IYAK Demo Day

Over this past weekend, Gladdie and I went to try out a bunch of different types of kayaks at Demo Day in Noblesville. 

It was a great way for me to decide what type of kayak I like best and to compare different styles.  For the first time ever, I tried out a very long and lean sea kayak.  It was rather tippy, but I'm at the level now where I handled it with ease.  It cut through the water quickly with very little effort on my part.  Also, I was able to stear it using the rutter alone.  Because of it's long and narrow design, I don't think it would be good to use in the creeks where I normally fish and there is not much room in the cockpit. 

My favorite kayak was the Prodigy by Perception, 12 ft.  It was very comfortable and I liked the knee pads.  The second favorite was Pongo by Wilderness, 14ft, it felt good too.  Both of these were very comfy, and I could see myself enjoying a long river fishing trip in either of them.  I think I will try to pick up a stadium seat for my Kayak so I have better back support.

I preferred the sit in kayaks.  Gladys, in contrast, really liked the Jackson sit-on-top kayak.  It has a lawn chair type seat and was her favorite pick of the day.

If I were strictly using a kayak for the sake of kayaking (as opposed to fishing from it), than I would be leaning more toward investing in a sea kayak. 

All in all, the day was great fun, with good people and yummy food.

 

The time flew by, and I learned so much in such a short amount of time.  We were even allowed to try out different types of paddles.  I used the same paddle each time, so I could keep the variable limited to the kayak itself.  Maybe next time I will take a closer look at the different kinds of paddles.

Mother's Day 2014

Happy Mother's Day!

Church service this Sunday was awesome and afterward Glenn asked me how much I had to pay pastor Ron to deliver that sermon.  The sermon was all about honoring Mom's.  :)  All the Mom's got pretty flowers to take home too.

 

 

After church my family and I headed out to Lake Summit for a ride on the pontoon.  This big black spider on the windshield went with:

 

The pontoon started right up at the house.

It was a different story once it was on the lake.  It would not start.

I had a feeling it was either a spark-plug or fuel issue.  So, instead of driving it all the way back to the house, I went to the nearby bait shop.

Scott, at Gittin Jiggy, helped me diagnose the trouble.  Scott, Anita and Mike are so nice at that place. Turned out it just needed a new o-ring on the fuel filter.  I left the toon there, and made a quick trip to the hardware store.

After putting on the o-ring, it started right up, and we were off enjoying the lake. 

The kiddies were into swimming.

At least until the thunderstorm started rolling in.

I heard the thunder off in the distance and the winds began to pick up, so we headed back to land.

Troy was very scared of the storm, but we were well on our way back to Pendleton before it began pouring.

I'm glad we decided not to ride it out, as hail the size of marbles fell on the porch after I got back to the house.

All in all, despite having a few issues to deal with, it was a wonderful Mother's Day. 

IYAKing Geist

Wow, it's like 80 degrees here in Pendleton now!  We are having a little bit of summer.  Sophie and I went to the quarry.  

The fish were biting good there.  I caught several nice bluegills from the pier and put em back.  

Sophie was eager to go for a kayak ride.  She cracks me up; the way she stands on the dash and points, like she is my fishing guide.  Seriously, she lifts her little paw and stares in the direction she wishes to go, it's the funniest thing. 

Later that evening, I met up with my IYAK friends at Geist park on Falls creek. 

I paddled from the park to Geist reservoir and back.  Next time I do that trip that long, I am going to have to wear gloves as I got a blisters on my hands.  It was a very nice time though. 
 

As I paddled under the bridge on Olio road, several swallows flew out and made a fuss.  These are there nests on the underside of the bridge:

The waters were fairly calm until we reached the reservoir, then it started getting choppy.  The boat launch at Geist was busy, but there really wasn't that many boats on the water.  I think the choppiness was due largely from the wind.

When boats did pass by and create wake waves, I tried my best to get right in em.  It's just fun!

On the way back, I seen these guys spear fishing carp.  They held em up for me so I could get a pic.  I wanted to stay and play spear fishing-- maybe next time.

I was just cruising along, in a zen-like state, all peaceful while watching this swan.  All of the sudden, right in front of my kayak was a big startling SPLASH!  A large carp had jumped right in front of my boat;scared the daylights right out of me!

Here we are getting back from the trip (thanks for the pic, Paula).  Another great time paddling with the IYAK group.  :)

Morchella Esculenta

Yay, I'm feeling like me again!  No more illness for this gal! 

This year, like every year, I had been hoping to find the elusive morel mushrooms.  It started back in April before I became ill.  I went searching the quarry, Summit, the woods behind the church, practically anywhere I thought they might be.

If a spot, looked mossy, or shroomy, than I looked.

And I found shrooms-- just not the right ones. 

Until today!  Yes, indeed, today was the day that I found my first ever morel mushroom, or Morchella Esculenta for students.  It happened, so oddly.  I was just ending a sentence to my friend on how I feel hunting for morel shrooms are in the same class as hunting for unicorns, and griffins, ( I've never had any luck in finding them for the past 5 years.) when all of the sudden, I looked down at the ground and low and behold-- morels!

They were not real big.  My friend had a Pepsi with him, so we used it to show size.

Sure enough, there was an elm tree nearby too.

It totally made my day to stumble upon these.  Also, what was weird, is I was commenting on how looking for morels was like Easter Egg hunting for grown-ups-- and right after I said that, guess what he found??--  A golden Easter Egg with $10.00 inside!  :)  True story!

 Here was our bounty for the day:

I thought the bird feathers would make pretty flies.   I cleaned up the morels, cut them in half lengthwise, and soaked them in saltwater. 

As they soaked, I cut myself a bouquet of lilacs from the neighbor's yard.  I love lilacs!

 

I basically put fresh lilacs in every nook and cranny, in my entire house.

 

Okay, back to the shrooms.  So, after they soaked for a bit, I sauteed a few pieces in butter.  Then sampled it.  Eh, it was... well... just so/so.  It tasted woodsy and like a mushroom.  To be fair though, I've really not had much of an appetite.

I've heard folk's rave over frying them like fish; in a light breading and gently cooked in butter.  So, I tried that next.  They were still just so/so.  I don't hate em, but I didn't really love em either.  It may be due to just getting back to eating normal again.
 

For the past few weeks, I've not ate much at all.  Mostly, I've felt nauseated and stuck to the brat (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet.  Today, I craved sour, and had a Greek yogurt with sour lemon sauce.

And a banana.  This is why, I can't really say much about the shrooms yet.  I'm just not a fair judge right now.  One thing I did like of the morel, was the chewy texture.  When I feel more ambitious, I think I will try them fixed in a yummy white wine sauce over grilled chicken.  Perhaps drying them would be a cool thing to try also.

As for the big news-- drum roll please--  it looks as though sometime this summer I will be moving back home to the Valparaiso area.  Which, for this blog, means only a change of the name might be in order.  :)  Any suggestions?

Who's Fishin' the Creek?

Hey 'O, I'm still alive! 

It seems as though, I've been sick forever!  I'm missing out on spring.  :( 

But, I've got some good news to write er, type about--  today has been the best day I've had in a very long time!  :)

Also, I have some exciting (life changing) news, which I will reveal in my next post.

In the meantime, the girls have enjoyed fishing while I've been ill.

It was really nice to see them go out on there own and fish.  I feel like I inspired them. 



I'll be back to fishing soon, as the doc sent me to a specialist and I am told, my kidneys are now healthy.  Yay! 

I had to go back to the hospital with an allergic reaction to the antibiotic; including a rash from head to toe.  It resembled a sunburn, but I had not seen daylight in days and I am normally so pale white that I'm practically clear.

When I did get free from the hospital, one of the first things I did was head to Fall's park.  That place just makes me feel good.

Since I yet lacked the strength to get out of the truck, much less fish, Glenn parked so I could watch the Falls.  I noticed as I'm sitting there, folk's in the creek fishing below the dam.



Upon a closer observance, I realized, those "folk's", were my very own kiddies!

Yes, indeed!  Gladdie and Troy!

It totally surprised me to see them being so grown up!  Especially, Troy because the last time I took him wading in the creek he totally freaked out from seeing a bunch of crawdads.  I can tell this is going to be one awesome summer, now that both my young-ins are into creek fishing.  :)   

Mother-nature even seemed to be on my side, (see the double rainbow):

I took it as a sign of reassurance.

I'll be better soon!  :)