My new published book

I finally managed to find the time. I published the eighth book of my Xandra series, Dark World, a few days ago with Smashwords. 'Dark World' is actually the continuation of Book seven 'Alien World'. I set the price at $2.99. I also changed the price of 'Alien World' to $2.99. It just wasn't selling. I'm very disappointed. After all my hard work. I think it is a good story, written, of course, for people who love Science Fiction and a little Erotica. Unfortunately, there are so many books available these days and the problem is to get readers to notice your book. Perhaps the new price will encourage readers to buy it.
Dark World is available from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370920

Here is the link to Alien World:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/345117

Is there a need for the Senate?

If a private citizen would pull a stunt like that, like overcharging for expenses, they'd be fired, and, possibly, charged with fraud. However, government employees, especially the higher up they are, like being a Senator, get away with it. Two of the 'Three Stooges' complaint they wouldn't be able to carry on if they'd lose their high salaries and pensions. They couldn't buy the expensive drugs they need. Funny, with all those fantastic salaries they didn't manage to save some money for a rainy day the way private citizens do with less money? This whole thing is too comical. Now they're going into the 'attack-mode'. That is just typical. A cornered rat will always show its teeth. I remember a Prime Minister who did the same thing after being accused of taking money and not declaring it. He sued the country for a million dollars and got it. Nice, and I can't get any money from the Compensation Board for my hearing aid that I need. And I paid into the Compensation Board in case I get injured on the job or get other ailments that are job-related. Should I sue?
I wonder how long this will be dragged out, wasting time and money, taxpayers' money. Instead of working and producing something positive, this gang of MPs argues and argues and gets nothing done.
As for the Senate? Do we need so many people at another level of government that cost the country millions of dollars? People who do absolutely nothing, when it really comes down to it? (They only have to work 72 days, if one can call it work.) I don't think so. It is time to abolish the Senate and retire the whole lot of them. They will still cost the taxpayers a fortune with those high pensions, at least eventually that cost will phase out. However we will save on the expenses. That will be an immediate saving.

Is fishing season over?

It seems the fishing season is over for this year. We had a full moon last week and the fish were biting. I went to my, these days, favorite fishing spot in Lockport last week. I was there before 8:00 a.m. It is still dark at that time. I didn't get many bites and what I caught was tiny. Then another fisherman came and fished right beside me. He caught a nice sauger with his first cast and another one with his second. When I asked what he was using he showed me a greenish/yellow jig with gold flecks. He gave me one, and, low and behold, I had a good-sized fish with my first cast. After that we were catching fish, sometimes at the same time. I released all of them except for 4. That's the limit. Sauger are not big fish, but they are tasty, frozen or fresh.  Four fish may yield between 450 to 600 grams. Just enough for a nice meal. We eat them and I'm good to try my luck again another day.

My new angler friend told me it's the full moon that makes the fish bite. The gold flecks were another reason. Apparently, the sauger and walleye hate them.

October brings the walleye, or as the seasoned anglers around here call them: Greenbacks. They come up river from Lake Winnipeg and are stopped by the Lockport dam. They congregate below the dam. It is illegal, though, to fish within 23 meters of the fish ladder. Quite a few people do, either because they are not aware of the law (there is a sign there), or they just ignore it. Apparently, last week somebody was fined $500.00 for fishing too close to the fish ladder. Ouch, that hurts. I am fishing quite far from the ladder near a fence. Plenty of fish there also. Somebody told me that  a few anglers were charged for catching and keeping fish over their limit. It costs $100.00 per fish over the limit. That can become costly. You also lose your gear, license, and the fish you caught.

I haven't caught any Greenbacks yet, but I saw a few anglers catch them. A couple of guys caught walleye that were at least 2 feet long. The big fish are there, but to catch them is another story.

I went fishing Monday morning and Wednesday morning of this week. I caught nothing but a tiny sauger on each of those days. There were only a few anglers there in the morning. It was cold and the wind blew from the north. In fact, it was so cold, ice formed on the fishing rod guides. I guess it's time to put away the fishing gear for a while until the ice is thick enough to go ice fishing. Until then we'll have to get our fish from the grocery store. Not as much fun and more expensive.

Ice fishing is okay, but I have never been successful fishing through the ice. I just go to spend some time with my son and grandchildren. We have a tent to keep out the wind. We bbq hot dogs. It is always fun. And sometimes we even catch a fish.

Fall

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for over 2 weeks. The time just flies. This month has gone so fast. We've been busy in the yard getting it ready for winter. October is always a busy month for us. The garden needs to be torn down. That is always a lot of work and takes much time. Then we start cutting down all the dead willows and collect the fallen branches. Willows are not the best trees to have. The branches are really brittle and they break off with every storm. I had to clean the yard twice within a couple of weeks. We had two huge mounts of branches piled up in the garden, the only place where we can burn. Then we have to wait for a windless day, and, ideally, also for a wet morning, because of the burning leaves that will rise into the air and settle down in the grass. If the grass is too dry it may catch fire. It is a race every year. First, the garden needs to be void of all the plants, like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce etc. As soon as that is done we can start piling the branches onto the garden. We were quite lucky this year. We were able to burn the branches the next day after we piled them up. I did that at seven o'clock in the morning when the dew was still on the grass. We had a nice bonfire. It burnt so fast I could barely keep up with throwing the second pile onto the burning branches. It was all over within one hour. Then it is just the ashes. They usually smolder for a couple of days. But this year it rained the next day and that was okay.

After the burning I till the garden. But before that I collected about 16 bags of leaves from the yard and I tilled them into the soil. The leaves make great fertilizer and they are free.

Well, it's all done now and it is time to relax for a bit. But there are plenty of other things still to do, like putting up Christmas lites, getting the snowblower ready for the first big snowfall, and storing away all the summer stuff. It never ends.

Smoked Freshwater Drum

A while ago I caught a Freshwater Drum, also known as Sheepshead and Silver Bass around here. It’s not a popular eating fish. Recently I heard a new term: Manitoba Tilapia. Apparently, that’s what the Filipinos living in Winnipeg call it. We catch lots of Freshwater Drum in Lockport. They are fun to catch, but I usually release them again.

I decided to keep one for smoking. A couple of months ago I made a Freshwater Drum on the bbq. It tasted okay, but it was a bit too greasy. So I put this one into the freezer. Soon after that I read on a website that you should never freeze them, because the meat tends to get tough.

The day before yesterday I decided to finally smoke it. I took it out in the morning and let it thaw in the sink. In the evening I put it into a covered pan and left it in the fridge overnight. Yesterday morning I removed the fish, washed it and rubbed the inside and outside (I removed the scales before I put it into the freezer!) with garlic powder and coarse salt. I left it in a cool room for 2 1/2 hours. Then I washed it again and let it sit in the cool room for another 2 hours to allow the skin to dry. Then I took it to my smoker.

I used Apple wood in my Electric smoker. I adjusted the temperature to 200 F and the time for 2 hours. I hung the fish immediately into the smoker. It was quite warm yesterday and I discovered it is difficult to keep the temperature in the smoker low on warm days. Summer isn’t really the best time to smoke fish (or anything else) in an electric smoker. It tends to get too hot too soon and when the element isn’t on, there will be no smoke, or very little.

By putting the fish in right at the beginning without preheating the smoker, as the instructions tell you to do, the fish is subjected to smoke as soon as the wood begins to burn. I kept close watch on the smoker. I added new wood chips every 30 minutes. When the temperature reached 200 F I opened the door to cool down the inside. Unfortunately, this allows the smoke to escape, but it lowered the temperature and the elements started to glow again, therefore creating new smoke.

I left the Freshwater Drum in the smoker for 90 minutes, and then I took it out. After it cooled down a bit, my wife immediately peeled off the skin and removed the meat from the bones. Once the fish cools down too much it becomes difficult to do that. We put the meat into the fridge to be consumed today.

Well, whoever said the meat would be tough was wrong. The meat was flaky and quite tasty. A bit greasy, though. I should have left it in the smoker for another 15 minutes. That may have helped. But I was pleasantly surprised. There was no fishy or other unpleasant taste to the meat.

It seems Freshwater Drum will be on my menu from now on. I still love smoked Goldeye, but the Sheepshead should not be dismissed or overlooked.

African drums instead of Christmas

If it weren't so sad and serious I would laugh. The administrators of the Hastings School in Winnipeg have decided to cancel Halloween celebrations and to make it even worse, there will be no Christmas Concert either. (They called it Winter Concert last year). Instead of the Christmas Concert there will be a performance of African Drums.

African Drums? In the winter in Winnipeg, Canada. Is this a joke? There are forces out there that are desperately trying to mold our Canada into their image. We bring in all these new people from cultures that are so different from ours. We let them leave their country and come here because we want them to have a better life. It means they don't like it where they live. They, apparently, like our conditions better. Yet, when they come here, instead of integrating themselves into our culture they try to change ours into theirs, therefore creating exactly the same conditions they left behind.

We don't want to change. We like things they way they are. I'm an immigrant to Canada, but I adjusted, accepted the way things are here. This is my country and I don't want it screwed up. It is time Canadians start saying No to this political crap and demand newcomers adopt our ways not the way around.

I left a comment with the article by Jon Hendricks on the CTV website and suggested the principal and the administration of the Hastings School should be fired. I don't know if they will publish it. That's how I feel. It makes me angry and every Canadian should feel the same way.

Blackbird with white head

We had an unusual visitor to our bird feeder today. A blackbird with a white head. I looked it up on the internet and it is a partial albino blackbird. Apparently, they are not that common. They are not always lucky to live long because of their white head. Sometimes even their parents reject them. They stand out from their totally black cousins and are prone to be attacked by other birds or even selected by predators.

I didn't want to get too close for fear I might scare it away, but I managed to snap a picture with my 28 zoom camera. It turned out quite nice. It was finally chased away by a bluejay.