Morning Reflection

The garden has taken off with recent rains and my

spinach is ready for picking...

Sitting on the front porch working on a repetitive task I take a moment to reflect on this blog

Flashlights and Arrows...

Its been an enjoyable introspective experience for me from its conception and something I intent to continue...

A at times the experience can be a lonely one...

Posting, often without response...

A few have become "followers" 

(scroll down the column on the right of your screen)

This gives individuals an opportunity to participate in my blog by posting their own comments to my posts...

I enjoy hearing from readers...

Many have chosen to subscribe to my posts and are content to just read the posts without interacting. 

I encourage all you readers to become "followers" so you have the opportunity to chime in if you like...

The contact from followers has added another dimension to the blog...

Followers can even comment on other followers comments, further enriching this wonderful venue!

Evelyn Glennie is quoted as saying...

"I hope the seeds I have sown will be taken up by those who will follow me because the journey I have begun cannot be undertaken in isolation."

My sentiments exactly...

-Martin

Fishing for Supper

Bass season opened up this weekend and today I decided to take the rod out and get some dinner.

The weather today was slightly overcast with light rain...

Just the kind of weather that I like to fish in...

Not too hot... and the fish are often interested in lures that are fished along the top of the water. 

"Top water lures" incite fish to jump at them as they see them skimming along the top of the water  from below.  Its very visual with a lot of action...usually provoking fish to hit lures hard, boiling out of the water after a meal. 

The lure you see below is called a 

"Popper"

because you fish it by using a "popping action" when you retrieve it after casting. 

I like to shore fish... with the challenge of climbing over wet rocks and fallen logs to find a nice river side spot to cast my line and try my luck...

-

The river rippled with water flowing gently over rocks mid stream as I cast my line and then slowly retrieved it trying different pockets of turbulence and calm for fish. 

Deer flies occasionally buzzed by and fish were caught and released throughout the afternoon as I worked my way down the riverside.

An hour or so into fishing I snagged my line on a partially submerged tree and decided to go in for a swim and recover it.

The water was warm and the fishing was great!

Here are a few fish that came home with me for dinner. 

Actively participating in the food-chain makes for a very meaningful meal...

-Martin

New Knives from old

Its always exciting to get a new knife!
Today I found these unwanted knives in a box of bric-a-brac at a yardsale.

I rescued them to restore and use.

There is something special about a tool you can carry and use for utility that is both visually appealing and has a story behind it...

Knives in particular...

When I got home I was going to put these guys in my home made  "battery charger electrolytic metal cleaner" but somebody used up the arm and hammer washing powder, that I normally keep for mixing into my secret  metal cleaning mediium, for washing clothes instead!

(more about this metal cleaner after I replenish my supplies)

Wanting to use at least one of these knives today ...

I took the knife best suited to helping me prepare dinner...washed it off...gave the blade a quick touch up and headed to the kitchen...

If knives could be happy I would say this knife was very happy... back in action...saved from a junk box and in the kitchen, given one of the hardest jobs in food preparation...finely slicing tomatoes!

And Voila...

Dinner is served!

-Martin

Flashlight Friday

Its been a long day working in the forest...

The body and the mind are tired...

Yes its late in the day but ...

 its Friday....

Flashlight Friday!

Here are some new yard sale finds

In the background on the left is a Rayovac 3 cell Sportsman with hanger circa 1965 

and on the right is an Ash Flash 2 cell wtih hanger also circa 1965

The foreground features an Eveready sealed beam "Big Jim" no. 100 circa 1959

A symphony of vintage retro Blue Collar aesthetic!

-Martin

Friends...

Today Andrew and his family and my good friend Dave came over for lunch...

Simple bean soup... crusty bread... served up on "Kathy Winkle" yard sale bowls followed by freshly baked date squares 

and tea...

A tonic for the soul!   

 Andrew showed Astrid some new chords while young children played in the background...

The dogs howled and jumped in excitement...

And the rest of us chatted...

and all enjoyed a well deserved day off...

Sometimes the things we look so hard for while out hunting are found nearer then ever imagined...

 In the rich rewards of knowing good friends!

-Martin

Searching for Coleman

Just when I thought that I would never see another vintage coleman lantern at a yard sale these two lamps showed up last weekend!

The green lantern is a 220F with a Sunrise stamp that reads 6  68

(produced in June of 1968)

And the red lantern is a 200A stamped 2   53

(produced in Feb of 1953)

This lanterns seems to have a bit of a posture problem. I guess it must have fallen at some point and is a bit bent out of shape.

Time to check with some other collectors for some hints on restoring it...

My new 200A is a diminutive lantern (only 12 inches tall) in almost perfect shape.

I think it is the most beautiful lantern I have collected to date...

-Martin

Stay the course

Someone once said ...

"Where ever you go there you are"

These words ring true... but exactly where is "there"?

Having an understanding of where you presently are is a key requirement to being able to navigate successfully to somewhere else. 

Knowing how to use a map and compass is a fundamental skill for anyone to help find their way in the forest...

Knowing how to use a GPS is of further benefit to anyone heading into the woods...

I like to use both a compass and GPS when finding my way in the woods...

Until recently the navigation equipment I carried in my pack has been fairly basic...

My simple Garmin GPS, under ideal conditions, if you marked a  starting waypoint at a known location, could lead you back to where you began after you traveled somewhere if you were lucky...

The units sensitivity was poor though in extreme settings and because its display had no topographic maps, if you weren't watching what you were doing the unit might point you back to where you were right through the middle of a lake or swamp!!!...

For my purposes an upgrade to a more sophisticated, sensitive and reliable unit with a map display seemed in order!

As fate would have it last week while on a scouting trip to this years moose hunting grounds my good friend "Cap" gifted me his old Lowrance GPS after he had upgraded to another unit himself...

My head has been buried in the manual that came along with the GPS for days now!

And I have been practicing what I'm learning when I'm out walking with the dogs...

In this same spirit that my new GPS came to me...

I am now looking to pass on my old GPS to help someone else

"stay the course"...

Thanks Cap!

-Martin

Forest Find!

It's true that one man's garbage can sometimes be another man's treasure!

Look at this amazing discarded thermos I found lying in the bush...

A blue collar artifact from a past era!

-Martin

Roadside Robin Hood

I was out driving and found this sign I thought you might enjoy...

Where does it lead?

To Sherwood Forest of course!

-Martin

With a little help from friends....

Every now and then we can all use some help...

Traditionally people have pooled their efforts to accomplish tasks like building barns,  sewing quilts, logging or bringing in a harvest. 

Terms like barn raisings or quilting and logging bees may be familiar to you. 

Friends helping friends is not a new concept...it helps big jobs get done!

I call it the "buddy pool"...

A labour pool of friends in times of need.

Not only does the buddy pool help get needed tasks done but it is a fun social time too!

Over the winter I have cut and piled wood with friends...

Recently I helped one friend dig fence posts in his foresest to help contain hs ever increasing flock of chickens and ducks.

And last weekend it was a drive up north to help another friend get his outpost fishing and hunting camp ready for the season.

An atv being driven on shore very carefully from the boat it was brought in on. 

Boats and motors in the background need to be put in the water...

Some buildings need to have their footings reworked...

Wood needs cutting...

and after the work is done...

fish in the lake need to be caught!

-Martin