Hello from southeast Texas...pics added

[moolie]

 

[txcanoegirl]

Baymule...thanks for the recipe. Has my mouth watering. You wouldn't believe all the ways I've been trying to use pecans. Ground up and used for pie crusts, breading for sauteeing chicken breasts, Toasted and tossed into green beans or on fish (actually, they don't need to be toasted), snacks, pies, cookies, in granola, nut milk (my husband liked soy milk, and I've stopped buying that completely), I even made a ricotta-like cheese with pecans. I've been toying around with the idea of using crushed pecan shells for kitty litter, but even though some commerical brands are now doing that, I hestitate to make changes that my cats might not like. My husband built a pecan press for me this year that I haven't had a chance to use yet, but early experiments indicate that I should be able to press a good quantity of oil that is really good. Storage is the problem...pecans are good stored unshelled at room temp for a little while, but should go in cold storage. They last a long, long time in the freezer, so I try to crack, shell and freeze as fast as I can, but you all know how hard it is to find time for the day-to-day things in additon to seasonal things.

Jill

 

[Denim Deb]

Great! Another person that loves to go canoeing! My friends and I love to go kaynoeing. (They have kayaks, I have a canoe, so kaynoeing it is. ) Main places I go are around here. But, every time I go past a nice looking river when I'm on a trip, I'm looking at it wondering how it would be for canoeing.

I have friends who kayak, too, so I won't hold that against you! haha! I almost give myself whiplash trying to see down to the water whenever I drive over a bridge. I've been known to make u-turns to go see if there is a way to get down there to put a boat in!

We like the silent sports! Canoes (and kayaks) don't make any noise...and they don't require gasoline or a motor. They aren't destructive to the environment and don't pollute. "Real" boaters don't need motors! I stole that line from a bumper sticker I saw. Actually, we mostly enjoy the quiet, the solitude, and seeing birds and wildlife.

Jill

The only time I want something w/a motor is if I'm going out in the bay! Kind of hard to do that w/a canoe. But, we don't have a boat any more.

What kind of canoe do you have? I have an Old Town Discovery 119. It's a solo canoe, and just the right size for me. Plus, that way I don't have to worry about any annoying people wanting to go w/me.

 

[txcanoegirl]

Denim Deb wrote:

What kind of canoe do you have? I have an Old Town Discovery 119. It's a solo canoe, and just the right size for me. Plus, that way I don't have to worry about any annoying people wanting to go w/me.

We're solo boaters, too. I have a Wenonah Sandpiper and my husband has a Wenonah Voyager. We bought a used tandem last year and have enjoyed it on some types of trips. I always liked the solo because I didn't have to wait on someone else's schedule to go with me. I like your reason a whole lot!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm not familiar w/the Wenonah's. I'll have to look into them.

What kind of water do you canoe in? Around here, there's not really any white water. The worst you might get is a really strong current. And, since NJ is pretty populated, you can't go for long w/out seeing someone else. Do you ever do any overnighters? I've been wanting to do one, but so far, haven't gotten any of my friends to go along w/the idea. I can just imagine what my hubby would say if I told him I was going on an overnighter by myself!

 

[Denim Deb]

OK, I just looked up the Wenonah canoes. I couldn't find the Sandpiper, but found the Voyager. And, it's much longer than mine! Mine is only 11'9"! It weights 43 lbs, not sure how that compares to yours. But, it's light enough for me to pick up and put in the back of my truck by myself. Mine is an older one. Now they make them w/a seat w/a back rest. Mine has a caned seat, no back rest and I'm glad. I wouldn't like the back rest. Plus, there have been times when I've had to lay back in order to get under a downed tree. I wouldn't be able to do that w/a back rest.

 

[txcanoegirl]

We canoe mostly rivers, slow-to-fast, minimal whitewater. I like the fun, playful stuff, but not the hard core whitewater. A good scenic river or creek with enough current to make it easy is my favorite. I also love love love swamps and backwater exploration. Although my favorite rivers are in Missouri and Arkansas, we have plenty of good rivers close to home, here in Texas.

For our first anniversary, we spent a week on the Bufflalo River in Arkansas, camping each night on a different gravel bar.

Before I met my husband, I often canoed by myself, but sometimes with friends, too. I rarely did the overnights solo, but I enjoyed them when I did. Most of our trips now are only one or two nights on the river, camping out. If we are lucky, we don't see anyone else. In Texas, the rivers are considered navigable waterways, and it is legal to camp below the high water mark on sandbars. We frequently see alligators, beaver, mink, otters, snakes, eagles, coyotes, wild hogs, etc. Lots of birds.

 

[txcanoegirl]

My sandpiper has been discontinued. It weighs 39 lbs and is 13-1/2 feet long. Like you, I got a boat that I could easily pick up and load by myself. I'm 5'2" and was loading it on a minivan! Now that I'm married, I sheepishly admit to playing the girl card and let him load it now. The closest model to it in current production is the Argosy, which is about a foot longer. We have one of those, too. The Voyager is too long and too twitchy and too delicate for rocky rivers like the Current River or Buffalo River, so he found a great deal on a used Argosy in royalex to use on the rocky rivers that wouldn't get bashed in if he hit a rock!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm 5'4 1/2", and when I got my canoe, I was putting it on top of a Taurus wagon, so I hear ya! Of course, if there were any guys around that offered to put it up there, I let them. There were quite a number of guys that were amazed at how light it was and talked about getting one. I don't know if any of them ever did. Now, I have a pickup, and it's much easier to load in the back of that.

I try to go canoeing when my hubby is at work. Otherwise, he's constantly calling me, wanting to be sure I'm OK, wanting to know when I'm coming home, etc. He does the same when I'm horseback riding. I HATE it when he does that. He won't come w/me, but annoys me when I'm out. :/

 

[txcanoegirl]

Okie-dokie, I have enough posts now to add photos! Here are some pics...

Here's part of my herb bed. That's last year's garden...right now it's pretty barren, with only a few things in it. I wish my herb bed looked this good right now! On the other hand, my lavender has taken off from the little clumps in the photo. I love lavender! That's sage in the right front corner with the purple bloom.

Here's my husband showing off the bananas. This was early in the season, maybe August or September, before they had matured. When the weather drops below a certain temp, he has to cut all the stalks of bananas and hang them in our shed for ripening. We've just about gone through all 7 stalks--either by dehydrating (didn't care much for that), freezing, eating fresh, cooking, and giving away.

And this is how I got my user name. This is from 2004 on the North Fork River in Missouri. Okay, so the Texan travels a little!