Week in Review

Yesterday 13 red efts were out in the newly planted corn field when Hawthorne and I went for our morning walk.  That brings the May sighting total to 15.

Lots of rain and thunder and lightening.  About 1.3 inches the past two days.  Loss of power one night.

And now sickness so am not doing so much.

The tree peonies have been blooming, and quickly since a sudden heat wave has shown up.

The red bush was first and is almost done now.

Jay went fishing up the other end of the lake Thursday and caught perch, rock bass, sunfish and a gar.  The gar has lots of pointy teeth (see the blog header) and a skin so tough Jay was able to only get a small portion of flesh from near the tail, even using a filet knife and an electric knife..

I have modified the cooking on the last of the catfish and this new batch:  the pieces are rolled in mayonnaise  then in a spiced cornmeal/flour mixture and either baked or pan-fried.  The mayo has oil and egg and lemon and salt–all help to flavor and prepare the fish for the coating.

At Mom M’s the wisteria are blooming beautifully.  And lastly, a photo of Alison, Susan and me last Sunday before they had to leave.  What good friends to come to celebrate with us from far away!  We all went to Cornell together and along with about nine other ladies lived in apartments around the county in various groups for about a decade–or more–during and after college.

Spring supper Wednesday was fresh lettuce and green onion salad, baked fish and rhubarb custard with ice cream.  All but the ice cream we grew or caught.  Last night was the same with addition of a tomato-carrot-herb soup.  Only the carrots were store bought.

20 Cats and 5 Efts

Jay caught these down at the falls today before work and during lunch.  He is fileting and skinning them now.  He gave two away that are not here.  They are catfish, sometimes called bullheads.

The corn jumped up over night.  And in the fallow corn field from last year some clover is coming in.  On the northern edge of that field this morning were five red efts all within 10 feet of one another. Here are three:

The spots make them individuals. To us.  That and their varied behaviors.

These bring to six the number of red efts I have seen this month.  The first I carried home.  Here it is on the new bench Jay bought us for our anniversary–a week beforehand.

And up close.

Little lizards.

Morning Hunts

Early this morning Jay went turkey hunting.  He did not see or hear anything.  When he came home he decided to go throw a few casts into the neighbor’s pond.  Several years ago he put four little brown trout there to live.

He tells me he did not expect anything to bite and just cast half-heartedly out into the weed thicket.  On the third cast he had a bite.  And what a bite it was!

The fish immediately swam into deeper weeds. Jay debated with me whether to go get the kayak and leave me holding the rod.  But after seemingly long minutes of futile pulling (but not too hard since the pole was bent right over and Jay was afraid of breaking the line), the fish himself swam out and a grand fight ensued.

Jay is delighted.  “I have never seen a Brown with so much color!  He is so green!” 

The fish weighs 3 3/4 pounds and is 21 inches long.  He makes the salmon Jay caught yesterday seem smallish by comparison.

Surf and Turf

Last night after supper Jay and I went fishing.  We caught ten little brown trouts that had been released earlier that day.  Four went into a bucket of water and were transferred to the neighbor’s pond.  The other six went into the fridge.

Jay estimated each weighs about 6 oz.  So there is about 3.5 pounds of trout.

There were eight of us who worked five plus hours each this morning and into the afternoon cutting up the steer. The four men were in the barn, in the cold, cutting and grinding. The women were in the house, weighing, bagging, and labeling. And making lunch and coffee.

M’s father fed the cattle while they were away, and he liked having them look forward to his coming each day.  So he overfed them.  By quite a bit.  In my opinion, the meat would be graded prime. I had a shoulder steak this evening.  It was so tender and juicy it was difficult to think it was from a typically tough divided muscle.

The three day old calf named Athena, with her fat mama: