I Have Been Busy

Karen ready for volunteering at the Gypsy Bazaar, it's interesting talking to the people that come and go. With all the road work on the highway more people are driving by and stopping in to see what  it's all about. 

I finally got a food dehydrator. I have dehydrated plums, pears, pumpkin and have done some interesting experiments with kale and onions. I love some of the kale chips.

My Favorite so far.

Wash and dried Kale, four large leaves, strip the leaves off the stalk into 2 to 4 inch pieces (5 to 10 cm)
One large radish chopped
presoak 2 tbs sunflower seeds
and 2tbs hemp seeds
juice of one lemon
sunflower oil 1tbs
miso 1 tbs
salt 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Ginger powder 1/2tsp

Put all but kale into blender and make a thin paste. Coat the kale with the blended mixture and place on racks in the dehydrator. Set on a medium heat for two to four hours or until crispy.
Enjoy

Pat's pears were alien like, but I haven't had a tastier pear since. 

This looks like something out of a Kristian Adam painting.

Love the fall colors. 

Mattie, if you take enough pictures you are sure to get a cute one. Poor guy, it's flea season and he has a sensitivity to fleas. Lots of brushing , vacuuming and washing of doggy bedding.  If I'm not home for most of the day he will sleep on my pillow. 

We now have three fish. Denis & Linda added their big goldfish to our tank and they all get along just fine.

The Colendula continued to bloom after the frost, I was impressed. Our little square foot gardens were not as productive as we had hoped. We did get some big cabbages, the biggest one I made sauerkraut with. I am pleased with the first attempt, nice carrots, some peas and beans.

The beginning of a great batch of cookies, Lemon Poppy seed.

One of my campaign strategies was to have a booth at the Winter Market.  The table was laden with a tray of cookies (Lemon poppy seed painted with poppies using beet root powder for coloring and plum spice) aprons and lots of brochures. November 19TH Vote  Karen Durant for Enderby Council.  

This is Tom we nick named him "The Smoking Man", he always has a pipe in his hand. We bumped into him as we were waiting for the Remembrance Day service, we were an hour early and had to go home to get warm it was so cold. I asked Tom if I could take a picture of him and his beautiful medals. His answer was sad, "This is the first time I have worn my medals, I didn't like the way I was treated, they treated me better in England." The medals represent the places he had been and how many fronts he had been on. They did look good and had a nice jingle to them. I didn't ask him about his missing bit of ear maybe I should re nick name him "Smokin Tom Cat".

Steve at the Remembrance service. 

A beautiful fall day on the bridge, waiting for the runners in the Great Big Run for Africa

Fall river shot. Looking South from the bridge to Mable Lake.

Karen Durant For Enderby Council What Are People Saying About Her

November 19TH is voting day in Enderby and many Municipalities across BC

I will be running for one of the 6 seat on Enderby Council, with 8 other nominee's. 

My vision is to see a Healthy, Clean, Safe and Vibrant Community. 

Please use your democratic right as a citizen to VOTE!

So much going on in this picture, do you see the vibrant art community? Do you see the renovations of the downtown businesses. Do you see the trees that line the streets giving shade on a hot day, and holding the rain so vital to life.

I am naturally curious and want to know how people see me, so I asked, this is what they have to say. Some of them you will know others are friends from long ago.

"Karen Durant brings to Enderby the best of "green" living aspirations combined with practical business experience.

Consider Karen for Good Sense, Smart Cents governance."

Greig Crockett, Retired Lawyer

I found Karen to be a very organized individual who was able to motivate others.
She was open to new ideas, shared her own opinions in an easy-going way and avoided criticism of others.
In my opinion Karen would make an excellent councillor because of both her past experiences, and her ability to work with people in a respectful manner.

-- Regina Dalton, Abbotsford (accounts clerk, property manager)

Karen Durant will bring insight, passion and creativity to a council that is looking to find solutions for community problems. Her awareness of political, environmental and social issues derives from years of experience …. and her individual passion for keeping current on what issues are affecting the world on small and large scale. This awareness provides the landscape on which she acts for her community. Karen has a great big heart that drives her immense capacity to act for people.

Michelle Nickerson, Wild Salmon advocate

I have had the pleasure of working with Karen on a number of projects and have found her to be well organized competent and a delight to work with. She has the right combination of energy and caring attitude to get things done and done well.

Guy Morazain

In Karen, you the voter, will find a terrific organizer. And to be an organizer requires listening, planning and finishing; just what council needs.

Brian Lussin , Teacher Store Front School

I admire Karen for her courage and good-humour in the face of difficulties. Her honest respect for others enables her to speak out in a way that builds community and facilitates creative solutions.

Sue Staehli

Director of Finance and Programs

I enjoy working with Karen because she is good at organizing, is friendly with a positive attitude and understands co-operation. She has good ideas, is creative, with a strong sense of community and a broad vision.

Diana Muir [retired Community Nurse ]

Karen supports local, earth-friendly enterprises and encourages creative solutions to today’s problems.

-Naomi Fournier, farmer

Salmon Egg Take At Kingfisher Interpretative Centre

Approximately 120 people joined the egg take on October 8TH 2011 hosted by the Kingfisher Interpretive Centre. We started out about 400m down the road from the Centre. They had a selection of hip waders and float vests for people that needed them. The smallest size was 7, the kids were too cute as they waddled along the beach in the large hip waders. After signing wavers we were taken to the other side of the beautiful Shuswap River in aluminum boats. Anyone without proper gear was carried from the boat to dry rocky shore, or went bare foot.

Cody Lewis and Hanna Brooks, Hanna is Neil Brooks daughter so she has been doing the  egg take for and long time. Cody started in school caring for the eggs and this is his fourth time with the egg take. 

It was a diverse group of people, of all ages, students from Kal Secondary Students With Out Boarders. www.studentswithoutbordersacademy.com and Harwood elementary. Visitors from Alberta, families and some old hand seasoned egg takers. The woman running the boat for passengers was Nicole Troughton, she started at age 4, she now has her Masters in Marine Biology.

A net was set from a boat, it took two teams of people. The first team held the net on shore as the boat moved down river letting out the net. A rope was thrown from the boat to the second team and they pulled it in. The trick was to keep the floats high and the bottom weighted line low. This was done three times.

After accessing the sex, and viability of each fish they were taken to their designated places or let go. The males were taken to a water pen were they were milked for their milt(sperm). The females were taken to be weighed, measured and have their eggs removed. After spawning salmon die, they live to be about four years old. It was not easy for me to watch as the females were bashed over the head and their gills sliced to bleed them. If they aren't bled the blood would contaminate the eggs.

It was a slow process getting everybody back across the river, so we could go to the Centre and mix the egg and milt with water and place them in the hatcheries. Most of the eggs are kept at the hatchery but some of the schools will each get 30 eggs at the eye stage to care for. The Centre is educating people on how to be good stewards of the river. Thirty years ago when this program stared the river was dying and few fish were surviving. Neil Brooks who has been with the Centre from the beginning was pleased with the number of fish caught today.

Fourteen females were caught one didn't have enough eggs and another one was green her eggs were not ripe. The biggest female caught was 18 ½ lbs and 97 cm long.

You can learn more about the Center by visiting their web site at http://www.kingfishercentre.com/

Rummaging through the hip waders. 

The boats arrive, one with the net and the other to ferry people back and forth.

Waiting in turn, the supplies go first.

Neil Brooks explains how to us a tailer. A yellow piece of rope with loops on either end that wraps around the fish tail so you can hang it. I kept hearing people calling for Taylor thinking there were a lot of Taylor's on the beach.

The exoskeleton of an insect.

Setting out the net

Pulling in the net.

Jaki Meeks bringing in the fish.

Egg among the rock.

The net leads your eye to the cage the males were taken too for milting.

Females as they are bleed out, measured and weighed. 

Milting the males.

Capturing the eggs.

Emma Miller from Vernon in her size 7 hip waders.

Remnants of the small beating heart that Brooke Meeks held in her hand.  The heart was cooking on the fire and was later eaten by a young man, to the grossness of Brooke.

Two teams pulling in the net.

Torrie Nickoles

Another treasure found on the rocky beach, turtle shell.

Neil Fowler weighing fish with Hanna Brooks

Gathering around the male cage.

Salmon roe waiting to be taken to the hatchery.

Neil Brooks helping young Kendra Jones-Munk capture eggs.Kendra was there with Harwood Elementary. The schools have been taking taking part for about 20 years.

group shot.

Emma mixing the egg and the milt of two males.

Milt it does look like milk.

And then the magic of water.

Torrie Nickoles, Julie Leroux, Keenan Carey counting and measuring the eggs.

The hatchery were the magic happens.

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