Canned Fish

My wife's grandfather has a passion for caching catfish. Not sure why, but he has records going back a thousand years of exactly how many fish he caught and how many pounds of fillet they yield (or is it yielded).

I'm not sure if he ever use a hook to catch any, but ever since I have know him he has used cans. Yes, cans. He makes hundreds of sets of these cans and strings them out across the lake; like a trot line. The catfish go into these cans to spawn and he goes along about twice a week and pulls the cans up from the bottom. The fish have a hard time getting out before you get the can out of the lake. He literally catches hundreds of fish a week.

Here is the top of a "can". Believe it or not a very large fish can wedge itself inside this can. Often there are two or three in one can.

Here is the bottom. The holes allow the water to drain quickly so the fish can't get out.

Here is the lake camp.

Here is the end result. Pawpaw Beagle and his fish.

El Toro Negro

Cool Vacation Pics

So my wife's grandparents live in Louisiana. If you have never spent any time there I have to tell you that you will see some strange things there. Like the guy mowing his lawn, shirtless, shoeless, in cutoff shorts, with one hand on the wheel and the other tightly grasping his beer, trying not to let it slosh. NO LIE. Didn't get a pic of that one. Sorry.

A few things that I did capture (all at their house) are below.

Like when was the last time you saw two frogs playing pool?

Or an iguana in a gazebo.

Or an alligator (cement) by the pool.

These are in the pool room. At one time the whole thing was some sort of display.

Not sure what this one was for. (Maybe a good Time)

There are several cypress knees that we carved by my wife's uncle.

El Toro Negro

Vacation

While on vacation we went to Blue Bayou, an amusement/Water Park.

Turkey not at Blue Bayou. Wife's grandparents living room.

This hanging is done in many different types of wood, cut into shapes to create the duck. Kinda cool. Also in living room.

El Toro Negro

Mess or No Mess

I must apologize for not posting for the last while. We have been on vacation. So, I must apologize for the next few upcoming posts. They will include some vacation pics.

This is the first, but it has a bit of humor in it. We ate lunch at the house of my wife's uncle. My kids can do the impossible. SEE!

El Toro Negro

If Give Your Wife Your Camera....

We had a project this weekend that I (my wife) had been wanting to get done. It ended up involving 92 bags of sackcrete, five hours of hard labor by four of us (my wife was not one of them), and 105 degrees of glorious sunshine. At one time my wife came out and I had the thought that she could take a few pictures. No big deal, right?

My camera is digital and does videos too. It has a button with a picture of a camera for pictures, and if you turn the button to the picture of a video camera, it will take a video.

In these two videos she thought she was snapping pictures. You will see where she stops, pauses a moment, and then goes to the next spot, pauses (to take another pic)...

She is great and we had a good laugh together when she explained what the videos were all about. The other pics are us at work and then the final result.

El Toro Negro

Trying to Ride a Skateboard

The footage on this isn't that great but I found this kid trying to ride one of those little skateboards that you get in the kids meals at McDonalds or Burger King. I thought it was funny.

This is the same kid. I think I caught him drawing on the sidewalk.

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Jump! Jump!

Kids just can't stand to let a ride or activity pass them by. We're in the mall and they just have to have a ride for kids next to the store that we need to go into. It's not like we go to the mall very often. More like we never go to the mall. Once or twice a year if we must.

Well, the older kids did this jumping ride, and of course the youngest has to do it too. I'm not sure if she actually made the 30 pound requirement or if the lady running the ride just wanted to make the extra couple of bucks, but she allowed her to do it. She had fun jumping but had a hard time keeping it going.

Y Para mi hijo Mexicano, te extranamos mucho. Ellos les gusto' birncar, pero costo' mucho y ellos tenian que pagar para el juego.

El Toro Negro

Keep Out!!!

My parents live across the pasture from us. Sometimes not close enough and sometimes not far enough. Know what I mean? They only use two of their three bedrooms, except when someone comes to visit. At times it is a friend of my mom's. Other times it is a family member from far, far away. This weekend it is my nephew.

I'm not sure how long it has taken him to put this sign up. He has only been here for a day or two. His sister lives with my parents and that might have something to do with it. In fact, from the pic it has everything to do with it. I guess even when you live hours apart there is still that bit of sibling rivalry that is inherent in all brothers and sisters. I know my kids fuss and fight. We did when we were kids. Just one of those things in life. I thought that this was funny.

El Toro Negro

Help Me!

Are you familiar with the ads for medicines? You have seen them. They are on TV, radio, and in every magazine known to man. The ones in the magazines are usually three pages long. There are meds to fix all that ails you. All you have to do is consult your physician, right? Just figure out what is hurting you and find the right pill. Heck, looking at those ads there are things that I didn't even know I needed help with. I'm a physical wreck

What I love most are the warnings that go along with ads. The warnings are 3/4 of the ad written in about half the font size. I never knew you could have so many side effects from something that is supposed to help you sleep better. Dang. All I want to do is get a little rest, but I might experience diarrhea, bloating, dizziness, fainting spells, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, high blood pressure, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, abdominal pain, gas, halitosis, gastroenteritis, hiccups, music-induced seizures, painful urination, discolored urination, minor to severe bleeding of the nasolacrimal duct, trouble sleeping, hypertension, irritable bowl syndrome, somnolence, weight gain, microscopic colitis, dry mouth, anxiety, memory loss, decreased verbal fluency, skin rashes, tremors, mood swings, Tourette's syndrome, mild to severe retardation, vivid nightmares, increased sweating, hot flashes, cold hands (but not cold feet- if feet become cold call 911 immediately), hypomania, itching, constipation, risk of suicide, swelling of the tongue and throat which may be fatal, a risk of dependence, and my favorite, an erection lasting longer than four hours. Drinking alcohol at any time while taking this drug may increase the risks.

All I want to do is feel refreshed from a good night's sleep. So what do I do? What do we all do? Ignore the warnings and take the pills. It's worth it, right? So what if I can't breath, get the scours, bleed out of my eyes.... At least I can sleep!

El Toro Negro