11".  I purchased a ream from Amazon after going to Office Max where I was told no place in the USA carried this style paper (wrong, don't believe everything you hear).  And as for the printer settings using A4 paper, be sure to also set your printer for that size paper.

It will be a fave top; already made one and another is on the machine all cut out and ready to go. It uses a twin needle for hemming the top, so that was another foray into finding the one called for.  The first top I made was a bit snug on the forearm, so it was increased at the bottom of the sleeve for my fat arm accommodation.

Look what opened this morning...

from zinnia seedlings started in April...

The kiss of the sun for pardon, 

The song of the birds for mirth,

One is nearer God's heart in a garden 

Than anywhere else on earth.    ~Dorothy Frances Gurney

Trout

Fish!  We caught fish!  The husband and I each caught our trout limit this morning in a bit over an hour in a lake twenty minutes from our house.  We kept the biggest of the eight, six total were brought home.  They will be fried up in a pan outdoors over a grill fire for dinner tonight.

This is a swordfish.  I am on the left and Kathy is on the right, with the fish in the middle, in case you wondered. That picture was taken years ago when we had a girls' weekend in Cabo San Lucas and reminds me of our great vacation.  And no, we did not catch that sailfish.  We just rode on others' fishing experiences.  

And lastly, more painting on the fence.  Think maybe we are through with this effort.  It is getting too hot to paint outside anymore; we are expecting 91 degrees F today.