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Will Gillham - "The Blue Wheel" (1998- Scowling Yogi Records).described by the artist as "a burning bush of eclectic, folkunt My Photographs You like photos? I love taking them. Click here, if you wanna see some of my work
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Sunday, Jun. 22, 2003 - 9:00 p.m. Very busy weekend. Here is the (for me, very) brief outline on what Lease and I did over the last 48 hours: Instead of dragging the boat out, we decided to combine a touristy-day with some fishing on Saturday. Here�s how we did just that: We have a rather large area of Amish folks living less than an hour away from here, and we also have a nice outlet-type mall located in the same area. Combine the fact that the big Army Corps of Engineers Lake is smack-dab in the middle of the drive, and you can see that we needed to combine all of these activities into one day. We hit the outlet mall first. Picked up several good buys in the two kitchen stores (two large carriers for taking cup cakes and such to work, plus a nice two-burner sized griddle for the stove), and restocked Codeman with Lee/Wrangler jean shorts (and did the same for Lease and I, too, I might add) at the V.F. outlet store. We really didn�t buy much else there, but since all of the stores are located outside and over a sprawling area, we managed to get a little exercise in the process. From there, we hit the main Amish town located about 10 miles south and 5 miles west. We hit the main tourist-trap area, but managed to avoid buying a giant wooden apple with the words �Apples- 5 cents� painted on it. We did stop at the bulk foods store, and restocked the pantry with the bargains we picked up there. We hit another store that sold cheeses (and not much else),a and walked away with a bag of artery-clogging goodness for our effort. One last shop had fresh-baked cookies and breads, plus more cheese (in case you hadn�t bought enough at the shop next door, I guess). We left the town with much too much in the dairy products department, but with smiles on out faces. From there, we headed back towards the A.C.E. Lake. Before we started fishing, though, we stopped in another town for supper. The owners have converted an old three-story schoolhouse into a Amish goods shopping area, with a buffet located in the ground floor. Genuine, bonnet-wearing Amish women cook all of the food there. The owners drive to the big Amish town every morning in a passenger van, load all of the women up at 6 am, and drive them to the old school. There, for a small salary, the women cook some of the best country- style food you will ever taste. Fried chicken and roast beef as good as your Grandma ever made, along with about anything your would associate with �country cooking�, in a buffet setting. We ate far too much (after skipping lunch, btw) for only $9.50 each. From there, we headed to the lake. The fish weren�t in the mood to hit much, but I kinda expected that after Codeman and I hit the power plant lake on Friday. We managed to catch 20 or so bluegill, but the action was slow for the amount of time we spent fishing. We also picked up another 10 or so small crappie, along with a smattering of small Largemouth bass and Green sunfish. Oh yeah- and Lease hooked (and I landed) a decent sized carp. I would guess him at around 4-5 pounds. Not huge, but big for the tiny ultra-light rod she was using. She didn�t want to fight this big fish, and made sure I knew that she wanted me to land it for her (which I gladly did). I pulled the carp out of the water after a 10-minute or so fight. I then immediately released the fish to swim another day. I know some people swear that carp is a excellent fish for the table, but I don�t have any culinary use for them. The fight was fun, and I was glad that it hit Lease�s bait. But I had no desire to do anything but release him after the fight ended. Lease pointed out something to me last night that I had overlooked: just about every time Lease and I have gone fishing this year, one of us has hooked and landed a larger-than-normal fish. One time it is a Largemouth Bass, the next- a Channel catfish. I don�t know why we have lucked into so many big fish, but for whatever reason we have. None of them were kept, btw. We just enjoyed the challenge of catching them. They were all released after the fight (even the huge old male bluegills we caught the last two times we went to the nuclear power plant). I guess an animal rights activist would consider what we are doing as teasing the fish, wouldn�t they? I don�t mind- we have had a lot of fun �teasing them� all season� Today? Made a batch of black raspberry jam (10 half-pints). Also de-bugged and de-tarred Lease�s Grand Am (a mess, after all of the miles we have put on it this spring). Washed and waxed it, too. Also in the kitchen, I made black raspberry ice cream with my small gelato machine (maybe 4 or 5 cups worth). Lease made a cherry crisp using a bag of last year�s tart cherries. I made some fresh Cole slaw using a large head of �Golden Acre� cabbage from my garden, along with a couple of carrots and some slices of Vidalia onion. I also processed 3 pints of sweet pickled beets. Not enough to bother with the 30-minute long hot water bath, though. I just packed them in sugar brine and put them into the fridge. After a few weeks, they will be ready to eat. I think I will keep one for us, and give the other two to my dad and Lease�s mom. Somehow, we found time to cook a nice supper on the grill, too (steak for us, brats for Codeman and the lovely Chelsea). Right now? I am very exhausted. I have managed to loose a couple of readers in the past week (or �fav�s�, as they are know here in d-land). I haven�t had the time to give everyone on my fav�s list the proper amount of time here for a couple of (very busy) weeks now, so I will bail out on you now. Maybe I can read a few of the ones I have let slide, to see what I have missed. Hopefully, I can stay awake long enough to see what I have missed while I have been letting my diary-reading slide somewhat lately (English majors- dissect the last sentence and tell me all of the mistakes I have made ;)�..
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