Fun, Food, and work

Well, we had our annual open house on Sunday. About 35 people showed up which was great! Dar was really pleased. Almost all the cheesecake and gingerbread trifle were gone, (boo for me).
It's really cold here today, like -30 wind chill cold. The dog is impressed he's allowed in.
Talked to Scott C today, hope to have him up to visit sometime this winter.
Connor played his tuba in the school band presentation of "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown", and did an excellent job. Grade 5 and he's playing in the high school brass ensemble. (no, I'm not just a proud dad, I'm a proud Dad with a reason to be proud)

The fun of three wheels

So, I recently bought a Yamaha 200e shaft drive three wheeled ATC. What a blast. Connor and I have been running the trails a couple times a week for the past 3 weeks! We have a system of trails right behind the house that we can travel straight through almost all of Albert county without driving on the roads. Hillsborough - no problem, Prosser Brook, we're there.
Growing up in the 70's and 80's we all wanted a three wheeled ATC. Honda's "big red" was the one we all drooled over. I think there was a kid in Parkindale subdivision who had one. They simply could go anywhere. Well, this one we got may be yellow, not red, but in a world of 4 wheels, 3 is a blast.

Rain and Vacations

So, I have two weeks left to my vacation, as I usually end up with. I plan on one week for hunting, but we always seem to fail to use up that extra week. The plan is to 1) dig a trench 6" deep to the shed and run power out to it, 2) block and stack the rest of my firewood, and 3) go out and shoot a deer, (ha, good luck on that one, I was out with a friend who wants me to sit on his bait pile, something I donèt usually do. We walked out there yesterday, and he was bemoaning the fact that we havn't seen any tracks. Kehoe voodoo curse still intact I guess).
In the midst of all this,w e are hip deep in rain. Love to work in the rain...

chickens

Rural life sure is fun. This week we decided it was time to put our 7 meat king chickens in the freezer. Well, if you know us, you know that if we can do it ourselves, we're gonna give it a fair country try. Connor helped, and was able to hold the chickens whilst I did the thing with the hatchet, until the stroke fell that is... We had the first one flying around the back yard like a, well like a chicken with it's head cut off. We got better at it.
Three were done on Monday, and this afternoon it looks like the man with the sleepy look in his eyes is coming back with the axe. I have a great neighbor who has promised to come by and help me with the scalding process, (Dar decided she wanted them plucked, not skinned, and the first batch were a long process) Scalding makes the feather come right off clean, no picking of pin feathers out after the fact.
So, there you have it, more than you wanted to know about the process of rural hens.

Newsboys

Well, rain or not, the river has to wait for a few days, Chickens, and concerts, and Baptisms all take precedence. We'll be processing our meat kings Friday, I have to attend a Newsboy concert tonight in St. John with 6 of our youth, and Megan and Brandon are being Baptised this Sunday. Work, work work. But it's all good.
A word about our Baptisms, we get the Fire Dept. to come and set up their Tanker dump tank, fill it with water, and we do the Baptisms in the parking lot at the convergence of 5 roads. Traffic slows down, and people are wondering what these Baptist are doing now - it's great.
We had a great visit from Mom and Dad last weekend - just wish it could've been this weekend so they could be here for Megan's wet moment.

Major Rain Warning in NB

Most people would see this onthe weather network and groan. I am happy, because it means that the river will be higher for the next few days. Connor has a five day weekend, and saturday is starting to look like a good day to go for a paddle.
The Pollet river takes us about 7 hours from Elgin to Salisbury, white water and calm stretches. Hopefully we'll get a chance to go out and hone his padling skills.
Everyone else, try to stay dry willya.

Bloo canoe

Connor and I sent out a travel bug a few monthes ago, I had carved a little canoe, and painted it blue, (our geocaching ID is Bloocanoe), and we set it loose. In 3 monthes it went to fredricton, Beijing, and now is in Finland. People are so cool.

New blog

So, I followed big brother, and thought I'd start a blog of my own. Life is so busy, and I am the pits when it comes to keeping in touch with family and friends. Now they all can come here, and read what might be on my mind.

I am still trying to wrest enough time away to thru-hike the 59 km Dobson trail. Look it up, from Riverview to Fundy. My gear is packed, and ready, I just need 3 days in a row to throw at it.

I have two or three articles outstanding at the Backwoodsman Mag. One on Chickens, one on the Grohman-Russell knife factory, and a few cover photos I'm hoping Charlie will use.

Life is good here in Colpitts Settlement. We live in the woods, but Moncton is only 15-20 mins away. Moncton is a really nice city, kind of like halifax in the early eighthies.