Fishing for Reds! Aanux^!

It is a busy time of year, so I apologize for slacking on the blog. The aanux^ (red salmon) are starting to hit, and I have been busy bickering with my husband. Things are starting to smooth out in the equipment department (trailer, boat, engine, net) and although my body is beat all to h***, I am enjoying myself immensely.

It is darn hard to get the net straight! Our engine isn’t strong enought to pull in reverse, so Caleb has had to devise a bridle (not quite refined yet) to pull with it attached to the stern.

Skiff and engine courtesy of brother-in-law Greg Hawthorne.

It is so nice to be able to fish, practically from our front porch. Plus the whole family gets involved…all four generations! The reds are HUGE this year.

Our first concern has been getting enough fish for the smoke house. Dad said, ” I am not wasting my cottonwood for less than 15 fish!” Well, it took us two days, but on the morning of the third day, mom was stripping 20 fillets to brine and hang. SP was so excited to be able to fish. Any kind of fish made him happy. Sadgunix^ (Trout), araamusax^ (bull heads), flounder. And, oh yeah, the aanux^, red salmon.

Our second day was frought with wind. The north wind blows in the fish, but it hits us smack dead center and plays havok with the skiff. I almost had a heart attack when mom waved Caleb and I off when we tried to land the skiff again to pull the net, and I saw my 82 year old father down on the beach pulling away with mom and Laresa!

Many years of experience go into each step of the process. Sam and Gert Svarny.

The third day, Caleb had to work so we set the net early, and Laresa and I planned to fish it all day. Easy……except I couldn’t get the engine to start! We spent the day pulling ourselves (in the skiff, of course) out the net and back. Man that is tiring. The good thing was that Laresa is almost as good as Caleb at picking the fish out of the net. The bad thing was that I just wasn’t pushing hard enough on the engine starter button and when Caleb got home, he started it right up. Aaarrgghh!

Neighbors are a blessing in Unalaska. Zoya and Bobby Johnson helped Laresa, Caleb, and I pull the net in on Saturday evening. Then Bobby expertly repaired the net where a hole had mysteriously appeared. Two nights of mom’s lovely cooking – fish stew with alaadix^ and boiled salmon with potatos, petrushky, fiddleheads, and seal oil! Yum. That’s the life!

Two days of rest and we are hoping for good weather tomorrow. At any rate, something will get done because we have another project going – the mini greenhouse!

In my absence….

I recently came across these photos on the camera. I did not take them. I now have a little insight into what goes on around the place when I am not home. Obviously, planks are brought INTO the house, laid across dining room chairs, and WALKED! Mop handles are used for balance and swords, and patches are designed to throw off depth perception!! AAARRGGGH! Misc 006

Misc 007 Misc 005

King of the mountain.

Alena! had to work a couple of hours today, so SP was ensconced in his chair having a second breakfast. Aunty Laresa came by and we decided to take a quick outing to see what we could see.

SP soon found a big metal chain that he proceeded to drag around the hills until he got too tired to drag it anymore. I am sure his mom will be forever grateful that we didn’t let him bring it home.

We wandered around and, of course, he was soon so hot and sweating. It is very hard to keep a coat on this boy. At least he was willing to tie it around his waist, so that we didn’t have to haul it around.

Running in the hills and exploring – what could be better? I’m sure it would be better if Grandma wasn’t there telling him to “get away from the edge…don’t poke your eye out on the bushes…stop running so fast, you’re going to trip in those boots!”

We had to distract SP by taking pictures of the pole when he realized it was a climbing pole!

Thank goodness SP isn't tall enough to make the first step!

We were investigating various things, including the status of cranberry plants.

The fireweed are sprouting. Shoots like these are yummy this time of year. Use them in salads, stir fry, spring rolls and whatever else you can think of to do with veggies.