muffkins

We ate pigeons a few times, there isn't much too them. Wild pigeons are different than the city ones though, and are pretty much like any other game bird out there. I wouldn't eat a city pigeon, as they are basically rats with wings, but wild ones were ok. I hate seagulls with a passion though, and the idea of eating one never occurred to me.

I don't remember when deer season is on the island, I think its fall, but you need to have tags for them. I'm pretty sure that there isn't any particular season on birds, and there are a ton of grouse, mallards and pigeons out there. Maybe not mallards if its fall. Grouse is really tasty, cooks up just like chicken. Hard to sneak up on though, and it doesn't look like any of them have a shotgun. They can blend right into the bush, and scare the crap out of you when they explode out and up when startled. But they are yummy when you can get one. The mallards on the island tend to taste like fish, although I haven't ever had farmed duck, so maybe they all do, I don't know.

They're usually farther away from the chuck. They like a little less salt in the environment, so farther inland. But bears wander all over the place foraging, as they are opportunistic eaters. They'd rather eat something they just come across, rather than have to run something down and kill it. Generally, unless a bear is starving or protecting a cub, they will usually leave you alone. So keeping your food inaccessible is a good idea. Most of our problems in camp came from them getting into the garbage cans, so most people had large boxes built onto our fences, with a latching lid, to keep our garbage cans in.

Man, that wind storm brought back some memories. We used to spend some sleepless nights all stuffed into the kitchen waiting it out listening to the trees creak, groan and occasionally snap. Cedar and Douglas firs are very flexible, but it's still scary. And I was in a house, not a tent. I was surprised that Dustin only lasted one more day, but the last 4 seem to be in it for the long haul. "O Solo Mio" indeed. Too bad for them that the weather is only going to get worse, not better.

I'm gonna give Dustin a break on dragging that pole. He'd just wiped out on a slippery log and those things are HEAVY when they are all waterlogged. They don't look too bad, but as soon as you pick them up, its like they're made of cement. I would drag them above the high tide line, and let them sort of dry out. I was happy to see the one guy using the inside of the cedar bark. I said to my husband last week that we used to scrape the inside of cedar bark and put it in our pockets to dry out. Or just stick it in your tent out of the wetness. Moss is also good that way, once you squeeze the water out of it. I've never heard of char cloth, so I wasn't sure what he was doing at first, but it seems like a pretty savvy idea.

This is for Walnutqueen, who asked about Atluck Lake. Basically, my whole life until I moved away as an adult, we would go camping at Atluck and Anutz lakes pretty much every weekend starting in May until the end of October. The logging camp we lived in was at the bottom of Nimpkish Lake, but it had a really steep drop off about 6 feet out, was always freezing cold and was always full of log booms, so no one ever really camped there. The other lakes were smaller and warmer, much better for swimming and playing in, so everyone camped there. Most of the people from Woss camp went to Woss Lake, but Atluck and Anutz were closer for us, only took about an hour or less to get to. My parents had a red Chevy pickup and camper, and my grandparents had an old green canvas tent, my brother and I slept where ever we wanted, (on the beach with the dogs) or with whoever would take us. The beach was the best at Atluck as the trees came down to about 25 feet from the water, and then it was just a nice sandy slope right down to the water. You could back your boat trailer right down into the water with no problem and be fishing in short order. The camp used to have a fishing derby there once a summer, and I remember Cori-lyn won it one year when she was about 6 years old. I swear she pulled a trout bigger than she was out of the lake, but it might have only been 5 pounds or so. We never went home empty handed though, and ate fish the whole time we were there. Most of the time my older brother and I were running around in the bush picking Huckleberries and what we called blueberries. I'm not sure what they really were, maybe Saskatoons, but they could've been black currants as well. They were all over the place. If we weren't out in the boat, we'd climb trees and jump into the lake where they hung over, and spend all night hanging around the campfire roasting marshmallows, cooking hotdogs or frying trout. Nothing in the world is better than trout fried up in a cast iron pan with loads of butter. Yum! Anutz isn't quite as nice as Atluck, as the trees are farther out and its more wide open around the lake. I prefer my camping spots in the trees, and the trees to be close to the lake. Anutz was good for the annual fireman's picnic though, and all the volunteer firemen from the 3 camps (Nimpkish, Woss and Vernon) would come and each camp would compete to see who could be the fastest at a bunch of different things related to firefighting. There was also loads of food, all sorts of games (3 legged races, wheelbarrow races, obstacle courses....) and a lot of people. I wish my kids could experience a little of how I grew up, but it doesn't seem to be that prevalent anymore, the small town thing. We only had 45 families or so in our camp, Woss was a little bigger, Vernon a little smaller, so I can't think of anywhere around my area that would be like that. Now I have made myself thoroughly homesick and I need to call my mom. I also miss my Gramma Muncie and Grampa Joe now, so I need to go do something to keep myself from becoming a big old weepy mess here. Anyway, if you get to The Island, go camping, its awesome.

Walnutqueen, if I could figure out how to post pictures on this site, I would post a couple of Atluck, also a map of where it is in regards to Quatsino Sound. It is a beautiful lake with a nice beach, trout in it and berry bushes all around. We used to camp there or at Anutz all the time. Anutz is smaller though, and it had a sunken wharf that we always sat on. Of course then you get those itchy little bumps all over your legs and behind from the mites in the slime, but kids don't care.

I don't know why that Brant guy was drinking water from the creek outflow area. That's idiotic. All he had to do was walk upstream until he was out of the marshy area and he would've been fine. This show is making me homesick though. Even though I live in the lower mainland now, not all that far away, the terrain is still fairly different. Looking at all the mist, moss, ferns and dripping water (especially now in the middle of our mini heatwave) I really want to go camping at Atluck Lake. To stay more on topic, I want Alan to win. Or maybe Sam. They seem to be the most level headed. Looking at the previews for next week, I don't understand why they aren't covering their tarp shelters in branches and filling in the back of the shelters so there is only one way in and out. Cougars like to attack from behind and above, so don't leave your behind uncovered and always look up before going anywhere.

Vancouver Island is the best! I was also surprised when the guy gave up on his cabin idea. Clay is great to have, but even bad clay can be used. C**** with moss and dirt on the outside, and the clay on the inside. Build your fireplace and chimney out of stones, layer the clay all over it and even bad clay will keep the smoke from coming out the little holes. Hopefully he was just a bit overwhelmed at the time, and a nights reflection will put him in a better mood.

If this is filmed in Quatsino Sound, then it is on the west side of the Island and will not get any protection from the mainland from ocean weather systems. It looks like its either late winter/early spring, or fall/early winter, so the wind coming off the water will be cold, cold, cold. I spent the first 17 years of my life in the Nimpkish Valley, about 3 hours north of Campbell River, so the wolves and bears wouldn't really bother me, but cougars freak my shit out. They are quiet, sneaky and almost impossible to see before they pounce. There is no way I'd be out there without a rifle and a dog. My dogs went everywhere with me when we were out in the bush. I don't really understand why they are having such a bad time finding water, there are little streams and creeks everywhere out there. I mean it basically drips off the rock faces most of the time. Also the insistence on boiling it. Granted it's been 29 years since I lived up there, but the water never killed me. Still, I do remember camping trips in February at Atluck Lake, being freezing cold and wet constantly, but I had my parents, siblings and grandparents around to keep my spirits up. Being alone would suck.

Cudlitz: Are you excited to be back Norman? Reedus: Now I am!

Generally, in Canada at least, religion doesn't really come into play much in news reports. If it does, it is usually regarding terrorism or factional fighting in some sub group of a non Christian religion. I don't recall ever hearing "and now the police have arrested Joe Blow, a Christian...." it just doesn't come up.

My sister in law, brother and niece converted to Mormonism about 18 years ago. As a family, they go to church, tithe, and do Mormon community stuff. They have never tried to convert me, but will answer questions if asked. My niece came down from northern BC and lived with me for a year or so, met and married a young man from a local Mormon family and he did go on mission. From what he tells me, he went to south America and built houses, schools, wells and that sort of thing. He said you only go door to door preaching if that is what you want to do. There is no requirement to try to convert anyone. Mostly the mission is to do good in the world for people less fortunate. While my niece lived with me, a few of her church counsellors would stop by now and again to see if there was anything she or I needed help with, but they only asked me once if I was interested in their religion, and when I said no, it was not brought up again, even though they stopped by every once in a while. The three women were from different parts of the world (The states, Australia and Eastern Canada) so I don't think it is a regional thing. Out of most Christian religions, I have found Mormons to be the least intrusive. And there are several openly Mormon families in my neighbourhood. They all seem pretty regular types to me.

Ucchhh, I have now seen the ad for Jamieson Digestive Care about a billion times in the last 2 weeks. I don't know about you, but when I worked in an office, I never talked about my tummy troubles with co-workers, and never said "I feel so Ucchhh!" with my hands on my midsection. I saw it once, and thought, I don't need to ever see this or hear that sound again (they say it about 8 times in the commercial), and now it seems it is on every channel at least once an hour. Make it stop.

Guillermo and Edson are my eye candy for the season. I hope they make it to the competition rounds.

My husband is like that with all the Harry Potter movies. He's tried watching them in the theatres and at home, but can't make it through a single one. To stay on topic, "Burn after reading" I just don't see what's so awesome about this movie. I was bored for most of it, and kind of disgusted at a few parts.

What has happened to Madonna's front teeth? Did she do that on purpose? I mean, she didn't used to have that huge gap in her teeth, did she?

I don't see that as ignoring her. When she was going on about stuff at the taxi, he was answering her, replying to things she said and stating his opinion. It just wasn't the same as hers. Disagreeing with someone is not ignoring them. He was at least doing something. She was standing 5 feet away from the driver not speaking to him and yelling at Blair. I realize she doesn't speak Spanish, but she can get Blair to translate her question. She doesn't try to be proactive, she just asks vague questions and then gets mad when he doesn't agree with her.

Looks like I'm off to see what's in EW this week.

I usually avoid coming on here, as it is generally post after post of how horrible host chat is, but this needs to be said. I would toss my husband aside in hot minute for Josh Groban. I don't care that I'm 15 years older than him, and his beard is odd. Ever since his appearance on Glee "Josh Groban loves the blowsy alcoholics" , he's been sort of my ideal man. I can't explain it.

I am a huge fan of manners as well. I do believe he has apologized to her for some of his mistakes, but he does gloss over mistakes as well, sure. However, manners go both ways. Not once have we seen her apologize to him for freaking out on him, calling him horrible names and pretty much constantly criticizing and belittling him. Even when she is trying to be encouraging to him, she just ends up sounding irritated. He's no great shakes in the encouragement area either, so I guess they even out there. I think they are not suited to work together as they have diametrically opposed ways of working on things. I do however respond more favourably to Blair's temperament and personality than Hayley's. She just puts my back up. It has nothing to do with hair colour or perceived intelligence. I just don't like her and don't think I ever will.

This is where I see it a different way. Blair is in front following directions from the local person. She was also there when the directions were given. She did not say "Blair stop. this is the street we are looking for." She said "do you think ...." She wasn't sure either, and deferred to him to make the decision. She did not stop and make him look. At that point she's saying "Look at the sign! Look at the sign!" and I'm thinking, lady, there are 8 million signs here, what are you talking about? He's trying to read directions and make a decision on which way to go. Not once did she stop and say "I am sure we need to go this way." She starts all her sentences with a question. It makes me crazy. Then when its wrong, and has delayed them a bit, she's all indignant and righteous " I was right, you need to listen to me!!!!" That may be so, but you need to actually make a statement in order to be right about it.

I'm finding Juliette very unpleasant and unreasonable right now. She was the one who insisted that Nick become a Grimm again, and insisted that they use the magic, even though they didn't know what the side effects would be. There must be something mentally unstable with hexenbiests to make her act this way. I'm glad

Why can't they get Canadian actors to play Canadians? It's very distracting to listen to them.

I know that feeling exactly. From the time I was a small kid, my parents would park somewhere, on a ferry, parking lot, city street, look at me and say," Valerie, remember where the car is." My brother, to this day, can't walk around a block without GPS. I just don't understand it at all. He got lost (with my kids!) walking to Tim Horton's from my house, which are 4 blocks apart. Obviously, my children did not inherit my ability.