Northern Exposure...Summer Beaver: Still Exploring!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Still Exploring!

Sunday today, still missing the beauty of Summer Beaver but have been doing a bit of exploring. I posted a picture of that track from yesterday with my hand beside it for size so what do you think it is???

Went for a long walk today found some more wallaye and plenty of them. Check this out Elijah nice eh....could we do some damage! I posted the

picture of the fish that were just swimming so close to shore along the river that flows into Lake Severn. If you double click on the picture you can see it in better detail. Elijah told me that the things on the ground that I was not certain of from the other day was droppings of a partridge.

So I am still looking for that perfect place. I walked along the waters edge tonight and really do feel that anywhere near the water is almost

heaven. The weather here is still cool 14 today and 6 tonight but not too bad at least sunny today.

On my walk I noticed the most common vehicle in town is a half ton ton with a king cab. The most common passengers riding in the flat bed back are kids in almost every truck. Reminded me of when I was a kid before child safety laws. Then the next most popular is a four wheeler.

There are many vehicles on the roads here which is a big difference from Summer Beaver. I loved it there. Hardly any traffic, quiet community but here the trucks are up and down the roads. Not as peaceful.

Had a few patients at the clinic today, mainly routine ambulatory care visits. I was talking to the full time nurse here and she was telling me

when they get a critical patient that has to fly out that they have to call the driver....He is a local

resident who owns a van (plain mini van) and he comes to the clinic to pick a patient up on a stretcher (after he has taken the seats out of the van) to take to the airport. The airport is about 5-10 mins or so from here. She told me is it pretty strange stretcher, O2, IV lines and loading the patient into the back of a plain mini van...

She laughs and says it can be quite a trip with

the equipment.

So I am brushing back up on my lab skills taking lots of blood, doing ECG's, and again dispensing meds from our pharmacy. Used to this years ago so really did not take me long to get back in the swing.

So what do you think this is it is a bird well what is left of a bird I think. Looks like the legs so any guesses?

Talk soon hope you had a fun weekend!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Hey Sis,
Just read your blog...Well it seems like you can keep yourself busy at both communities, if it's not clinical you seem to be exploring the areas good for you! So much you are giving to the locals and so much you are getting in return. This is such an experience of a life time. How long has it been already are you at the half way point? Huge Prints in the ground VERYYYY SCARYYYYYYY! Wow there were a lot of fish in the water, now that you have the fishing bug I bet you wish you were fishing when you saw them...LOL!Not much going on here, I Thompson stain/sealed my deck and fence last week. Getting ready for John to come home for Mid Tour soon...Can't Wait Miss Him SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHH! He will be so surprised he got to see most of the build, but hasn't ever seen it finished other than pics that I've sent him. Anyway it's late getting ready to go to bed...Talk again soon! Love Ya Valorie xoxoxoxo:); June 1, 2008 at 10:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Your weekend seems much more eventful that either mine of Josh's. I worked all weekend and Josh took his PAL course to spruce up his resume. Oh and of course pouring rain all weekend! Josh and I are going away this weekend, hopefully to Lake Placid but they are calling for thunder storms so we will have to wait and see about sleeping in a tent on top of a mountain with lightning!

I love all your pics Josh bought a tripod for our adventures so I'll have to see if we can get some good ones to give you!

Talk soon,
Heather; June 2, 2008 at 7:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Great update Cyndi, thanks for all the info on Bearskin Lake, definitely the industry is a step up from Summer Beaver so should make your stay less difficult. You can pass some time "going shopping" now to give you that Brockville feeling that you must be missing......keep the blog going, love the news from the North
Love Jerry and Shirley.......; June 2, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Anonymous said...: Your new home looks very scenic, and a little more civilzed. Is your trip half over now? How is Rob (Roberto) handling the home front without you? I haven't seen him in shopping lately!!!
Bye for now
Sharon; June 2, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Sister Sister!
Long time no chat. Looks like you are keeping busy and seem much more relaxed! That's great! I can't believe it's 1/2 over already! Same old things going on here! Nothing too exciting. Put the deposits down for Panama last week! That's EXCITING!! Stay safe. Keep on bloggin! Miss you much!; June 2, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Anonymous said...: hey

What happened no Blog entry for Monday...losing your Enthusiasm,for blogging stay positive and upbeat it what seperates you from the rest.
Miss Ya Luv Rob; June 3, 2008 at 6:03 AM

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Pemmican, one of the ladies had made this for the feast.......

Pemmican was a staple of the Plains people’s diet with the name originating from the Cree word, “pimikan”, or ‘manufactured grease’. Pemmican was made from buffalo meat, although antelope, deer, elk and moose were also used. It was a mixture of dried meat pounded to a powder, a quantity of rendered fat, Saskatoon berries or choke cherries, and sometimes peppermint leaves. The whole mixture was stored in parfleches, or skin bags, where it could be stored indefinitely. Pemmican was portable and highly nutritious with 1 kilogram equaling 5 kilograms of fresh meat. It was one of the most important contributions native people made to the survival of the Europeans through the harsh Canadian winters.

How to Make Pemmican
To make pemmican the Indians began by cutting meat into thin slices or strips and drying it either in the sun or over a fire. After the meat was dried, it was spread out on a stone-headed mauls and then pounded. This pounded meat was called "beat meat" by the natives. "Beat meat" was then mixed with melted fat and marrow. One early European observer noted that 40 pounds (18kg) of fat were added to 50 pounds (22.6kg) of beat meat. Sometimes a paste made of fruits or berries were added to this mixture.
Pemmican was stored in folded rawhide containers called parfleches. They were flat which made them easy to store and transport. Parfleches were greased along their seams to keep out air and moisture. Pemmican could therefore be kept fresh for years. Three-quarters of a pound (.34kg) of pemmican a day was a sufficient ration of food, although a hard-working traveler might eat between 1 and 2 pounds a day.
"... to make this essential food, the women would cut buffalo meat into very thin strips and hang them on hooks or a rack over a slow, smoky fire. The fire was used mainly to keep flies off the fresh meat. After a day or two the fire was discontinued and the meat was allowed to dry in the sun and wind. Three or four times a day the women would crack the meat open to allow the outsides of the strips to dry. After the drying process, which took about a week, the meat was broken into small pieces and put inside a flour sack. The women then pounded the meat into powder. This powder was mixed with dried berries, and melted buffalo fat was used to bind the substance together into balls. The pemmican balls were then placed into bags made of green (untanned) buffalo hid, and sewn up tightly. A bag of pemmican, made properly, could be cached in the ground for several years and still remain usable.
Rubaboo is the name for a stew made of pemmican and any wild vegetables at hand. Boiled in a pot of water, the chunks of pemmican would fall apart. Additions - the likes of onion, turnip, asparagus, parsley, sage, bullrush root, cattail heads, dandelion root, wild parsnip, wild carrot, mushrooms, pine nuts, daylily roots, or wild rice, would turn it into an appetizing stew.

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