I finally broke him!

We have this man that walks regularly in our neighbourhood and all around town. Dan and I have nicknamed him "The Man with No shoes" since during the summer he walks barefoot all over town. You probably recognize him since he usually wears an army colour jacket, carries a cup from any sort of fast food restaurant in the area and looks homeless (although his home is on our street.) For almost a year, I have walked by him and cheerfully said hi. I have never gotten a response. One time, he was even bleeding from his head and I tried to help him, but he just kept walking. About a month ago, I made it my goal to "break him." I wanted him to say hi in return or at least raise his head to acknowledge that someone was greeting him. I told Dan of my goal and he wished me luck. The next time I saw the man, I said hi and guess what? He said hi back! It was awesome! Dan commented to me that it didn't take me long to accomplish my goal. Hey! It took a good year, but you only knew about it for a week. From that greeting onward, I seem to get a response about 90% of the time. I do believe that there is something (whether mental illness or drug addiction or whatever) that keeps him from responding all the time. But I am happy to get my greeting! Maybe I'll move on to getting a real name!

Why do they do that?

While out for our walk along the river on Sat. evening I (Dan) had to use the facilities... or at least I tried. When I finally found an outhouse it was boarded up! Really, what IS the point in that? I thought that the purpose of outhouses was to keep folks from using the world at large as a toilet, but this doesn't seem to cross the minds to whoever runs the park.

And this is the damage that I got for trying to go in the bush. A big stick in the foot for my trouble and all this so I wouldn't get a charge of public indecency for peeing just anywhere along the trail. Not fair I tell you, not fair at all.

And for those of you who know me well, you may be asking why I didn't try and pee on the door out of frustration...well, there were too many people on the trail for me to try it-otherwise it would have felt my wrath poured out upon it!!!

I love this town!

Wake up and smell the cow poo! This town is awesome! Where else can you wake up and get this view? I love Mt. Baker in the background, crystal clear!

Fraser River Walk

After dinner, we went for a walk down by the Fraser River. Dan threw stones into the river. (perhaps he didn't have enough fishing earlier and was trying to catch himself a sturgeon.)

Amy sits on a rock, playing with grass. I just like this photo. So relaxed!

Fareedah poses in front of the Mission Bridge.

Our entire group by the river. We sure had a relaxing and enjoyable day. (minus the part where we walked near the sewage treatment plant. Are they trying to kill the pregnant woman?)

Our Fish Dinner

Fareedah BBQ's our fish!

We had one cedar plank trout, one brown sugar trout and one lemon and herb trout. All were tasty.

Serve the fish with a bit of wild rice, salad and garlicked asparagus.....delicious!

Can't get enough of it!

Dan and Dan cleaning fish

Dan cleans the fish and does a demonstration on how its done. (Don't worry dad, I taught him everything he knows!)

Dan tries his hand at cleaning a fish.

He seems to enjoy it...

...perhaps a little too much!

Fareedah's First Fish Cleaning Experience

I love Fareedah's face as she cleans her fish. She doesn't seem impressed by it all. Who can blame her though? She went from not wanting to hurt the fish in the early afternoon to gutting it later that same day.

Chopping off its head was not her favorite task.

Her finished fish, gutted and ready for the BBQ!

I just love how sad Fareedah is and how Dan is laughing in the background. One of my favorite shots!

Nothing brings a caregroup closer.....

...than murder! Good old fashioned murdering Mennonites we are! So much for peaceful living! Okay, reality check. We killed four unsuspecting rainbow trout from Silverbrook U-Catch. Boy, were they tasty!
Apparently Dan and Amy, our lovely American friends thought they would fish from the fishing tree. They didn't catch many fish. Just a few splinters and branches. We had to inform them that fishing involves water!

Fareedah and Amy get up close and personal with a fish. Fareedah took quite a liking to the fish that she kissed him hoping that he would turn into a prince. All she got was fishy smelling lips.

Here is our care group after a fun day of fishing. We caught four fish and enjoyed them for dinner later that evening.

Fareedah's First Fishing Trip

This past Saturday, our care group went to Silverbrook U-Catch for a fishing trip. It was our friend, Fareedah's first time fishing. She is visiting from Jordan for a year, and will return back to her home in July. As a sort of goodbye to her, we took her fishing.

Fareedah baits her hook for the first time.
"That's for the fish to eat!" Fareedah holds up her fish, still attached to her line.

Fareedah's first fish!

Fareedah says: "Don't hurt the fish! I hope he will be okay." Amanda says: "Uhhh. Actually we are going to kill it." Amy says: "And eat it for dinner."

What is eating my plants?

Some sort of bug is chewing away my garden. I have NO idea what it is, or how to get rid of it. But all I know is that I am losing my crop to this bug. One day I have 3 plants, the next I only have 2. This bug works fast. Its eating my zucchini, peas, spinach, beans, lettuce, radishes and lettuce faster than I can keep up. Before long I'll be left with only tomatoes, onions and some pepper plants that haven't already died due to the bad weather. Its been a hard year on these poor plants. If only I knew a safe way to kill the bugs....