What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

I'm put Christmas shopping with the wife. By that I mean, I went in the store with her for a few minutes, then went back to the car. I took a short nap, now waiting for her to return.

 

Same circumstances regarding the ex and the divorce here! Not so much with the kids but more with the public.....

 

Hate shopping myself. I plant my arse on a bench in the main through fair and watch the eye candy go by.
I know. Dirty old man.
There is no such thing as a dirty old man. We are just bolder.

 

I tell my wife, it’s OK that I still look at roses.
Just wear these.






But I don’t touch roses because they have thorns.

 

Ohh so another thing on to do list.. heating lines sprung a leak... pipes not frozen gasket on bleeder valve wore out
Apparently They are only good for about 35 years who knew. And the guy the plumbed the house before me but you should use one before every 90
When it rains it pours.. when bleeder valves go bad it drips inside
Luckily neighbors a plumber and borrowed his crimp copper tool

 

Drug 6 logs up from my low grounds to higher ground. Suppose to rain Mon. & Tues. So at least I have some to work on while drying out. Made a test burn on the maple I bought this summer. It started out being 2 year old, but when pressed the old man said it was cut 2017 split and stacked spring 2018. The wood was stored on the east side of the building at a location that wouldn't be conducive to drying plus the pieces felt wet and heavy. I sort of figured it for 2020. The test burn went very well. It is ready. Top covered the other 2 rows of that stuff that I have.
Started on my holiday cooking. Got 2 batches of Pizzell batter in the refrigerator waiting to be put in the iron. On my second batch of glass candy (hard tack). Spearmint already made and this batch will be orange.

 

Moved wood under my long trucker tarp, and used the maul buZZsaw BRAD style to half and quarter the ash rounds that I scrounged from a block away the other day. I also moved the fir tree rounds that I had bucked after it fell from the high winds. It was around 38° today, but that wind was nasty. I like having the garden tractor and the yard cart around for hauling wood. I can fit a good amount of splits in the cart, and the dump function with great to get the junk out of it. I do see that I've got a slight hydro drip from the drive selector. Guys say that that's usually just o ring failure and easy to fix.


Since the maul worked so well on the big ash rounds, I'll see if the rest of the rounds are still there. If so, I'll bring the maul and scrounge those too.

 

I found variable ice today. Set up on 5". The first lake I tried was too cloudy for spearing. After an hour of staring into the abyss beyond the decoy 2' down, I decided to leave. Ended up on a pretty clear lake, but got set up after prime time, but ended up seeing three pike. The first one was pretty big, probably about 8 pounds and over 30"...she did a hit and run on the decoy, and was leaving the hole before I could think of throwing the spear or not. Number 2 and 3 were pretty small, but in retrospect I could have made pickles with them. Got home took a nap, turned the compost, and now some R and R with FWH and wine box. Beautiful sky at dusk today. Should be nice tomorrow before the snow and cold arrive Sunday night, which will be nice too for ice making.

 

I've heard that pickled small pike taste really good. How do you pickle them?

 

They are really good.

Take three to four 22"-24" pike. Fillet, and cut up into 1" chunks. Bones are fine, they will dissolve.

Make a brine of 4 cups white vinegar and 1 cup canning salt. Stir until dissolved. Soak fish under the brine in fridge for 3-4 days.
Rinse well.

Make a sauce of 2 cups white vinegar and 1.5 cups white sugar. Add 2-3 tbsp pickling spice. Bring to boil then simmer while stirring for 10-15 min. Cool sauce outside or in garage until cold. Add 1 cup white wine (anything is fine).

Layer fish, thinly sliced white onions, some red pepper flakes, and cover everything with the sauce in a small ceramic crock or ice cream bucket. Let set in fridge for at least 5 days before eating.

We probably eat and give away 2-3 gallons of this each winter. I have tried making it in summer, but it is always better tasting in the winter due to the cold conditions throughout the process.

 

I forgot to add that it is now recommended to freeze the cut up fish for 3 days in order to kill any parasites.

As a child we never did this, but I do now.

 

You freeze the chunks before putting it in the pickling juice?

 

Got mine just today. Last year the shot didn’t prevent me and the Mrs. from getting the flu. It was influenza A. Seems it didn’t work for a number of people.

 

I think me and the truck have now officially gone "Over the hill"