Made the long drive from Greeley, Colorado to Nowhere, Minnesota last weekend. Got here Sunday to find things mostly allright and functional. The critical things still work (water, light, heat, toilets, refrigerator, etc.) but things were still pretty soggy and messy in the yard, with tree limbs (& whole trees) down, which impeded access to a few things. Got to setting up and opening up. Power was out to the main outbuilding so...we had to do a few workarounds. Flash forward to today, finally fixed the bilge pump and launched the boat (and even caught a few walleyes). Things are mostly mowed but still look a bit shabby (need to buy another push mower, this one is kaput) but things are drying out and the sun is shining, and...the old place will serve for a few more adventures now. Not hearing any grouse drumming yet and the mosquitoes are pretty darn fierce. Had to also buy a new chainsaw (the flooding killed a number of trees in the yard, dang it). It's always something.

Told you catching a few for dinner was inevitable. You are at LOW.

Play safe, boys.

Best,
Ted

We're doing just that Ted. Made braised venison shanks this AM for the first time....dang! Sure beats cleaning them for grind. That'll be dinner tonight here.

Pics Lloyd. Or it didn’t happen.

Hmmm...pretty uninspired stuff so-far I fear. I recently lost an email accountl I used to facilitate transfer of pix from my phone to my laptop and then to Imgur. What used to be easy isn't now (more time consuming). I tried to rehabilitate an old Gmail account but...it truly sucks for photo work ( IMHO). Let me see what I can do.

Also, the Malbec was good tonight, further impeding my progress...

Shoot them to me, Lloyd, I’ll get ‘em up for you.

tedjs@usfamily.net

Best,
Ted

Thanks Ted, but I finally got it,



The flooding really messed with things here, but we're getting on with it. Sadly, what was a little shabby before looks really shabby now. The flooding killed the little ceder right in front of the deck and windows (along with several other resident trees) thus the need for the new chainsaw.

This was how it looked last July, after the waters had receded...



No wonder the bugs are bad, eh?

Mule deer shanks in prep...



Finished product. Served this over rice with a pretty decent Malbec.

James, will this be sufficient?

Lloyd, the Up-Nort mosquito report is appreciated. We are heading to our woods shortly from Kansas and will be prepared. Locals report lots of snow melt and boggy conditions around Leech Lake too (probably meaning extra mosquitos and chainsaw work). Official ice out on the lake just happened on May 9th. Hoping to hear a few more grouse this year. Thanks for the photos and the heads-up.
Steve

Do you mean the Leech Lake near Bracebridge ON?

Hot here today (mid-80s) so, after my Saturday chores in town, I went back out on the lake around noon. Caught a limit of fish in about an hour and a half (!) The fish cops showed up too, but they weren't interested in little old me and my beat-up old Lund. Lots of boats on the water today and most were clustered at the reef near-to our home here. I watched them go from boat to boat, checking licences and fish. They seemed to be interested in the high-occupancy (& high-dollar) units & I can't say I'd blame them, as it was a target-rich environment. I caught my last fish while watching the show and started to pull my anchor (which I figured would trigger their attention) but they never even gave me a sniff. Fish for dinner tonight!

Canvasback, our Leech Lake is south of International Falls in Minnesota's Chippewa National Forest and slightly larger than Bacebridge's at a little over 100,000 acres.
Mosquitos are probably about the same size, though. Lots of good things come from Canada. My wife is from Winnipeg.

As am I.

A couple of "old soldiers"



and the bounty they produce...

That’s a perfect size.
Do you have a recipe you use?
I’ve taken to air frying them dipped in a cornstarch slurry, and then panko crumbs.
A little remoulade sauce, and bliss to follow.

I like the “No hot grease” element of it.

Fresh out of the water is hard to beat. I ate a bit-late last night, so just pan-fried them in EVOO with a little salt & pepper. Served with a baked 'tater, sour cream and butter, a chopped salid with a good French dressing, and a decent white wine. Oh yes, with a fresh-made tartar sauce as well.

I slept well after that.

I really like the slivered onions and green peppers version too. Is there a bad way, really?

Not really.

I’ve come to prefer walleye over perch on the daily.

But Halibut or ling cod still reigns supreme for me.

I’ve got a new boat I need to get wet, but it’s fish fly week. ☹️

A halibut over a walleye or perch? Not in a million years.

Halibut is a real treat, as is perch, but Wally is what we got here....mostly. That remoulade sauce sounds darn good too.

Laundry today and a bit of loafing. Maybe I'll go take a little tour of some of my favorite forest (i.e. grouse!) spots and see what's new there? The bugs are still darn fierce here, got me up at 5:30 this AM. Don't know how they're getting into the house, but they surely are. Hitchhikers?

Walleye, perch and, for that matter, Zander, are all about the same to me, once they are out of the pan. I’ve turned down a lot of halibut over the years, don’t see how anybody could be in love with that fish.

I’ve never turned down crappies and sunnies, might be the best of all.

Best,
Ted

I live in walleye central. 8/day.
You get walleyed out.
Walleye dip is divine.

When I cut into a package of flash frozen halibut or cod from Alaska, that I caught myself, the whole package is just more enticing to me than eating walleye.
Still eating off a 60” fish from last November.

A fitting place to visit on Memorial Day.

Headed home today (leaving the old truck behind and flying out of Bemidji). Hopefully the work we did this last 10 days or so will keep the place running for a another few years. I'll be back in September to confirm all that, of course. Hopefully by then the grouse will be much more active and these darn mosquitos will not be. I'm even consdering investing in a "mosquito magnet" device for the place, which is really saying something. Darn unpleasant this year, for sure.

Mosquitos are tough all over Minnesota, this year, Lloyd. There are a few reasons why, but, nothing to do with climate change, so don’t take that wooden nickel.

Have a safe trip home.

Best,
Ted

Talked to a lady from Bemidji on the plane today and she pretty much confirmed your assessment Ted. I just hope I don't get Malaria or Zika or even West Nile from all the blood donations I was involuntarily making up there, even inside the house(!). In my 20-years or so of visiting the place, I've seen it like this before.

Lloyd,
I don’t think malaria is a “thing” in northern Minnesota. Good chance you’ve already had Zika and West Nile.

This one is spooky:


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powassan_virus



Had a motorcycle friend die of it last month. Not the way I want to make Wikipedia.

Best,
Ted

Sadly, I'm familiar with that one too. Sounds far-worse than what I went through with just garden-variety Lymes. Sorry to hear about your friend. I'm pretty careful about ticks anymore, as you can imagine.

No more BLASTING! to Sheboygan for burritos, eh.


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